The Umbral Disciple 12 Monk/6 Ranger/2 Rogue stealth specialist.

[Fecerak]

Having had a lot of fun with this build last life (I TR a lot, and usually never stay at cap for long), and being that the servers are down, I figured I might as well post the build here in the meantime.

This build might be for you if you:
- Like to experiment with DDOs various mechanics like me (this being a stealth experiment)
- Enjoy having tons of mobility (abundant step, the fastest possible sneaking speed in the game AFAIK, the fastest possible overall speed in the game for 30 seconds every 3 minutes, 20% monk movespeed, etc.)
- Like having buttons to click on in combat, especially of the stunning variation (stunning fist, kukan-do, dire charge, jade strike, tomb of jade, etc.)
- Like completing quests with 1 mob killed, which is the endboss of said quest

You may want to avoid this build if you:
- Don't like being a bit squishy (I had about 1k hp and 90 PRR at level 30 with mostly cannith crafted gear, tempest spine HW and robe, as well as a LGS cloak and a manual of stealthy pilfering being the only exceptions)
- Want to have the maximum possible dps (Testing vs. gardak bruntsmash in EE cabal I killed him in about 20 seconds in shadowdancer with my gear, which I'm guessing is a fair bit below the maximum dps, though my gear also isn't optimal)
- Don't want to rely on bugs that may or may not be fixed sometime in the future
- Don't want to spend 13 AP on stuff that grants minimal in-combat utility


The build itself:
PDK/Human (can be other races as well, though all of the perks from human are pretty nice, damage boost, feat and skill points all come in handy)
Monk 12/Ranger 6/Rogue 2

Leveling order:
Rogue 1 -> Ranger 6+Monk 2 (in any order mostly) -> Monk 3-12 -> Rogue 2

08 Str
16 Dex
14 Con
16 Int
16 Wis+levels
08 Cha

If you don't have a 36 point build you can drop dex (if you have tomes) and int some to compensate.

Skills:
Max: Hide/MS/Spot (spot is fairly necessary to see stealthing mobs as if you run into them while stealthing they will probably hit you, putting you out of stealth, which causes you to have to fight them. As a bonus it can also be nice vs. traps if you don't know box locations like me, or in quests with random locations).

Once those are done there are tons of nice skills that you may or may not pick up depending on preferences:
Search/DD: I ended up maxing search while leveling, taking rogue at 1 and 20, which made me able to max DD as well at 20

Open Lock: Nice for opening locks, though no problem failing these checks some, so not as important as search/DD. I only had 4 points in this at level 20, which was mostly sufficient (except for farming a chest in EH to curse the sky at level 20).

UMD: depends on how many bonuses you have from other sources, I stopped at 20 points, though it's quite possible that might be too much if you have lots of arti PLs/skills PLs, or you may want 23 if you are a first lifer potentially

Jump: you can cast the spell jump for a +20, but stealth gives you -20, and preferably you don't want to have to cast it as endgame you probably want ram's might + camouflage (+10 hide means +3.33 sneak attack damage from scion of the ethereal plane). I ended up with 20 ranks of this at 20.

Tumble: not used much, but from my tests at 165 tumble (from respeccing my enhancements, so not used too much in practice for me) I actually was tumbling about 5-10% faster than I was running, even factoring in my 20% speed bonus from monk. I ended up with 15 ranks in this at 20.

Swim: some people like to swim fast. I am one of those people, though I couldn't quite fit this in this build as skill points were a bit too tight. I had 4 ranks in this at 20 from the initial rogue level.

Concentration: nice for UMD scrolls, and also to support having a higher sustained ki pool. May not be 100% necessary, but definitely nice to have. I had 20 ranks in this at 20.

Heal: Gives you positive spell power for cocoon and such. I had 0 ranks in this, though I'm sure putting some ranks into it when leveling ranger isn't the worst idea.

I'm sure there's also arguments for other skills like balance/bluff/diplo as well, and the choices aren't all that important beyond the first few, so do whatever you prefer. I didn't put any ranks into any other skills (except 4 ranks in balance at level 1 since I had so many points from rogue).


Feats:
01: Combat Expertise
H1: Dodge
03: Completionist
M1: Mobility
M2: Precision
06: Spring Attack
09: Whirlwind Attack
12: ICrit: B
M6: Stunning Fist
15: Greater TWF
18: Skulk of Shadows
21: Grandmaster of Forms
24: Vorpal Strikes
27: Blinding Speed
30: Overwhelming Critical

Notes:
There is some flexibility here - if you don't want WWA you can easily fit a bunch of other random stuff (but I couldn't really think of anything important I missed, so I decided to go with WWA). Completionist, Disciple of the Fist and Skulk of Shadows are all pretty nice for this build and are pretty interchangable (except that you probably should take completionist over the other 2 if you have access to it). If you have less than 2 of those you can always pick up shuriken expertise+10k stars for added flexibility by adding a ranged option (if you skip WWA you even have room for PBA and Improved precise shot). Toughness or weapon focus is also always a possibility (for the extra HP or 2 melee power). It's even possible to take multiple weapon focuses if you really want to.


