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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bisonopolis" data-source="post: 4270533" data-attributes="member: 68168">Also posted on the official Char Op forums, I'll try and keep this one updated whenever I update the other.Fighter/WizardThe wizard multiclass offers the fighter three main things: AoE marking, great defensive utility powers, and a small splash of control. The utility powers are especially good; Mirror Image, Displacement, and Shield are amazing on a defender, and things like Stoneskin, Dimension Door, and Expeditious Retreat will come up less often but can be just as swingy. And none of these require any points in intelligence, which is good, as I don't believe a Fighter/Wizard should concentrate at all on int.Why? For one, stat points are a precious thing at this point. You can't expect to focus on four stats and be successful at higher levels. For another, you're not going into wizard for damage. This isn't 3e; you get plenty of damage out of your fighter exploits. You're going into wizard to be a better defender, and therefore your focus should be on large AoEs, battlefield control (difficult terrain, walls, Resilient Sphere, etc), and spells that deal damage on a miss.At fourth level you can dip into wizard encounter powers. I'd choose either Color Spray for a big AoE (though it's a blast) or Icy Terrain for a smaller burst that marks and creates difficult terrain. This basic choice progresses through pretty much all the levels of encounter powers; large blasts, or smaller bursts that sometimes come with difficult terrain. The big standout here is Chain Lightning at level 23, but I'm not sure I'd give up Warrior's Urging just to mark every enemy within 20 squares for one turn.At eighth level you can dip into utility powers, which is where things start really getting good. Right off the bat you can grab Shield with it's respectable +4 AC until your next turn as an immediate interruption once per encounter. At level ten you gain access to Mirror Image which, IMO, is absolutely ridiculous for any defender trying to max out its AC. At 16, both Displacement and Stoneskin can be extremely effective in lowering the damage taken by both yourself and your party members. At 22 you don't even look at the wizard list because you're taking No Surrender, which is that good.The wizard daily power options don't generally offer anything you'd want. Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, Sleep, and Wall of Ice pretty much exclusively make up the list of powers you'd even consider. Only take the daily power swap feat if you plan on paragon multiclassing, and only paragon multiclass for a second utility power.At level 11 you choose your paragon path. Swordmaster, Iron Vanguard, Battle Mage, and the wizard paragon multiclass are the only ones I'd recommend, in that order. Swordmaster's Steel Blitz and Crescendo Sword recharge your powers, which helps lessen the impact of trading out exploits for spells. Note that Crescendo Sword can recharge your non-fighter powers like Mirror Image. Iron Vanguard greatly increases your ability to push opponents around and synergises well with any difficult terrain you've created. Battle Mage is actually pretty bad, but if you really, really want to take a wizard paragon path it's your best choice with Arcane Rejuvenation. Don't fall into the trap of going into Wizard of the Spiral Tower; you will not have the int or cha to make its abilities worth anything, and Corellon's Implement is not as good as you think it is.IMO, the best Fighter/Wizard defender multiclass will pick up something along the lines of Arcane Initiate (Scorching Burst), Acolyte Power (Mirror Image), and maybe Novice Power (Icy Terrain -> Frostburn). The inability to pump Int while maintaining the requisite strength and con for your defender abilities really limits your options compared to something like a Fighter/Warlock. But Fighter/Wizard is still definitely doable and actually a good deal more powerful than the core 3.5e version.. it's just that, with the drastic lowering of known powers in 4e combined with the limited synergies found in the two classes, an optimized core 4e Fighter/Wizard gish really doesn't end up feeling very gish'ed at all.</blockquote>

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