Surprisingly Effective Hybrids

[TerraDave]

I had a charecter that was a genesia (sic) ranger-wizard. High Str Int combo worked surprisingly well. Very versatile, subbing as both melee and wizard back up (I still remember 1 stinking cloud in particular). Little low on HP though.

 

[MrMyth]

Going with the earlier mentioned Paladin/Warlock combos, I had a similar character (Paladin of Asmodeous, rawr!) who was basically all about putting the opponent in a lose-lose situation via Hellish Rebuke and Divine Challenge. Attack me? Take some damage. Attack someone else? Take more damage!

Add in Battle Awareness to punish them even more if they attack others, while also picking up Strikebacks to punish them even more if they attack you, and it gets even better. Is it more effective than a striker who just unleashes a ton of damage on the enemy up-front? Maybe not - but it can be quite a bit of fun to play.

 

[Herschel]

Assault Swordmage/Barbarian (Genasi) is a very workable combo. Having Curtain of Steel, Dimensional Vortex and Strikebacks as well as a Fullblade worked pretty nicely for forcing tough choices on an enemy. Throw in the Freedom Fighter Paragon Path via Warlord Multiclass and shenanigans abound.

 

[Gorgoroth]

Db

Ranger | Warlord hybrid, similar to the others here in that I have all immediate action attacks and use Twin Strike every round, except with a twist. I put 18 str and 16 dex and stay in hide armor. I have plenty good enough healing with my warlord powers, as well as really beneficial powers to focus fire on the enemies. E.g. my level 5 daily is the one where, hit or miss, you grant a free action to an adjacent ally for the rest of the encounter, on a ranged attack. So I pop that daily, let the rogue and the warden flank the enemy, and grant them a ton of attacks with twin strike using my bow and action points. My level 9 daily is attacks on the run, which is good melee or ranged, and instead of taking weapon focus, I used hybrid talent for prime shot / prime punisher / called shot so I get bonuses on all my attacks, melee or ranged. This, also with the fact that I can use +1 arrows to grant my allies bonuses to hit, or slow the enemy, or whatever comes to mind. My level 7 warlord encounter power is Join the Crowd, which will be retrained to offhand strike at level 13 to be swapped out for the better ranger minor attack, whilst retaining Join the Crowd as a Reserve Maneuver. So, I have an insane amount of immediate action attacks, healing, granted attacks, etc. I believe it's more fun and versatile than most rangers who focus on melee or ranged attacks, especially since I will be in the air quite often, beyond the reach of most enemies while still hurting them plenty.

This is, of course, notwithstanding the fact that I will be the only character with a permanent fly speed of 9 at level 16, and one encounter a day, a speed of 13. I have tons of ways of shift into and out of situations.

so far I'm having a lot of fun with it. He's basically Batman (stealth, acrobatics, intimidate, athletics), great str and dex, toughness, versatile, highly mobile, lightly armored warrior.

 

[DarkLord Of DForce]

I don't know if it's surprisingly effective, since it's pretty obvious from the get-go that this is a solid combo, but I put together an Avenger/Invoker hybrid with Paladin multiclass that basically keeps vulnerable 20 (or higher) radiant on every enemy for the whole fight, deals thousands of points of radiant damage every round, and keeps himself and his allies fully healed and free of debilitating conditions at the same time.

It's pretty okay.

Thousands of points of Radiant damage every round - sounds awesome. Can you post that build?

Thanks.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Going with the earlier mentioned Paladin/Warlock combos, I had a similar character (Paladin of Asmodeous, rawr!) who was basically all about putting the opponent in a lose-lose situation via Hellish Rebuke and Divine Challenge. Attack me? Take some damage. Attack someone else? Take more damage!

Add in Battle Awareness to punish them even more if they attack others, while also picking up Strikebacks to punish them even more if they attack you, and it gets even better. Is it more effective than a striker who just unleashes a ton of damage on the enemy up-front? Maybe not - but it can be quite a bit of fun to play.

I can't hit you with XP, but that is hilarious. I love the idea of giving the enemy that loose-loose situation, where, no matter what they do, they're boned. And combining Paladin with Warlock screams some interesting character conflict.

Fighter-ranger, with the tempest fighter ability and two off-hand defensive weapons (double sword or two gauntlet axes from dark sun). Ideal!

I did give you XP, but I'm whipping up a thri-kreen fighter/ranger now, and part of me wonders how many attacks I can get out of the dude. I was looking at the grapple-fighter, too, since keeping an arm free is actually crazy easy for a thri-kreen.

 

[Dannager]

Thousands of points of Radiant damage every round - sounds awesome. Can you post that build?

Thanks.

