Is Acrobat strictly better than Henshin Mystic for stick fighting?

[Maelodic]

Title.

I've been plotting my next life around going henshin mystic because I like the idea of aoe damage from cleaves/wave/cauldron and then shadows cannot exist without light just being a broken ability in heroics and still pretty great in epics. The other things I love about monk being abundant step, and zoom zoom speed.

But I pulled some light armor that reminded me that Acrobat might give me more of what I am looking for in a character. I absolutely hate traps, I hate dying to them I hate taking damage to them I hate not being able to disable them, so I had an 18 Monk, 1 Rogue, 1 Druid planned but I've been thinking about straight up 20 acrobat might fit me as a (melee) player a bit more.

It seems like Henshin is:
Cauldron of Flame big boomer ability (too long cooldown boo)
Spam heals for days
Void strike as main button press until the universe is erased
Use falconry for helpless / WIS to things
Standing and burst defenses seem to be worse - nothing terribly stand out other than just naturally high saves/AC/dodge
Standing offenses seem to be limited to Cauldron of Flame, otherwise nothing particularly good

And acrobat is:
Use shiv/improved fient/bluff etc and sneak attack things to death
Tumble every 6 seconds for permanent mini DoD and mini unbalancing strike (when dealing with mobs)
High standing defenses (super duper reflex, dodge, AC) and fantastic burst defense ("ha good luck hitting me" dodge clicky, spinning staff wall)
High standing offense (45% doublestrike, 20% stacking attack speed, super duper high SA) and I mean has haste boost

They both have the zoom I desire, I guess I'm trying to figure out reasons to play the monk because that heal ability is so fun.

[Arkat]

Yes

[unbongwah]

The main problem with pure Henshin vs Acrobat is that Acrobat gets +15% attack speed right off the bat while Henshin has to wait until level 20. Add in sneak attacks + Improved Feint and Acrobat out-DPSs Henshin in lower levels. Henshin kinda-sorta made up for that later on with a ton of Melee Power in the cores...until SSG decided that the best way to nerf overperforming Shintao builds was to rob Henshin of all that MP. So pure Henshin went from 80 MP down to 35.

It's nice when Void Strike's instakill procs, but since it's a vorpal effect with a 3-second CD, the net effect is one free kill every minute. Where Henshin distinguishes itself IMO is the added utility of monk abilities: Shadow Veil, Balance in Dawn, etc. Whether that's worth giving up the added DPS from pure Acrobat is up to you. Or you can split the difference with one of those rogue 12 / monk 6 splits.

Falconry+Henshin opens some synergies since Henshin DCs are WIS-based, of course, but I'm still left with the feeling that (despite the nerfs) Shintao is still so much better than Henshin that it renders stick builds moot (again).

[Maelodic]

The main problem with pure Henshin vs Acrobat is that Acrobat gets +15% attack speed right off the bat while Henshin has to wait until level 20. Add in sneak attacks + Improved Feint and Acrobat out-DPSs Henshin in lower levels. Henshin kinda-sorta made up for that later on with a ton of Melee Power in the cores...until SSG decided that the best way to nerf overperforming Shintao builds was to rob Henshin of all that MP. So pure Henshin went from 80 MP down to 35.

It's nice when Void Strike's instakill procs, but since it's a vorpal effect with a 3-second CD, the net effect is one free kill every minute. Where Henshin distinguishes itself IMO is the added utility of monk abilities: Shadow Veil, Balance in Dawn, etc. Whether that's worth giving up the added DPS from pure Acrobat is up to you. Or you can split the difference with one of those rogue 12 / monk 6 splits.

Falconry+Henshin opens some synergies since Henshin DCs are WIS-based, of course, but I'm still left with the feeling that (despite the nerfs) Shintao is still so much better than Henshin that it renders stick builds moot (again).

Both of them tear through heroics, and a multiclassed Monk/Rogue with henshin T5s (shadows cannot exist) and dipping into both trees I'm convinced is just flat out the best melee build for heroics since all the extra damage from both trees stack for some reason. It's +15 to damage. Add elemental bloom and you're a god at level 7, and it doesn't really die off until epics when all the other melees catch up and surpass it. Shadows keeps you alive super duper well.

I have tried to like Shintao over the years because I really do love the innate monk zippiness. Henshin would be my absolute favorite if it didn't fall off in epics, cauldron had a shorter cooldown, and wave and bolt actually did good damage. Honestly my best time playing monk was back before the very first enhancement rework, back with dark monks with dance of the water strider and ToD actually being good. I dunno, nostalgia glasses maybe.

Either way, I digress. I'll try acrobat next life and see what happens. I know it also falls off, but at least it's not as much and I can be immortal doing it.