D&D 4E - Miscibility Table: A 4e Hybrid Handbook(by MwaO) (2024)

Strikers

Strikers usually have a half-striker mechanic going on - they lose a significant chunk of striker damage even if they always use powers from the striker side. As different strikers gain either offensive or defensive benefits(and lose both choices from hybriding), I'm generally looking at the loss of offensive capability as a simple way of measuring the difference.

An example of this is Rogue - Str Rogues normally gain +Str to sneak attack damage which happens once per round. They have a +1 to hit that they lose. They lose the automatic CA of going first(which has both offensive and defensive benefits - Rogues who go first don't generally want to move into melee). This is where Assassin really gets dinged as Cha Assassins normally gain +Cha damage to all their attacks. On the other side is Monk, which loses almost nothing, and Ranger which loses a +1 to hit in a somewhat limited situation.

Assassin
Summary: If it weren't for ki focuses, it would be red. Oh, wait, that got dinged...the best Assassin options are usually available by hybriding two other classes and then MC'ing into Assassin. Or hybriding with an Executioner.
Stats: Dex in general is bad because it usually only works with other Strikers and Striker|Striker isn't a great choice.
Class Features: Only gets the usual half-striker capabilities, but gets dinged on hit points and healing surges. If heal were on the skill list, I'd bump it to Purple on irony.
Implement/Weapon: Ki Focus is now one of the best options. A little too poachable by MC Assassin and Monk Feats and Elemental Initiate Theme.
At-Wills: Not much to see here.
Hybrid Feat benefits: Spending the hybrid feat on any of the choices are good ones. But that just represents just how far behind you are. There is a corner case option involving Shade Form+Shadar-Kai, but that's very build specific for a generalized guide.
Interesting Builds: Assassin|Bard. Assassin|Paladin. Assassin|Invoker. You won't regret playing these choices as much as all the other ones.

Assassin(Executioner)
Summary: Better than expected
Stats:Dex in general is bad because it usually only works with other Strikers and Striker|Striker isn't a great choice. If you want to go Essentials|Essentials, that's an upgrade, but Dex/Cha isn't that common.
Class Features:Solid use of MBA counts for a lot.

Avenger
Summary: This is what you take to make your weak controller tough or give your Avenger something to do when Oath isn't practical.
Stats:Int/Wis or Dex/Wis. Int/Wis works with a lot of the stronger classes. It gets a sky blue because it is one of the few classes that can honestly take a 16 in the primary stat without too many problems, allowing for an 18 in the other one. The race of Human loves this.
Class Features: Typical Half-Striker capabilities.
Weapon/Implement:Normally it would be blue, but there's just enough support to go implement-only. Bond of Censure in particular is a great 'so I'm down to single targets, what do I want to do now?' for Controllers.
At-Wills: Okay at-wills, not especially great. Overwhelming Strike with Power of Skill or Bond of Censure for a controller effect.
Hybrid Feat benefits:+3 AC with a hybrid feat. Upgradable to a total of +5 with 1 more feat? No hand requirements? That's very nice, Sky Blue even if you are wearing Cloth on both sides anyway...

Barbarian
Summary: Strong basic features make this work well.
Stats:Str and that's basically it, works well with a lot of different classes, especially Defenders who want some Striker capabilities. Most Barbarians won't have their other capabilities as they don't get that for free and they're generally on the weaker side.
Class Features: Unusual Half-Striker capabilities. A downside of hybrid Barbarians is that they lose at least one rage per day and many of their capabilities depend on them being in a rage. On the other hand, Rages are generally on the lousy side.
Weapon: Blue. They've got some issues with weapons vs. hands.
At-Wills:Generally solid at-wills
Hybrid Feat benefits:Armored Agility is very nice - a Str/Dex or Str/Int character

Blackguard
Summary:One of the better Off-Defender Striker options due to Holy Symbol, their armor, and ability to pick up Divine Sanction. If only they had an at-will option that didn't use a melee weapon...
Stats: Str+Cha on its own. Can easily be pure Cha as a hybrid because it can take the Cha Paladin at-wills such as specifically Virtuous Strike.
Class Features:Functional mark via Sanction powers for off-defender Melee Attacker|Blackguards and free damage bonus to everything with a Virtue pick.
Implement/Weapon: Has a lot of flexibility with either Holy Symbol or all martial weapons, but potentially being stuck with Versatile Mastery brings this down.
At-Wills: Decent at-wills, but many builds will be trying to figure out how to avoid ever using them. Interesting question at the moment is whether or not you can pick Paladin at-wills instead of being limited to just Virtue choices.
Hybrid Feat benefits:Plate and Heavy Shield
Interesting Builds: Blackguard|Cha Ranged Striker(Warlock or Sorcerer) - can easily function with Str/Cha, Dex/Cha, or Int/Cha for those.

Monk
Summary: Add some striker with a dash of controller to your weapon-using build. May have AC issues.
Stats: Str/Dex - a Striker who has some options! Or Dex/Wis with implements.
Class Features:Lose the defenses, but unlike a lot of the striker classes, does full Monk damage when hitting people with monk powers.
Weapon/Implement: Implement that turns weapons into magical is now just blue.
At-Wills:Burst 1 at-will that does a lot of damage with the class feature - nice thing to have.
Hybrid Feat benefits: Deceptive. Unarmored Defense doesn't have the support that Armor of Faith does. The other options are Red(you don't actually use real unarmed attacks for anything)
Interesting Builds: Monk|Warden. Monk|Seeker. Monk|Invoker. Lots of other options work. Monk/Ranger can be surprisingly strong either Str/Dex or Dex/Wis depending on focus. Assuming you spend the hybrid talent feat on AC, essentially you're a Monk who has some other capability.
Warning: Monks need either Str or Wis for their hybrid striker feature on OCB. Not actually a rule, though - should be able to take the Con or Cha striker builds.

