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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Orcus Porkus" data-source="post: 5055488" data-attributes="member: 76022">(this is a repost from the WotC optimization board where I didn't get any feedback on this. Is this idea really not worth discussing? Please let me know your honest thoughts.)I've been torturing my head to find ways that allow builds to be measured by other means than DPR and nova capabilities.I realized that a build can be called optimized not just only when it deals a lot of damage, but also if all class features, feats, powers, paragon path features, epic destiny features, and magic items synergize well. Simple example: Weapon Expertise is synergizing with all attack powers, and any effects that depend on hitting a target.The total synergy of a build could be measured by cross-referencing every feature of a build to every single other feature, and then count the number of synergies in a build.Hypothesis: The fewer synergies there are, the less optimized a character probably is. It means, a lot of class features for example are neglected, items serve only one purpose, the build is a one-trick pony, etc.The image below is an example spreadsheet for my <a href="http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/21851441/Eladrin_Barbarian:_The_most_dangerous_barbarian_build_in_epic" target="_blank">Eladrin Barbarian</a> build. You need to right-click and "show image" on the graphic to see it in full resolution. The ratio at the bottom right describes the relation between the total number of all present synergies and the number of all theoretically possible synergies (meaning, everything synergizes with everything.) This build achieves almost 0.33. So you could say that this build is 33% synergized. It feels very synergized, but right now I have no clue what this ratio really means since I have no comparison with other builds. It's also not complete, and probably has some errors. I didn't put in rages for example. Perhaps one should add a column for everything that matters for all builds, like defenses for example, to be able to better measure features that boost those.The tricky part is the question, what constitutes a synergy. I realized that anything that has either a direct or indirect benefit with each other should count. For example, Fey Charge synergizes with Fey Step, obviously, but it also synergizes with Swift Charge, Charging Rampage, Rampage, etc. since all those features benefit from the feat.Another challenge to this idea is the problem that not all features are equally important, obviously. For example, a negligable paragon path feature, like Fleet Skirmisher in this example, bloats up the total of possible synergies, and thus reduces the synergy ratio. But I actually think this is good - it measures that the build takes a paragon path where not all features synergize well, or are completely redundant.The chart also helps to "rank" features in the build, although you usually have a feel for that anyway. In this particular example it's evident that the rageblood vigor class feature (temp HP on a kill) is not synergized at all. It is an obvious weakness of the build.If you want to play with the excel sheet and make synergy rankings of your own build, you can get the file <a href="http://zumschneider.com/images/build_synergy.xls" target="_blank">here</a>. I would love to hear your feedback, and perhaps other builds put into a chart like this so we can compare and see whether this whole idea makes sense at all.<img src="http://zumschneider.com/images/build-synergy.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></blockquote>

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