Synergy Breakpoints and the Value of Partial Synergies

Every synergy activates at a threshold and upgrades at further thresholds. The gap between "at a threshold" and "one below" is often the difference between a bonus that swings fights and a bonus that does almost nothing. Knowing which partials are acceptable — and which are traps — is core intermediate board-building.

The common threshold shapes

In the current game, synergies step on a few patterns:

• 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 — the most common. Big four-tier synergies.
• 3 / 5 / 7 and 2 / 4 / 6 — three-tier synergies.
• 3 / 5 / 7 / 9 — a couple of large synergies (Normal, Grass) that want a whole board.
• A handful of custom curves (Flora, Light, Gourmet, Wild) with their own steps.

The Team Builder shows the exact thresholds for every synergy and how close your current board is to the next one — use it while planning.

When a partial is fine

• You're one unit from the next tier and you have line of sight to it — a copy in your shop, a Pokémon you'll add at your next level. A partial that closes in a round or two is just "not there yet".
• The units carrying the partial are strong on their own. If your board would run those Pokémon anyway for their stats and abilities, the incomplete synergy is a free bonus on top — it costs you nothing.
• The first tier is the big one. Some synergies front-load their value — tier 1 is a large team-wide effect and later tiers are smaller. For those, hitting tier 1 and stopping is correct.

When a partial is a trap

• It's stuck one below a threshold with no way to complete it. Two Fire units when Fire activates at 2 is a synergy; three Fire units when the next tier is 4 and you have no fourth Fire line is just three units with a weak bonus and a slot you could use better.
• The units only exist for the type. If you've benched a real unit to field a 1-star off-plan Pokémon purely to inch a synergy toward a threshold you won't hit, you've made your board strictly worse.
• The bonus is type-only, not team-wide. A partial that only buffs units of that type, when you only have two of them, is buffing two 1-stars slightly. Not worth a slot.

Counting the value of a threshold

Before adding a unit to reach a threshold, weigh it honestly:

• Gain: the difference between the current tier's bonus and the next tier's bonus, multiplied by how many units it affects.
• Cost: whatever the unit you're adding isn't — a stronger body, a different synergy's progress, an item holder, a board slot at a level where slots are scarce.

A team-wide "+20% damage reduction" jump affecting nine units for the cost of one filler slot is a steal. A "+15 ATK to the 3 Bug units" jump for the cost of benching a 2-star carry is a loss. Do the comparison; don't just chase the number.

Breakpoint stacking with levels

Synergy thresholds and board size are linked: a 6-threshold is impossible below level 6, and the top tiers (8, 9) require you to actually be at level 8–9. When you plan a comp, note the highest threshold you want and treat the matching level as a target — it tells you how hard to push levels.