Optimized Hybrid Builds?

[Maelodic]

Heyo,

I've always been drawn to hybrid builds- by hybrid I mean two or more methods of DPSing. I personally like Ranged (spell or bow), AoE Burst (usually caster), and melee burst options.
I've attempted to build quite a few of these- Zero was one I did before the enhancement pass, and I've recently tried to do this with the not-yet-released Bard trees.

Zero would obviously need a rework.
Some other examples would be Shoikan and Silverdance.

Before I invest everything in my bard, I'm wondering if you guys know of any other builds that accomplish huge aoe burst and decent melee damage while not blowinging up survivability- I'd like to get some inspiration instead of spending several hours on Lamannia accomplishing nothing.

I've determined that burst AoE can pretty easily come through epic destinies- mainly Divine Crusader (Bombardment/Strike Down) and Exalted Angel (Divine Wrath)- anybody can twist in Energy Burst as long as they're CHA or INT based - unless half damage to all mobs without evasion is okay. Grandmaster of Flowers has some castery abilities, and EiN is pretty spectacular, though the damage is considerably lower, EiN is rarely up, and the inability to twist in Energy Burst hurts- unless half damage is fine- which it may be on certain builds.

The main problem I've found with hybrids, however, is their lack of defensive capabilities or that they lack the DCs or Spell Pen or whatever is needed to tie everything together. It's always missing something that doesn't tie the build together. Shoikan does really well, but I haven't been able to come up with anything else.

I have a few more ideas but they're horribly/pretty flawed.
-Henshin Mystic capitalizing on Fire Power to enhance Celestial Bombardment and Energy Burst
(Main problems- not enough spell points - no meta magics - Energy Burst will always save, unless you go for CHA based - Self healing options limited)
-Melee hand and a half Artificer with a focus on energy burst and rune arm damage
(Main problems- not very survivable - rune arm DC kind of really sucks)

[dunklezhan]

You could throw in some Wiz or Sorc levels and build for Eldritch Knight, but the AOE melee enhancements are... underwhelming and way too expensive in AP and SP as a result. If the damage was upped (a lot) or the SP was dropped (a lot) or both were adjusted a bit, then they'd be awesome. But they aren't, so they're not. There's lots of other things I like about EK, but don't be fooled by those spellpower fuelled cleaves that are in the tree - they're a trap, frankly.

[TheGuyYouKnow]

the best ive seen was a 12 fvs 6 monk 2 pal with longswords, grandmaster stance and cha to str. main stat was charisma and twist fire energy burst into divine crusader
ive currently got a 12 druid 6 wiz 2 monk who is mainly melee in wolf form and uses dots and ice storm, 20 temp sp when you crit makes it hard run out of sp
artificers are hybrid

[drsmooth]

Henshin with a splash of Cleric/FVS will boost spell power, give you divine might and allow access to meta-magics, and slightly more SP.

[Maelodic]

artificers are hybrid

Yeah, but the problem with Artificers is that it's difficult to take them into epics- rune arm DCs aren't really able to get up there. I love their hybrid aspect but when a large amount of damage is the rune arm and that

the best ive seen was a 12 fvs 6 monk 2 pal with longswords

Henshin with a splash of Cleric/FVS will boost spell power, give you divine might and allow access to meta-magics, and slightly more SP.

Those aren't bad ideas- playing off on it a bit:

I was thinking a 15 Monk/3 Cleric/2 Paladin combination would be good- it would benefit both
Divine Might
Divine Grace
90 Spell Points
18 Extra Fire Spellpower
Smite Weakness

or 15 Monk/4 Cleric/1 Fighter
Drops Divine Grace for +1 feat and haste boost and ammorlating strike.

Thought Divine Bombardment costs 100 fricken spell points- this build would have very few at cap.

[keowyn]

Just throwing out a random idea.

15 Wizard/3 Bard/2 Rogue

Wizard:
Evocation line, good for Shiradi
Wraith form for healing, Warforged when not
Level 8 spells

Bard:
Swashbuckling with Int Dmg modifier, orb usage

Rogue:
Evasion and trap skills

Everything is based on Int, only problem might be not having enough spellpower.

