I wanted to make a classic stealth guy that specializes in melee weapons....and its so much freaken harder to sneak up to some1 to get in melee range. Ive got 100 sneak ( all i invested in for the first 7 levels) and i have such a hard time doing stuff. I mean my biggest problem is the fact that so many monster that you find out on the waste are impossible to sneak up on. Like those annoying as heck cazzadors, who i hate with a passion. They werent even in visual with me, i was behind a hill. The minute i moved a little bit it went to caution for about 1/10 of a second, and went to danger and 10 of them came out of no were and had their way with me. Another example is that i tried to sneak into boulder city and rescue the prisoners. I first tried sneaking around and taking out the people in the front. I snuck up on one, took out my knife and 1 shot him. The person that had their back to me all of a sudden went to danger and started killing me. I mean i went melee so i didnt have to worry about gun shots and attracting the others when i kill some1. So i tried sneaking past the 2 in the front and going through the door way. There was some1 at a direct 90 degree angle to me facing out the window. She immediately went caution, walked right over to me and started attack me. So i tried going through the lock door and killing them. The minute i stepped out of the small room where the hostages were kept the person that was outside of the building hiding behind a car went to danger, turned 90 degrees and started firing at me.

I mean wtf am i doing something wrong here? Please help.

P.S i was not running i was walking sneak and it was at night. Pip boy light was off.

It's a cool idea but it's really more or less impossible to be able to sneak and use melee effectively. If you really want to do it, concentrate your perks into vats. Btw cazadores have 9 PER so you simply can't sneak up on them.

The Silent Running perk really helps.
It's very hard to get in range unseen when you have to walk slowly all the time.

Also your level versus enemy level plays role. If your level is below that of enemy, you get penalty which can be as much as 50% depending on difference if I recall right. Opposite is also true, you get bonus if your level is above enemy. Cazadores have fairly high level. Plus they have high perception as mentioned which makes sneaking even harder. And of course, sneaking in daylight is harder than during night.

If you want sneaky character, I recommend to combine it with sniping. Works much better.

This. Playing a backstabbing stealth melee character is intentionally challenging. If it's starting to get too frustrating, there are PLENTY of guns with silencers in the game.

:ninja: Keys to happy sneaking (aka Ninja Thief 101):

- Obviously, stay crouched while sneaking
- Turn off your radio (may or may not help, I've had mixed results)
- Turn off your PipBoy light!
- Stay in the shadows! Light is your enemy.
- Hide behind something to block enemy's view (especially when they turn to face you).
- Indoors: Hug the walls. Dark corners are your friend. Circle around well lit areas.
- Keep your ears open and check behind you often. When moving slow (sneaking) it is easy for an enemy to walk up behind you and since your radar is blind back there....
- Move slow, Real Slow, when you get close to your enemy. I've found that the closer you are the harder it is to stay hidden.
- When behind your enemy do not stand up to attack. You have a better chance of getting the sneak critical if you stay crouched. Standing up can give them just enough warning to void your special sneak attack.
- When you see the [CAUTION] warning, stop moving. Moving makes you a lot easy to spot. Often they will stop looking for you and go back to their normal routine. +Listen to what they are saying. Often their words will give you a hint as to their alert level.
- Stay behind your enemy. Either move around them or sit perfectly still until they move.
- Don't try to sneak through crowds. You can't consistently be behind all of them at the same time. If one spots you they will almost always stir up everyone else in the area.
- Fast moving creatures are nearly impossible to sneak up on without the "Silent Running" perk. This perk is priceless when you need to move from cover to cover quickly or dash down a hallway before the enemy comes back out of a room
- Wear light armor (or one of the wasteland outfits that give a +1 to agility!). The heavier the armor, the harder it is to avoid detection. You can always set one of your hot-keys to heavy armor instead of one of your guns so you can swap fast when combat starts.
- Higher Luck helps.
- Higher Agility helps.
- Nice trick: Carry a silenced weapon. Ideally the silenced .22 for cheap ammo. Enemies often won't hear you shoot but they'll hear the bullet hit and, as often as not, go investigate. Shoot a wall away from you and watch them turn their back.


Your mileage may vary but these have been the best tactics that I have found.
I hope it helps.