Guide to Sneak and Hide
Submitted by Woodash Wildfoot
Edited by Zato
Introduction
In the year since EQ has been out, sneak/hide has gone though a number of changes. What I want to do is give as much info as I can about it's current status. I see many threads go back and forth about what sees though it, what doesn't, different situations, etc., and I think it's time that a comprehensive revision is done to show what it's currently capable of.
What these skills can do
Sneak and hide are 2 seperate skills, each with their own hotkey. You can use one or the other, or (most importantly) BOTH. These skills enable you to move about virtually undetected from both living and undead creatures.
Sneak - When using just sneak, you lower the range a mob will become aggressive to you. So long as you are behind the creature, you will not be detected. While sneaking, you move at a snails pace, so you won't want to use it unless you really need to. Sneak DOES NOT make you invis - you are perfectly visible to everyone (PCs and NPCs) but mobs you are behind will not detect you.
Hide - Using hide makes you invisible. You will stay hidden until you move from your current location. You CAN still pivot (ie: turn in a circle without moving your location) and remain hidden. When you have a NPC targeted (like in combat), turning off autoattack and activating hide will trigger the EVADE skill to lower you on the monster's hate list.
Sneak/Hide - The best of both worlds. You will remain hidden while moving (at a snails pace). The effects of sneak are still in place and you are invisible to most creatures.
Dealing with Merchants
If you're having trouble dealing with a certain merchant because of your chosen, um, professions... just go BEHIND and get into Sneak mode and try again. /Con the merchant and when he or she views you indifferently you may buy and sell to your little heart's content.
Factors to Consider when using Sneak/Hide
There are several factors that are taken into consideration when deciding whether sneak/hide is going to work. Skill, Level (monster Con), Position, Speed, Area of Effect spells in vicinity, and known mobs which will see you no matter what.
Facts
Position - ANY MOB that you are sneaking behind, ANY mob, as long as it's not facing you, if you are sneaking, will not be aggro. I've snuck up behind Fire Giants, then poked my head around to the front of them, and BAM, toast! *shrug* (Fire Giants are one of the mobs that see though sneak/hide no matter what level/skill you are).
MOBs who JUST see though it - Dragons for example, aren't fooled. See list below for more creatures to watch out for. They will see though sneak/hide all the time. Now, before you reply to this part 'but I snuck past a Lich! Lich's can't see me!' remember to keep all other factors that I just went though above in mind. Was the Lich green, were you moving FAST, did you stay behind it, etc.?
Theories (unproven)
Skill - you are going to have a harder time sneaking a lvl 20 rogue to the assassin in lower guk to pick up a free mask. Your skill is just not sufficient enough, and things 'might' see though it. People have done it successfully, but I'm just warning you, that it's not going to be easy.
Level (mob con) - ties in closely with skill, but if you are low level, and mobs are deep red to you, chances are a lot higher that they will see though it. For example, a level 50 rogue is going to have a much better chance of making it past the bugs in Sol B, then a level 40 Rogue, even if they both have sneak and hide maxed out. (they max at 200, at 40th level)
Speed - Speed is tied in closely with position. Some mobs will see though sneak/hide, but NOT immediately. Here's my theory: Mobs have an 'aggro meter'. This meter is triggered by such things as distance away from mob, position in relation to mob (when using sneak), and TIME. I've tested this against sonic bats in Sol B, and it's kind of like this: Sneak/hide past a bat while SoW'd, you go by pretty quick, and 'most times' if other conditions are also working for you, you'll make it by them w/o getting aggro'd. If you aren't SoW'd, you are going slower, and this 'time' aggro meter gets 'set off'. Actually, many mobs can be RAN right past! I've seen time and time again, level 50's in Sol B that can run all the way past sonic bats, Lava Duct Crawler's, and Death Beetle's without getting aggro'd if they are SoW'd and just ZOOM on by them. This is not something that you want to try to rely on, but can be very helpful. Also, when sneak/hiding past bats, sometimes if you STOP behind a sonic bat, or a bug, then a lot of times they will aggro immediately.
Now, on top of all of these main topics, a couple other things need to be mentioned. Sneak/hide does RARELY just STOP. I had it just STOP on me just the other night in the Plane of Hate. I was nowhere near any other mobs, any other characters, nothing. Just sitting there, and all of a sudden 'you are no longer hidden'.
