Hassan's Assassin

[CThruTheEgo]

Why are you choosing weapon focus piercing? Seems a low contribution at the cost of a feat. Am I missing something?

Assassins are not feat starved anymore, so what else is really worth taking? Arguably, the melee power from weapon focus is of greater benefit to assassins than any other class/build due to the fact that sneak attacks are affected by 1.5x melee power. It's still a small bonus but, again, what else is there? Weapon finesse is good while leveling, but not worth it at endgame imo (due to not needing to swap Thunder-Forged weapons because of their extreme superiority over nearly everything else). Toughness is also a small bonus and I'd prefer the extra melee dps than a negligible amount of HP.

What would you consider taking instead of weapon focus pierce?

[Bolo_Grubb]

having played a halfling assassin for a bit now do you like halfling or human better?

I am about to TR and trying to decide. The racial tree is not a factor for me since I like the way I spent my points in assassin tree and acrobat tree. So the advantage for halfling is 2 more dex, 1 more DC on assassinate. The advantage for human is extra feat and extra skill point.

Your thoughts?

[CThruTheEgo]

having played a halfling assassin for a bit now do you like halfling or human better?

I am about to TR and trying to decide. The racial tree is not a factor for me since I like the way I spent my points in assassin tree and acrobat tree. So the advantage for halfling is 2 more dex, 1 more DC on assassinate. The advantage for human is extra feat and extra skill point.

Your thoughts?

I consider human the more optimal mainly because of damage boost. But, at least in my experience, I consider halfling the more fun to play due to the smaller size being more suitable for skulking around. I'm currently level 16 and have been sneaking through as much of the game as I can while playing every quest from level 1 on an elite streak. So for that purpose, halfling has been a good choice.

I'll stay as a halfling just because I'm not into TRing much, but I do think human is more optimal.

[orobold]

Assassins are not feat starved anymore, so what else is really worth taking? Arguably, the melee power from weapon focus is of greater benefit to assassins than any other class/build due to the fact that sneak attacks are affected by 1.5x melee power. It's still a small bonus but, again, what else is there? Weapon finesse is good while leveling, but not worth it at endgame imo (due to not needing to swap Thunder-Forged weapons because of their extreme superiority over nearly everything else). Toughness is also a small bonus and I'd prefer the extra melee dps than a negligible amount of HP.

What would you consider taking instead of weapon focus pierce?

Didn't know weapon focus gives melee power. On what amount? Wiki only says +1 to-hit, wich made me consider it a waste of a feat slot. That being the case, i would go for toughness or sneak of shadow, wich would be a nice subsitute for situational higher dps. Also i am seduced by the dragonmark line. Played as a halfling before and was really helpful. Now spending a feat to get the dragonmark is no longer that expensive. Although that will be at the cost of loosing 5aps probably on the t4 acrobat enh. But perhaps outweights the fact of having a very reliable source of backup healing as the halfling dragonmark provides. Cocoon is not enough for ee and scrolling isn't smooth and not always succesful, i had really bad times in toee with my int based drow. I wonder if would go better with some more healing backup, seems to work nice for slarden. I usually got killed while trying to scroll heal and cocoon was on cd.

Awesome build, btw.

[kendo]

Didn't know weapon focus gives melee power. On what amount? Wiki only says +1 to-hit, wich made me consider it a waste of a feat slot. That being the case, i would go for toughness or sneak of shadow, wich would be a nice subsitute for situational higher dps. Also i am seduced by the dragonmark line. Played as a halfling before and was really helpful. Now spending a feat to get the dragonmark is no longer that expensive. Although that will be at the cost of loosing 5aps probably on the t4 acrobat enh. But perhaps outweights the fact of having a very reliable source of backup healing as the halfling dragonmark provides. Cocoon is not enough for ee and scrolling isn't smooth and not always succesful, i had really bad times in toee with my int based drow. I wonder if would go better with some more healing backup, seems to work nice for slarden. I usually got killed while trying to scroll heal and cocoon was on cd.

Awesome build, btw.

provides +2 MP and the different weapon focus feats stack. some of the barbarian builds take 2 or 3 different weapon focus feats because their new heal enhancements are affected by MP

[CThruTheEgo]

Didn't know weapon focus gives melee power. On what amount? Wiki only says +1 to-hit, wich made me consider it a waste of a feat slot. That being the case, i would go for toughness or sneak of shadow, wich would be a nice subsitute for situational higher dps. Also i am seduced by the dragonmark line. Played as a halfling before and was really helpful. Now spending a feat to get the dragonmark is no longer that expensive. Although that will be at the cost of loosing 5aps probably on the t4 acrobat enh. But perhaps outweights the fact of having a very reliable source of backup healing as the halfling dragonmark provides. Cocoon is not enough for ee and scrolling isn't smooth and not always succesful, i had really bad times in toee with my int based drow. I wonder if would go better with some more healing backup, seems to work nice for slarden. I usually got killed while trying to scroll heal and cocoon was on cd.

