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Shaowdancer - what is the purpose/effect of Move Silently?

Hay all :-)

Create myself a Halfling Shadowdancer and im lvl with all my skill points put into Hide so i have 95 hide now :-)
and my move silently is 45.

Im wondering waht effect move silently actually has? The effect i have noticed is if i hide and walk the monster follows me which im assuming is it following the sound of my footsteps, thing is, all i have to do is stop moving, wait for the monster to come next to me then start moving again and it doesn't follow, bug?

Ive been looking around and i read that MS effects how long you stay hidden for too, is this still true?

Ill paste the post i read below which explains the theorum better than i ever could :-) but Prob with this post is it says its from 2003 0-o

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2 Thieves, each with 100% Hide in Shadows.
One (Jethro) has 100% Move Silently.
The other (Bubba) has 0% Move Silently.

Both plan an attack where they try to Backstab an Umber Hulk. They attempt to Hide in Shadows; both succeed. They move in behind the Umber Hulk. Bubba takes a swing, but misses. Due to his poor MS score, he almost instantly becomes visible, and has to drink his only Potion of Invisibility to avoid becoming Umber Hulk Chow. Jethro, meanwhile, moves behind the Umber Hulk, takes a swing, and also misses. He has now left the Shadows, but due to his high MS score, he is not yet visible. He keeps attacking in the few seconds left to him, and finally connects his Backstab on the third swing. He now, however, has the same problem that Bubba had (a pissed-off Umber Hulk), and he solves it the same way.

Jethro and Bubba, being out of Invisibility Potions, decide that a second Backstab might kill the Umber Hulk--but then again, it might not. Being Thieves, they decide to prefer discretion over valor, and leave the Umber Hulk for the next party of adventurers to kill. Being Invisible, they mosey on past the Umber Hulk into the next room, which (typically enough for a dungeon) is filled with treasure. They happily fill their pockets, forgetting that opening a container or picking an item up off the ground will automatically cause them to become Visible once again. They will have to go Stealth again to get past the Umber Hulk again and reach the exit.

They both attempt to Hide in Shadows again, and again, both succeed. They walk on past, but Bubba's lousy MS score causes him to make some noise, and the Umber Hulk quickly turns and spots him. One Confusion later, Bubba is quickly no more. Jethro pauses for a repectful moment of silence for his slain companion, but during that time, he just happens to fail his Stealth check, and starts to Leave Shadows. Due to his high MS score, though, he is able to scuttle out the door before he becomes visible.
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SixOfSpades - http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14230
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So, what does it actually do and whats its effects etc?

Cheers :-)

Comments

  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,724
    edited October 2014
    It's been confirmed that in BG:EE the Hide in Shadows and Move Silently abilities have NO DIFFERENCE:

    http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/370098/#Comment_370098

    Dee: "the game just averages the two scores together every time"

    http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/500058/#Comment_500058

    FinaLfront: "MS and HiS both do exactly the same thing"

    You get your chance to become invisible as the average of points put into these skills, no matter whether it's 10-90, 50-50 or 90-10.
  • Zirus_BlackheartZirus_Blackheart Member Posts: 46
    Hmm, ok, thx :-)
    what about the amount of miss hits b4 i come out of shadows?
    Does move silently have an impact on that?
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,724
    As soon as you make an actual attack (whether you hit or miss), you're seen. Note that the game can have an animation as if your character attack (sword swinging) but he won't attack till the actuall roll for hit and damage is made.

    So, no matter what MS you have, you'll be seen after one attack.
  • Zirus_BlackheartZirus_Blackheart Member Posts: 46
    Im only seen when a hit connects, this could be after less than 1sec or after 5 swings (dual wielding) and it has nothing to do with the amount of time ive been hidden........ so what your saying makes no sense :-s
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    edited October 2014
    bengoshi said:

    As soon as you make an actual attack (whether you hit or miss), you're seen. Note that the game can have an animation as if your character attack (sword swinging) but he won't attack till the actuall roll for hit and damage is made.

    So, no matter what MS you have, you'll be seen after one attack.

    I agree with @bengoshi

    Enable attack rolls from options. As soon as a thief makes an attack roll, either hit or miss, he becomes visible. There is no way around that by using thief skills. Not even 300 in hide or move silently will change this. Only way to stay invisible after an attack roll is magic:level 6 mislead spell (which is not available in bg:ee, you stay totally invisible as long as the mislead clone lives) or improved invisibility/shadow door (which you become semi-visible and opponents can attack you, just not with targeted spells) And you are not eligible for another backstab if you are improved invisible and just revealed yourself. You can backstab away to your heart's content while under mislead, though.

    Sometimes characters take wild swings with their weapons, these are just for graphics and do not trigger an attack roll:it is just fancy. During combat, there aremany swings/parries/sword maneuvers and such. Only one in a round count as a meaningful attack.

