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I differ with ChaosTheorist on this one (for a pure hybrid). First look at what their primary use will be: ALWAYS physical combat (otherwise go with a pure magic caster or a magic caster dualed to a magic aligned hybrid later). The magical portion will be a distant second (particularly with damage spells).
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I'm going to respectfully disagree with ScottG's disagreement (Hmm; does that make me--or him--or both--disagreeable?). At least if you want to have something interesting going on, a hybrid's magic abilities must be considered as equal partners to--or higher in precedence than--the physical-combat abilities.
Let's face it, people: melee-heavy parties in this game are EASY. Put a Fighter or two, a Rogue, maybe a Samurai or Lord or a melee-oriented Monk on the front line, build up their flogging skills and hit points, back them up with a Priest, Bishop, or even a Valkyrie or another Lord, and you can beat to death in short order pretty much anything you come across at normal game-finishing levels. Use a Bishop or someone else who can cast the Mage-book buffs and prots and it gets even easier.
But what's the point? Most of us have "been there, done that", either putting together our own or going with any of a number of "recommended" parties--almost all of which are really physical-combat parties with a bit of auxiliary and supporting magic. Even the Wiz8 "Sample Party" falls into this category: it might look "balanced" to the uninformed, but a closer look reveals that it has 3 physical-combat specialists, 1 healer, 1 miscellaneous caster, and only 1 true offensive-magic caster. It's "balanced" somewhere around the 70/30 point. The Priest and Bard do eventually get some meaningful damaging-magic firepower--about 80% of the way through the game.
So yes, you can build your hybrids with a focus exclusively on physical combat. Then you'll have to make tough decisions like "Hmm; should I beat them to death with my Fighter's sword, or beat them to death with my Samurai's swords, or beat them to death with my Monk's hands and feet, or beat them to death....".
As someone pointed out, the name of the game isn't "Melee8".