Awesome build, btw.

Each weapon focus feat provides +2 melee power (and ranged power too iirc), which stack with each other. Some builds take multiple weapon focus feats, but I wouldn't do that unless I had plenty of feats to spare. The melee power was added in a recent update, maybe even U25, I don't recall exactly.

I originally took toughness (and epic toughness) on this build. Because of the improved defenses with the revamp (higher dodge and improved defensive roll), however, I opted to drop them in favor of more PRR (two weapon defense and epic damage reduction) to help deal with spike damage. Overall I think it provides more balanced defenses. I tend to emphasize dps once I feel like I've got sufficient defenses on a build, so I went with 2 melee power over 30 hp.

Regarding sneak of shadows, I think it's a bit outdated. It was a solid boost when the level cap was 20, but due to the inflated damage numbers in today's DDO, an additional 14 sneak attack damage for only 3 minutes every rest is a small benefit imo. So I chose the more consistent benefit of 2 melee power.

The dragonmark is a solid choice, but I am able to manage with cocoon and scrolls, so I don't feel I need it. If I were going to go for the dragonmark line, I'd redistribute points from the halfling tree as I wouldn't want to take any more from acrobat tree (although taking 1 from acrobat is required).

[Calaquende]

Here is how the first gear set compares to the second:
GAIN: con2, dex2, UMD5, vitality20
LOSE: proof against poison10, proof against disease10, protection8, underwater action, true seeing, int4, bluff5, PRR6, MRR6

So it's a net gain of 48 hp and 1 DC for a loss of 5 bluff and 6 PRR. All the other stuff is largely irrelevant. The extra 6 PRR from the second setup gives me an additional 2% damage reduction, so I opted for the extra hp from the first setup.

I like the first gear set, too, but perhaps for a different reason - The EH Intricate Field Optics with Int+3 and the EE Backstabber's Gloves are both almost impossible to come by. I've been looking on the AH for months and they are extremely rare. In fact, I don't think I've seen Epic Field Optics with Int+3 even once. Furthermore, you've got two Ascention Chamber items (Epic Litany of the Dead and Shroud of Ardent) which could be quite a bit of grinding. I've got the former, but not enough runs yet to get a chance at the latter.

For the first gear set things are not only easier to obtain, but it's also easier to skip an item. For example, if you don't have the Necklace of Mystic Eidolons (which I don't), find Dex+2 and a Con+2 augments to slot in somewhere in the time being. Don't have the Mysterious Cloak, meh.

I'm biggest quibble is no True Seeing. That seems like it would be a pain. I'd consider swapping out Epic Mentau's Goggles and Seal of House Avithoul for Tharne's Googles and Consuming Darkness. I think you lose some UMD and a little sneak attack bonus, but you've got your True Seeing. (Will improved deception on a weapon work for both weapons?)

Anyway, everyone has to figure out how to make due with what they've got (you fight the war with the army you have...), but the second gear set has items that, unless you live playing DDO, are just very unlikely to happen.

[Calaquende]

Weapons: Thunder-Forged Dagger (1st degree burns/dragon's edge/mortal fear/orange slotted deconstructor/colorless slotted heal15)

Any reason you didn't take Blinding Fear as opposed to 1st degree burns? Wouldn't that enable you to get in more sneak attacks?

[Saekee]

I like the first gear set, too, but perhaps for a different reason - The EH Intricate Field Optics with Int+3 and the EE Backstabber's Gloves are both almost impossible to come by. I've been looking on the AH for months and they are extremely rare. In fact, I don't think I've seen Epic Field Optics with Int+3 even once. Furthermore, you've got two Ascention Chamber items (Epic Litany of the Dead and Shroud of Ardent) which could be quite a bit of grinding. I've got the former, but not enough runs yet to get a chance at the latter.

For the first gear set things are not only easier to obtain, but it's also easier to skip an item. For example, if you don't have the Necklace of Mystic Eidolons (which I don't), find Dex+2 and a Con+2 augments to slot in somewhere in the time being. Don't have the Mysterious Cloak, meh.

