Reading the DMG I'm confused by the encounter difficulty chart. It seems straight forward, but upon really testing it I've found that according to the chart, the very first encounter in Lost Mines of Phandelver (Starter Set for 5e) would be considered deadly! Did I do something wrong, or am I misunderstanding the way this should work?
For example, in the first ecounter there are 4 challenge 1/2 (50 xp) goblins. 50x4 = 200. For a party size of 4, this would be a x2 multiplier (4 enemies vs 3-5 party members) which is 400. According to the encounter chart, at level 1, 100xp is the Deadly value. With the recommended 4 party members that makes the deadly threshold 400. This was in no way a deadly encounter. I'd say at best it is medium. Am I using the charts wrong?