I basically agree, we just found a couple of times that, if the solo rolled a poor initiative, the entire party burning dailies, action points and possibly item powers could nearly kill it before it even blinked. I wondered whether your optimized players would be even better at that opening salvo.Yes, they are. But then, I never tell them 'that's a Solo'. Sometimes it's obvious, sometimes not. And I don't use Solo's alone, despite the name. They might find out if it's a Solo or an Elite during the fight, but not from the get-go.
Also, sometimes I trick them, in that there's an obvious large or huge prime target, but the real danger is actually some controller or artillery in the back, looking small and insignificant.. :)
We changed damage and hit points to avoid combats lasting ten rounds or more. We don't want them to only last one or two though.If they spent all their resources for that, why not. They deserve that once in a while. And going all-out nova in a situation where it's likely that there are additional fights before a short rest is risky. If they want to take that risk, it's ok if they steamroll a dragon, imho.
We don't mind the occasional two round combat, just not when it comes to those memorable encounters with one or two super powerful foes. To each their own, of course. I just wondered if you tinkered at all with your overall scheme.
After trying out the double damage rule during one session, it did seem to speed up combat a little bit too much. The damage numbers got a bit ridiculous. So I'm attempting to try out another house rule I found while scouring the net.
All the changes for this one happen on the DM side, so the players don't even know they're happening. This tactic involves 4 steps when statting up monsters for combat.
1. Reduce monster hit points by 25%.
2. Reduce all monster defences (or just a couple), by 2.
3. Increase monster attack bonuses by 2.
4. Increase monster damage by half of it's level. Usually this will be split half and half between the dice and modifier.
The net effect here is monsters do not stick around for quite as long and players get to have more of their powers succeed (i.e. hit). The monsters in turn, hit more often and do more damage with each hit.
In the end, combat speeds up by anywhere from 30% to 50% and players will begin to feel the danger of combat as their resources get diminished faster, and players will be forced to use second winds more often than relying on the healer all the time.