[Carcaroth]

You're absolutely right on the part of crumble, the warlock isn't necessary to teleport in... Not sure why I remember doing such, in fact.

Second: You're right on them not being NATURAL assassins... but they're one of the best targets for a Black Heart in the game. Black hearts are cheap, effective, and clock in at that same Cons 6 you want for Boots of Youth anyway. Flight, Life for a Life or Infernal Prison, Phoenix pyre, or simply lobbing ranged damage spells, with incinerate, if you have it researched, being the winner. Honestly, they're probably better than the same slaves spent on gear for either of LA Abysia's mage-assassins.

On that same token, apart from their speed, I don't feel they're really that great as mages... they're going to be the ones who wind up casting your summon archdevil, they're going to be the ones who spam infernal prison against tarts in the lategame, but the everyday heavy lifting apart from leading those specialized strikeforces is best left to Anathemant Dragons or Warlocks, IMO. The two benefits the demonbreds bring to the table for your average battlemagery are Not Old and Eventually Has A Million Experience. Those are both awesome, but when you're looking at an anathemant dragon or a warlock instead, I often go for the raw firepower. Great assassins, very good thugs, quite reasonable mages, but usually I'd rather have them doing one of the first two than standing in the back and casting fire magic. An exception is made for large sabbaths, but as much as I'd enjoy such an occasion, those come along rarely.