Other Notes
While using /con on monsters it may still say they are "Ready to Attack" even though they really won't. Some monsters will always say they are ready to attack when you con them, so you have to know whether they see-invis or not to determine if they will really attack (see list at the bottom of this guide).
Having JBoots or SoW on you will GREATLY enhance the usability of sneak/hide, becuase they help lessen the "snails pace" that you normally sneak at.
While sneaking it is very hard to get off ladders and pull yourself up out of water. Keep this in mind..you may have to un-sneak to get past that point and quickly re-hide and sneak once clear of it.
When sneaking while swimming in underwater areas, be very careful because without SoW you might not make it to you destination before running out of air.
Unlike the Invis spell, Sneak/hide will not remain active thru zone boundaries or when logging in/out.
One more thing to always keep in mind is how SNEAK lowers aggro. If you are unsure whether something is going to see you, just ALWAYS keep as much distance as you can from it. A greatly reduced aggro range is VERY nice! Keep that in mind.
Makkil of The Rathe sent in this little bit of info. Definitely something to check into! Say you are about to collect your belongings from your corpse in hostile territory... What I do is:
- Hit my Hide hotkey to Unhide myself
- I type /loot with my corpse targeted
- Hit the enter key to execute the /loot command
- Quickly hit the Hide hotkey again.
I do get the "you have hidden succesfully" message, and the loot screen is up. I collect my stuff and move on for revenge. I have not been able to confirm this, since I keep forgetting to ask whether anybody can see me as I loot.
List of Creatures That Can See Through Hide
Dragons (Vox and Nagafen)
Fire Giants
Scorn Banshees
Lichs
Loathing Lichs
Evil Eyes
Huge Elemental (Lower Guk)
List of reasons hide will break
Bard Song
Area of Effect (AOE) Spells
Someone casts a spell on you
Looting a corpse
Dealing with a merchant/banker
Successful Instill Doubt
Pickpocket (success OR fail)
Zoning or logging out Zato Thornblade the Dwarven Rogue
Tarew MarrEdited by Zato at: 3/31/00 2:58:05 pm
Submitted by Woodash Wildfoot
Edited by Zato
Introduction
In the year since EQ has been out, sneak/hide has gone though a number of changes. What I want to do is give as much info as I can about it's current status. I see many threads go back and forth about what sees though it, what doesn't, different situations, etc., and I think it's time that a comprehensive revision is done to show what it's currently capable of.
What these skills can do
Sneak and hide are 2 seperate skills, each with their own hotkey. You can use one or the other, or (most importantly) BOTH. These skills enable you to move about virtually undetected from both living and undead creatures.
Sneak - When using just sneak, you lower the range a mob will become aggressive to you. So long as you are behind the creature, you will not be detected. While sneaking, you move at a snails pace, so you won't want to use it unless you really need to. Sneak DOES NOT make you invis - you are perfectly visible to everyone (PCs and NPCs) but mobs you are behind will not detect you.
Hide - Using hide makes you invisible. You will stay hidden until you move from your current location. You CAN still pivot (ie: turn in a circle without moving your location) and remain hidden. When you have a NPC targeted (like in combat), turning off autoattack and activating hide will trigger the EVADE skill to lower you on the monster's hate list.
Sneak/Hide - The best of both worlds. You will remain hidden while moving (at a snails pace). The effects of sneak are still in place and you are invisible to most creatures.
Dealing with Merchants
If you're having trouble dealing with a certain merchant because of your chosen, um, professions... just go BEHIND and get into Sneak mode and try again. /Con the merchant and when he or she views you indifferently you may buy and sell to your little heart's content.
Factors to Consider when using Sneak/Hide
There are several factors that are taken into consideration when deciding whether sneak/hide is going to work. Skill, Level (monster Con), Position, Speed, Area of Effect spells in vicinity, and known mobs which will see you no matter what.
Facts
Position - ANY MOB that you are sneaking behind, ANY mob, as long as it's not facing you, if you are sneaking, will not be aggro. I've snuck up behind Fire Giants, then poked my head around to the front of them, and BAM, toast! *shrug* (Fire Giants are one of the mobs that see though sneak/hide no matter what level/skill you are).
