4th & Dragon : Dungeons and Dragons...and stuff

I have only the 4ePHB and I have read most of it and sort of studied the Classes chapter.  I have only played 4e once and that was with the leaked stuff and a community made adventure.

Has anyone actually played a fully multi-classed character?  It seems to me that one feat to pick a skill and class ability is a steal, but 4 feats to be able to swap out powers for powers of equal level seems way under-powered.

I suppose that the trick is finding some combination of powers that work well together?  The only other thoughts I have are some trick where you start with a class that gets good HP and Proficiencies and then dump all the powers for wizard ones?  Perhaps you could choose 2 stats and work on some multi-class combo that uses both heavily (dex/cha rogue/warlock)?

These musing are simply about number crunching, I understand that (and am actually work on one) multi-classing is an opportunity to express a character concept that does not fit clearly in any single class.

Can you make a character “stronger” with multi-classing?

Mourn

The power in multiclassing will come from versatility. It is an ongoing debate about the viability of multiclassing, but I tend to think that it is a matter of actually seeing it in play.

See one example of a multibuild I made in the other thread.

Versatility and Synergy are the key advantages - could be one or both of them. You are aiming to get something out of the second class that will complement your primary class in some way. i.e rogue likes the warlock eyebite power since it will allow him to go invisible against one opponent and then stab him, this is also a ranged power which is in short supply for the rogue - this is synergy. A warlord might like to have an area blast wizard powers, just so he can blow up minions (this might be especially useful if the group has no wizard).

Lots of things that affect multiclassing and what you can do:
- Choose your primary class based on class abilities (not powers) as the second class grants you nearly none.

- Check if implements will cause you trouble - i.e. wizard going into ranger may find out that he cannot hold his implement out and still shoot a bow or use two weapons. A Warlock/Rogue however has the ever useful pact blade which is perfect for warlock implement and rogue weapon. Powers may become gimped at high levels for this reason. If you have no access to an implement, i.e. ranger wizard, you might find out that the powers are becoming less and less useful since the magical bonus of the implement will be needed at higher levels to hit anything with the wizard powers. At low levels you will not notice this at all.

- Check for MAD. Many multiclass combinations will require too broad set of ability scores to be really good at any one thing. I would not want to have more than 2 really high scores and even that is a burden. The new defense pairing of stats is also one thing to watch out for. You are somewhat gimped if you need to have a high stat pair that also is used for one defense. i.e You are a rogue wizard, you need high int and high dex. This leads to “wasting” ability bonus on your reflex and AC defense, since both add to reflex and AC. Rogue and Warlock are much better, as you use dex and cha which both are used for different defense - also because cha is useful to rogue and is used for warlock powers (dex is no use to a warlock class abilities, so Rogue/Warlock is better than Warlock/Rogue).

These are game mechanical advantages/disadvantages, obviously the character roleplayed well can be fun even as a bit of a suboptimal build.

However, 4E allows you to increase stats more generously than 3E, so having to rely on multiple stats may be less of a problem in 4E.

I had a 3E cleric/wizard who counted on stat increases to make the combination viable, the theory being that before Intelligence started to become a limitting factor, she could bump it up to 13, which would be high enough for what she wanted to be able to do.

I hadn’t thought about ability score dependency in that light. I wonder if 4e actually is noticeably more forgiving on MAD while in play, or if those points are needed in more primary abilities.

Here is a good look at multi-classing.  I really enjoyed this artical.

http://www.critical-hits.com/2008/09/03/a-closer-look-at-4th-edition-multi-classing/

I enjoyed that article as well. I actually read it on the 5th and debated posting a thread about it. I must have forgotten about it when I finally got the chance.

I just start a new game with my cousin and his sisters. I made a paladin basicly he have 17 str, 16 wis and 16 cha. I was thinking about making a cleric first, but the group really need heals and a tank so i whent pally but i was thinking about multiclassing with cleric since i use the same stats and implement. I was aiming for some range power to support my groups since we are mostly melee(a 2-h fighter, a warlord and a rogue), but would it worth it to drop some pally power to get some range or maybe some melee cleric power?