Sneak is always OP in Bethesda games. I really don't have a problem with it as much as some other people, mainly because all types of gameplay get OP eventually. The only real problem in my opinion is that stealth brings out the horrible AI in virtually every encounter. I'm hoping one day The Elder Scrolls will at least raise itself to the level of Deus Ex: Human Revolution (which also has Imperfect stealth, but it's lightyears better than any Elder Scrolls stealth) and include things like:

1) Body Awareness Penalty - Enemies related to the same faction (Bandit, Town[IE: Riften], Etc) will became Alert if they discover a body of one of their own, resulting in the inability to score additional Sneak Attacks against them (Except for Dagger backstabs) as well as a much higher level of awareness for a fairly long duration of real-time.

2) Recognition of actually being attacked - Maybe I'm crazy, but should we be able to launch 4 or 5 arrows into a targets head without him knowing someone is shooting arrows at him? Situations that don't result in One-hit kills of a particular enemy should raise his awarness level until he is killed, as well as raise the awareness of any nearby enemies (Ones that heard the attack, not unlike what already happens in-game, but without such short memory). It should take At most Three shots before an enemy can locate where the arrows were coming from, though the wise ambush archer could still move to a different location.

3) 6x, 15x and 30x Backstab limited to actually Backstabbing.- Maybe it's not possible for Skyrim to detect when you specifically hit something in the back, and maybe it is, all I know is, of all the things that are OP, Broad daylight, right-in-front-of-you backstabs for 30x (Assuming you have Dark Brotherhood killhands) are about as broken as you can make the game without exploiting the crafting issues.

some people like to be super powerful, its a sandbox game, you can easily adjust the difficulty yourself, if sneak is too strong, don't take the perks, its like some people take all the appropriate perks, raise the skill, max it out, then complain its overpowered. since its a sandbox game that means you get to make your character your own way, including super powerful.

Well the point is you can't claim sneak is OP if it is only OP in dungeons and in certain aspects, but mediocre against dragons.

A warrior on the other hand is good in all situations.

Well one of my friends did a sneaky assassin and could one shot backstab dragons.....He could clear out whole dungeon one shoting everyone while staying in sneak mode the whole time.

Arrows. I agree that it shouldn't take multiple arrows for an enemy to finally realize there is a threat in the area, but a good headshot should also deal more damage for that matter if you take the time to line it up. Headshots can't be that hard to detect?

That's an entirely different matter. Considering that bandits have head-seeking arrows, I really don't think anyone should want Additional headshot damage, especially those of us who play on Master. Those Marauders with Bows are bad enough, even with 80%DR...

And that's the only way to play to play a stealth character for me. Dragons are a problem, since you can't get a sneak attack for most of them, but that's where alchemy comes in in form of poisons and fire/frost resist potions.

What does "Sneak is OP" mean?

Op = over powered

I placed no perks into sneak. It actually balances out quite well doing it that way. One sneak hit, then it's generally fight time!

The 100 perk does break combat. Massively. But then, if you take it, it does inform you what it does....

I placed no perks into sneak. It actually balances out quite well doing it that way. One sneak hit, then it's generally fight time!

The 100 perk does break combat. Massively. But then, if you take it, it does inform you what it does....

If it doesn't give you a sneak attack multiplier it would be balanced. It is supposed to be used defensively rather than offensively. Nothing that mods cannot fix.

I don't see it overpowered. I got it pretty high with most perks active, except the ones that involve daggers or melee attack, as I'm an archer.

I like to feel sneak-powerful with this char, because I'm just a sneaky archer, with no enchanting or smithing, and I just use the light armor I found around, same with weapons. Basically sneaking is my only defense, my tactic.

My game is pretty challenging and at same time fun, because sometimes I just go sneaking around killing bandits in one hit, and some other times I got spotted all the time and require a different tactic, so it's not just run around killing. I have to load the game many times because I'm also killed one hit by some archers and some mages using a magic ice missile. And I don't have a problem with that either.

Dragons? Never got to sneak from one. I don't even try it because I just use a more direct combat tactic. I use shouts to interrupt their attacks, while attacking them from the distance. And I also get killed many times.

So basically, for me sneaking is OK as it is now. Does it makes the game easier than without the skill? Well of course. But that's the fun part when choosing to use that skill. I WONT use Sneaking when I create my warrior. Never. It wont fit in the profile and it will force me to
have a different approach to combat, that will also be fun. But as for this sneaky archer, I love it because that's what it is.. a sneaky char. If I was using heavy armor and had enchanted and own-crafted items, then I agree, I would be an overpowered char. But the overpowered would be ME, not the skill.

If it doesn't give you a sneak attack multiplier it would be balanced. It is supposed to be used defensively rather than offensively. Nothing that mods cannot fix.

I read no where it saying I'm invisible and can dance around the enemy putting arrows up his butt and he still can't see me, guess it was too long to fit. I put 5 into sneak because I do a lt of guild missions in towns and it makes it more fun, funny thing is shop keepers can see me hiding easier then bandits or monsters,

I find the sneak x2 base multiplier to be fine. It encourages me to use poisons, and think about what I'd going to do.



So this is good. We each have options, we each have used them to tailor the games to our specific desires.

I'll agree that x30 is way too f*cking much for stealth kills. Insta-kills for assassinations are fine, but it has to be pretty tight restrictions. x2 is ideal I agree or x6 is fine if you don't fancy alchemy

You know, I never fancied alchemy until I started playing this way. Then it became my favourite thing in the world.

Well, second favourite....

what's your first favorite?