Do stealth builds just suck?

[Tazor]

You get less loot and XP as you kill less enemies.

Very bad time in forced combat encounters.

More time consuming than just blasting everyone.

Fewer options to deal with enemies.



It feels like stealth is underpowered. Yes, I did get the mod to respec as many times as I want. Yes, I tried a LOT of other builds. Stealth focus (cool intelligence) feels like the weakest build by far.

Other than sneaking let's talk about when you do get into combat. You don't have the high HP and sustain provided by body and technical to make proper use of overclock. I love combining one of these 2 with intelligence. Nor the speed of reflexes. Smart weapons feel like pea shooters. Pistols and snipers are good at least. Throwing weapons feel about average. NO survivability provided by either tree. Other than some mitigation when crouching. The other 3 trees offer great survivability options.

[Duilf]

Your argument makes no sense. Having the ability to stealth doesn't mean we can't clear locations. The stealth weapons are quick hacks, pistols, set rifles, and throwing weapons. That means Intelligence and Cool trees, but players get enough points to max 3 trees with some left over. This means Players can get whatever their build needs especially if they aren't trying both. Additionally most of the boost from those trees aren't stealth exclusive. FYI Throwing weapons actually excel in melee as it returns them instantly if a target standing close to the player is hit.

[Night Writer]

I am running a fully Chromed (Edge Runner) with tons of Armor and Mitigation + Knife Throwing/Blades build, and I destroy everything easily in this game (except for a full MaxTAC squad.) You can say whatever you want but stealth builds DO NOT SUCK.

With the right Perks and Cyberware investments you can STEALTH + TANK at the same time.
With this build I have yet to encounter a scenario where I am outgunned or not prepared to handle whatever the game throws at me.. EXCEPT A FULL MAXTAC SQUAD... ( Their hit points and armor is like fighting 4 bosses at one time- they are designed to kick the players A$$ no matter what build you are running)

[valium]

Stealth builds wont clear enemies as fast as a Smart SMG build or anything, but one-shotting everything isnt what I would call slow.

[sdunnyw506]

contagion hack kills everything

[[=]Josiah]

What's your level and build?
Stealth builds are insanely powerful, especially when you get to Levels 40+.

My tips:
1. Stealth Netrunner should be using Rippler with Tier 4 Memory Wipe + Cyberware Malfunction + Short Circuit all day, every day. Use cameras whenever you can. Netrunners are so powerful, in my opinion, that they can be incredibly boring.
2. Guns should be power weapons. Primary should be high damage pistol like a Tamayura or Nue with an XC-10 Strix up to Tier 4 and then XC-10 Cetus at Tier 5.
3. Secondary gun should be a CS-1 Taipan-equipped AR or SMG for when combat ensues (I prefer Psalm 11:6 used together with Contagion -see below). Silencer-equipped weapons in combat are still useful, despite the damage reduction, as enemies who can't see you have a chance to lose track and return to "hostile" posture if you take out their allies who can see you.
4. Try stealth Sandevistan builds with three throwing weapons in this order: Claw (or Knife, if no Claw), followed by two Punk Knives. If combat happens, a well-honed Sandevistan stealth build can wipe out a medium group of enemies before most of the enemy can even fire a shot.
5. Make use of the Recon grenade.
6. #s 2&4 the goal is to get one-hit headshots or do enough damage with the first hit and score fast second and third hits before targets even have time to react and start combat. Sonic shock should be used before taking the first shot to ensure no alarm is triggered.

ALSO: stealth does not equal no-kill. My first playthrough, I did primarily stealth netrunner but I neutralized everyone and took all the loot.

Originally posted by sdunnyw506:

contagion hack kills everything

This isn't true in 2.0 and later. But it is a good way to engage in combat when paired with an explosive/burn weapon like Psalm 11:6 or Shingen V. If you enter combat and a lot of baddies are bearing down on you, upload Contagion to a target in the middle, hide and wait for contagion to spread, and then fire off a few shots with the burn-capable weapon. Massive explosive damage ensues.

[Coleman]

The knife is awesome for a stealth/blade build, plus you get a really nice one at the start of the game.

[Phynrae]

You are correct about less loot. Enemies who don't have a weapon in their hand when you take them out, will not drop any weapon (they will still have randomly generated loot on their person, but you won't get the gun ontop of that).

If you go in loud, they will all equip their weapons, so yes, going in loud does mean you get more loot. This is a legit shortcomming of using stealth.


As for the rest, it's swings and roundabouts. It may take you longer to sneak about than going in blasting, but it also puts you at far less risk, so you lose some and you gain some (and especially on higher difficulties).

You do not get less XP. You won't get a floating XP marker above an enemies head if you choke someone out, but you still get the XP. I prefer playingas stealth characters, and i have never had any problems leveling up.

And finally, using stealth allows you to stat your character as a glass cannon, which has it's own risks and rewards.

[Notoshy]

Stealth abilities and your own Skill allows you to sneak behind enemies and kill even the big Animals relatively easy. Or use a strong handgun with Silencer (it increases damage if they didnt notice you yet) for headshots. Or a good throwing Knife for headshots (with additional bleeding or poisoning) in case a few HP are left. Combine it with Netrunner Skills to blind an enemy or prevent him from calling others.
Yes, playing Stealthy requires Patience and playing more strategically, but if you like that, its a nice strategy.
Stealthy just means, that you get hit less, not that you cant sweep an entire Facility.
Reminds me.... have to drive out to that one secluded Hut in the badlands.... if i remember correctly, an iconic Knife was there.

Still sad, that they removed the ability to exchange the modifiers on Weapons :( makes it harder to build your own setup.

[★REM★]

Stealth throwing knife works well and it's fun.
Far from being the most OP build, is still very viable.

[wakey wakey]

Stealth gameplay is an artifact from when the game did launch.

It was the only way to play until you reached enough tech to craft completly broken gear and mods to make you immortal and not get oneshotted from even low lvl enemies.


Nowadays it's so much nerfed that it's not even worth it. Netrunner(int&tech) will give you a way more smooth stealth gameplay in the early game and one of the early iconic pistol with 175% headshot dmg is enough to let you even run a stealth gameplay with just 3 points in cool and a sandevistan upgrade.

The complete cool tree is kinda useless sadly.

[nguren]

Stealth can be worth while story wise as you often get different dialogue depending on if you if you killed people or not, or if you were spotted or not. The nice thing about this game is that stealth isn't ever forced on you, so you can play however you find more fun.

Also stealth is op in many ways. If you're super sneaky you can choke out all the cyberpsychoes, who are beastly fights (on hard anyway), or press one button from stealth to win.

[FromChaosTheory]

Mine works great. But I'm mostly one shotting bad guys with throwing knives our grabbing them. I'm never seen and I almost never have an alarm raised unless I make a mistake.

[Dustreaper]

I just got the gun majesty? it has a silencer and makes everything stealth super easy mix a sandivsta or even a optical camo and all builds are stealth builds.

[Lord Freedom]

Contagion, deafen, the one that kills comms, silencer... I kill everything, completely unseen.

[Mati_Lublin]

Stealth builds are awesome: sniper rifle, silenced sniper, crouching and backstabbing, netrunning make game easier even if you're discovered in the end (because you'll face way less enemies).