Given the setting, you may be compelled to don some heavy metal armor, grab a sword, and get medieval on any obstacles in your path… but Henry isn’t your typical super hero protagonist, and sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. Keeping your head down and skulking around sometimes is just safer and more efficient than running in, horns blaring, hoping the hornet’s nest of guards you alerted don’t manage to stick you with any pointy bits of metal. This page will discuss what the Stealth skill does, how to level it efficiently, and what the best Stealth perks are in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

Page Breakdown¶

Stealth Uses and Effects¶

Stealth is a pretty straight-forward skill, at least in the idea behind how it functions. The higher your Stealth score, the harder it’ll be for NPCs to notice you. Use cases include hiding from bandits you encounter on the road, avoiding guards as you slink around city streets after dark, not being spotted picking some NPC’s pockets, or sneaking up on game you’re trying to hunt. That said there are plenty of variables to consider in addition to your Stealth skill score: every bit of clothing you wear can influence your Conspicuousness, Noise and Visibility, which all determine how easy NPCs can detect you. In addition, line of sight, light sources, how fast you’re moving, and how stinky Henry is can all influence whether an NPC detects you or not.

Leveling Stealth¶

To gain Stealth EXP, you must do sneaky things without getting detected. This means more than merely sneaking around NPCs - there has to be stakes involved. Sneak and pick a lock, or pickpocket NPCs - if you don’t get caught, you’ll gain a small amount of Stealth EXP. Sneak attacks also net you Stealth EXP, but the best way of earning Stealth EXP is by sneaking around without being detected in situations where being detected would lead to consequences: sneaking around hostile bandits, sneaking in restricted areas, or sneaking up on game are all examples when sneaking may earn you Stealth EXP.

Of these, the fastest way to earn Stealth EXP - and only Stealth EXP - is by sneaking up on wild game, be it hare, deer or boar. If you sneak up on one lone animal, you’ll probably get around 20 EXP before the thing notices you and bolts, but if you circle-strafe a pack of several animals, avoiding line of sight while spending several moments sneaking around undetected, you could earn hundreds of Stealth EXP. Not only can this give you a lot of Stealth EXP in a short amount of time, but there’s little downside - you won’t likely sneak up on anything, but when you spook the animals they’ll just run away, which isn’t much of a consequence, especially considering the beasts will return to (near) their original location if given some time. Of course, spooking animals off does waste time, so you’ll need to keep in mind the feast-or-famine nature of this leveling method. Big potential gains while you stalk the animals punctuated by minutes of waiting for the flighty creatures to return.

In addition to stalking prey, you can attempt to actually hunt them - sneak as much as you safely can before spooking the animals, shoot them with a ranged weapon, sic Mutt on them, then give chase and butcher your prey. This will level Stealth, Survival, Marksmanship and Houndmaster simultaneously!

Staying more on theme, you can also just sneak around town at night and pick locks - doors, chests, it doesn’t matter, doing so without getting caught will level up Thievery and Stealth. Refrain from actually stealing anything, though - if you steal something, there’s a good chance somebody will notice it’s missing eventually, and if you were seen sneaking around (regardless if you were caught doing anything illegal at the time) the guards will put 2+2 together and finger you for the criminal. Pick locks, don’t steal, level up Stealth and Thievery, and avoid the loss of reputation and potential fines, pillory time and lashings that come with actual theft.

Best Stealth Perks¶

Unsurprisingly, Stealth perks give a variety of Stealth-related bonuses, making Henry quieter when in cities or in the wilderness, enabling stealth takedowns, giving enemies debuffs when attacks while unawares and Henry extra damage when sneak attack with ranged weapons, bonuses to Henry’s stats when he’s a wanted criminals and the ability to ignore distant NPCs while picking locks and pockets alike. The sort of fare you’d expect, really, and if you want to sculpt Henry into a slippery ne’er-do-well, an cold-blooded assassin, or just give him some boosts when he cheap shots enemies with crossbows, there are perks for you here. Below we’ll list the best Stealth perks in the game:

Rodent / Weasel Boy¶

Perks that make you sneakier are high up on our list of wants for the Stealth tree, and it just so happens we have two options here - you can either pick “Rodent” to make yourself sneakier while indoors or “Weasel Boy” to make yourself sneakier outdoors. Both deserve to be picked, but you only get one - sneaking out doors makes it easier for you to infiltrate enemy camps and perhaps pick off stragglers, sneaking indoors means you can infiltrate buildings and steal important items. Closing doors more quietly is an underrated boon, as open doors draw suspicion, and doors opening and closing themselves is even more suspicious! Both perks have their uses, so at the end of the day you’ll just need to decide whether you want your Henry to be a slightly better footpad or ranger.

Escape Artist¶

Nobody’s perfect. You’ll undoubtedly get caught while sneaking, and in many cases whomever spots you won’t fully identify you, starting a search to confirm their suspicions. These perks cause NPCs to end their search sooner, making it easier to remain undiscovered and get back the sleuthing.

Surprise Attack¶

Starting out fights by putting an arrow or bolt in an enemy can help shift the odds in your favor, and this makes that even more powerful by giving stricken enemies a debuff. If ranged sneak attacks are a regular part of your combat routine, get this perk.

Quickhand¶

More of a quality-of-life perk than anything else, this makes it easier to pick locks and pockets by preventing distant NPCs from noticing anything. For picking pockets this can be a great boon, especially if your target is in a crowd or otherwise not isolated properly, as it allows you to just focus on your target. When it comes to picking locked door, which was already pretty easy to do, you’re pretty much not going to get caught with this perk unless there’s a guard at the door itself, somebody has the gall to open the door while you’re picking it, or you don’t bother to make sure the coast is remotely clear.

Ambusher¶

You deal 20% more damage when you hit an enemy that’s unaware of you. Combines well with “Surprise Attack”, and if you got that perk, you should definitely get this one, too.

The other perks in the Stealth tree are awfully situational, to the point where you may only want to consider them if you’re heavily rolelpaying Henry as a criminal. Anything that involves buffs while you’re a criminal (“Fleeting Shadow”) or losing your criminal status sooner (“Ordinary Man”) can and should be done by simply avoiding detection in the first place. Likewise “One Way or Another” really only triggers when you fail at a stealth takedown - save scum, don’t fail. Save a perk. Finally, “Deceptive Stance” is only useful when you end up fighting while not wearing armor, which, given how generous the game is about swapping gear loadouts, should be rare indeed. If you’re wearing sneaking attire, you shouldn’t end up in a combat scenario in the first place, and if you have to transition from sneaking to fighting, you can usually just swap to your armor loadout, which will keep you alive much better than a +3 bonus to the Warfare skill.

List of Stealth Perks¶