So, this is an area I've been struggling to figure out. How do I balance a combat encounter?

I obviously know you can't trust CR, but I'm struggling to figure out how I should plan or balance a combat encounter when that's not an option.

Hey guys! I'm a newer dm (not a new player, been playing for a few years) and I just want to ask what a dm should consider when it comes to planning and worldbuilding. I would also like to ask if you have any tips for when a player goes wildly off course in a direction you have zero ideas for. You guys got tips?

Hey guys! I've been trying to work on some homebrew content for an idea of mine, it's gonna be very loosely horror based with plenty of room to goof off, but I also intend to mess around with and test alignments quite a bit with this campaign. I'm already working on a weapon that interacts with the choices the players make while using it (potentially cursing them if they become too evil), but I wondered if you guys had any other ideas on how to mess with or test alignment in a campaign. The thing with the weapon is that it can only really affect one person. I want to figure out a few more ways to mess with the others.