Sneak attack ranged vs. normal ranged line of sight different

[scotsman42]

I'm a little confused about the line of sight mechanic and wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

I see a difference in the line of sight between normal ranged attack and sneak attack ranged. I get that the character is crouched down but he leaps to make the attack. Is it just meant to show he's crouched and can see less?

[Stokey]

You can’t use sneak attack if you attack an enemy with disadvantage which you can sometimes do with ranged attacks if the enemy is outside your range by a little because of height or something so the sneak attack range is more rigid.

[Maraxus]

Hmmm could be that it is outside the range of darkvision....

[Mosey]

Yeah, there is a different LOS. The sneak ability ability itself is a straight line whereas the sneak attack reaction is the same flight path as an arrow.

Also the above guy is right and you may have disadvantage from long range, lack of darkvision, or even darkvision range.

That said, there really is no reason to ever use the actual sneak attack ability. The reaction version is superior in 99% of situations. Using the ability and missing counts as your sneak attack, the reaction only counts if it actually hits.

[guard65]

You automatically get sneak attack (if turned on in reactions) if you have advantage on and enemy and are your self not currently disadvantaged in any way.

[Ironwu]

Originally posted by scotsman42:

I'm a little confused about the line of sight mechanic and wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

I see a difference in the line of sight between normal ranged attack and sneak attack ranged. I get that the character is crouched down but he leaps to make the attack. Is it just meant to show he's crouched and can see less?

LOS is fully modeled in BG3. You may have noticed different attack status when targeting different body locations on a target. Some targets cannot be hit except for one tiny part. If a target is prone, might not be able to hit the parts farther away, while you can hit the nearer parts.

So, you are doing nothing wrong. That is how BG3 works. :)

[The Yeen Queen]

Originally posted by scotsman42:

I'm a little confused about the line of sight mechanic and wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

I see a difference in the line of sight between normal ranged attack and sneak attack ranged. I get that the character is crouched down but he leaps to make the attack. Is it just meant to show he's crouched and can see less?

I would say it's meant to show that he's being more precise with his shot, which means he can't be as far away and requires a clearer view of the target. You can kind of eyeball a shot at a partially obscured target, but you can't do that with a precision shot.