Actually, it just means that such encounters are unchallenging. I don't see how that's worse. As you get better at your adventuring gig, you are no longer in danger from what you would have considered threats in your days as a rookie. Likewise, things that can threaten a more advanced party are way beyond a novice's ability to handle. This is perfectly rational.



Yeah, 4th Edition is downright terrible as written, I just love it because its core rules form a very solid and adaptable skeleton. But if you're not willing to build up your own system almost from scratch, I can't recommend it to anybody.

D&D Editions have been weird to me. I started with AD&D, which has a stupidly complex and arbitrary rules system that I never want to use again, but it definitely had the best world- and campaign-building material of any D&D setting I've played (and really, every sidebook after 2nd Edition is worthless.) And on the other end of the spectrum, 4th Edition has really clear and elegant rules for the blandest RPG I've ever played. But I'm better at homebrewing the fluff than at homebrewing core rules, so at least I can do something with 4th Ed. I wouldn't even know where to begin in 2nd Ed.



Clearly you misunderstand. You claimed that D&D characters were 'nigh-omnipotent demigods' and I pointed out that I've been killing them since forever. Barring the possibility of player-killing, this pretty heavily implies that I am the DM. And everything you have written after that is also wrong.



I use Entangling Roots and just wail on him with ranged weapons.



I don't ever recall being challenged much in Cloakwood, unless I activated the traps in Davaeorn's chamber that summoned the Helmed Horrors while fighting him. The Iron Throne fight nuked me the first time I encountered them, but the same could be said about a ton of fights. Rahvin's party at the end shoots exploding arrows at you that can instantly wipe out all your mages, for example. The Sarevok fight would probably be hard if being the final confrontation didn't give me the luxury of spamming out every item I've accumulated over the course of the game. The Tanar'ri demon in Ulgoth's Beard is devastating until you figure to use a Potion of Mirrored Eyes. And so on.