    Weapon speed is what determines this. If you have a very slow weapon with speed factor 10, for example, it takes long to ready to weapon so your character will swing 2-3 times in vain before an attack roll is made. If you use a very fast weapon, like a heavily enchanted short sword with speed factor zero, as soon as you order attack, the first swing will be an attack roll:and you will become visible instantly.
  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    lunar said:


    As soon as a thief makes an attack roll, either hit or miss, he becomes visible. There is no way around that by using thief skills. Not even 300 in hide or move silently will change this. Only way to stay invisible after an attack roll is magic:level 6 mislead spell (which is not available in bg:ee, you stay totally invisible as long as the mislead clone lives) or improved invisibility/shadow door (which you become semi-visible and opponents can attack you, just not with targeted spells)

    Wait, isn't this exactly what "Hide in Plain Sight" for the Shadowdancer is supposed to let you do?
  • Zirus_BlackheartZirus_Blackheart Member Posts: 46
    enabled attack rolls and yeah i see what you mean :-/
    its a shame because imho having a gfx+sound when nothing is actually happening, no actual swing+miss is miss-leading and unfair to those trying to create a chr based on what they experience in game :-/
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited October 2014

    lunar said:


    As soon as a thief makes an attack roll, either hit or miss, he becomes visible. There is no way around that by using thief skills. Not even 300 in hide or move silently will change this. Only way to stay invisible after an attack roll is magic:level 6 mislead spell (which is not available in bg:ee, you stay totally invisible as long as the mislead clone lives) or improved invisibility/shadow door (which you become semi-visible and opponents can attack you, just not with targeted spells)

    Wait, isn't this exactly what "Hide in Plain Sight" for the Shadowdancer is supposed to let you do?
    You'd still become visible. Though you could become invisible again after a time. In the case of a character using Mislead I believe they are constantly invisible to their opponents.
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    edited October 2014

    lunar said:


    As soon as a thief makes an attack roll, either hit or miss, he becomes visible. There is no way around that by using thief skills. Not even 300 in hide or move silently will change this. Only way to stay invisible after an attack roll is magic:level 6 mislead spell (which is not available in bg:ee, you stay totally invisible as long as the mislead clone lives) or improved invisibility/shadow door (which you become semi-visible and opponents can attack you, just not with targeted spells)

    Wait, isn't this exactly what "Hide in Plain Sight" for the Shadowdancer is supposed to let you do?
    Hide in plain sight lets you become invisible again with hide in shadows even while there are enemies around, which is flat out impossible for other thief kits. But there is a cool down for hide in shadows button after an attack. Thus, you need to spend approximately a round (6 seconds) after an attack to become invisible again via hide in plain sight ability. However, since you have already attacked, there is little use of continue attacking:you won't get another attack roll until after a round (6 seconds) have passed again. That is, if you have only 1 attack/round. If you have multiple attacks, (either dual wielding, speed weapon that grants extra attack, you have high fighter levels, or are under haste/oil of speed effect) you can get another attack roll in until you get to hide in shadows again, if you continue attacking. This will not count as a backstab, ofcourse. If you have only one attack your character will continue to swing his weapon a few times after an attack, but they will be just for show.

    Thus, for the shadowdancer it is more useful to run around in circles after an attack. You are a shadowdancer, 'dance' around the opponents until your hide in shadow becomes usable again, don't stay still and let enemies get an attack roll on you. This works less well against ranged enemies or spell casting enemies, for obvious reasons:they can still harm you even while you run around. However, if an enemy begins casting a long spell, as soon as you hit the shadows and you are succesful in hiding, the spell will be wasted:the enemy will have lost eye contact with you. This works well with spells with long casting times, like a hold person. It works less well against spells such as magic missile or chromatic orb since the time frame to become invisible is so small. Area effect spells CAN still be completed sometimes when you become invisible during casting, though. (Like confusion, or horrid wilting) I have experienced this behaviour a few times but it may be due to scs mod I use. Oh, and some non-human enemies can see invisible in bg2:ee anyway so these tactics are largely futile. You can still get a backstab on them but it will be extremely difficult to manage.
    elminster said:

    lunar said:


    As soon as a thief makes an attack roll, either hit or miss, he becomes visible. There is no way around that by using thief skills. Not even 300 in hide or move silently will change this. Only way to stay invisible after an attack roll is magic:level 6 mislead spell (which is not available in bg:ee, you stay totally invisible as long as the mislead clone lives) or improved invisibility/shadow door (which you become semi-visible and opponents can attack you, just not with targeted spells)

    Wait, isn't this exactly what "Hide in Plain Sight" for the Shadowdancer is supposed to let you do?
    You'd still become visible. Though you could become invisible again after a time. In the case of a character using Mislead I believe they are constantly invisible to their opponents.
    Exactly. That's why mislead is a very powerful spell.

  • booinyoureyesbooinyoureyes Member Posts: 6,164
    edited October 2014
    oh, i knew that. I thought you meant that you couldn't hide from the same character twice and then backstab again.
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