Sneak (Skyrim)


 * Sneaking is the art of moving unseen and unheard. Highly skilled sneaks can often hide in plain sight.

Sneak is a confirmed skill that will be returning to Skyrim and will be one of the 18 skills. This skill will fall under The Thief play-style.


 * Governing Guardian Stone: The Thief

Changes from Previous Games
The Sneak system is slightly different in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to that of previous games. For instance, your visibility is depicted through use of an eye that remains closed while you are undetected, but opens more and more as you become more detected. If it is fully open then they are completely aware of your presence and your exact location. People around you will also change "modes" depending on whether they view you sneaking. For instance, they will be passive if they are unaware, or cautious if they are aware of you sneaking. Their ability to notice you is dependent on the Sneak skill.

Sneak attacks do not deal as much damage as they did in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. This leads to the conclusion that one of the big perks in the Sneak skill-tree will be to increase the amount of damage dealt by weapons while sneaking. If the sneak level of the player is high, he or she will have the ability to kill the enemy from behind only if they are close to him. This will vary depending on the enemy and the surroundings.

Another apparent difference since the previous game is that attacking an enemy does not neccesarily give your presence away if you kill him. In one of the gameplay videos, the player killed one man from a distance, and while the other man was alerted to an enemy presence, he was not immediately aware of the player's location, as would be the case in Oblivion.

Sneak Perks
The following are the perks that become available to select as the skill is leveled up, (X=determined by rank): Note: Not a complete list.
 * No confirmed Sneak perks yet.

Note: A multi-rank perk's skill requirements vary depending on current rank of the perk

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Skills
See: Skill (Skyrim)