"The Middle Ground" a Hybrid Assassin build

[Sploigy]

Intro
*Disclaimer -- All comments on other people's builds are just my personal opinion, and may be wrong. I really respect the work that both Rogann and Mellkor have done for the community and don't want to bash either of them*

This toon is an attempt to find a happy middle ground between the "traditional" Max DPS strength rogue, typified by Rogann's build and the (arguably) newer Max Int/Assassinate style typified by Mellkor's build.

In DDO rogues have the ability to be one of the top DPS dealers in boss fights, with fully spec'ed STR rogue doing ~300dmg per swing (provided full sneak attack + 0% fort), but the Assassin II PRE also grants rogues the "Assassinate" ability, allowing them to instantly kill (most) mobs on a failed fort save. Given the average HPs in Epic Elite content (~4,500Hp for a CR45 Hobgoblin), assassinate can offer a substantial boost to DPS when clearing mobs, provided the rogue has a sufficient DC.

Rogann's build typifies the first style by dumping INT, maxing STR, and prioritising strength and damage increases above all else, the result is stellar "End-Boss DPS", but at the expense of assassinate DC's meaning that "Mob DPS" is much lower. Mellkor's build follows the other extreme, maximising Assassinate DC at any cost, resulting in sub-par DPS (compared to Rogann's build) when facing end bosses or Mobs that are Immune to SA/Assassinate.
It is also worth mentioning that I feel Mellkor's build would also be more difficult to level compared to Rogann's, and is more Item dependant.

I believe both of these builds make excellent end-game rogues, and that both builds are clearly very effective given the ardent support each receives on the forums, However I feel that both builds are too min/max'ed to suit my playstyle. So with this build I will try to find a happy "middle ground" that offers higher Boss DPS than mellkor's build, while at the same time trying to maintain an acceptable assassinate DC.

Goals

• Good DPS for Bosses and Mobs that are SA immune
• Good Assassinate DC as close to 60 as possible
• Survivable for EE content --> HP ~500, As much dodge and miss chance as possible
• At least 21 DEX for Improved Sneak Attack and Full TWF chain

Race

Human
No problems with the stat distributions, starting with 8 in all stats allows for a nice even spread between STR, DEX, INT and CON without excessive costs. Major benefit comes in the form of an extra feat on a feat starved class, enhancements are also pretty nice, allowing for activation of both Dmg boost and Haste boost at the same time, along with some increased Healing Amp and access to Toughness III. Access to any Racial PRE with the upcoming enhancement pass(hopefully).
Stat Layout(34pts) = 15/16/14/16/8/8

Elf
Nothing much going for them in my opinion, the CON penalty is too much on a D6 HP class, and overall the extra DEX doesn't give you much as you have to spend the extra points to pull CON up. Enhancements are pretty lack-lustre too. Overall a bad choice IMO.
Half-elf: I really don't think any of the dilettantes make up for the loss of a feat vs Human. Except for maybe Arti.
Drow: Favourable stat distribution, but would require a 36 point build to even out STR and CON
Stat Layout(34pts) = 15/16/14/16/8/8

Halfling
Major boost to DEX makes getting TWF and Improved SA much easier without the CON penalty of the Elves. Halfling enhancements are also quite nice offering +8 SA damage. Halflings are due to get the Assassin PRE in the enhancement update, not sure if this will be synergistic with the rogue enhancements or not.
Stat Layout(34pts) = 14/17/14/16/8/8

Dwarf
Boost to con is always nice on a D6 HP class, this also allows for a much more even distribution of stats. Dwarven enhancements while not great offer toughness III and +3 tactical DC's, this might be useful if you decide to focus your level-up ability increases in STR instead of INT, allowing you to reach usable DC's on some tactical feats. Overall best stat distribution but enhancements are poor at best.
Stat Layout(34pts)= 15/16/16/16/8/6

Final decision: I personally feel human is the best choice, because of the even stat distribution, the double boosts and the extra feat.

Ability Point Allocation

Levelling from 1-25 gives us 6 chances to allocate ability points, the only absolute requirement of this build is that you allocate at least 1pt into DEX (with a +4 tome) to qualify for Improved SA, or 2pts (with a +3 tome).
Either way this leaves you with 4pts to spend in either STR or INT.