MOBs who JUST see though it - Dragons for example, aren't fooled. See list below for more creatures to watch out for. They will see though sneak/hide all the time. Now, before you reply to this part 'but I snuck past a Lich! Lich's can't see me!' remember to keep all other factors that I just went though above in mind. Was the Lich green, were you moving FAST, did you stay behind it, etc.?
Theories (unproven)
Skill - you are going to have a harder time sneaking a lvl 20 rogue to the assassin in lower guk to pick up a free mask. Your skill is just not sufficient enough, and things 'might' see though it. People have done it successfully, but I'm just warning you, that it's not going to be easy.
Level (mob con) - ties in closely with skill, but if you are low level, and mobs are deep red to you, chances are a lot higher that they will see though it. For example, a level 50 rogue is going to have a much better chance of making it past the bugs in Sol B, then a level 40 Rogue, even if they both have sneak and hide maxed out. (they max at 200, at 40th level)
Speed - Speed is tied in closely with position. Some mobs will see though sneak/hide, but NOT immediately. Here's my theory: Mobs have an 'aggro meter'. This meter is triggered by such things as distance away from mob, position in relation to mob (when using sneak), and TIME. I've tested this against sonic bats in Sol B, and it's kind of like this: Sneak/hide past a bat while SoW'd, you go by pretty quick, and 'most times' if other conditions are also working for you, you'll make it by them w/o getting aggro'd. If you aren't SoW'd, you are going slower, and this 'time' aggro meter gets 'set off'. Actually, many mobs can be RAN right past! I've seen time and time again, level 50's in Sol B that can run all the way past sonic bats, Lava Duct Crawler's, and Death Beetle's without getting aggro'd if they are SoW'd and just ZOOM on by them. This is not something that you want to try to rely on, but can be very helpful. Also, when sneak/hiding past bats, sometimes if you STOP behind a sonic bat, or a bug, then a lot of times they will aggro immediately.
Now, on top of all of these main topics, a couple other things need to be mentioned. Sneak/hide does RARELY just STOP. I had it just STOP on me just the other night in the Plane of Hate. I was nowhere near any other mobs, any other characters, nothing. Just sitting there, and all of a sudden 'you are no longer hidden'.
Other Notes
While using /con on monsters it may still say they are "Ready to Attack" even though they really won't. Some monsters will always say they are ready to attack when you con them, so you have to know whether they see-invis or not to determine if they will really attack (see list at the bottom of this guide).
Having JBoots or SoW on you will GREATLY enhance the usability of sneak/hide, becuase they help lessen the "snails pace" that you normally sneak at.
While sneaking it is very hard to get off ladders and pull yourself up out of water. Keep this in mind..you may have to un-sneak to get past that point and quickly re-hide and sneak once clear of it.
When sneaking while swimming in underwater areas, be very careful because without SoW you might not make it to you destination before running out of air.
Unlike the Invis spell, Sneak/hide will not remain active thru zone boundaries or when logging in/out.
One more thing to always keep in mind is how SNEAK lowers aggro. If you are unsure whether something is going to see you, just ALWAYS keep as much distance as you can from it. A greatly reduced aggro range is VERY nice! Keep that in mind.
Makkil of The Rathe sent in this little bit of info. Definitely something to check into! Say you are about to collect your belongings from your corpse in hostile territory... What I do is:
- Hit my Hide hotkey to Unhide myself
- I type /loot with my corpse targeted
- Hit the enter key to execute the /loot command
- Quickly hit the Hide hotkey again.
I do get the "you have hidden succesfully" message, and the loot screen is up. I collect my stuff and move on for revenge. I have not been able to confirm this, since I keep forgetting to ask whether anybody can see me as I loot.
List of Creatures That Can See Through Hide
Dragons (Vox and Nagafen)
Fire Giants
Scorn Banshees
Lichs
Loathing Lichs
Evil Eyes
Huge Elemental (Lower Guk)
List of reasons hide will break
Bard Song
Area of Effect (AOE) Spells
Someone casts a spell on you
Looting a corpse
Dealing with a merchant/banker
Successful Instill Doubt
Pickpocket (success OR fail)
Zoning or logging out Zato Thornblade the Dwarven Rogue
Tarew MarrEdited by Zato at: 3/31/00 2:58:05 pm
