Hmm, I prefer playing as either an offensive mage+warrior or a illusionist mage + thief, so whenever it's possible, I try to look for a class like this. But I just prefer if the game has no calss system, so I can do whatever hybrid I want.

In Dragon Age Origins I had the most fun with an arcane warrior + blood mage. I even soloed the game on nightmare with one. If the points are properly distributed, the character is literally unkillable, and can cast almost unlimited spells, while swinging a sword around. It's crazy. And very fun. And OP as hell.
Usually I'm not a power-gamer, but after finishing the game 20+ times I started messing around :D

In Baldur's Gate I had the most fun playing with a Fighter Mage dual. Dualed at lvl 3. I only wanted the fighter "base" class so I can wear armor and swing a sword if necessary.

In Morrowind I go for sword+bow+offensive magic. Sneak system in that game is too sucky for a thief+illusion mage to be enjoyable. In Oblivion and Skyrim I sneak around with illusion spells.
I love sneaking around and magic is fun to use :D

In Divine Divinity I played basically what I considered the best of three worlds. I chose the warrior to start with, but running around with a two-handed sword didn't stop him from throwing a mean fireball (or was it called metor or something?), picking locks and pockets.

What shapeshift you chose?

I’m currently playing "Last Dream" which features a Grey Mage class. The Grey Mage has access to the healing and protective spells of the White Mage, and to the offensive spells of the Black Mage, although he cannot learn the highest tier spells of these other two classes. Also, he can wear heavy armor light the Knight which allows the player to develop the Grey Mage in such a way that he fills out whatever void there is in the party. For my current playthrough, he is taking the role of a Tank/Healer character who can also do some decent damage with close combat weapons.

LoL!

I was telling someone a while back that in Skyrim I am almost ALWAYS in stealth except in town (where it is sometimes)
It's usually one of the first things I get to 100.
I actually get annoyed if anyone sees me.

The werewolf!

I laughed my ass off the first time I transformed - I was expecting "wolf" to be a shaggy quadruped. Imagine my surprise when my little hobbit turned into a massive seven foot tall hulking hunched werewolf ;)

I was torn between this one and the stag I think? The one that was more defensive minded and I believe possessed knockback or prone. In the end, I've loved my choice.

Did the thread eat my last post or is it just taking a while to come up?

*edit LOL weird my previous post never posted until I made this post! Strange!

Heh, I went with stag and I too expected tochange into some mighty 4-legged stag so I was quite surprised when I saw myself. :-)


To stay on topic, I much prefer to play clear-cut classes instead of going too hybrid. Otherwise I am not sure which way to use more extensively and I feel like I could be stronger in all aspects than I am with that character.
Titan Quest comes to mind but there it is expected and needed and even there I prefer to favour one class extensively over the other.
Also I quite like druids and clerics in DnD and similiar settings but I am not sure if they are fit to be called hybrid.

Not standard certainly, but I LOOOOVEd my

Warden in Dark Age of Camelot

The best of both worlds in my opinion, I find most hybrids to be too on the weak side usually, but not the Warden! Buffs and heals and a good number of practical nature-based magic abilities (including the ever-necessary "bubble") with a few offensive and defensive skills, with the ability to train in bladed or blunted weapons and do some significant damage that way too and parrying. Definitely a melee combat class with slight support abilities.

Neverwinter Nights - Druid/Shifter hybrid (and you can add a 3rd hybrid class if you want)

You get dozens of different shapes (bear, minotaur, vampire, dragon, etc etc) you can shape-shift into (most melee with different strengths/weaknesses) plus you can still cast even L9 spells if you don't shapeshift. With community mods you can have even more.

I assume Neverwinter Nights2 has something similar too?

Another of my favorite hybrids is the Bishop from Wizardry 8. (Note that Bishops in other Wizardries are quite terrible until extremely high levels.)

The Bishop is a Priest/Mage hybrid. In Wizardry 8, Bishops get the equipment selection of a Priest (including things like shields and medium armor) as well as the Priest's Turn Undead ability. They also get the spell selection of both classes, without any caster level penalty, and with the ability to use higher level spells at the same levels (assuming skill is high enough). This means that a Bishop can effectively replace both classes in your party.

As if that weren't enough, Wizardry 8 gives Bishops Alchemy and Psionics as well. This means that they can learn *every spell in the game*. Essentially, they combine the traits of no less than 4(!) classes into one, while *still* able to use medium armor and shields. (Actually getting every spell requires saving spell picks for late game, however.)

Bishops get a couple minor perks as well. They get a 25% bonus to Artifacts, allowing them to more easily identify items and use artifacts that allow you to cast certain spells early (such as Heal All and Resurrection) as well as the SP restoring Magic Stones more easily. Furthermore, they can Remove Curse without having to cast a spell (though nothing prevents them from learning said spell).

If anything, I think Bishops might actually be a bit overpowered. The downsides are slower leveling (but no more than 2 levels below a pure caster) and the need to practice more to get their skills up.

I think the most well known hybrid class is the Kensai/Mage from BG2. It's also the one that I personally like the most. In the right hands, it's definitely a game breaker, but at it's core it's still a class like all the rest where you must pick your fights with the strengths and weaknesses of the class in mind.

Ah, I see. I skimmed over that part I guess.

How about the Swashbuckler from the same game. It's a rogue class that gets some bonuses that push it very much into the fighter category, with minor thieving penalties.

My favourite hybrid in the Baldur's Gate series is the Blade: a Bardic kit, that as a Bard can cast spells, pick pockets and buff the party with their song, while the Blade kit gives it some extra defensive/offensive melee abilities. Plus Bards have a good Lore score, so they're the party's identifier of items as well.

Bard's are the ultimate hybrid, with their 'Jack of All Trades' slogan: proficient in all, master of none.

In Icewind Dale, the plain unkitted Bard is very much fun as they don't have just one buffing song, but when increasing in level they can choose a song to sing, varying from among others melee buffs, fear removing and healing songs.