STR
4 level ups into STR equates to +2 to-hit and dmg per swing, or +6 on a critical hit (if using Khoppesh). Additionally If you decide to take some tactical feats this will add upto a 10% increase in procs.
To be honest this seemed like a very small increase to me and so I decided to put my levels into INT. Especially with the to-hit changes +2 dmg just doesn't seem worth it to me, unless you decide to take a tactical feat, in which case I think STR > INT

INT
On the surface of it INT level-ups seem to provide even less that STR, granting only a +10% on Assassinate chance, and some useless increases to trap skills. However I chose to go with level-ups in INT because it also synergises with some of my Shadow Dancer ED abilities, increasing the DC of shadow manipulation and Consume. When all three of these abilities are considered together, I feel it provides allot more DPS than just +2dmg.
Additionally this build will be using the EMG, and high INT is important to get the enhancement bonus on this weapon as high as possible (A +10 enhancement will further negate the +2 dmg from str).
Lastly if I find I do need additional damage I could always just scroll insightful strikes, to provide an INT to Damage boost. Although I'm not sure if these are available from vendors

Final Stats
34pt Human
Str = 15 +3(Tome) +8(Item) +3(Insightful) +1(exceptional) +2(Ship) +2(rage) = 34Str +12 w/ Temp Buffs

Dex = 16 +3(Tome) +2(level) +8(Item) +3(Insightful) +1(exceptional) +2(Ship) = 35Dex

Con = 14 +2(Tome) +8(Item) +3(Insightful) +1(exceptional) +2(Ship) = 30Con

Int = 16 = +4(Tome) +4(level) +8(Item) +3(Insightful) +1(exceptional) +2(Ship) +2(Capstone) +2(Enhancements) = 42Int + 16 w/ other Buffs

Feats

Essential Feats

• Toughness (lvl1)
• Power Attack/Precision (lvl1) --> Take power attack initially and swap once you hit lvl 20
• TWF(lvl3) ITWF(lvl9) GTWF(lvl15)
• Past Life Sneak of Shadows (lvl6) --> This feat can be swapped in at lvl20
• Improved Critical: Pierce/Slash (lvl12)
• Improved Sneak Attack (lvl 21)

Class Feats

• Improved Evasion (lvl10)
• Oppertunist (lvl10)
• Skill Mastery (lvl16)
• Skill Mastery (lvl19)

Optional Feats
This leaves my character with 2 Feats left to chose from (lvl 18 & 24 if you stick to the above scheme). This is were I am having serious trouble making a decision the options as far as I can see are:

Khoppesh
Best Damage profile in the game for TWF.
Improved Critical: Slashing is also required for the EMG.
Synergy with Power attack, and may require keeping PA over Precision to be effective
Damage bonus is proportional to Strength so not sure if this is worth it for an INT based toon
3% doublestrike from shadowdancer ED means no khoppesh in offhand, because AFAIK 3% more hits >> Khoppesh Dmg

Improved Sunder
Another -10% fort, to make -30% fort without precision, or -55% fort with it. (Oppertunist + IS + Black Dragon Armour)
Only really useful in Bad groups where other melee's don't have IS
Guaranteed to land even with low STR due to stacking -3 fort debuff (Stacks upto -15fort)
-3 fort debuff can help my assassinates land, and will bring my assassinate DC to equal Mellkor's (IS-->Bluff--> Assassinate)

Stunning Blow
Helpless mobs take 1.5 Dmg which is always nice
Unlikely to have sufficient DC unless STR based, even then its questionable as it requires ~60DC
Might be an option to a STR based dwarf rogue

Skill Focus: UMD
Only really nice for levelling, not useful at higher levels.
Might take it at lvl6 to boost UMD until 20, then swap for PL:SoS
Would also make using insightful strikes scrolls easier

SAP
Situationally Awesome for soloing, but useless in PUGs
A 30sec no-save stun, would be very nice combined with assassinate
18/30 sec no-save stun would be amazing in EE if you can get the group to coordinate
Cooldown is shorter than duration allowing perma-stun, or stunning of >1 target
Might take it at lvl6 and drop it at 20
Doesn't count as a tactical feat for ED counters

Hamstring
Generally a useful feat for stopping "jumpy" mobs
Amazing for bosses whose attack speed is tied to movement speed --> Pit fiends and lialat (anyone else?)
Useful to run away and heal up
Doesn't count as a tactical feat for ED counters

QuickDraw
Faster boost activation is always nice
Faster gear swaps is important for UMD
Many people love this feat and swear by it, but I've never used it myself

Precision + Power Attack
Option to keep both of them
Seems redundant as you can only activate one at a time
Usefulness depends on the prevalence of 0% fort mobs in elite content

Dodge+Mobility
Increased dodge is nice and adds to survivability esp in EE
Not needed if I decide to use robes
Only needed if there is some amazing light armour that Caps my dodge <25%

Insightful reflexes
Synergy with INT build
Only likely to add +5 at most to reflex saves, this is similar to what can be achieved with a resistance/stability item
How important are reflex saves in EE is there a difference between +40 and +45?

