D&D General Path of Feats: a Superior Design than Subclasses

[SkidAce]

.... if your feat requires another to access you won't be getting it sooner than 8th level, which is often not too soon before most games end.

All I would say (agreed with your post), is that becuase of their value in character defintion, many DMs are being a little freeer
with feats.

Giving everyone a free feat at the beginning of near beginning of the campaign brings that "wont be getting it sooner" value down to about 4th level. which I feel is just right.

 

[saviirkad]

On metric value:
If the concern is that the metric itself isn’t valuable, then I need to know what you think a valuable combat metric would measure. Without either concrete features or an alternative metric, I can’t address the objection.

I don't think there ultimately is a combat metric to measure, because we are discussing a game with both hard and soft features that can be engaged with in various measures that incorporate both to different degrees. An analysis based on hard metrics will always exclude too much of the game to give valuable insight, even within the scope the metrics are pulled from.

Request for concrete features
If you think I’m wrong, then I need the specific support or control features you believe materially change that outcome so I can model them. Broad categories like “support” or “utility” aren’t actionable, I need the actual features.

I want to be clear that I don't think your math is wrong, I just think that its results have no impactful meaning beyond itself. If all one is doing is abiding by some sense of curiosity to see which of these separate dice rolls have a greater average total than the other, the math is right within its scope and curiosity is sated. But if the results are to be used in any way outside of that, up to and including validating the statement of "combat is abysmal," then its value in my opinion plummets to zero.

Can specific support or control features be added to the math and change the result of that math? Yes. I did name a few examples (commander's strike, heroism, bardic inspiration). Would it add value? I don't think so. If anything, what it suggests is that if you want to maximize just those metrics within  just this comparison, then the answer is both. You want to play either the fighter-bard or the barbarian opposite the other.