Optimize, to make the best or most effective use of a situation, opportunity or resource.
The mechanics of 4e D&D practically demand you optimize your character and your party. Failure to do so can result in some unfortunate consequences. Monsters are designed based on the assumption that you have created your character to gain maximum damage output. Failure to do this, while not catastrophic, can lead to a less than ideal experience.
Throughout April Dungeon’s Master is participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. The challenge is to write a new article ever day in April, excluding Sundays. That’s 26 articles over the course of the month. To make things even more interesting the title of each article will begin with a different letter of the alphabet. Today “O” is for optimization as we explore the reasons behind why players may optimize their characters.