[serthcore]

Heyo,

I've always been drawn to hybrid builds- by hybrid I mean two or more methods of DPSing. I personally like Ranged (spell or bow), AoE Burst (usually caster), and melee burst options.
I've attempted to build quite a few of these- Zero was one I did before the enhancement pass, and I've recently tried to do this with the not-yet-released Bard trees.

Zero would obviously need a rework.
Some other examples would be Shoikan and Silverdance.

Before I invest everything in my bard, I'm wondering if you guys know of any other builds that accomplish huge aoe burst and decent melee damage while not blowinging up survivability- I'd like to get some inspiration instead of spending several hours on Lamannia accomplishing nothing.

I've determined that burst AoE can pretty easily come through epic destinies- mainly Divine Crusader (Bombardment/Strike Down) and Exalted Angel (Divine Wrath)- anybody can twist in Energy Burst as long as they're CHA or INT based - unless half damage to all mobs without evasion is okay. Grandmaster of Flowers has some castery abilities, and EiN is pretty spectacular, though the damage is considerably lower, EiN is rarely up, and the inability to twist in Energy Burst hurts- unless half damage is fine- which it may be on certain builds.

The main problem I've found with hybrids, however, is their lack of defensive capabilities or that they lack the DCs or Spell Pen or whatever is needed to tie everything together. It's always missing something that doesn't tie the build together. Shoikan does really well, but I haven't been able to come up with anything else.

I have a few more ideas but they're horribly/pretty flawed.
-Henshin Mystic capitalizing on Fire Power to enhance Celestial Bombardment and Energy Burst
(Main problems- not enough spell points - no meta magics - Energy Burst will always save, unless you go for CHA based - Self healing options limited)
-Melee hand and a half Artificer with a focus on energy burst and rune arm damage
(Main problems- not very survivable - rune arm DC kind of really sucks)

I'm in the process of redesigning my favored soul, currently thinking about 12 fvs 6 bard 2 fighter, single handed fighting with focus on swasbuckler and angel of vengeance, melee/+fire spell AOE. But i'm also waiting on u24 for vanguard paladin, so i might do 12 fvs 6 paladin 2 fighter if it gets to be an uber tree.

[ArcaneArcher52689]

The main problem I've found with hybrids, however, is their lack of defensive capabilities or that they lack the DCs or Spell Pen or whatever is needed to tie everything together. It's always missing something that doesn't tie the build together. Shoikan does really well, but I haven't been able to come up with anything else.

I have a few more ideas but they're horribly/pretty flawed.
-Henshin Mystic capitalizing on Fire Power to enhance Celestial Bombardment and Energy Burst
(Main problems- not enough spell points - no meta magics - Energy Burst will always save, unless you go for CHA based - Self healing options limited)
-Melee hand and a half Artificer with a focus on energy burst and rune arm damage
(Main problems- not very survivable - rune arm DC kind of really sucks)

Some other options I've experimented with:
18/2 Druid/X or 15 druid/X make for great hybrid builds. They get lots of aoe casting, a great aoe casting tree, casting forms, melee forms, and lots of neat attacks.
18/2 FVS/Monk- decent casting, warpriest tree, centered w/ longswords is really fun.
16/3/1 sorcerer/bard/fighter-fighter is because of iconic. Right now, I only have this as 12/3/1, but it's super fun. ~200 sonic/electric spell power, cha-to damage(PDK), and will have tons of sla's when patch hits wednesday(reverberate+shout)


Builds I've set aside to look into:
jack jibbers: 12/6/2- wizard/bard/fighter(can do rogue too), wraith form swashbuckler that uses aura's for self healing/aoe, and some minor enchantment specialization.

[Maelodic]

artificers are hybrid

I've been thinking too much about Artificer but I fear disappointment in my future if I keep thinking about it. Adding Arti level to rune arm DC would straight up fix the DC issue without making them too strong. I wish they would. Rune arm's massive melee aoe potential is what draws me to them but that's horribly diminished without the rune arm. Turning on the auto charge with a rune arm makes it so you only have to hit a button about as much as a cleave and it becomes awesome just seeing everything drop.
But it's not viable in EE, even as a sun elf.

This is how I'd make Zero again, and may end up doing this even though it's sub-optimal. Like the amazing CHA synergy of Bards and Favored Souls, INT gives even more to this build in the form of skill points and reflex save- which I've calculated can get up to about 69 in Shadowdancer.

