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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4602833" data-attributes="member: 710">Forked from: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showpost.php?postid=4602584" target="_blank">How to build encounters in 4e (aka Only you can prevent Grindspace!)</a>The thread on "How to build encounters in 4e (aka Only you can prevent Grindspace)" also reminded me of other comments that some people seem to have trouble running their PC effectively.I am not necessarily about power-gaming (and not at all about character build), but also about how fast you resolve your action. How long does it take you to make a decision on which power to use, where to move, whom to attack? What can you make your decisions on your character actions quickly, without losing effectiveness? What considerations do you take into account, how do you weight your options?The right tactics and quick thinking can do a lot to make a combat less tedious and simply run faster. Every minute your fellow players don't have to watch you coming to your decision is a minute the combat lasts less. There are two major components to this:- How well do you know your powers?- How well do you get a grasp of a combat situation and know how to apply your powers?This thread can be all about finding guidelines and suggestions to help people doing the combat fast, smoothly and playing effectively. A few general tips (and feel free to add or expand on them): o Know the Basics. You should understand the movement rules (move, run, shift, charge, slide, push, pull) and the conditions (slowed, immobilized, restrained, dazed, stunned, helpless, weakened) and the actions you have availble (Standard, Move, Minor, Immediate Reaction or Interrupt, Opportunity Actions, Opportunity Attacks, Basic Attacks). You will not always know everything about a specific condition. That is okay. This is a game you play for fun, it's not a homework or even a test of your rules knowledge. But for these case, have the places where they are described marked or readied. o Know your Specifics. What do your class abilities do? What powers do you know and how do they work. You don't need to know the specifics of powers you don't have or that other PCs have (it can help, but it's most important that you know what you can do.)Know where to find their description, know which power you have still available to you. Power Cards, Tokens, bookmarks in your PHB, they can all go a long way to make things run smoother.o Understand your role(s). The role is described in the class description, but try to understand not only what you are supposed to do, but how your class makes it possible for you to do so. Also learn what secondary roles your class has. (Paladin is Defender + Leader, Fighter is Defender + Striker). And remember - with the right feats and multiclass choices, your role might actually or you can at least give it a different spin.Your role typically provide you with certain decisions to make, but your class also has a big effect on this. For example, a Fighter will try to get surrounded by a lot of opponents and keep them "sticky" to himself. A Shielding Swordmage looks at things very differently - he actually doesn't want his marked enemies to stay close to him, because only if the attack someone else, he can use his Shielding Aegis and negate his enemies damage potential.All these are "basics". Basics of the game, basics of your class, basics of your characters. But there is more. You can learn to read a combat situation quickly to make your choices quick and yet matter strongly. This kind of "Smart Play" can be very rewarding.</blockquote>

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