how do stealth boys work?

[Ebag]

I'm pretty new to fallout, bought 3 and new vegas about a week ago and I don't get how stealth boys work. I use it and enemies still see me even though I'm literally invisible lol. I get that fallout is an rpg so the mechanics are a bit confusing. But I find it weird that I can learn how hacking works but not the stealth boys. Can anyone help me out here?

[JBrown247]

If I remember correctly, you still have to "sneak." If you stand, you are no longer hidden, but you can't be seen while sneaking.

[Ebag]

Ah, I see. Seems to be working now. Thanks!

[Tribe Reimanen]

When you go into third person youll notice youre not actually invisible, just a little see-through. It boosts your Stealth stat, and depending on your stealth perks you still need to sneak, turn off pipboy light, stay out of sight, or / and maybe even slow crouch.

[Bob of Mage]

They basically boost your stealth skill sky high, but they don't make it impossible to be found. Pretty much just use them when you really need to sneak, and don't want to take the risk of being found.

For example I use them when I want to seek past the super mutants in the few areas with them during quests, and I want to complete those quest without a lot of fighting (I could be doing said quest early, or want to go with the more peace option, and as such avoid killing super mutants that start as hostile).

Once you are discovered by doing something that overcomes the massive stealth buff, most enemies will be able to track you. However this doesn't prevent you have using a stealth boy while being seen. You will drop aggro if you are not touching them.

On a final note if you touch an enemy they will notice you, and try to murder your ass. I found that out the hard way while trying to slip past some nightkin in narrow hallways.

[Mithral]

I believe they give you a static +100 stealth so even a low level player gains max stealth skill. I don't know if you can push above the 100 cap by doing this since I think all other skills are hard capped at 100 as well but any enviromental effect that could penalize your stealth still has to chip through the +100 so aside from actually touching enemies they make you near undetectable.

[Vassago Rain]

Originally posted by Mithral:

I believe they give you a static +100 stealth so even a low level player gains max stealth skill. I don't know if you can push above the 100 cap by doing this since I think all other skills are hard capped at 100 as well but any enviromental effect that could penalize your stealth still has to chip through the +100 so aside from actually touching enemies they make you near undetectable.

In addition to that, it has a spell effect that makes NPC not see you 3/4 of the time when they bypass your sneak, but they can still hear you.