Originally Posted by RagnarokCzD
But when i decided to try ... i attacked them, with my whole group on the ground, and i managed to kill them ... it wasnt easy, i never claim such thing, but it was totally possible![/spoiler]

Of course it's possible. Maybe it took you one try each time. Good for you. First time I ever faced the Gith patrol - and I know I'm not alone (again, read many similar stories) - I walked under the bridge expecting a fight. I was gearing up for it. I didn't use high ground because I felt that it was broken - what with Advantage/Disadvantage at the time - and I thought, "Okay. Roleplaying my character, he was a cleric who was ready to support Lae'zel if things went wrong. He and the others were nearby so they could have her back. But I tried to position myself well ahead of time. Battle started, as I expected, and the Gith won initiative and killed Lae'zel in the first round before she could go. Then they Misty Stepped to my cleric and wiped him also (or sniped him with a crossbow from a distance). Cut my party in half before I could even take a turn. Had to reload like 8 times before I finally beat it.

That's the normal experience I still have to this day. Unless I use the gimmick and go to the bridge, or unless I win initiative, or I shove several off the edge using insane shove distances, it's pretty much game over. Might as well reload. And that's my whole point. You should not design your combat encounters so that if you lose initiative it's pretty much time to reload. That's too unbalanced and volatile. If bad luck comes your way, you should have a harder time winning, but you shouldn't necessarily have to reload.

Why? Because it's an RPG. I want to be able to play through the game, and if I play through smartly, I don't have to reload. Reloading in an RPG, to people like me, is a cheat. It's like playing Undertale. If I just have enough determination, you'll win because you have the ability to face a fight, travel back in time to a save point, and try again. No. That's not RPGing. That's a video game gimmick. You are essentially gaining intel on an enemy by trying the fight once, dying, reloading and coming back to try something new until you figure out just the right trick to win.

Now, don't get me wrong. If the game goes really badly, and I die, I don't want to have to start all over from scratch. If bad luck is really against me, I'll reload and try again. But I don't want that to be the norm.

Again, Solasta has done this so very well. My current game, I haven't even died once. Not a single character has died. Several times, they've fallen and I've had to use magic or a potion to revive them in time before they die, but none has died and made me reload. Combat encounters are challenging, and sometimes I've thought, "Holy crap! I'm going to lose this fight and I'm going to have to reload," but then I find some way to turn it around and win.

I've even had fights, like I mentioned in a different post about random encounters, where I really thought, "Dang! I should have managed my resources better. Now I'm going to have to reload," only to scrape by and win. THAT'S exciting gameplay. It's not so hard that I'm having to reload a dozen times to find a way to win or to just get freaking lucky and win. Even if things are going wrong, I still might pull through and turn it around.

But here is where you proved my point:

[quote=RagnarokCzD]And Hag? Dont make me laugh ... unless you stealth around Masks, in wich case those two encounters happens at once and that is BRUTAL ...
Her alone is quite easy, i even think that i rarely (maybe even never) had to heal, when i fight her. laugh

How does this prove my point? The gimmick in the hag fight is "unless you stealth around Masks, in wich case those two encounters happens at once and that is BRUTAL..." In other words, unless you do something that is really quite weird from a story perspective - or is really only possible because of janky stealth mechanics - aka long rest and/or sneak around Masks and/or whatever you must do so that both encounters don't happen at once - both encounters together are BRUTAL.

And, frankly, her alone being "quite easy" is maybe your experience, but again me and others are not so on your side with that one either. Her duplicating herself and getting to go several times per turn blasting your characters with spells is not easy. I wonder what strategies you've used to make that fight so easy. Were they gimmicks or legit strategy?

Either way, in order to beat the hag, you can't just face her upstairs with the redcaps, face the Masks and then face the Hag and win all in one story arc, no long resting, event - well, I suppose you COULD, but the fact that it is BRUTAL means that it is a bit too hard. The story arc really doesn't make sense unless you do it all at once. It's weird that she just waits for you to leave her lair, long rest, and then return full strength to fight her, and it's weird that your entire party can sneak past the Masks the way they're positioned unless your party is REALLY good at sneaking. Maybe Pass Without Trace might make it believable, but especially if you're trying it out with people wearing armor with Disadvantage, stealth should be next to impossible in that area.

But again, stealth being the way it is, that is just a gimmick to be exploited. Sure, all fights are easy if I exploit the stealth system. I could wipe the Masks, and have, using broken Stealth.

And THAT'S my point. It's easy with gimmicks, and brutal if played without them.