Hiding & Stealth

Hiding is one of the core skills of the Roguish Skill Tree. Stealth, being a part of the hiding skill, is the ability to move while remaining hidden.

To begin attempting to hide is as easy as using the [Hiding command (Note: the command is specifically [hiding, not [hide, nor any other variation).

There is no pre-requisite skill level or perk to begin attempting to hide but if you do not have much skill at it, you will find your attempts unsuccessful, but each unsuccessful attempt has a chance to raise your skill level at it. There is a cooldown of 8 seconds (Check for Accuracy) between each attempt to hide. This cooldown increases to 16 seconds (Check for Accuracy) if you are revealed by another creature/player through the [reveal command.

The only pre-requisites that are required to hide are that no creature (Player or NPC) has a line of sight (LOS) to you and that you're not too close to a lightsource. If someone/something can see you, you will get the following error:

To be “outside” a creature's LoS, you must not be within 8 tiles of it. The range looks like the following:

Lightsources (Torches/Lanterns/Candles/Etc) will also prevent you from hiding. Without any perks, you cannot be within 6 tiles of a lightsource or you will receive the following error:

7 tiles away is the following distance:

Sometimes you simply fail in your attempt to hide, receiving the following error:

Once you succeed at your hiding attempt, you will receive the following message confirming you're hidden:

When you succeed at hiding, you'll get several indicators. Your character's model will lose its saturation, becoming grey/black/white. You'll receive a Razor message of [+Hidden/Stealthing]. Lastly, you'll get a Hidden/Stealthing indicator if you have the Status Gump visible:

Once hidden, you will remain hidden. Though there are some actions/effects that can undo the hiding, making you visible again, needing to attempt to rehide. Some actions that will unhide you include, but are not limited to, the following:

These actions can be done without breaking stealth:

Once you've reached Skill Level 30 in hiding, you can purchase the first perks: Cloak of Darkness and Nightstalker I

Cloak of Darkness allows you to hide within 2 tiles of a lightsource, instead of only within 6 tiles. Also, once the stealth perk has been unlocked and purchased, you can stealth (walk) to within 2 tiles of the lightsources.

Nightstalker I reduces the low-level formula check for Hiding in dimly lit areas from +6 to +2. Meaning you're more likely to successfully hide in areas with less light.

Once you hit Skill Level 50 in hiding, you unlock the ability to purchase several more perks: Armored Stealth I, Nightstalker II, and Stealthing

We'll start by talking about Stealthing. [Stealth is a completely separate command from [hiding. In order to attempt [stealth, you must already be hidden or receive the following error:

The attempt to stealth is separate from the attempt to hide. This means that while you can be successful in your hiding attempt, you can become visible again by failing the stealth attempt. Once you've successfully stealthed, you'll receive the following message:

Once you've successfully started stealthing, this means you can now WALK while hidden (running will automatically make you visible, there is a setting in general options to “Always Run” with a 2nd option “Unless Hidden”. Checking the 2nd option will prevent you from accidentally running while stealthed). Once you begin moving, there is a system message that will advise you how many steps you've taken since you've started stealthing. These can be turned on/off in [meta. There is also the [ToggleStealthMessages command, this does not affect stealth step messages but it does provide feedback on rolls for hiding and stealth attempts.

If you fail to re-attempt to stealth before reaching your Maximum Stealth Steps, you will become visible. To remain hidden, you must attempt [stealth again before it breaks. The stealth step counter will max out at 31, with no additional steps showing in the journal after.

Maximum Stealth Steps are affected by a few aspects, but the main two are Armor and Perks. A character wearing multiple pieces of heavy armor will have fewer stealth steps available to them than a character wearing light or no armor at all. The perk Armored Stealth I reduces the penalties to stealthing in armor by 30%. This allows you the ability to stealth more reliably and further in heavier armor. However, depending on the skills and perks you have, if you're wearing too much armor, you can receive the following error when you attempt to stealth, and will become visible:

Even with the Armored Stealth perks, you will find it difficult to stealth wearing full medium or heavy armor. Getting all 3 Armored Stealth Perks will completely mitigate the negative affects of Light Armor while stealthed.

The last perk at 50% Hiding, Nightstalker II, doubles the night time stealth steps before a new check is needed. In this screenshot, an additional 21 steps have been added to the Stealth Steps.

At Skill Level 70%, three more perks become available: Armored Stealth II, Master of Shadows, and Shadowy Touch

Armored Stealth II does similar to Armored Stealth I, reducing penalties to stealthing in armor by an additional 10% for a total of 40% reduction of penalty.

Master of Shadows does two main things:

So once you have purchased this skill, you'll still receive the message for how many steps taken, but you'll also receive one for how many you have remaining:

Once the countdown hits 0, your character will automatically attempt to re-roll to remain stealthed, with the formula being based on their current location, time, and light level. So if your stealth ends in a non-ideal spot, your re-roll might be more difficult than when you originally started stealthing.

The last perk at 70%, Shadowy Touch allows the character to better utilize the Cloak of Darkness perk. Shadowy Touch allows the character to manipulate lightsources without becoming visible. The character would have to get within 2 tiles of the lightsource however:

WARNING: Maybe a bug but at the moment Cloak of Darkness will only allow you to hide within THREE tiles, not TWO like it describes. For stealth, it allows you to get within two tiles and remain hidden. HOWEVER, IF YOU LEAVE THAT 2 TILE RADIUS WHILE THE LIGHTSOURCE IS STILL LIT, YOU WILL BE REVEALED.

The last perk (other than Grandmastery) is Armored Stealth III. This reduces penalties to stealthing in armor by another 10% (Typo in gump, says additional 50%) for a TOTAL of 50% reduction. Removes penalties altogether for light class armor.

At one point in the game's history it was possible to RUN WHILE STEALTHED. For the sake of the game's meta, this was removed from the Grandmastery Perk. There is a legend of a special vendor dealing with those who live dangerously. The legend says if you meet the requirements, you could meet this vendor, and potentially purchase the ability to run while stealthed. Where this vendor is and what the requirements might be are unknown, and probably don't even exist… Probably…

A Note on Perception

A skill closely related to hiding is the Perception Skill. When you are hiding near another creature, there is a chance they can [detect or even [reveal you. The formula comes down to a skill check between your Hiding skill and their Perception skill, though they can get a 50% advantage by holding a light source. So be wary of the light! The command [detect would allow them to see you, though nobody else still could. If they are successful in their attempt to [reveal you, it will force you to become visible with an increased cooldown on your ability to re-attempt to hide.

Perception can be a handy skill for those who hide, as there are perks in the tree that will allow you to potentially see when other creatures attempt to detect or reveal you.