"loseing is not cost effective"

[Starfox]

It takes some time for a new team to get their bearings and get to know what they can do. Your DM should understand that and expect you to over expend in early encounters, adjusting the pacing as required. After a few sessions you will know how much you can take.

That said, just abot the same thing happened to us - those kobolds are NASTY! You should still be able to survive the rest of the scenario.

 

[Jack Colby]

There isn't one. That's a good thing.

That depends entirely on the individual player. Some people loved playing Fighters and the like at least partly (perhaps mostly) because they didn't have to think about a list of various spells and powers and manage that throughout the game. Opinions stated as absolutes don't really wash in this hobby.

 

[Nail]

Opinions stated as absolutes don't really wash in this hobby.

There's a quote worth repeating.

 

[Artoomis]

... My Wizard might run out of spells (OK at first level she WILL) but the fighter and Ranger would pick up the slack, now they too can 'burn out'... In all of my years of playing I never made an effort to rest after 1, 2 or even 3 encounters. We always pushed on, even if that ment the mage kept his head down. Now it just feels like we don't have a goto guy for not useing expendables. were is this edtion non spellcaster???

Actually, in 4e no one ever uses up all everything they've got. It's a different mindset. Now everyone has some sort of limited (daily, encounter) powers and some unlimited (at will).

Using up all your daily power hardly leaves you defensless. You can go on., just with a bit less power aviable to the party, that's all.

 

[Tuft]

Using up all your daily power hardly leaves you defensless. You can go on., just with a bit less power aviable to the party, that's all.

The 4E hard cap is healing surges. Once you run out of these, and continue to take damage, its goodbye time.

 

[Mort_Q]

Opinions stated as absolutes don't really wash in this hobby.

There's a quote worth repeating.

An opinion is an opinion. They're like that.

 

[Nail]

The 4E hard cap is healing surges.

Yep.

On a "per day" level, Healing Surges top th' list of Most Important Things to Conserve. Daily powers and Daily magic item powers are far less important, especially at low levels.

After Healing Surges and Dailies, there's Action Points and extra magic item uses. Lately those that I game with have become more relaxed with using these.

The last consumable resource, on a "per encounter" level is Encounter powers. I've often found that it's simply not worth "saving" these for the perfect opportunity. Pretty much you should use 'em as soon as possible. Saving them often puts other people in trouble. (Although I suppose Healing Word and Inspiring Word should be saved until the ally is well bloodied.)

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

Yep.

On a "per day" level, Healing Surges top th' list of Most Important Things to Conserve. Daily powers and Daily magic item powers are far less important, especially at low levels.

True, with the exception of some of the more unbalanced Wizard and Fighter dailies like Stinking Cloud and Rain of Steel. I've come to the conclusion that the game doesn't really need Daily powers: Healing Surges provide a natural end to the adventuring day.

The last consumable resource, on a "per encounter" level is Encounter powers. I've often found that it's simply not worth "saving" these for the perfect opportunity.

Though it's best to have some idea of what you're using them on. No point in using a dazing encounter power on a minion.

 

[WalterKovacs]

One thing that I've had to keep in mind in 4e is trying to make sure I use my encounter powers, second wind, action points, etc. The "use it or lose it" resources, especially encounter powers, are important to make use of. It doesn't seem like your group is falling into being over conservative, so that is less of a problem. It will probably take a little while to get a good idea of when to use powers, but eventually the group will get a hand of it.

One thing that is good to get in the habit of doing though is testing the waters with some at-wills to start things of, figure out which creature is hard to hit, which are likely minions, etc. Eventually it can be possible to figure out based on what a creature is doing what defenses will be easiest to hit (which, depending on your class may or may not be helpful). Eventually it will help you to figure out whether to use an encounter power. Certain daily powers will depend on different things. A barbarians rage is bessed used early, since they get constant benefits, so it may be harder to determine when best to use it. However, with dailies that mostly do a lot of damage to a single target, and have few benefits afterwards, those are best kept for finishing off an enemy that proves to have a lot of staying power (figured out mostly be seeing how much damage it has taken already, and at what point it becomes bloodied, since that will give you a rough estimate of how much HP it has left) since finishing the threat off a turn or two earlier will likely save healing surges in the long run.

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

To the OP:

Keep on the Shadowfell is the first published 4e adventure from WotC, and it shows. It's combat heavy and a few of the encounters are very nasty, including one notorious for causing TPKs. It's a rough start for a campaign. Unfortunately not a great intro.

As for daily powers, I agree with the posters above that you're DM may not be right. Daily powers aren't nearly as big a part of a character's arsenal as in previous editions. The designers estimated that a character should be a roughly 80% full strength after they've used all of their dailies, and with the exception of perhaps the Wizard I think they're roughly correct.

One thing 4e really does emphasize is the importance of party tactics, and this is probably what your group is lacking right now. Players have to plan and act based not only on their own powers but on everyone's. I started playing in July and I don't think we really got the hang of this until November or so.