The most important question - does this game have Stealth Archery?

[McReesington]

Sneaky archery is what I live for in these games. I will accept sneaky sniper rifle in Fallout too. I've heard the game doesn't much in the way of stealth/lockpicking in populated areas, but can you play a sneaky archer who gets attack from stealth bonuses to damage?

[Boltergeist]

You can do some nifty sneaky archery but enemy detection is not designed to keep your forever in stealth

But it is rather fun to pick them apart with an arquebus from high ground

[easy_going]

It's not a simple question in case of Avowed. You deal very little sneaky damage when aiming with a range weapon. You will MAYBE able to take out ONE enemy, and the rest of them will be alarmed and your sneaky archery is useless. Not only that, but your companions will immediately jump to action instead of staying hidden. It takes A VERY LONG TIME for enemies to stop being alerted and for you to continue your sneaky approach.

Therefore, when it comes to sneak attacks, they are only good for taking out one, maybe two enemies at the beginning of the fight, but not good for you eliminating the entire enemy party by being sneaky with a bow.

Unless you are willing to spend unreasonable amount of time doing so.

[McReesington]

Well that sounds fairly similar to TES and Fallout games so that's not too bad.

[hat boy]

what boltergeist said! you have a sneak attack that you can use in melee with a chance to insta kill. there's an invis ability and a nice upgradable passive for shooting unaware enemies. haven't tried it myself tho. lots of fun unique weapons and armour with synergies too

[The Big Weeb]

Originally posted by McReesington:

Sneaky archery is what I live for in these games. I will accept sneaky sniper rifle in Fallout too. I've heard the game doesn't much in the way of stealth/lockpicking in populated areas, but can you play a sneaky archer who gets attack from stealth bonuses to damage?

In short, no. I really like the game as is, but the stealth mechanics are incredibly bare bones if they work at all. Hiding in the tall grass and plonking someone with a bow will still result in every enemy and their extended cousin zeroing in on your position like you lit a flare. The way I kinda got around this was to use the stealth skill from the ranger tree to perform quick backstabs during combat to pull off an assassin vibe.

[hush]

i tried but stealth mechanics is so basic

[McReesington]

Thanks guys. Sounds like it has some even if imperfect, which makes me happy. Not something I can afford right now, but hopefully later.

[Cardgage]

Yea, its not meant to be a stealth game, its a Sword & Sorcery game.
It'd be like getting upset with Thief for not being able to take a halberd off the wall to fight.
It may break reality but then again it isn't supposed to always be reality.

That said I also tried to do the Skyrim super stealth archer but thought 'fair enough' when lizard boys homie put 2 and 2 together

[Fiesta! Fiesta!]

sorta, its not in the classic way but the items and stuff exist for it. the main problem is the world isnt really designed to be played that way. not to mention the whole group of mobs will be alerted which the person above described well.

[DragonLordX]

Stealth works more like CRPG.
There's a skill for stealth ranged attacks, but it's mid game in the tree.
I did find tho you can pick off some small fries with the bow if you stack up crit.
As bows are quiet and have have crit chance.
The guns are all loud, but you can take out a healer or even a big guy with it before engaging combat.

[VhagarTheLastOne]

It reminds me of BG3, it depends from which direction you're coming, whether you can be tactical or no.

[Mylo-s]

I finished the game playing with bow only and it was fun. Sneaking (and invisibility) gives you advantage to plan your attacks.

[Vailimo]

With bow I haven't tried it but with godlike's instant kill ability I managed to kill 3 without being detected.

Stay hidden after the kill and be very accurate: npcs should stay relatively far away and the enemy icons on the minimap should be facing the opposite side of the killed enemy. This is how I killed 3 enemies in a ruins in a bounty hunter mission on the first map.