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Message: <blockquote data-quote="keterys" data-source="post: 5209550" data-attributes="member: 43019">So, let's guesstimate for a moment that I've done, say, 500 sessions of 4e, with 3 combats per session. So, out of those 1500 combats, I'm willing to say that no more than 100 of them would slow have made a crucial difference (defender is forced to use ranged weapons and can't defend, leader can't get into range to buff or heal, etc), beyond forcing someone to Run for one round or possibly not get an attack at all for one round, which would have had scattered appearances (mostly depending on terrain, initiative and enemy choice) in, say, another 200 combats - which, btw, is a benefit closer to Blind or Daze at that point, so still not bad.The trick is that if Slowed does last for the encounter and you can count on doing it, you're further encouraging Ranged, and you're further encouraging parties that can exploit it. So, your party shifts to becoming more ranged and picks up a couple slowed and starts beginning combats 20 squares away. Now the Brute requires 3 rounds of full out Running just to reach the enemy, which means the combat is over before he gets to roll an attack roll (and miss, poor guy).In quite recent memory, some examples from published adventures where Slowed would have been a serious problem (as in, not being able to do melee attacks that combat) if inflicted on my character:2 Underdark fights where melee had to move 10-20 squares, some over difficult terrain, or jumping gaps to engage each other from first sighting1 fight over floating earth motes that required jumping from platform to platform while being ranged attacked on the way in - this combat actually had traps that slowed, and they entirely changed the combat even though thankfully I avoided them for the first 12 or so squares of movement.1 fight out in a Jungle where the enemy drakes and harpies were 10+ squares away to start and had a 40 ft pit to drop people into (Ugh, being slowed at the bottom of a 40 ft pit = 4-8 rounds of climbing! And can't even make ranged attacks from down there)1 fight in a huge tomb where we had to get past a gauntlet of enemies and get under a sliding door to disarm the trap and save the day (get the treasure) in just a few roundsEAST1-6, IMPI1-6, and SPEC2-1 P2 from LFR so not like just fights my DM was making up. If I make the party all ranged, Slowed becomes far more useful since it's very very common for fights to start more than 4 squares apart - and such a party often has ways of controlling some portions of the battlefield further. Perhaps upping it to a crucial difference - if turned into a whole encounter penalty (removing a monster from consideration of combat, drastically altering the tactics of the combat) on 500-1000 of 1500 combats. I imagine in a lot of cases you'd see a reaction from the DM/adventure design where suddenly melee was always much closer, and the terrain was less choked or difficult, so that slowed would be less useful.</blockquote>

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