Enhancements:

Pretty tough to fit everything since there are so many options. I really wish I had another 4 AP so I could pick up another 2d6 SA, but couldn't find any way to squeeze it in. That said, here is the setup I ended up using:

01 in PDK (damage boost)
36 in Shintao (Empty Hand Mastery, Kukan-Do and Rise of the Phoenix in T5, mostly everything useful in the other tiers)
11 in Henshin (3 cores, way of the elegant crane, 2 of the moves that gives vulnerable stacks and +1 ki regen from contemplation, though I could easily see arguments for taking an extra elemental strike over contemplation)
09 in Ninja Spy (first 2 cores, 2d6 SA, 3 in faster sneaking)
11 in DWS (3 cores, 3 in stealthy, 3 in faster sneaking)
04 in Assassin (3 points in faster sneaking)
08 in Harper (KTA and whichever of the options you prefer in T1, I think I took some HP and +1 to weapon bonus, but honestly can't remember).


Epic Destiny:
Shadowdancer (I'm sure LD is more dps, but the T2 clicky makes you go insanely fast, so wouldn't really want to give that up. Also, the last cores often makes mobs vulnerable to sneak attacks, which is really nice as a lot of the overall damage of the build comes from SA)

Make sure to pick up 3 points in stealthy for hide in plain sight. Other than that Pierce the gloom and shadow form are the only really important ones IMO - 25% incorp and +20 to hide+ms from the form is really neat.

Twists:
Sense Weakness (fury of the wild T4)
Haste Boost (LD T3)
Rejuvenating Cocoon (Primal Avatar T1)
Legendary Tactics (LD T1)

Were my choices at 30. Note that being in LD also allows better twists, giving it another boost in cases where only dps matters. So might be worth swapping to it in some cases, tho I mostly didn't.


Gear I used at 30:
Trinket: Upgraded Manual of Stealthy Pilfering slotted with search+13 (so much utility in 1 item, and I don't really have any insane endgame trinkets like the epic litany or w/e anyways).
Goggles: Int +15/True Seeing/Insightful Int +7
Necklace: Golden Guile (from LoD) for the improved deception.
Bracers: Resistance +12/Insightful PRR+18/Insightful Strength +7
Boots: Dex +15/Str +15/Insightful Dex +7
Ring1: Con +14/False Life +54/Insightful Con +6 (wasn't high enough crafting level when I made this, and never bothered to remake it).
Ring2: Epic ring of the stalker (forgot to mention this earlier, tons of super nice benefits for this build)
Belt: Doublestrike +17/Natural Armor +15/Insightful Dodge +7 (sometimes swapped out for a SR 51/insightful SR 25 belt)
Gloves: Stunning 17/Armor-Piercing 23/Insightful Stunning +8 (could also have healing amp as the suffix if you prefer that)
Cloak: LGS T2 dex skills/insightful dex skills
Helm: Wisdom +15/Accuracy +23/Insightful Wisdom +7
Robe: Robe of the Celestial Guardian from legendary tempest's spine
Handwraps: Storm's Harness from legendary tempest's spine


Videos (that I quickly put together just before TRing the build) (Also note: I tend to spam X to look at the xp tab a lot. This may or may not be annoying.):
EE Good intentions stealth to endfight (can't solo atm I don't think so didn't actually do the endfight): https://www.twitch.tv/qualdrion/v/106995012
EN Von3 in 4 minutes: https://www.twitch.tv/qualdrion/v/106995190
EN Two-Toed Tobias in 3 minutes: https://www.twitch.tv/qualdrion/v/106995126

Suggestions/Comments/Feedback/Experiences/Whatever welcome!

[Saekee]

hey, so you posted the build here, great stuff.

For this build I guess you need a lesser heart so as to start off with a rogue level?

You went empty hand--how does this compare to your experience with weapons? I was thinking that another option would be to go tier 5 in DWS with short swords (or Longswords and WSS). This would free up some AP and then one could do SDK. You lose damage boost BUT you could take the SDK cores which are great for stealth.

I still think the way to go is a thrower with this split, since you would even be good for raids and throwers want crazy high dex.

[Fecerak]

hey, so you posted the build here, great stuff.

For this build I guess you need a lesser heart so as to start off with a rogue level?

You went empty hand--how does this compare to your experience with weapons? I was thinking that another option would be to go tier 5 in DWS with short swords (or Longswords and WSS). This would free up some AP and then one could do SDK. You lose damage boost BUT you could take the SDK cores which are great for stealth.

I still think the way to go is a thrower with this split, since you would even be good for raids and throwers want crazy high dex.

I did need a lesser heart, but only since I wanted a PDK PL. Human works just as well, as I don't use any of the enhancements specific to PDK.

