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I'm trying to build a mostly-vanilla Essentials Thief who has very strong Stealth capabilities, especially at Epic level. The PHB2 Hide rules make this difficult, since any Attack makes the Thief visible and unable to Hide at the end of that action. If I've used my trick first to obtain CA, I'm stuck trying to Hide with only a minor action.

In addition, my forced Thief Utility 22 (Invisible Stalker) is utterly wasted on my build, because in practice it overwrites a powerful lower-level Thief trick (or Fleeting Ghost or Shadow Stride or Stealth/Streetwise Skill Powers) and is amply duplicated by Hidden + Armor of Dark Deeds (invisible during any movements).

My goal is to find an at-will ability to re-Hide after movement or  shifting into only partial concealment. In other words, I'd like to meld  Sneak Trick onto other movements. This combos superbly with Armor of Dark Deeds (partial concealment).

This ability is the Rogue Class Feature Cunning Sneak (partial cover/conceal sufficient to hide).

I'm looking for at-will capability to: (move trick) - (standard attack) - (free/minor re-hide) when at Epic levels.

[...] Or are there built-in Essentials Thief capabilities to do this at Epic level that I'm overlooking?

Thanks!

EDIT: D'oh! Master Thief Paragon Path is indeed what I'm looking for: its level 16 feature keeps you hidden if you attack using partial cover or partial concealment. See ya, Kulkor Arms Master.

Thanks! The Master Thief Paragon Path was so well hidden that I didn't even see it.

EDIT:

Btw, what's the cheapest / most efficient way to ditch ("retrain") this Thief's level 22 Utility garbage?

So, for example, MC Cleric with Clarion Call of the Astral Sea (Daily Cleric Util 22)? I spend a standard action, and my dying ally is removed from play restored to full hit points then teleported 5 to start their next turn at full power.

Two feats is pricey... I saw a build that was MC Seeker for  Primal Eye (+8 damage to all ranged attacks using two feats).

Is there a thread describing some of the better MC options?

If you can manage the stats, I'd multiclass to fighter for Martial Supremacy @ U22. Basic attacks are pretty much all a Thief does, so getting to reroll them often is worth the two feat investment.

Martial Versatility/Adaptability/whatever....whichever one of those feats is for utlities will let you swap the U22 for another rogue u22 of your choice.