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Message: <blockquote data-quote="s0l0m0n" data-source="post: 4367703" data-attributes="member: 72738">I've considered my experience some more, and I think it is not the absolute real-time duration of combat that is longer, but rather the pacing. Big 3e combats on epic level did take up half an evening. However, counting only average rolls, it seems characters are unable to kill themselves using only their encounter powers, save strikers perhaps, and monsters have multiples of PC hitpoints on epic level. I'm not going into the maths right now, but the point is, 4e combat follows a Bell Curve. It runs up slowly as opponents take up positions, it builds up steam as encounter and daily powers are spent, but withers away into a drawn-out non-finale once you get down to at-wills. You will get down to at-wills, even in an equal-level encounter, because of the massive amount of enemy HP that need to be whittled down. Minions do not seem to offer a solution, as they pose a disproportionately low level of threat and are nothing but an afterthought in the mage's garguantuan AoE (take e.g. Legion's Hold + Spell Accuracy). Effectively, after round 5 or so - unless you're willing to blow all of your dailies as well - 4e combat is roughly the same as 3e: roll-hit-damage-roll-hit-damage ad infinitum.</blockquote>