Rookie question about stealth armour

[Dhansak]

I am early in the game (about level 12) and am starting to look at a new outfit and am leaning towards stealth kit.

How does an armour stealth boost work? So far, I can see the "visible eye indicator" at the top centre of the screen always fully open when not crouched in long grass, and conversely, fully closed when I am crouched in long grass. I have not noticed anything in between these 2 states (though I may have missed a more nuanced status).

Consequently I can't figure out how an increased stealth rating works. Are there later enemies who could spot me in valid cover without a boost? Or maybe other terrain features count as proper cover in addition to long grass? etc etc!

All info gratefully received - thanks.

[Dhansak]

Ahh - just found a 5 year old reddit which seems to answer my questions. However if a lot has changed since then I would appreciate a heads up!

Cheers.

[Bobucles]

Stealth armor is great all purpose utility. It reduces enemy detection range, so stack the hell out of it. You'll have far less fights that drag in reinforcements. Many enemies will lose vision mid fight and go into search mode. Resources are much easier to collect because you can run through camps scoring stealth kills. Stealth is often a better armor for reducing damage than most armor sets.

The hardest difficulty dramatically increases enemy detection, so it's not as effective.

[Dhansak]

Thanks for the clarification Bobucles - much appreciated.

I am playing on normal difficulty so should gain a lot of positives from this kit by the sound of it :)

[drh_thg]

I purchased the Nora silent hunter master which is available in the western area merchants after a certain level is reached. Base stealth rating is 30 IIRC and it can be upgraded with various coils as it has 3 upgrade slots. Currently my overall stealth rating is 56 and I can get far closer to the enemy without being detected than with a 0 stealth rating.