I can't help but notice that a majority of people play a stealth character. What's the reason behind this? Fear of confrontation relating to social awkwardness inhabiting the subconsciousness of most nerds to such a degree that they even bring it with them into quality RPG's?

16X damage for backstabs is a strong motivator...

Troll-ation of a speculating fool choosing to act out his nerdiness by shooting useless posts on a RPG forum?
Um no.
Maybe because some people like to do something besides go yelling straight into battle?

Edit: Also x 30 damage modifier to sneak attack with a dagger + backstab bonus is awesome?

Is overpowered really considered awesome now?

EDIT: And I'm not trolling, I think it's a valid theory.

Stealth helps keep combat flowing at a more relaxed pace.

No. Perfectly powered and tuned to perfection is considered awesome now. You didn't know?

Stealth is a popular play style because Bethesda does it well and it feels cool to play stealthy. Most games that even include stealth focus completely on it (Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell, Metal Gear). In Bethesda games it's merely an option. It's a good option, you should try it.

Does everything that is good in a Single-player RPG need to be considered Overpowered? PEOPLE
Learn2PlaySinglePlayerRPGs

Besides things being completely broken (Restoration increase to smithing to make 200000000000 damage bow for example) there really isn't anything "OP" in a freaking single player game. And even if it is. WHO CARES. You don't like it? Don't use it.


And no i think you sound like a undergrad college student that just took his first intro psych course and is trying to sound intelligent.

In real life I am a clumsy, bumbling idiot who the phrase "bull in a china shop" fits perfectly. My stealth character, then, is catharsis...

I think a class that can one-shot anything on Master difficulty is overpowered, single player or not.

Stealth has always been interesting and isn't exclusive to Skyrim. Games like Tenchu, Metal Gear Solid, etc are stealth based games where the objective is to defeat enemies without being detected.

Stealth is also a refreshing change to the boring one-dimensional warrior that charges in.

There are a million other ways to becomes so powerful nothing can hurt you
For example: 100%- destro cost, double cast, impact and you can stun lock even Alduin to death. If you feel its too powerful don't use it.

If sneak didn't have such benefits whats the point of sneaking around in the first place. Just rush in and mace-to-face people. Point is there needs to be incentives to play every different style of game play otherwise everyone would just play the same way.


Also if your mom really is a psychologist with 31 years of experience she either needs to go back to school and get caught up or you seriously need to go back to your mom and learn properly because the crap your saying is based off of decade + old theory

A man sneaking up on another man SHOULD be able to one hit him with a knife.

Simple as.
It's very realistic.

If i slit mike tyson's throat he'll die. No matter how strong he is

Don't underestimate a crazy aging former heavy weight champ with a face tat. He'd at least turn the knife on you and take you down with him. Or his flock of pigeons would peck you to death after the deed was done.

I'm not playing a stealth character at the moment.But when I do I enjoy the thril of the sneak.I don't quite know how to explain it,but I'm on the edge of my seat,my heart rate picks up a little,then the attack.
Slowly and methodically I make my way to my next target with my trusty bow in hand.Allways thinking,allways looking for the perfect path to another arrow in the back of the head.

Ahh heck,it's just fun sometimes.

I use stealth because of the ability to plan my fights relying on my own skill and intelligence. If I die, I will try a different strategy. Maybe I should have taken that other guy with a bow instead? Or I could go from the other side and use a frenzy spell?

Clearing rooms of enemies with a stealth character is almost like a puzzle. I like it. IMO, it's better than charging in and hoping everything turns out well.

Indeed. Especially if you are playing on expert or master difficulty - being detected is not an option, as you'll get killed in a couple of hits. So you have to think about different strategies and observe the environment. And there is a few things as rewarding in this game is seeing a group of bandits lying around with their throats slit open while knowing that nobody saw it coming.

I hate being snuck up upon, thus I sneak and surprise my opponents instead.

id strongly disagree you should probably ask your mum but im pretty sure that most socialy awkward nerds that have such issues would be the least likely to play a stealth character, it would be fair more likely that such a person given the game world would play a character that had what they lack in real life brute strength this because one shotting from stealth still leads to being o the back foot once that is blown they are back to running away using potion's etc just to stay alive

whilst a tank build provides the means to be indestructable,you should ask your mum if she can point in the direction of many of studies online one particular interesting study was done on how many passive agressive people become bullies in an online enviroment, escapism often leads to be people polar opposites then how they behave in RL

in any case if you do have any sort of insite into the mind as you claim then you should know your coming across as some what of a narcissist in the way you constructed the post i have qouted as for the "im not trolling" claim that is rubbish you did not intend to stir any reasonable debate and only hoped that someone would take offence and aggresively defend their choice of play style, which you would take as re enforcing your preconceived notion

Because it's hilarious when you drop one guy with an arrow, and the guy next to him asks "Is someone there?"

No, there's no one here, an arrow just dropped randomly out of the sky.

Dude, what is your freaking problem?!? The only one here who seems to be trolling is you! Take a minute to read your replies - what's with the passive-aggressive tone? Relax, the author of this topic is asking a totally valid question and does this in his own humor. If you fail to realise this and feel insulted by it, then you're probably the one who's being immature and needs to go back to school. Why do you have to judge him for his statement? Seriously, people like you who can't appreciate someone raising a totally valid question make me sick. Can't you talk normally to other people? Phrases like "If you don't like it then don't play it" are just stupid, especially if he did not even say that he didn't like it! He just questioned it and asked for other peoples opinion on that! And that's what a forum is about: Discussing a great game with a great community. The game is already there (and imho also great), now we are the community and have to take care that we are great, too. So be nice and don't participate in this discussion if you have nothing uselful to contribute.
Thank you for listening, now I know I'm [censored]ting my pants just like you are and therefor am contradicting my own statement about trolling. Boohoo. Deal with it!

Now to the actual topic:
I stealthed a lot when I played Oblivion, and it's like everyone says: It's nice to jump on some foe's back and one-hit it. But there is certainly no challenge in it (except if you have a low sneaking skill and no spells to avoid being detected) and it takes (at least for me) way much more time to clear a dungeon this way. Sometimes, it's a useful way to get rid of really strong enemies, so you could also use it as an "opener" in a group of enemies, just to have less enemies at once and so have to do less crowd control. And if you think about it, it's quite realistic that you kill an enemy with one hit from behind: Imagine slicing someone's throat from behind - there would be no fight after that, just a surprised soon-to-be-dead.
I think it's great that Bethesda offers us so many different ways to play. And If you like the challenge, you can charge into battle like the brave hero you are. But If you ever get tired, you can always change your style or reroll your character!

Best, Igzorn

PS: It's like you're in god-mode, smashing those poor monsters one after another with one slash of your knife!

This