Much like every past Bethesda game (at least the ones I have played, i.e., Everything from Morrowind and onwards), stealth is present in Starfield, too. Unlocking the skill adds an extra layer of fun, but while the ability to sneak past enemies is invaluable, nothing is more satisfying than taking down your enemies with sneak attacks. Because… roguecraft.
How to Unlock Stealth
First things first: In case you didn’t know, stealth doesn’t introduce a new element in Starfield’s combat system. Instead, it makes it measurable to the player’s eyes and enhances it. Sneaking is already part of the game; crouching reduces the chance of being spotted and the noise you generate by putting you in a sneaking stance.
The Stealth skill introduces a stealth meter with three different states:
- Hidden: Enemies and non-hostile NPCs or creatures are unaware of your presence.
- Caution: Your cover is about to be blown by an enemy. Either stop moving or back off.
- Danger: You are spotted by an enemy.
- Detected: You are spotted by a non-hostile NPC or creature.
Prioritizing the Stealth skill in your early game could pay huge dividends. It enhances your ability to slip unnoticed and significantly improves the damage output of your sneak attacks. Sneak attacks are like critical hits as they deal double damage.
As you level up, you can keep unlocking ranks 2, 3, and 4 of the Stealth skill, each one making your more difficult to detect and increasing your sneak attack damage with suppressed weapons.
| Rank | Rank Effect | Rank Challenge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adds a Stealth Meter. You are 25% more difficult to detect when sneaking. Suppressed weapons do an additional 5% sneak attack damage. | Perform 10 sneak attacks. |
| 2 | Upgrades the Stealth Meter. You are 50% more difficult to detect when sneaking. Suppressed weapons do an additional 10% sneak attack damage. | Perform 20 sneak attacks. |
| 3 | You are 75% more difficult to detect when sneaking. Suppressed weapons do an additional 15% sneak attack damage. | Perform 40 sneak attacks. |
| 4 | You are 100% more difficult to detect when sneaking. Suppressed weapons do an additional 20% sneak attack damage. Doors you interact with while in stealth no longer alert enemies. | You have mastered this skill. |
How to Perform Sneak Attacks
Note: Performing sneak attacks requires your character to be in the sneaking stance i.e., crouching. To confirm this, just shoot at something or someone really far away without sneaking.
To land a sneak attack, you must be in a crouching state and hit an enemy in the stealth meter’s “Hidden” or “Caution” state. The problem is that the “Caution” state may switch to “Danger” when the hit lands, especially if you are not using a suppressed weapon.
However, there is one more thing to clarify. If a target detects you, let’s say 10 meters away from you, but you are aiming at another target, say 200 meters away from you, that hasn’t detected you, hitting them will still count as a sneak attack, even though your Stealth Meter says “Danger.”
I must admit that I haven’t tried shooting a friendly NPC when I’m “Detected” to see if such a cheap shot counts as a sneak attack.
Use the stealth meter as a rule of thumb and then use common sense to understand which targets it applies to.
Do You Need Suppressed Weapons?
Yes and no. You don’t need a suppressed weapon to land a sneak attack. As a matter of fact, I have not yet performed a sneak attack with a suppressed weapon. However, you should use a suppressed weapon to fully utilize your Stealth skill’s buff to suppressed weapons’ damage multiple times.
99.9% of the time, a sneak attack with a non-suppressed weapon will alert the enemy and other enemies and bust your coverage. With a suppressed weapon, you can keep landing sneak attacks on the enemy, making the most of the damage boost for sneak attacks with suppressed weapons.
How to Level Up Stealth and Maximize Your Sneak Attack Damage
I won’t throw in a ton of planets as options to explore and rank up your stealth skill. Instead, I will recommend just one. Go to Tau Ceti VIII-b, a moon of Tau Ceti VIII in the Tau Ceti system (I usually land at the Science Outpost). The planet is brimming with hostile and non-hostile wildlife, and you can land sneak attacks from a distance.
Even if you are spotted, you will find numerous animals hundreds of meters away from you to sneak attack. Completing the Rank Challenges and unlocking the next Stealth skill rank should be a matter of minutes.
In general, any planet with Moderate or a higher level of Fauna should do the trick for Stealth rank challenges.
How to Unlock the Concealment Skill to Further Boost Your Sneak Attacks
Do you want to be an assassin? Because if you do, Stealth is a must-have skill, but Concealment is the icing on the cake. Get the skill to Rank 4, find a nice melee weapon, and then melee sneak attack an enemy. You probably won’t have to attack a second time (on Very Hard, you may have to, but that doesn’t sound as cool).
There is one problem, though. As you would expect from such an amazing skill with multiple buffs, it’s a Tier 4 skill in the Physical Tree, so you must have spent 12 in the tree to unlock it. (By the way, Andreja also has at least Rank 3 on Concealment among her skillset).
| Rank | Rank Effects | Rank Challenge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | You no longer set off enemy mines. Ranged sneak attacks do 2.5x normal damage and your melee sneak attacks do 4x normal damage. | Perform 10 melee/unarmed sneak attacks. |
| 2 | You no longer set off enemy mines. Ranged sneak attacks do 2.5x normal damage, and your melee sneak attacks do 4x normal damage. | Perform 30 melee/unarmed sneak attacks. |
| 3 | You gain a Chameleon-like ability when completely still and sneaking. Ranged sneak attacks do 3.5x normal damage and your melee sneak attacks do 8x normal damage. | Perform 75 melee/unarmed sneak attacks. |
| 4 | Running while sneaking doesn’t affect stealth. Ranged sneak attacks do 3x normal damage, and your melee sneak attacks do 5x normal damage. | N/A |
Originally posted 2023-10-03 01:01:56.
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