[en] In computing the dynamic response of a connected system with multiple components having dissimilar damping characteristics, which is often referred to as nonclassically damped system such as nuclear power plant piping systems supported by stiff structures, one needs to define the system-level damping based upon the damping information of components. This is frequently done in practice using approximate methods expressed as composite modal damping with weighting functions. However, when the difference in damping among components is substantial, the composite modal damping may become inappropriate in the characterization of the damping behavior of such systems. In recent years, several new methods have emerged with the expectation that they could produce more exact system-level damping for a group of nonclassically damped structures which are comprised of components that possess classical modal damping. In this paper, an overview is presented to examine these methods in the light of their theoretical basis, the technical merits, and practical applications. To this end, a synthesis method is described, which was shown to reduce to the other methods in the literature