[el_kalkylus]

Yeah, you will have to wait 4 levels until you get the spellbook back again. I personally think that 4 levels is alot, but I know others don't think so at all. It depends how fast you play.

Don't neglect the power of hybrids though. There are some very powerful weapons/items just for hybrids.

I never start with hybrids as hybrids, because they have 0 magic skills! It takes ALOT of time to get the skills to decent level, at least for me, because there are some areas in the game when I don't really want to waste time casting weak spells (often red) that have a chance of backfiring. I don't want to sit around and "train" the skills either, so it's easier to start with a pure caster for some levels.

It's important to imagine how you want your hybrid. Do you want the hybrid to be a true fighter, then you can forget about powerful magic. If you want powerful magic, then you can forget about powerful fighting.

An example: At one of my games, I chose to have a magic heavy samurai, later wielding zatoichi bo and using infinity helmet. At level 17 she had 56 powercast, 59 staff&wand, 56 close combat, 83 wizardry and 36-53 magic skills. With 97 strength, she hit pretty hard. She was a decent fighter and quite good magic caster. It was nice to have her able to adapt to the situations. That's the beauty about hybrids.