WtH(ybrid)?!?!?!

[pemerton]

Your 2nd character is equipped with Hide, which a hybrid SM/Barb is not proficient in (SM is leather only). Changing back to Drowmesh is -1 AC, -1F, +1R.

Like I said - I'm not an expert in 4e builds! I only worked out I was wrong about this when I got home and looked up my PHB3.

Compare your new build to a swordmage wielding a two-handed weapon, and taking hafted defence (which would be -1 AC, +1 Ref compared to your current build):

AC: +1 for hide armour vs leather, -1 for changed class features (+2 barb agility vs +3 from warding & 2 warding feats), > overall no change

Fort: +1 for masterwork hide, +1 for hyb barb, > total +2

Ref: -1 for losing masterwork leather, +2 for barb agil, > total +1

Will: -1 for hyb sm rather than pure sm

Unsurprisingly, the shift to barbarian and hide armour ups Fort defence. The "surprising" factor here is Barbarian Armoured Agility - the +2 Ref turns out to work pretty well when you hybrid into a class that has Int or Dex as a primary stat. So instead of a hit to Reflex for switching from leather to hide, you're getting a boost.

Anyway, thanks for posting about this build - it works for an old RM character that I've been thinking about trying to rebuild in 4e.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Well, swordmage is widely considered to be amongst, if not THE, strongest class to hybrid. You lose very little in terms of your defending mechanic. You have little in the way of armor proficiency to lose. Warding can be a loss but obviously isn't always, as in this case. Pretty clearly barbarians and swordmages have nice stat synergy. Really it shouldn't be too surprising overall.

Swordmages hybridize really well. Most defenders work well too, though the swordmage loses the least overall. Wizards and other controllers generally also hybridize well. Warlocks tend to do pretty well too as they have a lot of choices for primary stat and some interesting powers and features. Other classes are more marginal in general, though pretty much anything has at least a few decent combos. Druids can be tricky for instance.

In any case hybrids really don't deserve a reputation for being weak. Its almost more the contrary.

 

[Black Knight Irios]

In any case hybrids really don't deserve a reputation for being weak. Its almost more the contrary.

I'd say it's more like this:
1) If you know what you are doing you can create a powerful character.
2) If you don't know what you are doing the outcome can be by far weaker than any standard char using a single class.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

I'd say it's more like this:
1) If you know what you are doing you can create a powerful character.
2) If you don't know what you are doing the outcome can be by far weaker than any standard char using a single class.

I'd say it's more like this:

1) If you have a very specific character concept in mind that you simply cannot do with regular multiclassing, hybrids can work to achieve it.

2) If you don't mind building a freakish chimaera, you can make a powerful character.

3) A few builds actually work well and make sense. For example, Inspiring Warlord | Thaneborn Barbarian makes sense and has good stat synergy, though I have not had a chance to think through the class features.

 

[Gort]

Hybriding is definitely a system mastery type thing. I have a player who LOVES delving through reams of rules to make a powerful character (his first RP experience was Shadowrun, so I can see why) and he's all over the hybrid rules.

Though he's going to make a paladin/warlock, which is a bit of a naff combo, because it includes warlock.