I'm biggest quibble is no True Seeing. That seems like it would be a pain. I'd consider swapping out Epic Mentau's Goggles and Seal of House Avithoul for Tharne's Googles and Consuming Darkness. I think you lose some UMD and a little sneak attack bonus, but you've got your True Seeing. (Will improved deception on a weapon work for both weapons?)

Anyway, everyone has to figure out how to make due with what they've got (you fight the war with the army you have...), but the second gear set has items that, unless you live playing DDO, are just very unlikely to happen.

Any reason you didn't take Blinding Fear as opposed to 1st degree burns? Wouldn't that enable you to get in more sneak attacks?

Just to respon quickly to some points and questions:
1) you can scroll true seeing; it lasts a good while (I think 10 minutes)
2) improved deception on one weapon affects both
3) some people were reporting here in the forums that the specific blinding fear on TF weapons was blinding but not proccing sneak damage. Either way, having improved deception on a gear slot AND weapon stack sufficiently to keep mobs exposed; Shiv and even bluffing covers the rest

[CThruTheEgo]

I like the first gear set, too, but perhaps for a different reason - The EH Intricate Field Optics with Int+3 and the EE Backstabber's Gloves are both almost impossible to come by. I've been looking on the AH for months and they are extremely rare. In fact, I don't think I've seen Epic Field Optics with Int+3 even once. Furthermore, you've got two Ascention Chamber items (Epic Litany of the Dead and Shroud of Ardent) which could be quite a bit of grinding. I've got the former, but not enough runs yet to get a chance at the latter.

For the first gear set things are not only easier to obtain, but it's also easier to skip an item. For example, if you don't have the Necklace of Mystic Eidolons (which I don't), find Dex+2 and a Con+2 augments to slot in somewhere in the time being. Don't have the Mysterious Cloak, meh.

I'm biggest quibble is no True Seeing. That seems like it would be a pain. I'd consider swapping out Epic Mentau's Goggles and Seal of House Avithoul for Tharne's Googles and Consuming Darkness. I think you lose some UMD and a little sneak attack bonus, but you've got your True Seeing. (Will improved deception on a weapon work for both weapons?)

Anyway, everyone has to figure out how to make due with what they've got (you fight the war with the army you have...), but the second gear set has items that, unless you live playing DDO, are just very unlikely to happen.

I agree with the difficulty of some of the second gear set. Intricate Field Optics are probably one of the most difficult items to obtain, but only because it is merely a luck grind. Three of my builds have used those and I've farmed both Tor and the auction houses to get them. I've waited months to even see the version I want show up on the shard house. Even when you do get a set in Tor, it's probably not the version you want. I hate using them, but they really are a solid choice for a lot of builds.

And I just scroll true seeing. It's not a big deal at all. The main problem with Tharne's and Consuming Darkness vs Epic Mentau's and Avithoul Seal is the loss of improved deception. That's a must have imo. It offers both offense and defense and stacks with improved deception on a weapon.

Any reason you didn't take Blinding Fear as opposed to 1st degree burns? Wouldn't that enable you to get in more sneak attacks?

To comment on Saekee's response, I don't know if Thunder-Forged blindness enables sneak attack damage or not. I haven't heard any reports of that, but I haven't been interested in it enough to find out. I'm used to radiance from greensteel blinding on crit, so the idea of a blind proc with a 12 second cooldown just seems totally gimp to me. I honestly do not understand why they put that limitation on it. I think it makes the effect totally worthless. With a rad2 greensteel dagger, I can keep multiple mobs blinded continuously.

Plus, as Saekee said, between improved deception x2, shiv, and bluff, there is no shortage of ways to induce sneak attack damage, so the minor benefit of blinding fear simply isn't worth it. I value vulnerability much more.

[Calaquende]

I agree with the difficulty of some of the second gear set. Intricate Field Optics are probably one of the most difficult items to obtain, but only because it is merely a luck grind. Three of my builds have used those and I've farmed both Tor and the auction houses to get them. I've waited months to even see the version I want show up on the shard house. Even when you do get a set in Tor, it's probably not the version you want. I hate using them, but they really are a solid choice for a lot of builds.

And I just scroll true seeing. It's not a big deal at all. The main problem with Tharne's and Consuming Darkness vs Epic Mentau's and Avithoul Seal is the loss of improved deception. That's a must have imo. It offers both offense and defense and stacks with improved deception on a weapon.

