Hide in shadow + Move silently

[Thorgal]

I'm playing hunter/rogue. Have 3 points in move silently and 7+3 in hide in shadow. My question is: Does move silently anyhow is usable? Even i'm not silent i'm hidden in shadow and therefore can't be hit. Why should I invest points in move silently?

[Kreador Freeaxe]

If you move while hidden in shadows but not silent, it is more likely that enemies will spot you. While silent and hidden, that's almost impossible.

[Wraith_Magus]

As far as my experience shows, enemies detect your character on two separate levels.

First, they check to see if they can see you - that's what the hiding is for. If they can see you, they start attacking you.

If they can't see you, they check to see if they can hear you - and that's what moving silently is for. If they can hear you, but not see you, they will try to move towards the source of the noise, but have very short attention spans, so if you just idle for a few turns, there is a good chance they will forget they heard anything, and go back to milling about.

Not being seen is far more important than not being heard, in general.

[Morgan Terror]

Don't apply this same tactic to book II though. Move silently is far more significant in that one, but i'd say stealth skills are more useful in the first game in general; the 2nd one doesn't allow you to use stealth when you could really use it most of the time. I'd imagine they'll solve that in the next game.

[Kreador Freeaxe]

Don't apply this same tactic to book II though. Move silently is far more significant in that one, but i'd say stealth skills are more useful in the first game in general; the 2nd one doesn't allow you to use stealth when you could really use it most of the time. I'd imagine they'll solve that in the next game.

Yeah, Book II significantly nerfs Hide-In-Shadows, shifting it from practical invisibility to a slight hinderance to targeting.

[Thorgal]

As far as my experience shows, enemies detect your character on two separate levels.

First, they check to see if they can see you - that's what the hiding is for. If they can see you, they start attacking you.

If they can't see you, they check to see if they can hear you - and that's what moving silently is for. If they can hear you, but not see you, they will try to move towards the source of the noise, but have very short attention spans, so if you just idle for a few turns, there is a good chance they will forget they heard anything, and go back to milling about.

Not being seen is far more important than not being heard, in general.

And what about probability of beeing spoted and attacked. Is there a chance that enemies could do that while i'm in shadow and stay still. As far as i noticed they atack after few my blows. Never without my agresion. Even if i attack, successful hit but deal no damage they are unable to strike back.
I increased move silently skill because i thought after detection i would be unable to hide again while making noise. Now i'm almoust sure it has nothing in common.

Morgan Terror, Book II will be next step after finishing Book I. I can't believe i missed this game in 2007

[Wraith_Magus]

And what about probability of beeing spoted and attacked. Is there a chance that enemies could do that while i'm in shadow and stay still. As far as i noticed they atack after few my blows. Never without my agresion. Even if i attack, successful hit but deal no damage they are unable to strike back.
I increased move silently skill because i thought after detection i would be unable to hide again while making noise. Now i'm almoust sure it has nothing in common.

Your English is a little rough, so I hope I'm interpreting this correctly, but...

Enemies have a vision range that is determined by your Hide in Shadows skill and how dark it is in the tile you are standing on, and modified by if you are standing next to a wall or other large object.

As they move closer to you, they enter the range where they will be able to see you, although what range this is depends on how much Hide In Shadows skill you have.

If you are behind an obstacle that occludes view, they will never find you, and it makes it easier to hide by ducking behind a wall if they are tracking your sound.

If you cast a firebolt spell or similar spell, it will light your character up, and make you significantly more visible - fleshboil spells and bows do not have this effect, and are easier to use from stealth.

If you stand still, an enemy can't hear you, but might still follow you to a point where they will be able to see you - if you move away, they will continue to hear you as you move, but you can occasionally either get away, or get to a place where it's more difficult to see you, such as behind a wall.

[Lord_P]

If you cast a firebolt spell or similar spell, it will light your character up, and make you significantly more visible - fleshboil spells and bows do not have this effect, and are easier to use from stealth.

Wow I never thought about that one, but that's right. Excellent point there, Wraith_Magus.

[Morgan Terror]

I don't actually think firespells have that effect. Logically speaking they would, but since your personal light level is low at both the end of the previous round and the end of the round in which you fired the spell, your stealth isn't broken. I've never seen it work that way at least, but correct me if you've seen otherwise through experience.

[Wraith_Magus]

I don't actually think firespells have that effect. Logically speaking they would, but since your personal light level is low at both the end of the previous round and the end of the round in which you fired the spell, your stealth isn't broken. I've never seen it work that way at least, but correct me if you've seen otherwise through experience.

I have - at lowish levels of Hide in Shadow (3 or so), you only gain the "Hidden In Shadow" status while in the darkest settings (underground or complete night without a torch) and when near a wall.

When you cast a firebolt spell, the "Hidden In Shadow" status disappears for one turn (you will re-hide yourself if you move or wait), and the same goes for deep freeze, oddly. The compress atmosphere spell and fleshboil spell do not change your hidden status, although they do create (significant) noise.

You can try testing it yourself at those low levels of skill ranks, since you can easily create a new character with some small Hide In Shadows levels and Elemental magic, and experiment for yourself.

[Morgan Terror]

Right, so it only happens at low hiding skill. That would explain why i've never seen it.

[Kreador Freeaxe]

Right, so it only happens at low hiding skill. That would explain why i've never seen it.

The fire bolt and certain other spells have a light effect that raises the ambient light in every square it passes through (including the one it starts in, yours) by a certain amount (maybe only 1 setting, I'm not sure). If that is enough to "trip" your hide-in-shadows level, then you may become visible.