They make no noise whatsoever until they attack you from behind. Then half my HP is gone. Luckily Cicero had my back

I agree; most of the time, I won't realize what's going on until it's too late (meaning, having like only 1 HP left). These stealthy cats have killed many, MANY low level characters of mine, especially pure mages.

Even for higher level characters, they still freak me out because of the sudden noises they make when they're close to me.

I agree, I got killed twice early on by the snowy version, both times they were lying in wait by the road and I failed to notice them.

They're pretty deadly, and the sound they make is pretty scary, especially in headphones at night.

One of my dead-is-dead characters was killed by one of those darn things.

I'm currently on a high elf pure mage and those saber cats are just deadly. Even on adept

eventually once you lvl up high enough i find them easier to kill then bears , sabre cats attacks are lethal though , out running a sabre cat can be tough ... as well as bears . i find running around trees and stuff is a pretty good method .

what i find creepy is that trolls can see you from a mile away though and they will approach you even if you like two football fields away lol.

Ooooh bummer

Scares the crap out of me.

Every. Time.

Yeah, they're real sneaky. My mage does not like them, because if he gets hit and he usually drops to his death. Reminds me of Red Dead Redemption's Mountain Lions. Those things come out of nowhere and smack you off your horse. And then if you're unlucky they'll kill you before you can get up.

Was playing once with the music turned off and swore I kept hearing pitter patter from behind me.
I swing the camera around in time to see teeth flying right at me.
I pooped a little.
Then died promptly.

bears seem to have that effect on me , and there louder

Yeah bears do that to me as well.
It seems like everything is in ninja mode when coming from behind you.

I am never taken by surprise... maybe its because i play in 3rd person when traveling around? Either way, my RedGuard Warrior has been traveling with Companions since... forever. Not counting Hadvar, Feandal was Drell's (My warriors name) first companion. Armour went to Drell First, then to Feandal, same with weapons. In exchange Feandal tought Drell how to be an excellent archer (45 skill in a matter of hours due to constantly asking for training from him). Then one day Feandal and Drell went out to hunt some Forsworn, after hearing the tale of Red Eagles sword. Drell was anxious to find himself a new sword, as his steel sword was starting to bore him.

But it wouldnt be an easy task, ruthless fighting (I play on Master Difficulty) all the way up the giant hill. Inside and outside the ancient ruins. Finally we reached and killed the Briaheart that weilded Red Eagles sword. Feandal was still in great health too. So then we went off to unlock the secrets of Red Eagles Tomb. Fighting Red Eagle was a feirce battle. I lost 4 good weapons, and 2 good sheilds fighting him. And i lost Feandal. I was cornered by Red Eagle when Feandal charged him from nowhere. Red Eagle beat him down like crazy, but it gave me enough time to regrab my strongest sword and strike him down... but it was to late for Feandal as my swords blade slipped and cut him while he was weak and hurting on the ground.

My next companion was Nord... forgot his name. He ended up dead only after a few dungeon raids... killed by an arrow that dropped one to many feet soon.

Then there was an Orc from one of the Orc Strongholds. The Orc lasted me quite some time. She helped me retreive Dawnbreaker, Clavicus Viles Boon, the Saviours Hide, and helped me when wandering the woods of Falkreath. But then we attacked a Thalmor outpost, and she was brutaly cut down... I now despise the Thalmor...

Then Lydia finnally got her turn to shine... but she annoyed me so much that i Fus Roh Dah'd her right off of High Hrothgar. Tho come to think of it... the only two companions that didn't annoy me and that helped where the Orc, and Feandal... If only i could learn the ways of the Necromancer and revive them... then i would once again be unstoppable.

Someone's a fan of Bobcat Goldthwait

Most of the time i see them but one snow sabercat managed to sneak up on me near Winterhold, luckily my frost atronach took care of him.

Ya got's me!

Indeed they are. And I must say I like it, it makes trecking over the plains or in snowy areas more dangerous and will keep you on your toes.

I remember the first time I saw one. It appears I was lucky to see it before it saw me. I was enthralled how awesome it was, but I knew it would eventually see me as lunch, so I took my level 4 self and started thwapping it to death. I hated killing it, but them before me. I've been attacked by them, but never killed. I've primed myself to look for them constantly, especially in wooded areas.

The funniest encounter I had was with the first bear (the one we're supposed to sneak by). I missed the message and it woke up, but it died so easily! Then, I figured I'd kill other bears, so the second one I saw, thinking they were easy kills, turned me into a rug it laid out in its living room. Fearsome, indeed. Too bad the first bear was ripped from a child's book about porridge.

I almost always see them before they see me. Note, I said almost. They are very good at hiding in the grass.

Sometimes I'll be attacked from the side unsuspectingly. They're easy to spot in the plains of Whiterun hold, however to the North the Snowy Sabre Cat's can certainly surprise you. They don't take anywhere near half my health though, they get one hit into me before I bash them to death with my shield. I can't actually kill Sabre Cats with my sword, the cinematic kills for Sabre Cats are heavily glitched. Sometimes it results in a forced third person view (which ruins immersion) and other times my character just freezes for like 5 seconds, before moving again and the Sabre Cat is just lying their dead. Safer just to bash it.

Deadly killers at lower levels.

But at level 50 with 800 armor rating and 500 hp they can hardly make a dent in me now. Even on master difficulty they are easliy one shotted with a Daedric enchanted warhammer.

They are sneaky and cause me to jump, even when my high level character takes minimal damage from them. Too bad their level doesn't scale with the player (without mods).

They have provided some of the most heart pumping moments in the game when I get jumped from behind by them. They tend to spawn in not-so-easy-to-spot areas along paths, a slight distance away which sets them up perfectly for their famous flank and hind quarter ninja attacks. They are one of the animals with the most character, if you will.

they used to ruin me up to about lvl 20 ....

Saber Cats, Falmer, Skeevers and the occasional dragon is what does it for me.

I swear, I screamed like someone had just stabbed me in the neck when I was exploring a Dwemer Ruin and a falmer just popped around the corner. I very nearly punched my monitor.