Path of Shadows
This a major Stealth overhaul, intended not only to balance it’s effectiveness across all skill levels and perks, but also to improve the overall gameplay and realism of it.
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This is a major Stealth overhaul, intended not only to balance it’s effectiveness across all skill levels, but also to improve the overall gameplay and realism of it, while adding some complexity and difficulty.
You’ll no longer be able to remain hidden directly in front of someone’s face, or have to chase down that horse who “witnessed” your act of murder.
Stealth as a whole will require much more finesse and patience, no longer allowing you to run around like a headless chicken knocking people off with sneak attacks one after another.
Sneaking in particular is much more reliant on your actions. This forces you to be mindful of where people are looking, how fast you are moving, what kind of equipment you are using, how dark the area is, etc.
Skill and perks are still important, but they’ll no longer break immersion or gameplay by allowing you to stand in plain sight of someone without being seen, even at the highest levels.
I recommend against using muffle enchantments wherever possible. Either with or without this mod, they easily break stealth in higher quantities.
Sneaking
Your Sneak skill, while still important, has a less drastic impact than before.
Sound you make, such as from moving quickly, now has a more drastic effect on your ability to remain hidden. This means that to get close to someone you’ll have to start walking after getting close enough or risk being heard.
Sneaking when outside of line of sight is generally easier, so even with low levels of skill you can no longer be spotted while sitting in place many yards behind a target.
It is now significantly easier to be spotted while inside line of sight, so you must now be very careful to avoid wandering in front of someone and to stay behind obstructions.
Distance is now more important, making it more difficult to be spotted from further away even within line of sight.
Armor weight has a more drastic effect on your ability to remain hidden while moving.
Lighting now has a much more drastic effect on your ability to remain hidden. So not only is it far more effective to stay in the shadows, but getting close to sources of light such as torches or sunlight will make you very easy to spot. This also means that you should be able to remain hidden even within line of sight as long as you sit still inside a dark corner. Though you can still be spotted if they get too close.
The angle of NPCs’ line of sight is reduced to 120 degrees, so it is now a reasonable task to stay out of sight.
Detection
NPCs will now continue to search for you for a long time if you attack them or someone near them, or if they fully detect you at any point.
When you arouse the suspicion of an NPC, it now takes a bit longer for that suspicion to fade.
Sneak Attacks
Sneak Attack multipliers have been altered to; Two-handers – 2x, Bows – 3x, One-handers – 4x, Unarmed – 5x, Daggers – 6x. While heavier weapons are generally more capable weapons for Sneak Attacks than before, they still have the penalty of being harder to sneak with due to their weight, and attack more slowly.
Witnesses
The distance from which a witness to a crime can report the crime to a guard has been cut in half.
NPCs that did not make sense as witnesses to crimes, such as creatures and bandits, can no longer be witnesses.
Stealing
The maximum chance for a pick pocket to succeed is now 100%, rather than 95%.
Lockpicking
Lockpicking is now more difficult in general, with a higher reliance on the Lockpicking skill.
Lockpicks do not break as easily, but the sweet spot for opening a lock is much smaller.
The size of the sweet spot when opening a lock is influenced more strongly by your Lockpicking skill.
Crime
Crime in general is much more punitive when caught, with higher bounties.
Spells
Various spells have been made naturally silent including Invisibility, elemental runes, bound weapons, Telekinesis, Clairvoyance, Soul Trap, and Water Breathing.
Plans
The overhaul of perks is expected to return in a future update, as an optional download.