Sure.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Human, Invoker/Avenger, Morninglord, Revered One
Covenant Manifestation Option: Manifestation of Preservation
Hybrid Invoker Option: Hybrid Invoker Fortitude
Hybrid Avenger Option: Hybrid Avenger Fortitude
Hybrid Talent Option: Channel Divinity (Hybrid Invoker)
Versatile Expertise Option: Versatile Expertise (Heavy Blade)
Versatile Expertise Option: Versatile Expertise (Holy Symbol)
Human Power Selection Option: Bonus At-Will Power

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
STR 12, CON 15, DEX 12, INT 24, WIS 26, CHA 11

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
STR 10, CON 13, DEX 10, INT 16, WIS 16, CHA 9


AC: 40 Fort: 35 Ref: 38 Will: 39
HP: 172 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 43

TRAINED SKILLS
History +27, Insight +28, Intimidate +20, Perception +28, Religion +27

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +16, Arcana +22, Athletics +16, Bluff +15, Diplomacy +15, Dungeoneering +23, Endurance +17, Heal +23, Nature +23, Stealth +16, Streetwise +15, Thievery +16

POWERS
Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack
Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack
Avenger Feature: Oath of Enmity
Covenant of Preservation Power: Preserver's Rebuke
Feat Power: Oath of Urgency
Paladin Feature: Virtue's Touch
: Refire the Forge Attack
Feat Power: Kord's Favor
Feat Power: Raven Queen's Blessing
Feat Power: Amoth's Grace
Feat Power: Berronar's Salve
Avenger Attack 1: Avenging Shackles
Invoker Attack 1: Hand of Radiance
Avenger Attack 1: Bond of Retribution
Invoker Utility 2: Altar of Confinement
Avenger Utility 6: Oath of Enduring Wrath
Invoker Utility 10: Angelic Messenger
Morninglord Attack 11: Pure Glow
Morninglord Utility 12: Rising Sun
Invoker Attack 15: Mark of Anathema
Avenger Utility 16: Refire the Forge
Invoker Attack 17: Astral Dust
Morninglord Attack 20: Lance of Dawn
Invoker Utility 22: Invoke Heroism
Invoker Attack 23: Cascade of Five Suns
Invoker Attack 25: Eye of the Sun
Revered One Utility 26: Serene Protection
Avenger Attack 27: Brilliant Halo
Avenger Attack 29: Temple of Resolution

FEATS
Level 1: Hybrid Talent
Level 2: Oath of Urgency
Level 8: Soldier of Virtue
Level 11: Untiring Virtue
Level 12: Versatile Expertise
Level 14: Mercy's Reward
Level 16: Speaker of the Gods
Level 18: Divine Approval
Level 21: Devastating Invocation
Level 22: Invoker's Aura
Level 24: Divine Mastery
Level 24: Kord's Favor
Level 25: Raven Queen's Blessing
Level 26: Epic Resurgence
Level 26: Amoth's Grace
Level 27: Berronar's Salve
Level 28: Font of Radiance
Level 28: Pious Champion
Level 30: Punishing Radiance

ITEMS
Symbol of the Radiant Flame +6
Holy Gauntlets (epic tier) x1
Ring of the Radiant Storm (paragon tier) x1
Pelor's Sun Blessing (level 23)
Dazzling Glaive +6 x1
Magic Starweave Armor +6 x1
Bands of Equilibrium (paragon tier) x1
Amulet of Double Fortune +5 x1
====== End ======

 

[MrMyth]

Another Hybrid I had fun with was a result of my desire to recapture an 'old school' druid. I wanted someone running around, stabbing dudes with scimitars, calling down the lightning, summoning animals, turning into animals, healing allies, etc.

I ended up with a Hybrid Warden|Druid multiclassed into Shaman, and it turned out not just to be fun, but quite effective. Wisdom primary, Strength secondary meant I had very good defenses via Warden (Hybrid Talent to get the Warden armor proficiencies and use Wis for defense in light armor). Druid powers gave me some versatile ranged nature magic and up close beast form powers. Warden gave me dailies that could buff/transform me for an entire combat, plus the ability to mark enemies. Shaman multiclass feats gave me a companion (spirit) and a 1/encounter heal.

So I got to be a Jack of All Trades, Master of None. A bit of every role - defender, controller, striker, leader. Very durable, versatile - and flavorful.

 

[bganon]

I haven't played with it much, but I put together a half-orc sorcerer/monk once. He took advantage of the quirk that with the Hybrid Sorcerer, you can choose to use Dex for the Sorcerous Power damage bonus even if you take Dragon Soul as your Hybrid Talent. So while he has decent Strength from the race bonus, it's really a Dex/Cha build. All the sorc powers are close bursts/blasts, but now with Staff Expertise he could use ranged powers in melee too. Unarmored Agility is a pretty crucial feat, but after that the defences seemed to come out decent enough.

And an angry unarmored half-orc that leaps in, smacking everyone with his staff and breathing lightning while literally being on fire? Awesome.

 

[GameDoc]

With a few exceptions, it sounds like the best hybrids are unified by either role or power source. Also seems like humans and genasai are leading the pack for races.