I have a Level 7 Assault class soldier with the Thief perk. So, I wanted to try something by adding the Infiltrator class to him. Then I added the full Styx armor set. So, in theory, he should have a Stealth value like this:
Infiltrator class = 25%
Thief perk = 25%
Styx Helmet = 10%
Styx Body Armor = 20%
Styx Leg Armor = 20%
So, total Stealth value for him should be 100%.
However, on screen, it says 75%. What am I missing here?
The 25% for infiltrator kicks in when you are stealthed. It shows up in tactical info.
Oh. Thanks. Well, in that case, 100% Stealth means nothing in the game. My guy was getting spotted by Pandorans left right. Even the little Fireworm 3 tiles away could see him!
Experiment failed. Sigh.
Stealth means a lot, but is has of course limits, that are unfortunately badly explained in the game and also not really well supported by the UI, so the player has many things to guess:
There is an auto reveal mechanism at 5 tiles distance except the Infiltrator uses the Vanish skill (level 6). That means that an Infiltrator with 95% stealth is as good as with 100% stealth and with 90% he is pretty close, because the highest perception on enemy side is 60 → 6 tiles distance to reveal.
The level 6 vanish status allows the Infiltrator to get closer to enemies, for instance to use shotguns or melee weapons. But this is also not unlimited because mist clouds reveals any friendly unit, even when vanished (can be countered with the mist repeller module).
Vanish is only active in the players turn, in the enemy turn the Infiltrator is back to normal stealth with all its limits.
Enemies can shoot at stealth (unrevealed) Infiltrators when they get detected. This is similar to the red blips the player gets when he can hear but not see enemies. How detection work is not fully clear for me, but shooting non silent weapons or just moving near enemies seems to let the enemy detect the Infiltrator.
All shooting weapons are non silent except the crossbows, but the Echo Head bionic augmentation makes all weapons silent.
After taking all these things into account Infiltrators turns into the most damaging units in the game because of their level 7 skill Sneak Attack that doubles any damage he can deal, in my opinion way too much. Dual classing them with Snipers is very common because most of the above described downsides are not a real problem for their normal fighting distance. But also Heavies and Assaults turning into one shot killing and map clearing soldiers when dual classed to Infiltrators.
Hmm…guess Shotguns are not the way to go with my Assault/Infiltrator build since they can be detected about 6 tiles away. Wonder what weapon would be good though for this kind of build. Any suggestions? I am thinking the Deimos even though it sucks when it comes to penetrating thicker armor and larger Pandorans in late game. I kind of like its effective range.
I can see the potential of a Heavy/Infiltrator build though. Sit back in stealth and lob grenades from the Goliath (OMG their ammo is so expensive!) or Rebuke and get double damage.
Shotguns and melee is doable with using Vanish and so very effective because of the double damage = almost kill any Triton and Arthron.
Assault / Infiltrator with Daimos is a viable choice for mid range, again thanks to double damage the otherwise low damage per bullet is not longer a problem, 60 per bullet is pretty ossom.
An Assault / Infiltrator specialized on melee in combination with the Vengeance Torso (1AP to attack) and with Rapid Clearance and double damage is just OP and can clear whole missions mostly alone.
Heavy / Infiltrator vanished close to a Scylla can deal so much damage with a Deceptor rage burst that it only needs little more to kill it. Also one shots any Chiron and ancient Guardian with such a Deceptor rage burst. He must to be close of course, so Vanish is a must.
Hmm…at 6 tiles away from a target, I doubt all the pellets are going to hit and be enough to kill those outright in one blast. Then there is also the “escape plan” to consider. Like, if I manage to kill a Pandoran in one blast by some miracle at 6 tiles away or more, do I have enough action points to make a quick getaway from its buddies?
Honestly, I don’t see the Assault/Infiltrator build with a Iconoclaust being suitable to go behind enemy lines and start blasting Pandorans away without dying.
With Vanish you can go closer up to adjacent tiles without getting revealed and Rapid Clearance gives you 2 AP back for every kill, so enough to do another kill or retreat somewhere. Iconoclast with double damage deals 10 x 70 = 700 damage, Harrower lesser because of “only” 8 pallets but shreds armor as hell.
Assault / Infiltrators are probably the strongest OP terminator builds in the game, especially with the Vengeance Torso and melee weapons.
Yup. But I guess it is situational too. Like how close your enemies are to each other. So that you don’t waste action points moving.
Blockquote Assault / Infiltrators are probably the strongest OP terminator builds in the game, especially with the Vengeance Torso and melee weapons.
Really? I constantly have my infiltrator walk onto the map and have some Triton sniper type one shot him. It seems like the AI ignores stealth and can see your guys 40 tiles away, around a corner, and under a hatch. Sheesh. I had completely written Infiltrators off as a good concept that doesn’t work as intended in game.
Do you use stealth armor and silent weapons? If you don’t use silent weapons (or make them silent) then stealth won’t help you. Infiltrator will get detected then.
Yes, I use echo head and generally Synedrion Sniper gear for stealth. The armor value on the Styx always put me off. Then I try to keep 12-15 away and use sniper weapons.
Synedrion Sniper armor provides 25% stealth + 25% from base Infiltrator = 50% stealth, means a Triton with double perception (60) can spot him in 30 tiles distance. That is a lot and not enough to keep the Infiltrator hidden. With 25% from the Thief perk he still can get spotted in 15 tiles distance, also not really short and in the range of the distance you mentioned.
Infiltrator without Thief perk and stealth armor is not really save stealthed and has to played accordingly more like a normal squaddie.