Build #9, presumably: a battlemind|wizard blood mage.
Why hybridize at all instead of straight wizard or battlemind-MC-wizard (TL;DR = for hit points, surges and PsiAug bennies):
Spoiler
Show
As wise people (*cough*KuraldGalain*cough*) frequently remind us, if you're going to make a hybrid, be sure you have a clear goal in mind. My goal with this build is survivability, for a character with a feature that hinges on hurting himself. I like the thematic concept behind the Blood Mage wizard paragon path, because I feel that potent magic is something you should have to pay for. Or, conversely, that if you really go the extra mile and put something of yourself into your work, you should get more out of it. But the unarmored, low-HP, low-surges, no-healing-utilities wizard is not a great basis for that sort of play.
So I wanted another base class that could give me armor, hit points,
resistances, healing, and other valuable uses for high Constitution.
That's the battlemind. There are some trade-offs, but I feel like I get
my money's worth.
The basic idea here is to have loads of HP and a high surge value and make sure you can heal yourself a couple or three times each battle. Use dwarven race for one minor-action heal, a skill power for an immediate reaction heal, maybe another skill power or battlemind utility. Dwarves can also get +2 Con and can add ConMod to their surge value in paragon tier, so that's good.
Going battlemind has other advantages over, say, swordmage. Power points let you use certain items to excellent effect (a disproportionate number of which have encounter powers rather than dailies). Having the Psionic Augmentation feature is necessary for the Topaz Crusader epic destiny, one of the more solidly valuable EDs in my opinion and also a source of more Constitution. The battlemind defensive feature isn't very restrictive (just "wear heavy armor"), and it benefits plenty from the very high Constitution you'll have. And Psionic Toughness adds more hit points and self-healing but requires (here we go again) power points. You know what? It's looking like we won't actually ever use power points for, you know, powers, but having them available adds a lot to the character anyway. And your marking and mind spike will help attract a little attention away from your party members.
You want that attention on you because there are plenty of burst and blast wizard powers that are good but don't see much use because wizards don't want to be in the middle of melee. Wade right in and start blasting. You can fall back on battlemind powers once you run out of arcane -- just be sure you pick something that doesn't need augmentation to be good.
Don't try this with straight wizard, folks. You're already looking at something like 40 hp of self-inflicted damage per combat. A wizard just doesn't have the stamina for that, fight after fight after fight. Some people might ask at this point, "Why bother hybridizing wizard, then? Just use battlemind for even more hit points and surges! Get access to the paragon path by multiclassing." Not a bad idea ... except that the path's Big Special Thing only works for its own powers, wizard dailies and wizard encounter powers. If you're only going to apply that once in a while, that's a perfectly acceptable build, but it's not what we're aiming for here. Also, being able to select four or five wizard utilities kicks butt. :smallamused:
The chassis, which is based on big damage-soaking rather than a particular combo of powers or class features:
Spoiler
Show
So ... Dwarven Durability, Arcane Familiar (dragonling), Swift Recovery and Psionic Toughness feats add to the amount you heal. Toughness and Psionic Toughness add to your max hit points, which also improves your surge value, while Dwarven Durability gives you more surges to use. The Endurance skill power Reactive Surge and the dwarven racial encounter power let you heal yourself twice per combat, minimum. The Heal skill power Iron Resurgence is great, too, at least for someone with as many surges per day as you have. So now you can feel free to let the blood flow. 'Tis but a scratch. That uses up only five or six feats, depending on whether you buy an extra utility with Skill Power feat or just sub the power into your regular array.
Defender plus controller = striker?
Spoiler
Show
This plays like a multi-target striker. Depending on which wizard powers you pick, it could be a striker with some unkind side effects, and your zones are good, but you're still a striker. You dish out damage to lots of foes.
Hey, I'M the one who's supposed to be hurting me, you guys stop that:
Spoiler
Show
You still need defense at this point. There are a couple ways to go about it. My initial thought was to use Hybrid Talent for battlemind armor and shield, then invest in Arcane Implement Proficiency to pick up a one-handed weapliment. And frankly that's nice and simple, not expensive in terms of feats. But it looks like there's a better route.
Putting Hybrid Talent into Staff of Defense doesn't give you as much bang for the buck, but it's far more compatible with other wizard possibilities. For example, using a staff instead of (e.g.) a swordmage-style sword implement lets you pick up Staff Expertise, Superior Implement or War Wizard's Staff. If you feel the need for more defense, in addition to the Superior X line and/or Improved Defenses, you can use Hafted Defense, guardian staff Superior Implement, Unarmored Agility, Improved Staff of Defense, Staff Fighting, or a staff of aversion. Seriously, as many foes as you'll be affecting at once with your paragon path abilities, a staff of aversion is a major improvement to defense.
And what next?
Spoiler
Show
After that point, feat and item selection really breaks down. You can go with feats to get more power points or benefit from using them up ... feats to improve skills (I recommend bard multiclass for that -- makes it easy to regain the Ritual Casting you lost for being hybrid) ... feats to make spells stronger, like Implement Mastery or Enlarge Spell or Spell Focus ... damage type specializations like frostcheese ... temporary hit point feats such as Gritty Determination (yay for high ConMod!) and Beshaba's Boon ... something to improve the battlemind side of the build ... save-related feats ... maneuverability feats ... defenses that aren't AC/F/R/W (like Mettle or Stoneroot's Endurance or Luck Of The Gods) ... even simple flavor feats. Considering ahead of time which of these you might want will suggest how to arrange your initial stats -- you might need high Dex or Wis or Cha, depending.
As I re-imagined this character time and time again, he kept seeming more like the sort to transform himself into a psionic being, so I took Elan Heritage for a flavor feat. I ended up refluffing his familiar as a sort of tangible mental focus and taking a couple extra feats to fit that theme.
Thou shalt not:
Spoiler
Show
Don't take anything that offers "resist all". It interferes with your damage-boosting mechanism. Temporary hit points are your friends, though. And don't try to get in too deep with defender mechanics. You're really not one. And if you try to take enough powers to be effective in that role, you lose out on the whole point of the hybrid build.
EDIT: I'll clean this up more and provide a character sheet link when we reach another confluence of the server not hating me and my brain being functional. Criticism and commentary are welcome.