Scion of the Ethereal Plane vs Earth

[Emerge2012]

Great to have, yes. mandatory? I don't think so.
I already run with 70% fort bypass (25% Precision, 10% Opportunist, 15% Grim, 20% Item) + 25% Assassin's Trick.
The DS is nice, but I prefer the MoF cloak.
My only doublestrike items are on Belt or Cloak (FoM), so I'll actually miss 7% DS (22% from the cloak) by going this set.

I think Legendary Adherent of the Mists is mandatory for any melee, not the Legendary Silent Avenger.

If I'm being honest I'd equate those numbers on a assassin build to be about the same as a dex-based sorcerer. Granted not all of the items are easy to get but you can most certainly fit in both sets and sit at 98% bypass without Grim. You definitely want to be at or above 100% at all times.

Fix the bypass problem and you'll probably have a lot more respect for Ethereal. SA set is mandatory on a top end build.

[askrj1]

I suspect it's more of a play style or environment issue, whether OP plays solo or in party, whether he takes more focus in landing assassiantes or beatdown DPS etc.

Why I say this is if you solo, unless you start off with a bluff you will not land SAs until deception procs, even before considering fort pierece. If you are looking for chances to sneak and land assassinate it's also not immediately obvious how much DPS higher fort pierce and sneak damage can consistently add.

One more factor is helpless damage bonuses, because as far as I can remember, it is a multiplicative stack. It's a good part of why the set is a part of the high end meta where hard CC and helpless damage is king.

[Emerge2012]

There's a lot that goes into it for sure. I think for the solo or short party type of style assassinate is top priority. It just basically needs to land consistently and then DPS should be the focus after that as the game, regardless of what people want to say, is still all about killing them first. I'd be really shocked if the DPS loss from not having good bypass or the SA set wasn't getting him killed a lot more than the 20 prr/amp is saving him.

By the way I'm one of the 3 people on the server that know you can do traps in Strahd! I'll never get tired of watching other people request a trapper with you standing right there though, that's priceless every time and ranks right up there with asking the fighter or paladin with 5k hp if they can tank.

[askrj1]

Ironically, all except 1 of the traps in Strahd are trivial - DC wise they all are, highest DC traps in the game now iirc are actually still Leg. Creeping Death and LTS. It's just that one trap after the jets (after the dispel circle) if you don't get ranged support to pull the Living FoDs off you, you're going to get neg'd to oblvion and either fail the traps or just simply die.

It wouldn't hurt to ask, given the hours I play I wouldn't expect that many US or European players to know or readily recognize me, and I've had a fair share of time outside of trapper builds. There are definitely more than 3, but probably not that many, and even fewer if just considering US/EU. For the case of tanks unless I already knew the player I would ask when they join, just to be sure I don't end up with a useless meatbag. But that's off topic.

Going back (slightly) on topic, yes, even in high reapers your priority would be assassinate, but that is only the case if you play in groups because well, sneak is broken in reaper. It's no secret, so you can't stealth bluff mobs and assassinate your way through quests. If you cannot take them one by one then doing something between assassinate CD when engaging a group will be relevant. Unless earth + Adherent makes the difference between you swinging or sitting around as a stone, juicing every last point of damage out of ethereal + Avenger will (almost) always come up favourable.

[Shadow_Jumper]

It's just that one trap after the jets (after the dispel circle) if you don't get ranged support to pull the Living FoDs off you, you're going to get neg'd to oblvion and either fail the traps or just simply die.

My recommendation for dealing with that particular trap is to wear spell absorbtion.

https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Jeweled_Cloak_(Level_25)
https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Magestar
https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Pale_L...(unsuppressed)

are all solid options for spell absorption.

[askrj1]

My recommendation for dealing with that particular trap is to wear spell absorbtion.

https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Jeweled_Cloak_(Level_25)
https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Magestar
https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Pale_L...(unsuppressed)

are all solid options for spell absorption.

What makes it worse is my rogue has the pale lavender and I just somehow never seem to remember to put it on :P

[VinoeWhines]

Someone asked what gear setup, they had on to reach what was needed to have the AoTM and SA setup or other gear setup. I don't think anyone answered that question, or showed what they were wearing at the time.

[askrj1]

Someone asked what gear setup, they had on to reach what was needed to have the AoTM and SA setup or other gear setup. I don't think anyone answered that question, or showed what they were wearing at the time.

May have missed the question, but what I used was Echo of Ravenloft (trinket), Barcers of Fallen Hero, Molten Silver Gauntlets, Cursebane and Nightfall rings. Had insdex7 crafted into boots, but there is room to swap things around a little for 5 piece anyway. Like I said my setup was acrobat, so it's probably not optimal for assassins.

[Shadow_Jumper]

Someone asked what gear setup, they had on to reach what was needed to have the AoTM and SA setup or other gear setup. I don't think anyone answered that question, or showed what they were wearing at the time.

You can do both.

SA: Belt/Cloak/Armor
Adherents: Ring1/Bracers/Boots/Gloves/Trinket or Goggles.

Go for the goggles if you want a heal amp/dodge CC trinket.

Its possible. You loose a little bit of survivability from CC/LGS items if you do, but it is the best DPS setup

To break it down further;

SA:
Leg Braided Cutcord
Leg Shadowhail
Leg Mist-laden Vestments

Adherents:
Leg Ring of Nightfall
Leg Lore-fueled Packbanner
Leg Flightfoot Greaves
Molten Silver
Echo of Ravenkind/Van Richten's Spectacles