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« on: February 08, 2011, 04:54:06 PM »
Another good use of Monster Knowledge Checks is dropping (possibly very) strong hints about how hard the encounter is. This helps the players know what level of resource expenditure they need.
For that to be most effective it's good for the players to have an idea of what their baseline resource use should be:
If you're a class with a daily power that lasts all encounter (Barbarian rage, stances, etc) use one during your first or second turn; whenever you're in position for it to be effective.
After that (or immediately if you don't have that kind of ability) unload encounter powers, concentrating on one or two squishy (or debuffed to MAKE 'em squishy) targets. Many an Elite monster fell victim to a vulnerability debuff by our Leader and follow-up alpha strikes by our strikers, not even making it out of first round of combat.
If, after a round or two of this, the baddies are still going strong they should break out the daily powers.
Make sure the players remember to blow an Action Point every other encounter; they get them back at milestones so no point letting them go to waste.
I'd also reiterate what FuzzyDan said about XP budgeting. Using it on one or two normal or elite monsters that are MUCH higher level than the PCs usually (until high paragon or epic, at least) leads to a miserable encounter where the players can't hurt the monster without rolling an 18, and the monster can't miss them without rolling a 3.
For the first few levels especially, though, it's very easy to misjudge the difficulty of an encounter. A +5 level fight with a god at level 26 is a thrilling use of advanced tactics and smart use of powers. A +5 level fight with an orc chieftain at level 3 is a TPK.
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