Ferghis
First Post
To each his or her own. My wizard used stoneskin a couple of times, and it did not break the encounters. Without any doubt, it helped it helped turn a very tough encounter into a moderately tough one. The players still felt threatened (mostly because there was an elite soldier that we needed to roll a 15 to hit). But I don't tend to "pop" my dailies much, I kind of hoard them for good opportunities. Perhaps that's why I'd say that my Visions of Avarice has caused the DM more grief.
I really don't think having resist 10 will break an encounter any more than Come and Get It does. The main in-game effect (assuming I'm building and playing the characters) is that it would let the defender do his or her job a bit better. It might turn out a bit more grindy, but no more than an insubstantial creature. In my experience, grind happens mostly if you play with RAW and everything fights to the death. The solution to grind, in my opinion, is having enemies flee, or calling mop-up early, or mixing skill challenges into combat encounters.
I really don't think having resist 10 will break an encounter any more than Come and Get It does. The main in-game effect (assuming I'm building and playing the characters) is that it would let the defender do his or her job a bit better. It might turn out a bit more grindy, but no more than an insubstantial creature. In my experience, grind happens mostly if you play with RAW and everything fights to the death. The solution to grind, in my opinion, is having enemies flee, or calling mop-up early, or mixing skill challenges into combat encounters.
Do the players know? I mean, do they use all their renewable resources on that encounter? I ask because I think this is an inherent problem with the structure of 4e, and one of the aspects that most needs some form of house ruling. My personal solution is that levels are gained once X milestones are achieved, and every encounter except the first one after an extended rest is a milestone. Players can choose not to have an official extended rest even if their characters sleep for the night. But I'm always eager to hear how others deal with it.Edit: I have 1-encounter days quite often.