Some may already be aware of this, and it may have been mentioned to me previously, but with a recent game that ended last night I found out you can visit and clear the Nodes after killing Zuggy. I found it interesting that the demons holding the gems stuck to their guns even after their Mistress was coughing up useless spores. Yes I know that NC is the only reason you can go back to the Nodes after Zuggy is decomposing. Just thought it funny.
Zuggotmoy is significantly weaker if you have crown and gems and get them destroyed before you meet her. Bearing in mind how buggy ToEE is I think expecting it to cater for people who deliberately avoid the correct adventure paths is a bit much
I was not expecting any catering. I just thought I would share my experience. I will grant you doing quests/encounters out of order can make things strange and possibly buggy.
Given that it's 20 years since TOEE was released, I think it's safe to say we are all doing the original Temple stuff on repeat by now. That being the case, one of the ways to add interest is to do things 'out of order'. If you defeat Zuggtmoy first, you can come back and fight enemies like the Balor at a more appropriate level without having to resort to a limited 'standard' set of tactics.