Hello, I’m an Avengevoker

2010 May 5
by Stupid Ranger

For D&D Encounters, I opted to try out the PHB3 Hybrid character class, mostly for the renown points, but also for a change of pace.  I’ve been playing my Hybrid for 7 weeks now, and I wanted to take a few moments to share my thoughts.

Creating my Avengevoker

I did a little bit of research on the Hybrid class before I made a decision on what to play.  I opted for an Avenger/Invoker Hybrid; the divine nature of the two halves and the similar stat-requirements seemed like a good start.  I also wanted to combine the controller and striker roles; I like my Wizard controller, but I wanted a striker option too.  The pieces all fell into place.

In addition to selecting a PHB3 class for the renown points, I also opted to use Character Builder & a PHB3 feat.  I don’t usually use Character Builder; I roll up characters with pencil & paper.  But hey, for renown points, I’d give it a go, and I’m very glad I did.  I found the rules and options for rolling up a hybrid a bit complicated, mostly when sorting out which, and how many, options were available.

For my feat, I opted for Battle Caster Defense (PHB3, p.177) to give me a bonus to defense against attacks of opportunity; with the spell-casting Invoker features and melée Avenger attacks, the possibility of provoking opportunity attacks seemed pretty high and a little extra protection seemed like a good idea.

In keeping with the nature of the Hybrid, I selected a mix of Avenger & Invoker powers.  One each of At-Will powers: a melée power for the Avenger part of me, a ranged power for the Invoker part.  Then I selected a melée Avenger power for my Encounter power and a ranged Invoker power for my Daily.

If I Had It to Do Again…

There are a few things I would have done differently.  Having selected my Encounter power as a melée power, I would have selected a different feat; I would have selected the Hybrid Talent Feat to take the Avenger’s Armor of Faith feature for the bonus to my AC.  As it is, I’m a little too squishy to really use my Encounter power without tempting death.

So why would I make these changes?  In the D&D Encounters environment, where there is little chance for an extended rest, the Encounter power becomes very, very important.  Being too squishy to stay in melée combat, I either need to have a better AC or stay out of combat.

Final Thoughts on the Hybrid

I really like the idea of combining two different classes.  The min-max-er in me sees the fun in trying out new combinations.  But I truly feel as if the Hybrid is a class that really needs to be a few levels older before it becomes effective.  From the vantage point of Level 1, my Hybrid is pretty ineffective, but I know she’s got great potential for the future!

5 Responses leave one →
  1. May 6, 2010

    The hybrid rules are an interesting beast. I like the idea, and I play with hybrid combos in the Character Builder all the time. I’ve even hit upon a couple of really good combos; a dragon sorcerer/thaneborn barbarian is pretty good, for example, and not necessarily an expected combination.

    More often than not, though, I feel underwhelmed by the results. I think this may be because a lot of the really cool pieces of the classes that I’m mashing together don’t make it into the hybrid build (which, really, is as it should be; a hybrid rogue/monk shouldn’t be as good at being either a rogue or a monk as a full-fledged member of either class).

    I think maybe I need to look at it from a different angle. It’s true that you can look at hybrid rules from a purely mechanical perspective and try to find the “best” combination, but I don’t think that’s the point of the system. I think you were on the right track when you chose classes that were thematically appropriate together, and that meshed with your character concept. I think that the real strength of the hybrid rules is that they allow you to put rules to the picture you have in your head if that picture doesn’t fit neatly into one of the existing classes.

  2. May 9, 2010

    I have a love/hate relationship with hybrids. There’s just too many power combinations – it drives me bonkers!

    I’ve wanted to go with a barbarian/ranger, druid/cleric, and an avenger/warlock. -sigh- I guess I should try to pull a barbarian/ranger/druid/cleric/avenger/warlock on my DM and see how it goes…

    -Tourq

  3. May 26, 2010

    I bet somewhere right now, some troll is complaining about how the Hybrids doesn’t cover old-school multi-classing and is demanding that WotC release Tri-Brids.

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. Gamecrafters' Guild » Blog Archive » Hybrid Characters
  2. D&D Encounters: Finally Level 2 | StupidRanger.com

Leave a Reply

Note: You can use basic XHTML in your comments. Your email address will never be published.

Subscribe to this comment feed via RSS