Cleave
SA + Cleave would be fun
Unlocks some ED abilities

Current Opinion: I'm personally thinking of going with Khoppesh + Improved Sunder, but I'm really worried that most of the benefits of Khoppesh with be lost by not going STR based.

Enhancements

Assassin 3 Pre-req's
Improved Hide 2
Improved Move Silenty 2
SA Accuracy 4
SA Training 4
Subtle Backstabbing 1
Rogue Damage Boost 2

Other Enhancements
Rogue Haste boost 4
Rogue Subtle Backstabbing 2
Rogue Wand and Scroll Mastery 3
Human Versatility 4
Human Improved recovery 2
Human Toughness 2
Human Adaptability Intelligence
Human Greater Adaptability Intelligence


Skills
Pretty Much everything Maxed due to Int based Build


Gear
Ugh I dont want to deal with this yet

Closing
So there you have it that's my build Idea sofar, thanks for taking the time to read it. I'd really appreciate any advice or criticism you have to offer on the build. Id also appreciate it if someone could help me answer some more specific questions namely:

• Is Insightful Strikes a reliable way to use INT for Dmg while leveling or in SA -immune content
• Are Khoppeshes still the preferred weapon choice of low STR TWF-ers as we stand to gain relatively little from the crit profile
• Does the 3% doublestrike from the shadowdancer ED provide more DPS than an offhand khoppesh
• Has anyone used sap in high level content, and how difficult is it to coordinate
• Does anyone know if any of the newer mobs get an attack speed penalty from hamstring
• Does anyone currently carry both PA and precision, and how useful do they find PA in EE/EH

Thanks again for your time

[maddmatt70]

I would go with the balizarde rapiers or celestria shortsword rather then khopeshes. The khopesh profiency feat could be better used for something else. I have been waiting for the enhancement pass a bit to really change my pure rogue build. I am thinking long term dex based will be the way to go then I could human on a 36 pt build with the following starting stats for 36 pt:
16 dex + some level ups
17 con +4 tome = 21 for epic toughness
17 intelligence + some level ups.

My thinking is that epic toughness and a higher con is really nice on a rogue. Then you add healing amp, blur/incorpeality, and dodge for defenses and improved evasion. Pure rogues feel a little squishy to me so I would like 700+ hit points especially when you get quests like CITW where some damage is hard to prevent.

[Sploigy]

Thanks everyone for the comments I really appreciate the feedback

I would go with the balizarde rapiers or celestria shortsword rather then khopeshes. The khopesh profiency feat could be better used for something else.
....
I have been waiting for the enhancement pass a bit to really change my pure rogue build. I am thinking long term dex based will be the way to go
...

My thinking is that epic toughness and a higher con is really nice on a rogue. Then you add healing amp, blur/incorpeality, and dodge for defenses and improved evasion.

I agree that balizarde/celestria are prob the way to go endgame, but I still think the Khopesh Feat would be useful for leveling. So I still think I might take it for 1-20 where decent crit damage could significantly increase my DPS.

As for the enhancement pass, I spent some time looking for posts from the devs regarding Dex-to-damage feats/enhancements and unfortunately I couldn't find anything substantial. The only solid evidence I could find was a dev post talking about how they are thinking of adding it, and would like to make it available in heroic levels. Given the level of uncertainty here (When will the enhancement update go out, how will this be implemented, balance issues of letting one stat determine reflex, AC, to-hit and Dmg etc) I feel that it is just too big of a risk to base a build around what is basically hearsay. Then there is always the option to LR if these changes are significant, but TBH I think the enhancement pass will be so significant that it will prob warrant another TR.

I also agree with your point on CON and this build's HP's, obviously being human helps as it opens the window for a +3 CON tome, Greater adaptability CON and toughness III, to boost HPs. Ideally I would of liked to boost CON higher but there was no way that I could see to maintain a decent STR,DEX and INT while also boosting CON.
I obviously plan to Maximise my HP through Items, and Hope that by also maxing dodge, incorporable and other "miss-chance" effects, to make my toon very difficult to hit in the first place.

