Leave someone at camp
The survival page is the mode itself: one save, the wipe screen, and the Golden D20. This page is the handful of habits that turn a fight you could win into that screen.
A total wipe counts every playable character, including people waiting at camp. Before a boss, send one companion or a hireling to camp from the party list. If the field party falls, you continue as the person who stayed behind. Withers resurrects a companion for 200 gold when someone alive can talk to him.
An empty camp plus a dead field party brings up the wipe screen. Continuing from that screen is the click that turns Honour off. The survival page records the rest of what that screen does.
Spread out and read the boss
Legendary Actions fire on the boss's terms, once in a round, then refresh. Open the examine sheet before the line of dialogue that starts the fight. The action is listed there, including the ones that hit an area.
A party stacked on one tile eats that area together. Stand a few steps apart, and use different heights when the room has them. Start the conversation with someone who can take a hit. The others can already be hidden, or already on high ground.
Hard control that leaves the boss fleeing, stunned, unconscious, or restrained stops the action from firing. That limit is the same one the survival page records.
Haste is sharp and brittle. When the caster loses concentration, each hasted character becomes lethargic and loses a turn. On Honour, the extra action from Haste does not feed Extra Attack. Action Surge still does. The party page has that rule in full.
Have a way out
Optional fights can wait. Auntie Ethel, the spectator in the Underdark, the bulette, and the githyanki patrol on the mountain road have ended a lot of early runs. Come back when you have a resurrection and a way to leave the red circle.
Invisibility, or a character who can break line of sight, lets combat end. Then walk to camp. You only get that walk if someone is still alive.
The Act 1 clocks still run on a precious save. Waukeen's Rest and Nere move when you rest or leave. The softlock page has those timers. The early-gold page names three pieces worth buying before you pick an optional fight: the Ring of Flinging, the Returning Pike, and, once the myconid colony is open, the Caustic Band.
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