Deadly Assault II
Usually, when two high-level foes face off. One of the most common responses of both sides was probing. Attempting to find out the capabilities of each other which would then dictate how they would fight properly.
After all, rushing in against someone who appears to be at the same level as you without knowing what they can and can't do is hardly proper when, for all you know, they have a special magic that can instantly kill you from a reckless charge.
That being said, this wasn't universal as some situations allowed for one to make a strike without probing. Assassins, for example, always performed in-depth studies of their potential targets before they actually tried to take them out. Assassination is, in the end, all about taking out someone in a short amount of time and requires even more preparations. It wouldn't make sense to try and assassinate someone you know little about.