Assassinate is in a bad spot. There are very few mobs that you can assassinate faster than a max str rogue would DPS down.

I would respectfully disagree, I find that most mobs are vulnerable to Sneak Attack, esp since around U14 and the plethora of fort reducing items/abilities that were introduced to the game. Additionally from my own personal experiences I find that assassinate adds great DPS in EE/EH.
Mobs in EE tend to have around ~5000hp at least(see forum post regarding Neg Levels Vs DPS spells), It takes me at most 5 seconds to stealth and assassinate 1-2mobs, that works out as atleast 1,000 DPS. I find it very hard to believe that pure DPS builds can produce this damage output.
Now I realise this is a moot point for bosses, but really I find that 90% of quests are Mobs, and Mobs can often cause some of the worst problems for groups compared to boss fights

LOL.
Oh, Insightful strikes doesnt work via scroll casting, so you are SoL there.

Cheers Mellkor, thanks for that Info, I presumed there had to be some flaw, or else you would see it being done alot more often.
I'll also look into the arti dilli a bit, its just I havn't bought the half-blood pack, so my knowledge of those races is limited at best.

Imho, both Drow and Half-Elves are worth discussing:
Drow have Dex, Int and Cha, and all these stats are of interest for your build. -2 Con is a downer, but then: At cap, a difference of 25 HPs is not a big deal.

I 100% agree with you, and think drow would make an excellent choice if this was a 36pt build, but the major benefits of going human that drow just cant match is the extra toughness, double damage boost, healing amp and bouns feat, IMO these outweigh the better stat distribution of the drow.

Also TYVM for that info on proficiency feats, I thought it was still just -4 to-hit.... and so was tempted to just use a khopesh without the feat, -25% is a significant difference, but as you said yourself as long as your are getting sneak attacks your to hit will be huge.

OP, I'm curious to know why you chose not to take Slippery Mind. Also, I really like Precision, little to no reason not to get it. Also, since you are INT/STR based, I would recommend Insightful Reflexes. It boosts your Reflex by a good margin and lets you dump DEX items for an extra slot. You loose out on some AC but it's difficult to get your AC high enough to be really useful anyway imo.

I didn't take slippery mind because I feel that my rogues will saves are so low that being able to have a reroll wouldn't make much of a difference, ie If my rogue will only make his save on a twenty (pretty much the norm in EE) then slippery mind wont really add much. Additionally most will based effects can be countered with the appropriate buffs (mainly FOM).

As for Insightful reflexes, I've listed it as an option but since I'm raising my dex anyways, my reflex save should be reasonable, from what I can recall off the top of my head IR only adds +4 to my reflex, whether or not you think this is significant on a char with improved evasion is upto you.

Regarding precision, I feel that for doesn't start to matter until lvls 18-20, and there are plenty of ways to reduce it even then, while there are very few ways to mimic the increased damage of PA. This changes in epic content which is why I intend to swap PA for precision then. If only precision allowed SA on undead, then it would be a different story.

You forgot about half-elves, they're on the same page as humans really.
Also 2 times INT with human adp?

True in retrospect, h-elf with arti dili is prob the better way to go, this allows you to change the second human adapt to CON for toughness III

Precision req's BAB 1, so you wouldn't be allowed to swap it for a lvl 1 feat on a pure rogue (BAB 0) - unless Fred's bugged in your favor (for a change). I would take TWF @ lvl 1 and PA/Precision @ lvl 3.

WOW cant believe I missed that, thank you so much, that would of caused major headaches later


Once again thank you everyone for the comments really enjoying the discussion, esp with the current downtime

[karl_k0ch]

As for the enhancement pass, I spent some time looking for posts from the devs regarding Dex-to-damage feats/enhancements and unfortunately I couldn't find anything substantial. The only solid evidence I could find was a dev post talking about how they are thinking of adding it, and would like to make it available in heroic levels. Given the level of uncertainty here (When will the enhancement update go out, how will this be implemented, balance issues of letting one stat determine reflex, AC, to-hit and Dmg etc) I feel that it is just too big of a risk to base a build around what is basically hearsay. Then there is always the option to LR if these changes are significant, but TBH I think the enhancement pass will be so significant that it will prob warrant another TR.

The thread you are looking for is this one: It's a write-down of some obviously not finalized versions of Assassin which managed to sneak into a Lammania build:
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=394938

There's also Shinao, Henshin and Acrobat, iirc. Just search for Rough-In on the Lammania forums, Trekna named them all the same.

