Useless Useful Stealth: Difference between revisions

** Many units have an 'ambush' ability, that when active, cloaks them. When they attack, the first shot is much stronger than normal. In addition, ordering a cloaked Stormtrooper Squad to attack allows them to face and aim, only revealing themselves when they open fire. This is useful for ambushing other squads, as the targets have to turn and aim while already under-fire, which will usually result in a slaughter if the Stormtroopers aren't horribly outnumbered (and if they are, you could instead introduce them by throwing bundle grenades to even the odds a bit). Often times soldiers from the ambushed squad will run for cover before returning fire as well.

* Spy units in the ''[[Seven Kingdoms]]'' real time strategy game and its sequel are extremely powerful to the point where you can defeat another human kingdom using only spies; spies do not work on any of the non-human factions. When disguised as an enemy unit they will respond to orders given to them by the enemy player so they cannot be detected by their simple lack of responding to orders. When inside an enemy fort they can try and convince enemy soldiers to join them, assassinate the fort's general, or even the enemy king. They can be promoted to generals by the enemy who does not know they are a spy whereupon they can at a command seize the fort and claim it and a portion of the soldiers therein, dependent on their loyalty, for the player who owns the spy. Finally, if the enemy king is killed in any way a general is picked to replace him, if that general is a spy in disguise then the entire enemy kingdom comes under the control of the player who sent the spy, defeating that enemy instantly.

* Used and [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|averted]] with one of the heroes in ''Battle for Middle-Earth 2'', who possesses the ability to attack while invisible. For you, this results in the computer sending troops to right where he is to attack him as though he were totally visible. For you, it involves painstakingly searching the area in hopes that one of them will accidentally trip over him.

* Averted in ''[[Allegiance]]''. Of course it's a multiplayer-only game, so AI cheating and limitations don't really play a role. Still, it is essentially a Real Time Strategy game with human players directly controlling each of the individual units, and some of the most feared ships in the game are stealth-based. A good team can sneak stealth bombers into an enemy sector to strike when the enemy has no chance of successfully defending, and competent players can use stealth fighters to quickly take out the miners that are the back-bone of every team's economy. Even units that are not designed to be stealthy can take steps to lower their chances of being detected, and this often adds greatly to their effectiveness. One of the most feared factions in the game (when in the hands of a veteran commander) has stealth as their [[Planet of Hats|hat]]. Trying to keep your forces stealthy and to keep enemy stealth units from sneaking up on your team are significant elements in the strategy in the game.

** An exception is the overpowered Staff of the Magi, which basically grants an infinite uses of the spell Invisibility. The staff's version of the spell is also the only kind of stealth (besides the hide in shadows skill the thief classes get) which work successfully with the somewhat buggy "Cloak of Non-Detection". Combining the two items on a single character subverts the trope so entirely it's better classified as [[Game Breaker]]. Enemies will cast True Sight (in some cases [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|infinite times]]) and stand there twitching, trying to attack you because they can see you but are at the same time forced not to attack you.

** Perhaps the best example of this trope, however, is the Cloak Of The Sewers. Despite the fact that it allows you to turn into a rat, and the game is (surprisingly) full of plot-irrelevant rats running around (they can be killed for 1xp and never have any drops), all NPCs instinctively know that ''this'' rat is different, to the point that trying to sneak past a band of high-level thugs ''in the sewers'' as a rat results in them trying to shake that rat down for 500 GP, and unleashing spells fit for fighting an army if it refuses.

* The first person RPG ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'' averts this by the grace of several factors - one, XP is only awarded for fulfilling quests, not killing random enemies. Two, if a stealth route is available, it usually comes with bonus XP. And if all else fails, the game allows for one-hit stealth kills in the form of a brutal [[Neck Snap]] (or [[Back Stab]], or having the enemy [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice]]).

** If the stealth in Bloodlines hadn't been as smooth as it was, the Nosferatu would have instantly become the game's [[The Scrappy|Scrappy]] due to the fact nobody but other vamps and certain NPCs can see them without running away in fear and disgust. They're actually quite fun to play.