Proposed Standards of Optimization Levels

Author: Soma

The purpose of this article is to establish standard definitions for build categorization, which is useful to determine what character builds would be most harmonious with different sorts of groups and parties.

To establish a baseline of communication, current and future builds will use these standards to provide a general range of the estimated power of the build in question, and its applicability for various tables. This will be denoted by a banner at the top of the article noting it’s optimization level.

All of us at Tabletop Builds want to be very clear about this: we do not think there is a “right” way to play Dungeons & Dragons! Any table where the players are having fun is a good table.

However, as we stated in our Core Tenets, one of the realities of 5th Edition is that it is not a perfectly balanced game, a reality that can be further exacerbated by differing levels of investment in character build optimization. Discrepancies can and will exist between character builds, as well as between tables in general. As a website that is focused on optimization, it behooves us to be upfront about this fact, and also to be clear about the relative power levels of builds. Not every build we publish is going to be welcome, or a good fit, at every table. 

Some players simply are not comfortable or interested in engaging with the optimization aspect of the game, which is perfectly valid. Optimization is not an inherent virtue. Unfortunately, it is more than possible for gaps in power due to different levels of optimization between characters to generate friction at a table.

Damage is one of the easiest discrepancies to spot between characters—bringing a Variant Human Gloom Stalker Ranger that takes Crossbow Expert at level 1 and Sharpshooter at level 4 is a fairly standard build by optimization standards, but is absolutely going to blow a longsword-and-board Champion Fighter out of the water in terms of damage per round.

Survivability is a bit less overt but still noticeable. The straight class Changeling Bard with 14 AC who finds themselves dropping concentration often may begin to feel overshadowed by the Artificer 1/Wizard x character who has 19 AC, Constitution save proficiency, and still has 18 Intelligence due to taking Fey Touched at level 1 via Custom Lineage. It is generally easier to play a powerful control caster under the radar, but it’s not always possible to escape attention either. 

As stated in the introduction, in order to avoid these potential issues, all builds have a banner at the top that is our estimate of a build’s optimization level by our standards. This way you can have a good understanding about what sorts of tables said build would fit in as a party member.

You can play a build that is a level higher or lower than the rest of your table and probably be fine. However, if the gap between the lowest and highest levels of optimization between characters at a table is significant (two or more levels), you may begin to overshadow the less optimized character to a noticeable degree. This can be fine with the social dynamics of many groups, but may cause issues at others. As always, use your best judgment about whether it’s appropriate for a certain build to be played at a given table. You don’t want to end up on r/rpghorrorstories.

Again, we would like to stress that we do not think any party at any of these tiers of optimization is playing the game “wrong,” and that optimization does not inherently lead to a “better” table. Your table may fall under a certain optimization level that we list below, and that is not us casting judgment! All of us at Tabletop Builds play at a variety of tables, and enjoy them all (or we wouldn’t be playing at them!). These standards exist solely to help you, the reader, better understand how a certain build might fit in at different tables. If you think you can ignore them in your group, you are a better judge of this than we are.

For a closely related topic, check out How Does Playing to Win Change the Game?

No Optimization

Players in this category have built atypically “underpowered” characters and have (purposefully or not) hampered them in some significant way. This could be from a lack of fundamental knowledge about the game, trying something really unusual that just didn’t work in practice, or a complete focus on adhering to a roleplaying concept at the expense of even a hint of choosing aspects of your character on the basis of power, flexibility, or survivability.

We believe that roleplaying and character optimization are not in conflict, but some players disagree. Flavor is free!

Low Optimization

Low optimization builds don’t overtly eschew effectiveness but are usually not built with power as a priority. These builds can perform passably at tables where combat isn’t a focus.

Characters with a generally appropriate Ability Score allocation (maximized primary ability score for class during character creation, 2nd highest ability score is typically Constitution), and are likely increasing their primary Ability Scores with ASIs. Spellcasters are not choosing powerful spells, and martial weapon users are not taking high quality damage feats (Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter, Polearm Master, Great Weapon Master, et cetera).

• A variant human Champion Fighter that starts with 16 Dexterity, 16 Constitution, and the Tough feat, or a half-elf Divination Wizard that starts with 16 Intelligence, 14 Dexterity, and 14 Constitution but whose spell list has minimal utilization of common optimization staples, like the suggested preparations from our Basic Build Divination Wizard.
• A party of characters at low optimization level can complete official Wizards of the Coast published modules, but TPKs are also very possible.

