You have to be careful with this, unless I've got the wrong idea from the previews combat is a cornerstone of the game; if players don't know what they are getting themselves in for to the extent they need to avoid combat altogether wherever possible it might make the game a lot less fun. In addition if the powers are significantly hard to predict you just end up in save scumming territory.
We know that save as often as you'd like are in, and that's more or less the rule of large CRPGs of the kind Larian are making here. In addition, we also know that a flee-button is in, and Larian said that there won't be any level-scaling, so that flee-button is for all those cases where an encounter is quickly going south.
What I deduce from this is that a slight surprise variation to various monster types would fit D:OS really well, and I love that!
What I don't love is having monster clones from which the player knows exactly what to expect, even down to the smallest differences in stats. I mean that would make sense in a turn-based game like Civilization, which I really like, and even there you have promoted units and so forth, so I think making monsters non-varied just because of save scumming is an objection fit for another game. In D:OS you are bound to run into stronger opponents, and sooner or later you will have to escape or get wiped out. I think this is one of D:OS greatest aspects.
