Assess the Striker

[Neonchameleon]

The striker in question is a hybrid PHB 1 warlock and PHB 1 rogue. I don't know if I'm exactly right on this, but he seems to reliably deal 7 points of damage when he hits. (Other strikers seem to be able to deal much more damage a round.)

7 damage is sub-baseline. For the record, a halfling bard with a shortsword and charisma 16 - and no supporting feats (which is almost as far from a striker as you can get) should be doing 6.5 damage per hit.

7 damage to me sounds like a rogue who is not getting combat advantage - with combat advantage a rogue does 2d6 extra damage with a dagger. Or a warlock who isn't cursing (for d6 extra damage).

My belief is that your Warlock|Rogue would be better in just about every possible way (including at thievery) as a Warlock (or Feypact hexblade for preference) with the Rogue Multiclass feats. And that Hybrids are one of the very few things in 4e I ban (actually, I find it easiest to simply ban every class in the PHB3 except the Monk and this makes up my entire ban list).

As for your battlemind, urgh. Walk him through the minor/move/standard. Or ask him to describe his character and whether you can rebuild based on that. I'm thinking Knight or Beserker.

 

[SensoryThought]

Both characters are clearly not 4e optimized, but I go with the other comments that, if they are having fun, just lower the encounter difficulty. PC concept is more important than combat effectiveness, although if your other pcs are twinked out, that can be a problem.

The lvl 5 rogue in my game does 1d4+9+2d8 (20.5 average) with an at will dagger sly flourish, but he has bags of tricks to get combat advantage and flanks whenever possible. If your rogue doesn't understand CA, they will always do far less well.

For non-technical gamers I highly endorse Essentials classes as being very new player and combat friendly. They mostly run on basic attacks and positioning is less important.

I like rogues, hybrids, pc controlled marking etc, but you really have to have players willing to invest time in understanding 4e mechanics. With understanding they can be awesome, without they are worse than the basic classes.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

There are ways to make a workable Hybrid out of the mix, though. If the PC has Shadow Walk from his warlock side, the Hidden Sniper feat will be a good boost to his accuracy- essentially a full time +2. And while that won't pump his damage per strike, it WILL boost his strikes per combat.

7 damage to me sounds like a rogue who is not getting combat advantage - with combat advantage a rogue does 2d6 extra damage with a dagger. Or a warlock who isn't cursing (for d6 extra damage).

Can't say if he's Cursing or not, but I failed to point out that Hidden Sniper should help with the CA thing as well.

Shadow Walk: Move 3 to gain Concealment (-2 to att rolls against)

and

Hidden Sniper (HotFK p315): gain combat advantage (+2 Att) with your ranged attacks against targets from whom you have partial concealment.

IOW, since Shadow Walk gives concealment against every foe that can see you, as long as he moves at least 3sq, he should have CA everywhere, all the time.

(And, FWIW, there are a fair number of Warlock movement powers...)

The question would then be does the Hybrid RogueLock have Sneak Attack as part of his suite of abilities?

 

[Castellanox7]

My $0.02 as someone who played a hand-xbow rogue:
If it hasn't been said, what's the weaponry choice of this character? You may need to allow the player to use curse and sneak attack as an at-will as opposed to a hybrid-encounter power. If they haven't taken the "Sneak in the Attack" feat (or whichever gives you CA when an enemy is being flanked), give that to them.

My $0.02 as a DM:
I'd ask everyone to see if they are having fun. If they aren't, then have everyone that wants to rebuild their character rebuild it--it's up to you if you want to Ion Cannon the party or not. With that, each of the players *should* have learned something about their character/character type. Are they retraining often?

Hope that helps!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I wasn't aware the hybrid's curse was 1/Encounter.

Even so, though, there may be a way around that:

Rod of Corruption +1
+1 Att/Dam; +1d6 on crits;
When Pact Boon is triggered, you may opt instead to transfer Warlock's Curse to each enemy within 5 squares of the original target

 

[Castellanox7]

I wasn't aware the hybrid's curse was 1/Encounter.

I think it is, I'm not completely sure...

 

[keterys]

Hybrid Curse and Sneak Attack are both at-will, just restricted by power type (ie, only on warlock powers, only on rogue powers).

 

[SensoryThought]

That is right. I have a hybrid ranger-rogue in my group and they quarry or sneak attack depending on whether they are using ranger or rogue powers. This actually adds a lot of versatility as it allows the 1d6HQ damage when it is too hard to get CA for the 2d6 sneak attack damage.

 

[Nebten]

I wasn't aware the hybrid's curse was 1/Encounter.

Even so, though, there may be a way around that:

I believe we maybe mistaking it for Multiclassing (with feats)?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I looked it up- it's not an encounter ability- but you would have to use Hybrid Talent to get Shadow Walk, which may screw up other aspects of the build.