Narrate Combat
Make very wounded creatures run away in fear for their life. Most do not feel like they need to fight to their death. Have enemies get killed by traps mid combat and make the players freak out that there are others in the area that they don’t know about. Raise the tension!!!
NARRATE. NARRATE. NARRATE. Combat is SOO BORING when it consists of: Attack. Roll to hit. Damage. Move on. NARRATE WHAT THE CHARACTERS ARE DOING. DESCRIBE YOUR ACTIONS. Make silly sound effects, crank it to 11. It’s more memorable, dynamic, and fun every single time.
Attackers only actually “miss” if they roll a 1. Instead attacks that don’t beat AC are dodged, blocked, ricocheted, bounce of armor, literally anything but the word “miss.” Players know their attack mattered at least narratively and they don’t look like fools for trying.
The objective of combat should almost never be to just defeat the opposition. Maybe you’re trying to rescue a hostage, maybe you’re trying to get away with a piece of treasure, maybe you’re trying to buy time for an evacuation. A fight for the sake of a fight is boring.
