Some feedback in the form of questions

[VOLAND]

@Swiftless

Soldier took a shotgun blast to the face from a cloaked Triton that I had no idea was there in the first place.

For the Triton to be cloaked you must have activitated it’s Pain Chameleon ability by injuring it. It then remains hidden until the end of its turn unless spotted by you by getting really close to it. So a few things have to happen for what you describe to take place, but it does sometimes.

@Swiftless

Maybe I haven’t done enough secondary research but I have no real solid understanding of who sees what and why, how stealth matters at all (who or what is stealthed and seen or not seen) and what “Alerted” status means.

Yes, and I dare say that few players understand what is going on with detection most of the time and nobody what goes on all the time, because there is a hearing aspect to detection that is completely unknown.

@VOLAND

You might ( should , in fact) ask yourself, why can I see some of the enemies and can they see my soldiers? Detection is determined by the perception stat of the observer and the stealth stat of the observed. The perception stat is expressed in tiles and the stealth stat as a percentage (which can also be negative, meaning the observed is easier to detect), the stealth reducing the perception range vis a vis the observed.

So, if Bob has a perception of 35, he will detect all enemies with =<0% stealth within his LOS within 35 tiles. He will also detect enemies further away if they have a negative stealth stat (which is usually derived from wearing heavy armor). For example, Bob will detect enemies 49 tiles away within LOS whose stealth is - 40%. Similarly, Bob will be detected by enemies depending on his stealth stat and the perception stat of his enemies. Bob will also alert enemies to his presence by shooting a non-silenced weapon.