[Kmnh]

I would respectfully disagree, I find that most mobs are vulnerable to Sneak Attack, esp since around U14 and the plethora of fort reducing items/abilities that were introduced to the game. Additionally from my own personal experiences I find that assassinate adds great DPS in EE/EH.
Mobs in EE tend to have around ~5000hp at least(see forum post regarding Neg Levels Vs DPS spells), It takes me at most 5 seconds to stealth and assassinate 1-2mobs, that works out as atleast 1,000 DPS. I find it very hard to believe that pure DPS builds can produce this damage output.
Now I realise this is a moot point for bosses, but really I find that 90% of quests are Mobs, and Mobs can often cause some of the worst problems for groups compared to boss fights

Well, I think this guy agrees with me . The look on his face is priceless.

[Sploigy]

Wow that is some awesome DPS man o_o

[Tid12]

Well, I think this guy agrees with me . The look on his face is priceless.

With Blitz and soloing. Not really a good comparison.

Also, that is an Orange named IIRC. You can still Assassinate 2 mobs at once with a good DC in less than 2 second and in no way you can kill 2 mobs in 2 seconds with just DPS, even without Blitz. That would be 1-hit mobs in EE, not happening anytime soon.

Another point: You are showing your DPS with LD and blitzed. You are also using a War Hammer, coupled with Pulverizer, it is a x4 weapon. The OP says he is planning to go for SD but this does not prevent him to go and try LD and blitz, twisting +6 Assassinate DC.

I also think that mob is stunned for 50% helpless mob damage (but I'm not sure of that, thou seeing 300 SA dmg makes me think it is), using Sense Weakness for another +30% damage to helpless mobs.

So yeah, not really a good comparison. You are just trying to make your point in your own but wrong way.

[karl_k0ch]

I also think that mob is stunned for 50% helpless mob damage (but I'm not sure of that, thou seeing 300 SA dmg makes me think it is), using Sense Weakness for another +30% damage to helpless mobs.

When you attack a helpless mob, the extra sneak attack damage you get (+50%, or up to 80% with sense weakness) is not displayed with the regular extra sneak attack damage, but instead added to the first number.
A huge SA number as in the screen shot is indicating either Adrenaline or Master's Blitz, which is applied here to boost all damage by a substantial amount.

[bhgiant]

Well, I think this guy agrees with me . The look on his face is priceless.

I went on Lam with my INT based Rogue because I'm thinking, "Man, how the heck do those numbers get that high??" Legendary Dreadnaught twisted with sense weakness = pure win. Was getting those kinds of numbers (I saw some 3k crits in there) on a fully stacked Master Blitz with a 51DC assassinate as well, it was gold.

Some problems though. It found it very difficult to get MB up to 50 stacks (probably took me 5 minutes). Also difficult to keep it up throughout a quest. I basically had to zerg the quest with my pocket healer in full tow trying to keep up so my stack wouldn't run out. If I'm soloing a quest where I can do that, no problem. But with the people I group with, that wouldn't fly at all. However, if you can keep it up through the whole quest there is no beating it. If you can't, you'll bring more utility and DPS to the table as a Shadowdancer. Now, back to the op...

I'm starting to think with U17 just around the corner, I may want to replace Precision with Power Attack if I can get my hands on a Flawless Black Dragonscale armor. Still debating whether the hit to my to-hit is worth it or not... something to think about imo.

[Kmnh]

Assassinate is in a bad spot. There are very few mobs that you can assassinate faster than a max str rogue would DPS down.

[Mellkor]

Assassinate is in a bad spot. There are very few mobs that you can assassinate faster than a max str rogue would DPS down.

LOL.

That may be true in normal or hard quests. But not in EE quests. A well played assassin can kill 2 mobs via assassinate in a few seconds and then ALSO DPS between assassinates at about 80% the damage rate a STR based one does, so assuming the str based one doesnt bother to assassinate, then the int based one is killing 2 or 3 mobs in the time the str based guy kills one in EE quests under ideal circumstances.


OP the build looks good for what you want to do, I would recommend Helf with arti dili. I am finding repeater xbows quite useful at times in end game, and the other free stuff from arti dili is helpful for a rogue.