Thanks to you and Saekee for the replies. Those are very helpful. For what it's worth, and I'm sure other people can figure this out, but just to share, I've got a gear set that gets you really close to the 'ideal' you've got, while not requiring all the items. Here's what I've got:

Armor: Shadowscale light armor (This item is really great, and not too hard to come by.)
Goggles: Tharnes's Goggles (Gives the TS and sneak+5, although, frankly, they're a big grind to get. Epic Mentau's Goggles are easy enough to get, but I don't have them.)
Helm: Epic Muffled Veneer (Yes, I would like Mythic, but how often does that drop? Epic is a fine stand-in that means only losing +2 assassinate and +9% double strike.)
Neck: AH deadly and/or seeker item not too hard to find. Get one with a yellow slot and put in Wizardry if you can. (No Necklace of Mystic Eidolons.)
Trinket: Epic Litany of the Dead (too good to pass up)
Cloak: GS Conc Opp HP Cloak (When does this Mysterious Cloak thing happen and it's not easy picking up 8000 Mysterious Remnants.)
Belt: Epic Belt of Thoughtful Remembrance (A must have.)
Ring swap: Seal of House Avithoul (I got lucky and snagged this on the first run.)
Gloves: Iron Mitts (Easy to come by.)
Boots: Boots of the Innocent (I like these! They've got Speed 15 and permanent GH, which is nice since I'm always forgetting to cast that.)
Ring: Ring of Shadows (This is just for the blur since my GS Cloak doesn't have it.)
Bracers: Dumathoin's Bracers (My understanding is that this is a tough grind. Again, I got freakin' lucky and someone passed it to me on one of my very few runs.)

So what am I missing? No Int item, so you've got to swap that in for Search and Disable, along with your Search and/or Disable item. No riposte and no UMD, but you can swap in for the latter. And no threat reduction or double strike. Anyway, I don't think that's too bad. I'm sure other people can also get pretty close with other combinations of items.

By the way, I've generally put a lot more attention into my Assassinate DC as opposed to my DPS. I'm not a super-twitch player, but I'm finding that, when running with groups, if the mobs can be assassinated then my character tears it up. I'm also noticing that even without thunder-forged daggers (I'm still using my GS Radiance II rapier) and seeker and a bunch of other DPS enhancements, I'm still able to keep pace with the melees, as long as I don't have the aggro. Basically, sneak behind the melees, let them get aggro and then jump in assassinating and swinging. Bottom line, even short of the very cool ideal build that you've got going here, I'm finding that the pure Rogue is really tough.

[Calaquende]

Build Features:
Offense:
~Balanced attacks with +100% damage vs helpless mobs through sense weakness and no mercy rank 2

Acrobat:
No mercy 2 (+20% damage against helpless mobs)

Twists:
1) sense weakness (fury tier 4, +30% damage vs helpless targets)

This seems kind of meh to me for a few reasons:

1. You already get +50% damage to helpless mob without spending the AP and Twist.
2. You're also getting the sneak attacks.
3. They're helpless!

It doesn't seem worth the expense to add even more damage to a mob which is helpless. You could put the AP into another point of Dex (1/2ling) and it seems like you have quite a few more attractive twist options.

[CThruTheEgo]

When does this Mysterious Cloak thing happen and it's not easy picking up 8000 Mysterious Remnants.

They bring these back to the remnant vendor every couple of months it seems. The best way to collect remnants is by playing heroic levels on an elite streak. Each life should net you 2k+ remnants. At cap, you basically have to intentionally farm for them because of the limited number of quests that will drop them. I don't TR often and just recently passed the 8k mark, so I'm waiting for them to bring the Mysterious items back so I can finally get my cloak.

Bottom line, even short of the very cool ideal build that you've got going here, I'm finding that the pure Rogue is really tough.

The revamp definitely made assassins easier than they once were. They still require more skill than other classes, but they are now more forgiving.

This seems kind of meh to me for a few reasons:

1. You already get +50% damage to helpless mob without spending the AP and Twist.
2. You're also getting the sneak attacks.
3. They're helpless!

It doesn't seem worth the expense to add even more damage to a mob which is helpless. You could put the AP into another point of Dex (1/2ling) and it seems like you have quite a few more attractive twist options.

Balanced attacks procs often, but mobs don't stay down for long. With the extra helpless damage from sense weakness and no mercy, they are basically dead before they get back up.

Another dex would put me at an odd number, so no point in that. And I'm already going to spend 20 AP in acrobat for access to improved defensive roll and kip up, so +20% helpless damage seems like a good investment of 2 AP imo.

