Hybrid Classes...Anybody seen a good one lately?

[Prestidigitalis]

Actually, I think that is worth keeping in mind - part of a barbarian's damage comes from their powers more than a standard striker damage boost. In many ways, that actually makes them extra good as a hybrid, rather than less!

Which is why I have previously suggested a Thaneborne Barbarian | Inspiring Warlord build. Which features you take is of course up to you, but the focus is Str+Cha. Awesome for when you have to take the fight to the enemy yourself -- Howling Strike is Strength-only and frankly is virtually the only at-will that my pure Barbarian ever uses. AC and Reflex will be weak, but as an Inspiring Warlord you can always use some of your healing on yourself to make up for it.

I will be interested to hear the results from anyone who gives it a try.

 

[interwyrm]

Avenger/Monk strikes me as a good combo.

Fully agree on this one. Might even be better in some ways than either base class.

The avenger striker bonus and the monk striker bonus have exclusive conditions - avenger needs you to have only one target next to you, and monk needs you to have more than one target next to you.

Depending on how you go about hybrid talents, you can get abusive AC. +3 from armor of faith, +2 from IAoF at paragon, +2 from monk unarmored defense, +2 from unarmored agility, +1 from staff fighting (which is not a bad choice if you take the melee bracers and a staff of the serpent.)

The avenger/monk might even be worth going with paragon hybrid, although in that case I'd probably pick censure of unity instead of monk unarmored defense, since the AC is overkill, and the boost to avenger damage when it's down to Party vs. Solo at the end of a fight.

 

[Pyrex]

I haven't had a chance to do a full build, but Monk/Seeker looks promising. They both need Wis/Dex, and adding in Seeker adds ranged damage/control to the melee powerhouse...

 

[Felon]

Actually, I think that is worth keeping in mind - part of a barbarian's damage comes from their powers more than a standard striker damage boost. In many ways, that actually makes them extra good as a hybrid, rather than less!

Well, Howling Strike confers a hefty damage boost, if that's what you mean. It has the odd effect of outdamaging encounter powers. Most encounter attacks do little more than standard 2[W] damage unless you have a corresponding Feral Might boost (usually, Rageblood Vigor is the go-to for extra damage).

And without Rage Strike, the dailies aren't big smackdowns either.

 

[sev]

I haven't had a chance to do a full build, but Monk/Seeker looks promising. They both need Wis/Dex, and adding in Seeker adds ranged damage/control to the melee powerhouse...

One of my players ran one of these for me a few weeks ago, and *wow* was it fun. So very, very mobile. Lots of dashing about, doing large amounts of damage, and denying the monsters any opportunity to retaliate (granted, this particular encounter was light on foes with ranged attacks).

Lately I've been toying with the idea of a character built to lead arcane armies. Which would probably work just as well with an army of rangers, but that's not quite the dramatic color I had in mind. One of 'em is a Sorcerer/Warlord, who leads from the front and the other is a Wizard/Warlord, who's better designed for leading from within the pack. I have no idea if they're playable, but they were fun to make.

The final concept character that keeps creeping into my dreams is a Bard/Wizard/MC-Warlock. "I'm not a thief! I'm a *criminal mastermind*." Like the warleaders in the previous paragraph, this is somebody built for support. In this case, support of a pack of thieves. Good for things like covering a rout, er, retreat.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

Most encounter attacks do little more than standard 2[W] damage unless you have a corresponding Feral Might boost (usually, Rageblood Vigor is the go-to for extra damage).

A few of them are pretty special. I like Great Cleave, Vault the Fallen and Curtain of Steel at low levels, and none of them gives my Rageblood any kickers.

And without Rage Strike, the dailies aren't big smackdowns either.

My level 12 Barbarian has never used Rage Strike yet. The bonuses from Raging -- both specific to the power itself and to the at-will or encounter that follows it -- can be enormous. Also, a number of Rage powers are close bursts, which have a decent chance of creating a crit and thereby triggering an MBA; add in that MBA damage and suddenly you can get into some pretty big numbers.

Having said that, I will agree that a lot of Barbarian advantages accrue only to a pure Barbarian. It would take some work to bring a hybrid to the same level of wow. It might be one of those cases where the best "mix" would be done with Paragon Multiclassing instead.