Oh, Insightful strikes doesnt work via scroll casting, so you are SoL there. It doesnt work because insightful strikes cast via a scroll applies to your mainhand weapon, and since at the time of casting, it is a scroll, you end up with insightful strikes on your scroll stack! And you cand cast a scroll from your off hand :/

[maddmatt70]

OP the build looks good for what you want to do, I would recommend Helf with arti dili. I am finding repeater xbows quite useful at times in end game, and the other free stuff from arti dili is helpful for a rogue.

Repeater xbows are only really useful for a melee character if you are unable to melee for one reason or another which is why I advocate building some more defenses in a rogue. I have seen a few other builds like that which advocate having higher hit points etc..

Edit: here are a couple of builds that have the correct concept for upping the defensive aspects of a rogue in order to be able to stand in there.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=402394

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=400113

Both builds have highish hit points, one has high healing amp and the other decent physical resistance and both have dodge, etc. One build is also a good stunner build so has that defensive measure as well.

[Ghwyn]

Assassinate is in a bad spot. There are very few mobs that you can assassinate faster than a max str rogue would DPS down.

With a high dc, assasinate is very reliable. Even with a very high dps, when the quest is over, I would give the kill count to the assasin. All while taking less damage.

[bhgiant]

With a high dc, assasinate is very reliable. Even with a very high dps, when the quest is over, I would give the kill count to the assasin. All while taking less damage.

Ran a EH VoN5 the other day on my Shadowdancer. Checked the kill count just out of curiosity. Me and this monk had >2x the kills that other players had. I was really surprised.

[Stormraiser]

Ran a EH VoN5 the other day on my Shadowdancer. Checked the kill count just out of curiosity. Me and this monk had >2x the kills that other players had. I was really surprised.

Von5 is not a good quest to look at kill counts. Look at a quest where you go in a linear line and not where people often have to wait while others go do certain things. If you want max kill counts there, just farm the WF in the maze...

[Bolo_Grubb]

interesting read

[karl_k0ch]

Imho, both Drow and Half-Elves are worth discussing:

Helves offer the same stat spread as Human, but the Artificer or Barbarian Dilly might be worth a feat to some. (Although you could just spend your level 24 feat for Epic Intelligence.)

Drow have Dex, Int and Cha, and all these stats are of interest for your build. -2 Con is a downer, but then: At cap, a difference of 25 HPs is not a big deal.

So what's your final assassinate score and HP?

[bhgiant]

Assassinate is in a bad spot. There are very few mobs that you can assassinate faster than a max str rogue would DPS down.

I respectfully but seriously disagree with this statement. My rogue's DPS isn't the best but it isn't bad either. In EH I can kill 2 high HP mobs in the same time I can assassinate them. Using both effectively doubles my DPS.

Imho, both Drow and Half-Elves are worth discussing:

Helves offer the same stat spread as Human, but the Artificer or Barbarian Dilly might be worth a feat to some. (Although you could just spend your level 24 feat for Epic Intelligence.)

Drow have Dex, Int and Cha, and all these stats are of interest for your build. -2 Con is a downer, but then: At cap, a difference of 25 HPs is not a big deal.

So what's your final assassinate score and HP?

The biggest problem I see with Drow is the lack of Human Versatility. That 25% damage boost alone is far superior to +2 in any stat. HElf Arti Dili is worth it though. If I had owned HElf, I would've gone that route instead of human on my rogue.


OP, I'm curious to know why you chose not to take Slippery Mind. Also, I really like Precision, little to no reason not to get it. Also, since you are INT/STR based, I would recommend Insightful Reflexes. It boosts your Reflex by a good margin and lets you dump DEX items for an extra slot. You loose out on some AC but it's difficult to get your AC high enough to be really useful anyway imo.

[dredre9987]

With the way To-Hit was changed I free up the khopesh feat and just use khopeshes...rarely ever noticed a difference in +/- 4 to-hit.

[karl_k0ch]

With the way To-Hit was changed I free up the khopesh feat and just use khopeshes...rarely ever noticed a difference in +/- 4 to-hit.

It's not a -4 difference. It's -25%.

The to-hit changes gave the proficiency feat acutally a huge buff:

http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p...19&postcount=1

Monster’s chance to hit: (Monster’s Attack Bonus + 10.5) / (Target’s Armor Class * 2)

Player’s chance to hit (if proficient in weapon): (Player’s Attack Bonus + 10.5) / (Target’s Armor Class * 2) + 25%, rounded to nearest 5%

What's your to-hit, and which kind of mobs are you attacking to not notice a difference?