Symmetric strikes would be my next choice after sense weakness, but I'm not even sure if the 5% applies to sneak attack damage or not. There aren't really any twist choices that just scream "must-have" and the combination of balanced attacks, sense weakness, and no mercy provides a nice synergy.

You're right that there are other viable options, but I am looking for that "ideal" build, which is of course totally subjective. Synergy and optimization are my main priorities when seeking the "ideal" for any build, and this build strikes a nice balance imo.

[Calaquende]

You're right that there are other viable options, but I am looking for that "ideal" build, which is of course totally subjective. Synergy and optimization are my main priorities when seeking the "ideal" for any build, and this build strikes a nice balance imo.

I agree that you've got something really close to the "ideal" build, which is why I've been using this post as a guide for a long time. After I LR and switch to dex-based, remarkably, I'll be almost there! Epic Mentau's Goggles, Necklace of Mystic Eidolons & the Guardian's Ring will all be easy to pick up or buy. And I've got all the mats for Smoke 2 boots if I want them. The Mythic version of the Muffled Veneer will probably not happen (so I'll be missing +2 DC on assassinate, which is already through the roof), but that's OK.

The Mysterious Cloak, however, is definitely not going to happen. I've been picking up those Mysterious Remnants at every opportunity for as long as I can remember and right now I have... 197! It is safe to say that I will n-e-v-e-r have 8000, which begs the question: What should I slot into the cloak? I'm going to have to live with being short +45 heal amp, but I'll survive. Still, the slot is going to be empty. Epic Ice Cloak? (I've thrown 3 of them away. ) Cloak of the Wolf? Epic Phiarlan Mirror Cloak?

Other than that, I think I'll try to make some tweaks to the enhancements in order to get Improved Traps 3. That requires 8 AP in Mechanic. I don't know if IWAI, but they're awfully sticky and a nice CC. Perhaps I'll give up some of the halfling sneak. How necessary is the light armory mastery? Perhaps I'll replace two weapon defense with dodge. Anyway, they all seem like minor tweaks. Thanks again for putting together this great build.

[CThruTheEgo]

The Mythic version of the Muffled Veneer will probably not happen (so I'll be missing +2 DC on assassinate, which is already through the roof), but that's OK.

I actually need to change that. Now that non-mythic versions of ToEE named weapons exist, I'll be using Assassin's Kiss for assassinate DC. I'll only be using the Epic Muffled Veneer (I still don't have the Mythic version) for the 20 to hide/move silently.

The Mysterious Cloak, however, is definitely not going to happen. I've been picking up those Mysterious Remnants at every opportunity for as long as I can remember and right now I have... 197! It is safe to say that I will n-e-v-e-r have 8000, which begs the question: What should I slot into the cloak? I'm going to have to live with being short +45 heal amp, but I'll survive. Still, the slot is going to be empty. Epic Ice Cloak? (I've thrown 3 of them away. ) Cloak of the Wolf? Epic Phiarlan Mirror Cloak?

The freezing ice proc (makes mobs helpless) from the Epic Cloak of Ice would synergize nicely with sense weakness and no mercy. That would probably be my pick.

Other than that, I think I'll try to make some tweaks to the enhancements in order to get Improved Traps 3. That requires 8 AP in Mechanic. I don't know if IWAI, but they're awfully sticky and a nice CC. Perhaps I'll give up some of the halfling sneak. How necessary is the light armory mastery? Perhaps I'll replace two weapon defense with dodge. Anyway, they all seem like minor tweaks. Thanks again for putting together this great build.

From what I understand, it was decided that improved traps was WAI. I think nokowi had a hand in persuading the devs in this direction during the revamp. Personally, I'd keep light armor mastery for the PRR alone. It's not much but every little bit helps on a build whose biggest weakness is spike damage. To fit improved traps, I'd completely drop halfling cunning and guile to free up 4 AP, then either 2 ranks from both acrobatic and nimble reactions, or 1 rank from acrobatic and nimble reactions plus 2 ranks of no mercy, depending on whether you want to focus on offense or defense. If you're going to use the Epic Cloak of Ice, I'd probably want to keep no mercy.

[Calaquende]

The freezing ice proc (makes mobs helpless) from the Epic Cloak of Ice would synergize nicely with sense weakness and no mercy. That would probably be my pick.

Here's another suggestion. How about putting back the Adamantine Cloak of the Wolf? You'd get another +3 exceptional seeker as well as dodge +8% (are you maxed out? could you save some enhancements if you had this?) and you'd get threat -20%. I don't think you have any threat reduction item in your current build.