Ranger
Summary:Add class features, use Twin Strike.
Stats:Str/Dex or Dex/Wis
Class Features: They get roughly the same striker class features everyone else does, but then on top of it, get powers that take advantage of it.
Weapon:Greatbow or Superior Crossbow is nice, but doesn't combine that well with other options. Ditto for two-weapon fighting with many of the other builds.
At-Wills:Twin Strike. Throw and Stab is nice in theory, but I'd really be curious to see someone try to pull that off in game - there are simply going to be situations where there is nothing to throw at and then move up to...Human got a big upgrade with access to an extra-at-will and Archery Mastery to play a bit of controller at the cost of a feat - getting both Twin Strike and Throw and Stab + good MBA option can make this work well.
Hybrid Feat benefits: Not much to see here, mostly for specific feats or paragon paths.
Interesting Builds: Almost anything works, even things crazy suboptimal in theory.

Rogue
Summary: Loses a lot of damage, doesn't necessarily gain a lot, might have issues getting riders.
Stats:Str/Dex or Dex/Cha. Dex has issues. On the plus side, both Str and Cha attract a lot of builds.
Class Features: Typical Half-Striker capabilities. Rogue Tactics, +1 to hit with certain weapons, and the First Strike capability are a big loss. Especially as they don't get sneak with MBAs, only Rogue powers.
Weapon:Light blade, while can be dealt with by feats, is not the best choice for many of the obvious mixtures. It does generally only take up one hand, so implement users aren't as badly off as they are normally.
At-Wills: At-wills have Light blade issues. They're good, needing that as a base is not.
Hybrid Feat benefits:Rogue Tactics is decent. If you're concentrating on being a Striker, you're going to want to pick this up or else lose all your encounter riders...Rogue Weapon Talent can be handy for certain highly focused builds that could want to use a dagger as an implement(Monks, Sorcerers)
Interesting Builds: Tempest Fighter|Rogue. You gain +1 to hit with offhand weapons, +2 to damage - in effect, you're a dagger rogue who gains the benefit of a slightly bigger weapon and has +1 AC. With a feat for Hide Armor, you have a respectable AC of 18. Rogue|Invoker - Invokers like to daze multiple targets, Rogues like dazed targets. Also gives the hybrid Rogue something to do when there's no CA. Rogue|Sorcerer for all the +1 to hit feats you can pick up, along with the melee/ranged quality of a dagger. Permastealth could be in theory interesting, but usually it is a party-negative encouraging your DM to be smarter.

Sorcerer
Summary: Stats are a problem. Otherwise, would be Blue.
Stats:Str/Cha or Dex/Cha. Secondary stats are very important. Class features give a lot, but that makes Sorcerer very unflexible.
Class Features:Typical Half-Striker capabilities. But better than average due to the Str to AC option.
Weapon/Implement: Dagger and Staves are not the best possible weapon choices. But better than nothing.
At-Wills: Solid at-wills, but not exceptional. You'll feel like you want two. Human Cha builds with an AC option are very solid.
Hybrid Feat benefits:Okay. Some decent benefits are hiding in the Soul of the Sorcerer option, especially the riders.
Interesting Builds: Blackguard(or Paladin)Sorcerer. Bard|Sorcerer.
Warning: Hybrid Sorcerers almost always need Str or Dex as secondary stat

Vampire
Summary: Lots of nice features, if only there wasn't that only having 2 surges issue and likely not wanting Vampire encounter powers. If you're going Vampire, you're doing this because your game typically has 3+ encounters per day, not because you have 1-2. More than 3, and Vampire becomes a very strong hybrid.
Stats: Dex or Cha. You get one at-will from Vampire and it will be either Dex or Cha. Not too bad other than it might limit Daily choice.
Class Features: Solid, again, just two surges being the limiting problem and needing to get a Vampire feat to make up for it. Hurts to lose Vampire Reflexes though given only getting Cloth.
Implement/Weapon: Ki Focus is now one of the best options. A little too poachable by MC Assassin Feats, but you get Holy Symbol as well? Two off-slot implements and a shield bonus means lots of options for picking items for your hands.
At-Wills: At-wills are all decent.
Hybrid Feat benefits:Near worthless. You really want Darkvision that badly, be a Drow which is one of the best races for Vampires.
Interesting Builds: Paladin(or Blackguard)|Vampire. Martial|Vampires can end up being really tough via the Martial Vampire feat.
Warning: Many hybrid Vampires will suck and not in the blood kind of way.

Warlock
Summary: Not bad. Has some stat issues and the loss of defensive values and boons hurts.
Stats: Cha/Int works well with many things. Con/Int, not so much, Cha/Con can be fun, too.
Class Features: Keep most of the striker capabilities, but lose the defensive values.
Implement: Standard implement fare.
At-Wills: Okay at-wills, not especially great. Especially in the context that the Con/Int side lacks support.
Hybrid Feat benefits: Shadow Walk is solid. Prime Shot might be necessary for feat support.
Interesting Builds: Warlock|Paladin. Melee + Ranged options. Warlock|Invoker - a bit strange, but Con/Wis isn't too bad if you get some AC via hybrid Invoker Armor...Warlock|Battlemind - use Warlock's ability to control movement to force things into spots where Battlemind's mark is more useful.