18 Arti/2 Monk
Shadar-Kai for Abundant step or Warforged for better Hjeals and one more feat.
1 Point Blank Shot
3 Insightful Reflex
6 Precise Shot
9 Improved Single Weapon Fighting
12 Construct Essense (WF: Cleave)
15 Greater Single Weapon Fighting
18 Quicken
21 SF: Evocation
24 Cleave (WF: Improved Precise Shot)
26 Perfect Single Weapon Fighting
27 Great Cleave or Empower
28 Doubleshot

Artificer
1 Bastard Sword
2 IC: Slash
3 IC: Range
4 Maximize

Monk
1 Single Weapon Fighting
2 Power Attack

Works in literally every destiny except maybe GMoF, and has every damage type and easily gets pretty fantastic defenses.

[Maelodic]

I'm in the process of redesigning my favored soul, currently thinking about 12 fvs 6 bard 2 fighter, single handed fighting with focus on swasbuckler and angel of vengeance, melee/+fire spell AOE. But i'm also waiting on u24 for vanguard paladin, so i might do 12 fvs 6 paladin 2 fighter if it gets to be an uber tree.

I'm excited to see what you come up with. I love your FvS build.

[Knight_slayer]

Eth's "Noyellowbar" build is the best malee/ranged hybrid I've seen in action.

[Knight_slayer]

Eth's noyellowbar build is the best melee ranged hybrid I've seen in action.

[serthcore]

I've been thinking too much about Artificer but I fear disappointment in my future if I keep thinking about it. Adding Arti level to rune arm DC would straight up fix the DC issue without making them too strong. I wish they would. Rune arm's massive melee aoe potential is what draws me to them but that's horribly diminished without the rune arm. Turning on the auto charge with a rune arm makes it so you only have to hit a button about as much as a cleave and it becomes awesome just seeing everything drop.
But it's not viable in EE, even as a sun elf.

This is how I'd make Zero again, and may end up doing this even though it's sub-optimal. Like the amazing CHA synergy of Bards and Favored Souls, INT gives even more to this build in the form of skill points and reflex save- which I've calculated can get up to about 69 in Shadowdancer.

18 Arti/2 Monk
Shadar-Kai for Abundant step or Warforged for better Hjeals and one more feat.
1 Point Blank Shot
3 Insightful Reflex
6 Precise Shot
9 Improved Single Weapon Fighting
12 Construct Essense (WF: Cleave)
15 Greater Single Weapon Fighting
18 Quicken
21 SF: Evocation
24 Cleave (WF: Improved Precise Shot)
26 Perfect Single Weapon Fighting
27 Great Cleave or Empower
28 Doubleshot

Artificer
1 Bastard Sword
2 IC: Slash
3 IC: Range
4 Maximize

Monk
1 Single Weapon Fighting
2 Power Attack

Works in literally every destiny except maybe GMoF, and has every damage type and easily gets pretty fantastic defenses.

I played something like that but ignoring ranged feats completely and taking triple spell focus evoc. Used spells mostly for CC (specially tactical detonation) Struggled a bit to get my evoc high enough for at-level epic elites but it worked very decently overall. Not sure which race is the best, i have only played melee arties as warforged /bladeforged.

[Maelodic]

I played something like that but ignoring ranged feats completely and taking triple spell focus evoc. Used spells mostly for CC (specially tactical detonation) Struggled a bit to get my evoc high enough for at-level epic elites but it worked very decently overall. Not sure which race is the best, i have only played melee arties as warforged /bladeforged.

Hmm...

INT
18 Base
7 Levels
10 Item
2 Insight
1 Exceptional
4 Tome
2 Battle Engineer
2 Arcanotechnician
6 Epic Destiny
2 Ship
2 Yugo
56(+23)

Evocation DC
10 Base
6 Level
23 INT
1 SF: Evo
3 Evocation Specialist
6 Enhancement
2 Augment
1 Profane
1 Ship Buff

52

Looks like Evocation DC has the same problem that rune arm DC does- it looks like it only works if you're going full bore (rune arm DC only hits 60):

INT 66 (+28) (Drow Elf - Max INT on pure arti)
10 Base
6 Level
28 INT
1 SF: Evo
1 GSF: Evo
1 ESF: Evo
3 Evocation Specialist
6 Enhancement
2 Augment
1 Profane
1 Ship Buff
1 Precise Casting Evocation
3 Sorc Past Lives
1 Wizard Past Life Feat
65 (61 no past lives)

And that's still not very impressive.

