Hi! (first time poster, recent Uthgard conscript)

I've got a couple of questions regarding stealth skill and stealth mechanics that I hoped to get some clarification on. I'm playing a hunter (who is stuck in brae->wilt limbo at the moment), and have been speccing/gearing him according to some stuff I heard while playing on live way back when. So I've got a couple of old statements regarding stealth mechanics which I've just accepted as truths so far, and maybe you guys could help me refute or confirm them:

1. +Stealth's effect on your skill is calculated when you enter stealth mode. So, on my Hunter I've just slapped a bunch of +stealth on a sword and shield that I equip when I enter stealth, and according to this old information the effectiveness of my stealth shouldn't be affected if I swap to my spear or bow after entering stealth (I'll still be as hard to see for others). Is this true, or do I become easier to detect if I unequip my sword and shield once I've entered stealth mode?

2. Stealth detection radius has a sort of dynamic sphere mechanic; if I stand still, the sphere of stealth detection will increase and I'll be able to detect stealthers from a further distance, and if I start moving around the sphere will become smaller again. Is this the case, is my detection better when stationary? If the growing/shrinking sphere-thing is correct, does moving immediately 'reset' my detection sphere to the lowest radius, or does that happen gradually?

Sorry if these things seem very rudimentary to most of you, but I wasn't an avid stealther on live and thought I'd get my facts straight before gearing up for wilton . Thanks in advance!

not sure about number 1 but your number 2 is correct in that your detection sphere decreases the faster you move.

as far as i know, the sphere size is determined by your current movement speed and snaps to the designated sphere size; therefore its not a gradual change but immediate.

As far as I know what you are doing on #1 is wrong. If you put something on before you stealth to increase your stealth and then remove it after you have stealthed you should lose the + to stealth. For example, If you are 36 base stealth and w/ + on items you are +14, as long as you have those equipped you are at 50 stealth. As soon as you remove them you lose the bonus. It doesnt matter when you remove them. You can do this with envenom when you are an assasin (switch to an item to increase your envenom, repoison then remove the item), but the same does not work with stealth.

You are correct about #2. The stealth detection bubble pulsates. When you move this creates the dopplar effect with your stealth detection bubble. The detection bubble in front of you (or the direction you are moving is decreased) because of this. When you are sitting still you will get the full range of your stealth detection.

I don't get the reason for shrinking the detection bubble on movement. Its like Mythic wanted to encourage people to gate camp.

Your dopplar effect analogy is really cool, Zack.

Stealth detection while moving is reduced for two reasons.

One reason is by design and comes from the "Mastery of Stealth" (MoS) RA. This RA detects the stealth radius for certain classes in certain situations, and is VERY big at high levels. To reduce "mass ganking" of players at high speed, the effect of MoS is capped at level 3 when moving faster than normal speed. Lets say you have MoS 5, then you will have the big range while standing, stealthing or moving at normal speed and a MoS 3 range when moving faster.

The second reason is, as described by RonELuvv, due to the "Uthgard" mechanic, i.e. your stealth detection radius is not checked constantly, but in a "pulse" several times a second. Imagine you walk into someone's range, then you will only be detected at next pulse time. By that time you might be well within his radius, thus decreasing his effective detection range. On the other hand, your detection pulse suffers the same, so you will also see him only at your next pulse. This effect is extended by lag, so at laggy times bad things might happen

There is a really sad thing (bug!) about this pulse system on Uthgard, though. Assume you see a stealthed opponent right next to you/in front of you. Of course you might want to hit "next target" and attack as soon as possible. On live server, you either are fast enough and will perform your style. Or you will loose your target and nothing happens (you might draw weapons but remain stealthed).
On Uthgard, style requirement checking is also somewhat delayed, so the following might happen:
- you hit next target
- you target your opponent
- you hit the attack style
- your opponent disappears as target
- you end up being unstealthed and did not perform the style
On live, this could never happen. Either you had a target by the time you clicked the attack key. In that case you would hit the target (if it is in range/view/...) Or you did not have a target at that time, in which case you don't get unstealthed.

This stupid mechanic leads to the fact that most stealthers, if they see an opponent, dont even try to attack, but do 2 more steps, turn around, and try to find it again. The bug is really annoying, and still happens to me sometimes.

When making a guide for our alliance on rangers Drift made this awesome animation that show's exactly how the dopplar effect works on stealth.

Stationary:





Moving:

RonELuvv wrote:When making a guide for our alliance on rangers Drift made this awesome animation that show's exactly how the dopplar effect works on stealth.

So the trick is just to run backwards!

Talking seriously, it's a very interesting animation, definitely explanatory.

although that is not entirely accurate for DAOC purposes because the stealth bubble does not radiate out by degrees but is a finite size.

When you move that bubble is reduced by an equal amount all around.

but it does explain the Doppler effect well enough.

I dont think the stealth bubble is equally mitigated all around. Only in the area being moved towards. I have missed many stealthers in my frontal arc while moving forward but got them at normal stealth range once they got to the side or behind me. I believe the effect is almost exactly what that graph shows. At least that is what my personal experiences have shown me. I do realise the overall bubble will be reduced a bit, but i think the only major cut back is in the direction you are moving. Also, I should point out that I am referring to moving at normal speed or at stealther speed. If you are running at speed 5 your MoS is almost non existant in all directions.

Thanks for the great replies, got more info than I bargained for (in a good way).

The doppler analogy is very helpful, explains a fair bit of the stealth encounters I've had so far. Didn't know that different movement speeds affected the range differently either; thought it was kind of binary - either you're moving or you're stationary. Good to get that cleared up .