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Author Topic: Dwarf soldiers committing stealth attacks  (Read 1116 times)

FantasticDorf

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Dwarf soldiers committing stealth attacks
« on: September 11, 2018, 08:16:07 am »

The concept is that dwarves can utilise their own stealth skill in single combat to approach a unit either close enough or if they get spotted midway, startle them. The intial thought process going into this is "would i have a better chance of a well placed single hit if i approached the unit from behind and hit them?" versus the noise of attacking them straight ahead and with squad mates also contributing noise deterring them from doing that.

And likewise wildlife and other units can do it back when appropriate, to make ambushes silently take down your fortress dwarves more deadly when creeping giant tigers and the elves riding them start biting the heads off lone woodcutters and dissapearing back behind the shroud of invisibility.

May be relevant for assassin types & kobolds, who may want to occasionally plunge a knife into a passing dwarf if they can risk it to make the infiltration of your fortress a bit easier.
« Last Edit: September 11, 2018, 08:39:54 am by FantasticDorf »
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Miles_Umbrae

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Re: Dwarf soldiers committing stealth attacks
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2018, 08:28:29 am »

I would personally prefer if it was defined as "Sneak Attack".
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GoblinCookie

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Re: Dwarf soldiers committing stealth attacks
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2018, 06:57:00 am »

I think this is already a thing in Adventure mode.
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FantasticDorf

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Re: Dwarf soldiers committing stealth attacks
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2018, 07:05:29 am »

I think this is already a thing in Adventure mode.

I know but the equivilent fortress mode definition of stealth is literally turning invisible to the user rather than using the underbrush to decrease visibility and sight arcs. Expert ambusher trained by off map raids approaches in the dark space of the dwarven burrows and promptly crushes a invader's head with mace like grapefruit, etc.

Or being stalked by creatures that will only engage by stealth behaviourally, rutherers and mantera's for instance.
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Dorsidwarf

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Re: Dwarf soldiers committing stealth attacks
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2018, 07:13:53 pm »

I thought that that was already how the “ambushers” and snatchers hide from your dwarves long enough to get close?
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peasant cretin

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Re: Dwarf soldiers committing stealth attacks
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2018, 05:26:32 pm »

High ambusher skill hasn't made you invisible since 34.11. Back then you could swing away at an opponent as they completely ignored you.

Guessing the best we'll get is what exists now. High ambusher mods visual rolls as a one size fits all opponent nerf, rather than tinkering with AI pathing.

Right now AIs path to an enemy whose ability to see the path(er) is based on "the nature of their vision arc, the quality of their observer skill, & their movement behavior". If the AI reaches the adjacent tile to the enemy, they'll unload based on "attack of opportunity"/armor level, plus side/back hit rate/damage output bonuses if they're in the yellow of the arc or outside the arc.

What I'm saying is based on something I asked a while back:
Quote from: peasant cretin
I'm probably misreading this, but similar to the movement speed/attack speed split of DF2014, it seems ambusher skill has become separate from visual stealth. Will NPCs like hunters and other archers occasionally display behavior where they path according to tiles that benefit visual stealth? If so, will this conceal their vision arc from the player?
. . . Ambusher matters in all the visual rolls, but yeah, sometimes it doesn't matter how good you are, if your placement is awful.  They should think about it more, but it's a difficult problem . . .
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SixOfSpades

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Re: Dwarf soldiers committing stealth attacks
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2018, 06:00:35 pm »

I too think the Ambusher skill should be applicable to all dwarves seeking to conceal themselves--whether it's from a prey animal, an enemy soldier, or other children playing hide-and-seek. On a related note, hunters should be able to hunt using any weapon (or even no weapon at all, if they must), not just crossbows.
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