Low-Mid Optimization

Low-mid optimization builds are usually created with effectiveness in mind but perhaps not as the top priority. These builds can perform passably at many tables.

Spellcasters are selecting and casting some good spells (at least one reliable combat spell per spell level) and have taken a good half-feat or concentration protection feat. Martials have taken a bonus action attack or power attack feat, with a few exceptions.

• Our Basic Build Way of Mercy Monk would fall under this category. We will typically aim to publish builds that are above this level. A Wild Magic Sorcerer whose spell list has some overlap with the suggested learned spells with our spell list from our Basic Build Shadow Sorcerer would be an example of a low-mid optimization level full caster.
• A party of characters at low-mid optimization levels should be able to complete official Wizards of the Coast published modules, with the exception of certain difficulty spikes present in the material as written, but a TPK is still on the table.

Mid Optimization

Mid optimization level characters are usually created with effectiveness as a factor among others and can contribute well at most tables. A mid optimized martial likely has both a bonus action attack and a power attack feat. A mid optimized spellcaster has a concentration protection feat and multiple highly effective spells for each spell level.

• All character builds from our Basic Builds Series, with the exception of the aforementioned Way of Mercy Monk and the Phantom Rogue, at least fall into this category. A few of the entries in the Basic Build Series are straddling the line between this category and the next. Competently built full casters of any subclass will generally fall within this category.
• A party of characters at mid-optimization levels should be able to complete official Wizards of the Coast published modules with ease, and would need to be incredibly unlucky to TPK. 

Mid-High Optimization

Mid-high optimization builds are created with effectiveness as a top priority and can perform excellently at any table. Depending on the table, mid-high optimized characters may be able to “carry” a party or contribute more than half of the party’s effectiveness.

Spellcasters here are taking targeted multiclass dips in order to obtain access to defensive powerhouses such as shield and absorb elements, as well as getting armor proficiencies cheaply to maximize Armor Class, with a handful of exceptions. 

Expertly built straight full casters of the best subclasses and spell choices are in this category as well. Martial weapon users at this level are typically multiclassing out of their primary class in tier 2 so as to maximize damage and overall potency.  

• Efficiently dipped full caster builds such as Artificer 1/Wizard x, Hexblade Warlock 2/Sorcerer x, Hexblade Warlock 2/Bard x, Paladin 7/Warlock 2/Sorcerer x, and Life Cleric 1/Druid x are examples that fit into this tier. 
• Expertly built straight class full casters of the best subclasses are in this category as well, which would include builds such as Twilight Domain Cleric, Circle of the Shepherd Druid, Clockwork Soul Sorcerer, and several Wizard schools (War Magic, Graviturgy, Chronurgy, Illusion, Divination). 
• Ranger 5/Battle Master Fighter x, Ranger 5/Druid x, and the like are all what we would consider mid-high optimization builds. With certain party compositions, builds like Zealot Barbarian 5/Battle Master 4 or Echo Knight 5/Barbarian 2 melee builds can keep up. Certain builds that focus heavily on a certain powerful interaction that don’t fall into any of the above patterns, such as the Ghostlance, could be here as well. 
• The above examples are non-exhaustive.
• A party of characters at mid-high optimization levels will shred through any published official content. Challenging groups operating at this level can require significant modification of monsters, encounters, campaigns.

High Optimization

Subclass selection shrinks to the top few subclasses available. The only martials in a high optimization party are primarily Paladins and Rangers that multiclass mostly into full caster classes after core features come online (Aura of Protection or subclass aura for Paladins, Extra Attack or conjure animals for Rangers). Parties are mostly composed of primarily full caster characters.

Party optimization comes to the fore, with groups opting to craft highly synergistic builds together, specifically creating characters that uniquely multiply the strength of other party members. Melee martial characters are eschewed almost entirely for ranged builds, with melee builds or party compositions as the occasional exception.

This is the level we have targeted with our Flagship Build Series, which consists of in-depth build guides for what we consider to be the very best builds in the game!

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We’d like to conclude this post with another repetition of a repetitive message: we believe it’s fun, but optimization is not an inherent virtue. Just because your character falls under a certain umbrella that we defined does not mean your character is “bad,” or somehow unworthy. These are simply a set of internal criteria we use that we hope will provide more clarity about build strength than vague descriptions of power levels.