inconsistency with deception

[Scrag]

I have two daggers, greenstone and assassins kiss, both with "Deception".

One is

"Deception, +3 to bluff, small chance of making enemy vulnerable to sneak for a short time" (kiss)
"Deception, +3 tohit, +5 damage on anything qualifying as a sneak attack" (greenstone)

Also,
"Deception, +tohit/dam, sneak" (shadowhail cloak)

"improved deception, +bluff, +larger chance to make enemy vulnerable (darkness)" (golden guile)

Which of these is the better? +bluff and chance to make vulnerable? Or the tohit/damage?

[magaiti]

They are 2 different effects, usually referred to as "old deception" and "new deception".
"Old" Deception/Improved Deception adds proc chance to make enemy susceptible to sneak attacks for a short time.
"New" Deception +X effects adds to-hit while sneak attacking, and sneak damage (same as sneak dice, but static number rather than some amount of d6).
Both effects are desirable.

[droid327]

Which of these is the better? +bluff and chance to make vulnerable? Or the tohit/damage?

It depends on your build

The bluff part is usually not that important, the auto-sneak proc is really the crux of "old deception". If you have another source of consistent sneak opening, then that effect is less important. Ranged characters using Stay Good in Shiradi, for example, will auto-blind mobs, which enables sneak attack.

If you dont have an automatic sneak enabler, though, then that sneak damage bonus becomes less valuable, so you'll definitely want an Improved Deception item for the 10% chance to open sneaks.

The added damage is valuable in either case, of course. You just need to make sure you have something to open sneak attacks, so that you can consistently benefit from it

[Saekee]

new players do not know this, but the older Improved deception would make mobs spin around and face the opposite direction on a proc. Ahhh how I miss that. It was messy, true, since you might make them face a way you don’t want, but for solo fights, very good.

[Bjond]

There's also the "new new improved deception" items that say "Improved Deception +20", don't give any deception bonus, but instead say they're giving Bluff+20. They all only actually give about Bluff+5~7; eg. Legendary Amethyst Loupe

I haven't checked if the sneak-unlock effect is working or not, but the stated bluff is definitely broken on all of them.