Alright. Time for the first in a number of criminal threads I'll be making over the week discussing the details behind a number of the justice system mechanics, and why things are a lot easier than you might think they are.

So, how about them guards?

I see people die to guards all the time and cannot help but frown or shake my head. The reason behind this is because guards are actually very, very easy to escape from. You just need to know how. So that's what I am going to teach anyone here that doesn't know "The truth about guards."

A guards aggro radius if you are actually sneaking is in fact quite small, even without leather bonuses or stealthy racial passives. When traveling with a bounty in an area, always sneak unless you are intimately familiar with the patrol area you are in. (As in you know the patrol routes up and down and could recite them in your sleep.)

Guards have a set pathing with a number of stationary stops along the way that they will stop and stand at for a short time. Which stop they end up in along this path of their's appears to be random, including the current position, which can be chosen a second time. If this ends up to be the case, they will just stay where they are for a while longer. (If you look at them closely, you will see their animations stop when they are about to move. If they do this and do not move, they chose their current position a second time and won't move a again for a bit. This pathing rule applies to all justice npc's, not just the guards.)

Stop right there, criminal scum!

So now that you know how to avoid them, how do you escape guards that you aggro who chase you for miles with loads of cc? Simple. Don't run from them.

Sprinting from a guard is the last thing you should ever do if you find yourself in trouble. People may not realize it, but guards have the exact same run speed as players do when they chase you. So when aggroed, simply sprint for a moment so you are just outside of their melee range, then simply... walk away. That's all there is to it. Okay... so maybe there is a little more, but that is the biggest part of it. Your stamina is your life line when escaping guards. you run out of stam to escape their cc, chances are you are going to die. So by walking away from the guards, you conserve that stamina for cc breaks and rolls.

Do a barrel roll!

If they use talons to root you in place, roll forward then just keep walking. If they chain grip you to them, immediately roll away once able to avoid being struck with an attack and just keep walking away. If they petrify you or charge you, CC break then sprint for a moment, and then, you guessed it; continue to walk away from them.

Some of you might be thinking "Walk away? But guards chase you FOREVER!" after reading these instructions, which brings me to the next and probably biggest misconception about guards. The amount of distance a guard must travel before it will leash is actually short, very short. Roughly 60-70m from the location you aggro them from. However they can stick to you like glue, following well over 100 yards while continuing to attack you. So how do you stop them from following you beyond their leash range? Easy. You turn around and punch them right in the face.

...I'm serious.

Give 'em the old one-two!

If you hit a guard and they are beyond their leash range, they will put their weapon away and reset. However if you do not attack them, they often will continue to chase and attack until whenever they decide they are too far away from their location you aggroed them from. I recommend block attacks/shield slams to tap them, in case they get a swing in on you so you can block some of the damage.

Now a fun fact about this, is this works for ALL npc's, not just guards. Ever wodner why sometimes when you hit an npc after they have chased you a while that they will suddenly reset? Well that's why. They have gone past their 60-70m~ leash range and don't realize it yet until you have hit them. I believe this mechanic is set in place as a defensive measure to prevent long distance kiting of npcs. However why it is only triggered when struck and not by distance is beyond me.

Also, another important thing to keep in mind. Your combat resources will not regenerate when a guard is aggroed on you which brings me back to why running out of stam generally means you are toast. It won't regenerate back at all. You will have to sit through the full duration of CC's with a guard on you while unable to block their attacks. Again, your health, stamina and magica won't regenerate while while a guard is on you, so watch your resources carefully and do not waste them. Know when you should heal or use a HP or stamina potion. A well timed health or stamina potion could very well save your ass and all the loot on you.

It may take a bit of practice, but once you are comfortable with these things, you will find that guards with never, ever catch you. You can even escape multiple guards if you are careful. Take advantage of that CC immunity when being pursued by multiple guards. they cannot CC you while you have it active, and is one of the ONLY times should you ever actively sprint with a guard(s) on you. To which you will run behind the nearest object and wait for the guards to come then strike each one really quickly. The ones beyond their leash will reset, leaving with you with one or two that you only need to run a short distance before they will be ready to be leashed as well.

Practice makes perfect.

Now, if you are a dedicated or active thief, I high, highly recomend practicing escaping guards with these details in mind. Because 1000 gold lost in bounties while learning and praticing is better then losing 10,000 gold by being unaware and uneducated. Also, don't be a chicken and shoot at the guard from range while practicing your escapes. Man up and punch that sucker right in the face, then run away. Because if you can escape a guard from melee range aggro, you can escape a guard from ranged aggro in your sleep.

Tips and Tricks:

Preemptive dodge rolling: If a guard aggros you and you find yourself with full or a lot of stam, you will find that they will throw their first cc at you roughly 3~ seconds after they initially aggro. If you time it right, you can dodge roll forward and completely evade their first CC attempt on you. Each CC after the first will be roughly 4-6 seconds apart from one another. So their CC spam isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. It's only bad when you have more than 1 on you. However that is what CC immunity is for.

Blocking line of sight: If a guard cannot see you, they cannot CC you. So while fleeing try and put as many objects between you and the guard in pursuit. This will buy you a few extra seconds, which is oftne all you need to reach their leasg range and punch them so they reset. Large crates, houses, tress, etc. all work great for this.

Invisibility: Invis is the Game Genie cheat code for getting away from guards. Guards will immediately stop attacking once you become invisible, however they will not immediately reset. They will loaf around for a few seconds before resetting. So if you're a nightblade, repeatedly use your invisibility again and again before it wares off until the guard(s) on you have reset. (If you let the invis wear off, you have to begin the wait all over again.) Alternatively, if you are not a nightblade or are just lazy, you can use invisibility positions for an almost sure fire escape from guards. This are particularly handy for sticky situations like being caught indoors by a guard. (which you cannot use doors while in combat, so your kinda screwed otherwise.)

Also note, that while invisible you will still be seen by guards and justice npc's while stealing or opening safe boxes. You will immediately go uninvis and end up with aggro or a bounty.

Retreating Maneuver: Another really useful tool to have when fleeing guards. Retreating Maneuver is a morph from the Alliance War Assault skill, Rapid Maneuver that is unlocked through pvp in Cyrodiil. It provides a 40% movement speed bonus as well as a handy immunity to roots and slows, as well as removing any on you currently. This makes it exceptionally useful to break out of a guard's talons root. However keep in mind that guards can still pull and stun you with their petrify, chain and charge attacks.

Cliffs, walls and ledges: Another great way to escape guards is by hopping off of cliffs, walls and ledges (Assuming theyr are high enough to kill you at your current HP amount.) as guards cannot follow you down them. They are restricted to the same pathing as otehr npcs and must go around to get down or up to you. This generally gives you more then enough time to get away.

Avoid Water: When being pursued by a guard, never, ever run to water. (Unless its at the bottom of a huge cliff.) You would think of it as an easy escape since they cannot follow you, however they have a little surprise for you swimmers. The moment your character touches deep water, guards will whip out crossbows and proceed to /lol at you as they fill you full of medieval lead. These shots hit extremely hard and will kill you in seconds. It is highly advisable to avoid these situations all costs.

That's all I can think of at the moment. if anything comes to mind I'll update this OP and least a post in thread notifying the update. Also, if you have any information or tips you would like to add, feel free to post it as well.

TL;DR: Get Gud