Kingdom Come: Deliverance – Stealth Guide

In this guide i will detail a few things i have come to know through experience while playing this game. I will cover general stealth, knocking people out, killing them, where to drop bodies, finding good locations for stealth, and lock picking.

General Overview and Some Notes on the AI in Game

Note: Credit goes to V4D4RS F1ST 97

It is important to note that this is not skyrim. A high stealth stat will not let you slap someone in the face with a mace from the front in the middle of town square AND get away with it unseen simply because you are crouched (seriously this has worked for me before in skyrim. stealth in that game is completely OP in broken.) Stealth in Kingdom Come: Deliverance how ever demands both skills from the character and the player. The AI is not stupid either. They keep mental notes of your last known location so you need to be fancier than walking behind them, crouching, and going for the kill!

The most important factor here in the AI keeping track of your location. You actually have to FULLY sneak up on them. Wether that entails seemingly walking into a building just to exit the other side and tail your target or simply hiding in a shed until the target passes you does not matter. The only thing that does matter is you cannot be seen in the imediate vicinity of the target otherwise they stand a significant chance of defending against your attack (And that is REALLY bad because most of the time you will be unarmored and with light weapons if armed at all to avoid making noise. You will NOT win a fight against a fully armored and trained guard without your gear. do not try!!!)

Besides AI I will begin discussing basics so you can be like me and murder guards and loot shops for easy high coin loot regularly without effort. so much so that none of your fences will have enough coin to buy it all.

General Stealth

Essentially the stealth in this game can be super easy if you put in a little effort. First and foremost ditch the armor and large weapons. No need to have anything metal on you except maybe a bow and a few arrows (preferably not stolen in case a guard searches you). If you can try and find light cloaks and fancy boots that are built for stealth as they can make you harder to see. Perks and timing are everything too! If you have the rain man perk for example a seemingly unstealthy fool can turn into the ghost of every lords nightmares during every rainstorm!

For obvious reasons i recommend beginners do NOT stealth during the day. I will cover that more in depth in the locations tab for more advanced stealthers.

If all you read is the stuff below then you can still just read that and still be an ok assassin and build from the below rules.

In general follow these rules:

• Keep at least 10 or so meters away from everyone before sneaking! they remember where you are and if they saw you they pose a chance to defend against your attack! 
• Avoid main city streets or markets. Follow hidden paths and alleyways that limit the chances of getting lone targets to pick off. 
• Find a shed off in a corner to hide in/dump the poor sods you just off’ed. 
• Only kill people you are certain carry something you need. More kills means higher risk of being caught! 
• Scout out the pathing of people in the area for at least a minute or so to ensure you know what places are least traveled. One example of this is the shed in Talmberg near the staples. only a single staple worker uses the shed. after you kill him you can dump bodies here without any risk of being caught imediately. 
• Wear either nothing or light weight, dark colored, quiet clothing. ditch larger weapons and if you MUST be armed carry something like a decent short sword. Bows and arrows are ok and useful. 
• If you are using a bow be careful with guards helms! If you are not skilled, or using either a awful bow or arrow, you may just find your self pinging uselessly off his helm just to f*ck him off! Get decent training in archery and use quality bows and arrows if you may encounter armored foes! 
• Stick to alleyways, buildings, sheds, ect. for killing and dumping people and stolen gear. 
• If you plan on killing and looting more than 1 person then hide them well and wait to loot their gear until you are ready to leave. You will move quicker and let yourself be searched risk free if you do so.

The Art of Silent Blades

So you want to kill someone all quiet like in kingdom come huh? Well I have a few tips for all of you aspiring assassins out there!

First and foremost be sneaky. Do not try to stealth like this is skyrim because it is not. you CANNOT simply just get behind a guard, crouch, and assasinate them and expect to be successful. If you try you will most likely just get your a$$ kicked and you wallet kicked even harder.

If you want to successfully eleminate trained, attentive, threatening targets then you need to become one with the shadows. Find a nearby building, alleyway, shed, bush or anything at all that would give you visual shelter. Try to begin sneaking from there and slowly creep up onto the target. If done correctly the stealth kill should certainly succeed. You do not nessisarily have to be in darkness. Just away from eye sight when you begin sneaking. even closing a door right next to the target may suffice sometimes.

Keep in mind that using the in game stealth kill system is not the only way to properly stealth kill. If you lack the perk you can knock them out and finish them. You may also shoot them in the head with a bow (Use a strong bow and quality arrows on targets wearing a helm!). Lastly if you lack a bow and said target is in a strange position (on stairs for example) then the game will not let you use the stealth function every time presumably to prevent a strange animation that either has the target floating or you clipping through the floor. If you do not have a bow you could just wip your sword out and hack away. Keep in mind that this DOES NOT kill the target in one hit but if you keep slashing them they will be unable to draw their blade to defend themselves. Do not let up until they are dead. This last method is also extremely loud so it is only useful as a last resort preferably away from help.

Dead bodies are also a really powerful tool when dealing with only a few foes. If you cant seem to sneak up on a second or third target you can leave a body directly in the path of another target. They will see it and investigate away from their usual path and right into the path of your blade.

Location, Location, Location…

You might think it is silly but there really is a right and wrong place to kill a target. out in the open near a busy alley is usually wrong. Killing someone on the second floor of a shop, for example, is also wrong. You do not want to kill anyone near any place that either has high traffic or has a permanent guard presence as seen in many shops is very risky and in essence wrong unless your goal is to end up with a half dozen swords in your back.

The proper killing ground needs to be:

• At least 20 meters away from shops to avoid shop keeps and guards from hearing your disturbance 
• As far away from busy roads as possible or at least with reasonable cover from sight 
• Needs to have an almost abandoned shack or building that you can dump bodies and loot. Don’t be afraid to kill a lone worker to make a shack abandoned. If they walk into the shack and pose a threat it makes them equally easy to kill away from others. 
• Needs more than one route out in case you get caught. No one likes being stuck between a rock and a sword! 
• Make sure you are not directly next to a guard post or barracks because if you get caught they will quickly flood out and completely overwhelm you!