Weapons vs. unarmed:
- Probably about same dps I'd guess.
- I miss radiance weapons for enabling sneak attack and boosting survivability some, but at 30 stuns are mostly better I'd say. Plus it doesn't restrict you as much in weapons. Losing the ability to use a TF offhand for 35% armor-piercing isn't that fun tho.
- Shadow double and the incorp/invis clicky and the ninja poison are the biggest things I'm missing in terms of the AP themselves, as those were all great.
- Stuns are a big upgrade in terms of dps at 30 vs. non-red mobs, especially with sense weakness.
- Jade strike is a pretty nice dps boost for the entire party (and with DC 98 it seems mostly reliable) that works vs. basically anything (and doubly so against some things)
- Having a self-res is pretty neat in many cases (allowed me to manage a solo run of heroic abbot for instance).
- Pretty sure T5 DWS is very mediocre. Pretty sure you want either T5 tempest or T5 ninja spy if doing TWF as there aren't really that many things in DWS you actually want, so finding 30 AP to spend in that tree will be hard, and the payoff isn't particularly big either, as none of the T5 abilities are particularly impressive for the build. Never played with the SDK (assuming you mean shadar kai) cores, though they seem pretty mediocre to me.

On throwers:
I've never done a thrower (or ranged build in general) as I generally find using ranged weapons clumsy because of their long animations disallowing quick pulling of levers and such right after shooting. I also like the higher attack speed of melee compared to the higher(?) damage per hit of ranged. Dex isn't really an issue as my hide/ms has been plenty for everything I've done so far (maybe reaper changes that, not sure), as I've usually been at about 130-140 hide/ms before shadow form and sneak of shadows.

[Saekee]

I did need a lesser heart, but only since I wanted a PDK PL. Human works just as well, as I don't use any of the enhancements specific to PDK.

Weapons vs. unarmed:
- Probably about same dps I'd guess.
- I miss radiance weapons for enabling sneak attack and boosting survivability some, but at 30 stuns are mostly better I'd say. Plus it doesn't restrict you as much in weapons. Losing the ability to use a TF offhand for 35% armor-piercing isn't that fun tho.
- Shadow double and the incorp/invis clicky and the ninja poison are the biggest things I'm missing in terms of the AP themselves, as those were all great.
- Stuns are a big upgrade in terms of dps at 30 vs. non-red mobs, especially with sense weakness.
- Jade strike is a pretty nice dps boost for the entire party (and with DC 98 it seems mostly reliable) that works vs. basically anything (and doubly so against some things)
- Having a self-res is pretty neat in many cases (allowed me to manage a solo run of heroic abbot for instance).
- Pretty sure T5 DWS is very mediocre. Pretty sure you want either T5 tempest or T5 ninja spy if doing TWF as there aren't really that many things in DWS you actually want, so finding 30 AP to spend in that tree will be hard, and the payoff isn't particularly big either, as none of the T5 abilities are particularly impressive for the build. Never played with the SDK (assuming you mean shadar kai) cores, though they seem pretty mediocre to me.

On throwers:
I've never done a thrower (or ranged build in general) as I generally find using ranged weapons clumsy because of their long animations disallowing quick pulling of levers and such right after shooting. I also like the higher attack speed of melee compared to the higher(?) damage per hit of ranged. Dex isn't really an issue as my hide/ms has been plenty for everything I've done so far (maybe reaper changes that, not sure), as I've usually been at about 130-140 hide/ms before shadow form and sneak of shadows.

thx. Was thinking of SDK jaunts but not sure if they share a cooldown with abundant step--they do make you go ethereal and invisible though. DWS tier 5 would be for a thrower.

Still no response from devs if the stacking stealth speed is WAI. Cordovan said he will ask the other developers but I think it is safe to say that they will never bother with it.

edit: just to add, watched your videos (excellent work shadowmaster!). Here is the link to an old thread I made on acting and killing in full view. Maybe something there to add to your bag of tricks!

[Fecerak]

Ya I'm pretty sure the only way the faster sneaking bug gets fixed is if you keep poking the devs about it. So may not be the best idea to keep doing just that :P

Doesn't matter that much for me right now if it gets fixed anyways as I've already TRed away from the build, though I'm guessing I'll revisit it sometime in the future because it was pretty awesome to play (I just never find anything to do at endgame so I just TR impulsively when I run out of things I want to do).

[Saekee]

Ya I'm pretty sure the only way the faster sneaking bug gets fixed is if you keep poking the devs about it. So may not be the best idea to keep doing just that :P

Doesn't matter that much for me right now if it gets fixed anyways as I've already TRed away from the build, though I'm guessing I'll revisit it sometime in the future because it was pretty awesome to play (I just never find anything to do at endgame so I just TR impulsively when I run out of things I want to do).

hah! too true! The other thing that might make them change it is seeing vids posted here of someone scuttling along

Like you, I tend not to stay at 30 long since I get bored with running the same few quests repeatedly--I end up missing Korthos, of all things. Or I get some dumb idea to do a nude heroic vow of poverty run...