Was your Arti EE capable? What destiny did you run in? How was your overall experience?

[Maelodic]

Eth's noyellowbar build is the best melee ranged hybrid I've seen in action.

I love Noyellowbar

If I were to TR my ranger into anything, it would be that.

[serthcore]

Hmm...

INT
18 Base
7 Levels
10 Item
2 Insight
1 Exceptional
4 Tome
2 Battle Engineer
2 Arcanotechnician
6 Epic Destiny
2 Ship
2 Yugo
56(+23)

Evocation DC
10 Base
6 Level
23 INT
1 SF: Evo
3 Evocation Specialist
6 Enhancement
2 Augment
1 Profane
1 Ship Buff

52

Looks like Evocation DC has the same problem that rune arm DC does- it looks like it only works if you're going full bore (rune arm DC only hits 60):

INT 66 (+28) (Drow Elf - Max INT on pure arti)
10 Base
6 Level
28 INT
1 SF: Evo
1 GSF: Evo
1 ESF: Evo
3 Evocation Specialist
6 Enhancement
2 Augment
1 Profane
1 Ship Buff
1 Precise Casting Evocation
3 Sorc Past Lives
1 Wizard Past Life Feat
65 (61 no past lives)

And that's still not very impressive.

Was your Arti EE capable? What destiny did you run in? How was your overall experience?

My evoc dc was 60-62 at cap, on a bladeforged completionism with almost maxed gear on dreadnought. It wasnt 100% success, on end-game, more like 75%.
Definatelly it was ee capable, but in some at-lvl content (high road, wheloon) mobs were saving a lot, and rune arm dps was low compared to what i was getting blitzed. Melee dps was very good, even without THF feats glancing blows were very strong with all the BF/arti/imbue bonuses. On defenses it was lacking a bit on PRR, but no biggie, was very survivable overall.

[Maelodic]

My evoc dc was 60-62 at cap, on a bladeforged completionism with almost maxed gear on dreadnought. It wasnt 100% success, on end-game, more like 75%.
Definatelly it was ee capable, but in some at-lvl content (high road, wheloon) mobs were saving a lot, and rune arm dps was low compared to what i was getting blitzed. Melee dps was very good, even without THF feats glancing blows were very strong with all the BF/arti/imbue bonuses. On defenses it was lacking a bit on PRR, but no biggie, was very survivable overall.

Can you show me your DC and INT breakdown on this character? How'd you get 60-62 in a destiny without INT?

[serthcore]

Can you show me your DC and INT breakdown on this character? How'd you get 60-62 in a destiny without INT?

18 base + 7 lvl ups +11+3 item +2 completionism +1 litany +1 augment + 3 enhacements + 2 ship + 2 yugo + 6 tome. Ocasionally used ddo store pot or abishai cookies bonus or +2 alchemical pot (have plenty of all 3) 52 int, +2+4+2 when / if needed. could have twisted +1 int (epic completionism) and get another enhacement point.

evoc dc (partially copied yours):
10 Base
6 Level
21 INT
3 SF: Evo
3 Evocation Specialist
6 Enhancement
2 Augment
1 Profane
1 Ship Buff
3 sorc past life
2 precise evocation
1 wizard past life
= 59 (+1 if epic completionism) +1+2+1 when needed

[Purkilius]

Eth's noyellowbar build is the best melee ranged hybrid I've seen in action.

Did a few variations of this build doing past lives on my main and if I were to do a another ranger life it would be 11 ranger 5 wiz 4 pally cha based after oc with energy burst twisted and perma tenser.

[Therigar]

Wraith form for healing, Warforged when not

Bladeforged would be better. Requires a heart to drop paladin class and then an alignment change -- but still better.

Pally L1 (becomes Rogue with heart)
Wizard L2-14
Rogue L15 (alignment change after heart)
Bard L16-18
Wizard L19-20

Obvious advantages over warforged but presumes you have TP to use and iconics.