Noticeable perhaps, but I'm looking to shave more than the odd minute from combat, which is all I can really see this doing.
Speeding Up Combat
- Thread starter Ahnirades
- Start date
Noticeable perhaps, but I'm looking to shave more than the odd minute from combat, which is all I can really see this doing.
Sadrik
First Post
This is an interesting statistical case to look at.
5 party members over 5 rounds do 25 attacks, hit 12.5 times and if you assume that each of two fighters, a cleric, a rogue, and a wizard do average damage.
Level 1-
Fighter (2 handed) 1d10+4 9.5
Fighter (sword and shield) 1d8+4 8.5
Cleric 1d8+4 8.5
Rogue 1d6+4 7.5 (+7 for sneak attack)
Wizard 2d4+4 9
9.5 + 8.5 +8.5 + 7.5(+7 sneak attack) + 9 +10(average damage for group) +10(average damage for group) = 70 damage
5 level 1 goblins have 29*5=145
This combat will easily take at least 10 rounds and likely more considering all of the various effects you noted. Dropping dailies and encounter powers during this combat would do an extra die or two of damage but half of them would miss. So my guess would if dailies and encounters were used it might increase damage to +20 maybe and that is a big maybe. So it might take 7 or 8 rounds to drop the 5 goblins with dropping the daily and encounter powers.
Level 11-
More variables here but I would suspect that it is similar the only difference is you have more encounter and daily powers to drop so you can increase damage by dropping these. Githzerai soldier have 108*5HP, 540 damage in five rounds (12.5 attacks) seems like a lot of damage.
Level 21-
This probably continues a trend of critters outpacing hp to damage.
To play Devil's Advocate, my group is now level 7, and we've only encountered this problem twice: with a solo skirmisher and an elite lurker, both of whom took a long time to kill because that was their strategy.
Why is this? Or rather, what are we doing differently than other groups?
I'm not sure, since I don't really watch other groups play, but my guess is tactics and strategy. My PCs have excellent tactics. They work together to get flanking and set up other bonuses for each other. They don't blow their encounter powers right away, but wait for an opportune moment, and they only use daily powers when they have some bonus to hit.
Conversely, my monsters are often very stupid. They frequently suffer opportunity attacks or wind up in bad positions. This is sometimes intentional (mindless undead don't know any better) and sometimes not (the goblins try to move past the fighter to set up the flank, risking a combat superiority attack... turns out to be a bad decision).
In fact, the only times when the fight dragged on were "boss fights" in which I was trying to play smart. In both cases the party eventually won, but the monsters' hit-and-run tactics made it a slow process.
I'm not saying that other groups have inferior tactics or that the DM should prop up brainless monsters as punching bags. I'm just saying that for a certain style of game play (players playing to win; DM playing to have fun) the monster math seems to work fine and not lead to slug-fests.
-- 77IM
Why is this? Or rather, what are we doing differently than other groups?
I'm not sure, since I don't really watch other groups play, but my guess is tactics and strategy. My PCs have excellent tactics. They work together to get flanking and set up other bonuses for each other. They don't blow their encounter powers right away, but wait for an opportune moment, and they only use daily powers when they have some bonus to hit.
Conversely, my monsters are often very stupid. They frequently suffer opportunity attacks or wind up in bad positions. This is sometimes intentional (mindless undead don't know any better) and sometimes not (the goblins try to move past the fighter to set up the flank, risking a combat superiority attack... turns out to be a bad decision).
In fact, the only times when the fight dragged on were "boss fights" in which I was trying to play smart. In both cases the party eventually won, but the monsters' hit-and-run tactics made it a slow process.
I'm not saying that other groups have inferior tactics or that the DM should prop up brainless monsters as punching bags. I'm just saying that for a certain style of game play (players playing to win; DM playing to have fun) the monster math seems to work fine and not lead to slug-fests.
-- 77IM
Dire Human
First Post
I definitely second the advice on monsters risking opportunity attacks; it makes the players feel good for getting a free hit on them, while at the same time making the battle a little trickier for the players. My Kobold Dragonshields love shifting two squares away from the Fighter, giving him a free shot, but then charging to a better flanking position.
Also, I never understood why you can't add half your level to damage rolls... so I let my low-level party. Maybe not such a good idea once the characters get into paragon tier, but even that +1 damage at Level 2 makes things go a little faster.
Also, I never understood why you can't add half your level to damage rolls... so I let my low-level party. Maybe not such a good idea once the characters get into paragon tier, but even that +1 damage at Level 2 makes things go a little faster.
Lela
First Post
And if they take the boss down with OA's so much the better. We had a giant boss (don't remember what) move because he decided he didn't want to be flanked. Fighter and Paladin crit, Rogue hit and did nearly max. He went down hard.
Thing is, his AC was huge. He just figured we couldn't touch him. 'Cause we hadn't been able to most of the fight.
The table went nuts. We were all geeking out. So much fun.
Thing is, his AC was huge. He just figured we couldn't touch him. 'Cause we hadn't been able to most of the fight.
The table went nuts. We were all geeking out. So much fun.
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