Creating a sneaky character

RT_Frank · February 2017

I am planning on making a stam nb character with 3 pc night terror and 5 pc night mothers for decreasing detection radius. However, I am torn in creating an orc or a bosmer.

Personal preference makes me wanna lean toward orc; however, the bosmer have their detection passive. In short, does this passive have a significant effect on stealthiness even if I use all medium, the 2 previously mentioned sets, and being a nb (and possibly a vamp)? I don't really care about being able to pickpocket people that are looking right at me or things like that, but I do want to perform 'heists' with relative ease and not worrying about getting caught.

While I understand being a bosmer/khajiit will make a better stealth character, I am just wondering if the difference is significant.

Everstorm · February 2017

Well, my bosmer with that gear setup sometimes get pushed out of the way by npc without being detected. But with the cloak skill you should be able to get passed just about everything. In heists and sacrements its the npcs with the detection range that make it tricky, not the normal npcs.

Jim_Pipp · February 2017

Like @Everstorm I have a bosmer night blade with the two sets you mentioned, and the sneakiness is level 9000, it feels like cheating it is that good. Probably it is overkill in 90% of situations.

I can see the advantages of an orc night blade. The passive boost to melee damage should affect two of the stamina class abilities, and night blades have some boosts to speed which could make your orc even faster when sprinting.

So, if you just want to sneak then go bosmer, but if you are going to be doing some of the harder content (vet dungeons, trials or pvp) you may be glad you chose an orc.

RT_Frank · February 2017

Jim_Pipp wrote: »

So, if you just want to sneak then go bosmer, but if you are going to be doing some of the harder content (vet dungeons, trials or pvp) you may be glad you chose an orc.

I do plan on dabbling in some pvp; however, the passives of bosmer and orc both seem to have advantages in pvp. As for pve, that's a no (apart from TG and DB questlines).

So, the bosmer passive is that significant then? I just assumed that since most people suggest night terror and night silence (remove sneak speed penalty) for their bosmer/khajiit that having night mother instead of night silence and being an orc vamp should make the two builds roughly equal.

Jim_Pipp · February 2017

I'm afraid I don't have much to compare it too. I have a high elf night blade, and because of the invisibility spell you can get past things just as easily if you have enough mag regeneration (as a vamp you will be ok), but you REALLY notice the advantage during thievery.

I think you wll notice the difference if you min/max sneak and go bosmer with the gimicky sets (night terror and night mothers embrace). With the additional sneak reduction I can stand in the middle of a group of npcs and spin around pickpocketting, and even if someone is stood on top of a lock box you will be able to lock pick it while hidden, I've even found I can collide with a guard when I have a bounty as long as I'm sneaking and moving quickly, but in this gear even trash mobs are a chore to fight. How often do you need to be able to sneak that well? Less often than you need to do dps probably. Sneak characters can make you a lot of money, but orc vampires look amazing. Let me know what you end up choosing.

RT_Frank · February 2017

Jim_Pipp wrote: »

With the additional sneak reduction I can stand in the middle of a group of npcs and spin around pickpocketting, and even if someone is stood on top of a lock box you will be able to lock pick it while hidden, I've even found I can collide with a guard when I have a bounty as long as I'm sneaking and moving quickly, but in this gear even trash mobs are a chore to fight.

So, is this referring to your high elf nb or a bosmer nb that you have? If it's your high elf then that is some amazing sneaking, and I'll make my orc nb right now.

Jim_Pipp wrote: »

How often do you need to be able to sneak that well? Less often than you need to do dps probably. Sneak characters can make you a lot of money, but orc vampires look amazing. Let me know what you end up choosing.

I guess I never really thought about having to dps. I just assumed that I could keep stealing and making money without much detection (and since these are normal npcs they should go down easily). I just want to know if an orc nb can make money at a speed roughly similar to a bosmer/khajiit. Also, orc vamps are sweet and it's just another reason why I love orcs in this game.

Everstorm · February 2017

I just want to know if an orc nb can make money at a speed roughly similar to a bosmer/khajiit.

I have no idea, I made my bosmer stamblade before I even knew those sets were in the game, so I can't compare. But I only use those sets for sneaky stuff, if I expect to fight I change gear.

Lynx7386 · March 2017

Khajiit like to sneak...