Yesterday I ran EEs with a player playing a 9 Sorc / 7 Wizard / 4 FvS.

He was AWESOME!

And I've got nothing against a really good player coming up with a really good build.

BUT:

Sorc/Soul?

Really?

These two classes by Lore are both innate - You're born with the basic abilities and advancement is not through choice - Usually a PnP DM will allow you to choose your next spell yes but that spell is being granted to you rather than you spending the time and effort to learn it.

DDO works on a Dual-Class system as opposed to Multi-Class {3rd Ed.+D&D threw out the Multi-Classing system and renamed & redid the Dual-Classing system of previous editions} so we can't even say that "Well he was given both abilities at Lvl 1" because he wasn't!
How does someone who starts life as a Sorceror become a FvS? How does someone who starts life as a FvS become a Sorceror? How does someone who starts life as a Wizard become either?

The answer is that you can't! You can't "learn" to be a FvS! You can't "train" to become a Sorceror! These classes are innate!


Now of course DDO has to make some trade-offs but do we really need to allow quite so much?


The Devs kept alignment restrictions in play for Barbarians, Bards, Monks, Paladins and yes Druids {though they messed up that last one badly - WolfMonks!}.

So clearly the Devs know that unlimited Multi-Classing is bad for balance!

So why did they not see all the other consequences of allowing quite so much Multi-Classing to take place?



Here's some possibilities the Devs could have used:

1) You could take Sorc or Soul at Lvl 1 then multiclass into any of the other classes at a later point.
You can't multiclass into a Sorc or Soul ever.
This would mean both classes would be bad choices to splash Rogue onto for obvious reasons - But they already are comparatively bad for that.

2) Druid should have been True Neutral required - No way to play a WolfMonk!

3) Ranger & Paladin = Mutually Exclusive - Like Sorc/Soul this is for Lore reasons - Rangers are Nature Loving Wilderness Warriors who are rarely Lawful and even if they were Lawful would not be able to put in the years of training to become a Paladin.
In a way Ranger {devoted to a nature deity} is a Paladin by another name {with abilities based on his focus} already!
Paladins on the other hand are Holy Warriors who've spent their formative years in training - They have no affinity for the wild whatsoever!

Easy way to do this would have been to make Rangers unable to be Lawful {would have stopped Ranger-Monks too.}.

4) Certain Prestiges could have been made available to Multiple Classes{With slight differences for each - maybe multi-selectors}:
Stalwart Defender - Fighter, Barbarian.
Sacred Defender - Paladin, Cleric, FvS.
Kensai - Fighter, Monk
Tempest - Ranger, Fighter, Paladin, Barbarian, Rogue, Bard.
Deepwood Sniper - Ranger, Rogue
Mechanic - Rogue, Artificer
Acrobat - Rogue, Monk
Assassin/Ninja Spy - Rogue, Monk, Bard
Swashbuckler - Bard, Fighter, Rogue

5) Racial Prestige Trees could have been built {actually still could} to emphasise that a race is particularly good at one type of multi-class:
Elf - Enhancements to boost Arcane Power so as to make an actual Fighter/Mage {Or Sorc} that has Lvl 9 Spells available and much higher DCs even if one goes 10/10!
Dwarf - Fighter/Cleric {Or FvS} - Only this time Divine Power.
These should probably still be less than a Pure Mage or Cleric could get but not so much as to make these builds unviable.
Halfling - Bard/Rogue
Warforged - FvS/Paladin {Lord of Blades}
H-Orc - Barbarian/Ranger or possibly Barbarian/Druid
H-Elf - Arcane/Divine - One Innate, One Trained - FvS/Wizard or Sorc/Cleric
Gnome - Bard/Illusionist
Human - Fighter/Monk

Drow would be the only one that really doesn't stand out as multi-class capable as the options are slim and Drow are the most likely in PnP to be single-classed {Specifically they're either Clerics, Wizards or Fighters. In Eberron it's even worse where they're more Barbarians than anything else.}.
The Drizz't {Ranger/Fighter} wouldn't be necessary if Tempest was available to Fighters anyway as it should be.
Their bonuses to Int and Dex suggest maybe Ranger/Rogue {Bard/Rogue being already taken by Halflings.}.