I've noticed a dilemma. I can sneak in front of a falmer with a muffle spell, all's great. I stand up, make noise, etc., they notice me, as expected. I make a run for it....in sneak mode, remuffle myself...and they still know where I am, all hackin' an' slashin' at me.....THEN, I pull an invisability on myself....an' blamo.... they get all Deputy Dog, and lose "sight" of me, even when i'm front of them!!
So, is this just my game, or does this pretty-much happen to everyone? Maybe they're getting some vision back.


Thanx to all.....Bad AI, Bad breath, bad hair day....poor Falmer, can't catcha break where ever they go

Nope, its just Skyrims silly AI. don't strain yourself trying to come up with an intentional reason, there aren't any lol

They are blind, it's just that that isn't taken into consideration once they know where you are.

It's all in the breathing. With blindness comes better hearing, and the Falmer will know where you are based on your breathing...

... ah, crap. That's not true, either, since they should be able to pick up on presence immediately, with both smell and hearing. Footsteps can be muffled, but armor and weapons can't be, as well as breathing. They're cave dwellers, so any change in airflow should be immediately recognized. Yet, these "senses" aren't taken into consideration in the game.

Bad AI is the winner here. The Falmer act like a collective Mr. Magoo than a species evolved over time to cope with blindness.

The blind aspect of the falmer is lore, the game treats them as any other 'seeing' enemy.

Not entirely true, they are blind to the extent that the OP listed above, but they still work under Skyrims Awesome AI were they will basically walk exactly where you are standing, and then move away. Bandit/dragur/Falmer dun matter

They're blind. However their other senses are sooo acute that they can sense you well enough from 200 yards to shoot arrows at you accurately. That's pretty acute

THEy don't seem to notice light sources for me. They hear a torch I assume but are blissfully unaware of candlelight and magelight.

Their blind, but their other senses are very good.. I wonder what a Falmer smells like...?

i find it funny how theres falmer archers. they're supposed to be blind but they can hit me with arrows from far away when i'm crouched

i actually think the falmer aren't blind at all but rather see through echolocation there architecture and use of combat tactics is to sophisticated for a totally blind race. my support for this other then the obviously aesthetically inspired architecture is this simple question ever wonder why chaurus rattle and are never far from a falmer?

That's mostly accurate, the Falmer are blind, yet they can still hit you with a Bow or Sword just like any other enemy in the game.

They knew they were on the right track so they hunted you down, probably due to your sweat or blood dripping on the ground.

that's also a distinct possibility with nostrils that large its natural to expect they have a keen sense of smell but i think my theory also has merit.