[CThruTheEgo]

Here's another suggestion. How about putting back the Adamantine Cloak of the Wolf? You'd get another +3 exceptional seeker as well as dodge +8% (are you maxed out? could you save some enhancements if you had this?) and you'd get threat -20%. I don't think you have any threat reduction item in your current build.

Dodge 11 is already on the Epic Belt of Thoughtful Remembrance. Threat reduction is not as necessary as it once was. With the many ways to gain sneak attack damage even when you have agro, agro management is less of an issue. And with the stupidly high damage that so many different builds are capable of now, assassins are simply on par with them, not vastly ahead like they used to be when the level cap was 20. I don't have any problems with agro with the amount of threat reduction I currently have, which is only from enhancements.

Overall, I'd probably prefer the Epic Cloak of Ice against trash and the Adamantine Cloak of the Wolf against bosses for moar dps.

[Calaquende]

And I just scroll true seeing. It's not a big deal at all. The main problem with Tharne's and Consuming Darkness vs Epic Mentau's and Avithoul Seal is the loss of improved deception. That's a must have imo. It offers both offense and defense and stacks with improved deception on a weapon.

Scroll casting True Seeing sounds like a pain, especially in long quests, so here's a new suggestion:

Replace the Epic Mentau's Googles with Epic Glimpse of the Soul. You gain Wis +11 (better than the +8 augment) along with +6 for illusion and enchantment saves. This could go well with the Slippery Mind feat. Also, you get bluff +20, which is better than the +15 augment. I don't know how often the Intercession Ward helps, but hey. Oh, and you get True Seeing.

What you lose is UMD+5 (probably not a big deal since you're at 150+% for pretty much every scroll you'd want to cast, and if you ever had a real problem you could swap) and seeker +12. For the seeker replace the Guardian's Ring with Consuming Darkness. You get the seeker back but now you lose the PRR+24. However, you can slot in PRR+16 for a loss of only +8. With your build damage reduction will go from 41% to 38%.

In the end you get True Seeing, better Will saves (and Spot) and better Bluff for a cost of only +8 PRR (or 3% damage reduction). That seems like a decent deal, no?

[CThruTheEgo]

Scroll casting True Seeing sounds like a pain, especially in long quests, so here's a new suggestion:

Replace the Epic Mentau's Googles with Epic Glimpse of the Soul. You gain Wis +11 (better than the +8 augment) along with +6 for illusion and enchantment saves. This could go well with the Slippery Mind feat. Also, you get bluff +20, which is better than the +15 augment. I don't know how often the Intercession Ward helps, but hey. Oh, and you get True Seeing.

What you lose is UMD+5 (probably not a big deal since you're at 150+% for pretty much every scroll you'd want to cast, and if you ever had a real problem you could swap) and seeker +12. For the seeker replace the Guardian's Ring with Consuming Darkness. You get the seeker back but now you lose the PRR+24. However, you can slot in PRR+16 for a loss of only +8. With your build damage reduction will go from 41% to 38%.

In the end you get True Seeing, better Will saves (and Spot) and better Bluff for a cost of only +8 PRR (or 3% damage reduction). That seems like a decent deal, no?

I'm not a huge fan of short term buffs, but with an 11 minute duration, true seeing scrolls are not short term by any means. In fact, in a lot of quests, it's less than 11 minutes between shrines.

The extra will saves would be the only compelling reason to use Epic Glimpse of the Soul imo. Assassins have fairly low damage mitigation for a front line melee. Every little bit makes a difference for them. A 49 will save with slippery mind is sufficient, but so is 38% damage reduction. So the choice between my current setup and the setup you suggest is basically a choice between emphasizing will saves or damage mitigation. Personally, I lean toward damage mitigation, but either one is a viable option.

[Calaquende]

Updated for U26

Utility:
~Full trap capabilities (no fail on any trap or lock in the game)

Search:
23 base
8 epic
3 tome
12 int35
20 item
6 exc int skills item
2 good luck
1 elite spider cult mask
3 danger room ship buff
4 GH
82 TOTAL

Bad news! 82 Search is not enough to find traps in Orchard quests on EE. I know because that's exactly what I had and I wasn't able to find anything. What's worse is that I'm not seeing how to boost it. The only thing I can think of doing is plug in a +2 exec Int augment somewhere and then take some Dex points from my ED and put then in Int. Anyone know what Search score you need?