Stealth

Stealth is a Dexterity-based Skill.

The higher a creature's Dexterity Score, the more likely they will succeed on Stealth Checks to stay hidden from enemies or other NPCs.

“

Stay out of sight. Melt into the shadows.

„

— In-game skill description

Proficiency

Characters who are proficient in Stealth can add their Proficiency Bonus when making  Ability Checks.

The following backgrounds grant proficiency in Stealth:

•  Criminal
•  Urchin

The following races are proficient in Stealth:

•  Wood Elf
•  Wood Half-Elf

The following races have advantage in Stealth:

•  Lightfoot Halfling
•  Deep Gnome

The following classes can choose to select Stealth as a proficient skill at Level 1:

•  Bard
•  Monk
•  Ranger
•  Rogue

Uses

Hiding

Stealth is used to remain undetected while using  Hide within the line of sight of non-allied creatures. If a hiding character enters a non-allied creature's line of sight and is:

• In a  Clear Area or within melee range, they are spotted immediately, without a Stealth check.
•  Lightly Obscured, a Stealth check is made every turn, or every 6 seconds outside turn-based mode. The DC is the other creature's Passive Perception.
•  Heavily Obscured, a Stealth check is not made.
• Note: Many creatures have a hidden 2 m (7 ft)  Darkvision passive, and in this range it will be treated as below.

When hiding within the range of a creature's  Darkvision or  Superior Darkvision:

•  Lightly Obscured creatures count as being in a  Clear Area instead.
•  Heavily Obscured creatures count as being  Lightly Obscured instead.
• Creatures within  Fog Cloud or  Darkness continue to count as being  Heavily Obscured.

When hiding within the range of a creature's  Devil's Sight or  Born into Darkness:

• Creatures within  Fog Cloud or  Darkness count as being  Lightly Obscured instead.

A character hiding outside all lines of sight is never spotted; Stealth checks are not made until entering the line of sight of a non-allied creature. Rolling a 1 is considered a Critical Failure and causes the character to be spotted immediately.

Stealth attacks

Not to be confused with Sneak Attack

Stealth checks enable a character to remain undetected after making a ranged attack from outside the line of sight of enemies. This does not require  Hiding, although doing so provides  Advantage on the attack roll and is therefore advisable anyway. Note that attacking immediately ends hiding, so undetected stealth attacks cannot be made while hiding within line of sight.

Once the player character performs the attack, if they are not in the line of sight (aka 'vision cone') of the target or any non-allied creature who could witness the attack, the character then performs a Stealth Check as shown in the combat log. This happens regardless of whether the attack hits or misses. The Stealth check has  Disadvantage by default and can be cancelled by having any source of  Advantage on the check.

A white "torch-marks-the-spot" of light shows where opponents will fan out as they search for the attacker. In this case, Astarion has picked up the crates he was standing on when he made a stealth attack, revealing the lower end of the torch.

The Difficulty Class (DC) is determined by a Perception check made by the target and / or witnesses, though this roll is not shown in the combat log; its result is merely shown as the DC of the subsequent Stealth check by the attacker. In other words, the attacker's Stealth contests the Perception of the target and / or witnesses. Due to a bug, the target of the attack also benefits from  Halfling Luck or  Reliable Talent on their Perception check along with the attacker on their Stealth check. These effects are of benefit to the attacker regardless of the bug due to the ability to avoid critical fails and accumulate more Stealth bonuses than the target's Perception bonuses.

If the check succeeds, the attacker remains undetected and the target begins searching for the source of the attack. For five turns after a successful check, or 30 seconds if not in turn-based mode, the target will have  Advantage on any subsequent Perception checks.

In what may be a bug, failing the check begins combat immediately, even if attacking the target would have otherwise lead to a "you have committed a crime" dialogue instead.

In what is very likely a bug, the raw result (before bonuses) of the Perception roll made by the target or witness often seems to equal the raw result of the subsequent Stealth check made by the attacker. This does not always happen, but happens much more frequently than would be expected by chance alone.

• This counter-stochastic behaviour is difficult to isolate via in-game testing, since the Perception roll is invisible, and its result is only shown with modifiers already applied: as the Difficulty Class of the Stealth Check made by the attacker.
• For example, when attacking Helsik from outside her line of sight, the Stealth Check in the combat log will often display a Difficulty Class and raw d20 result (before bonuses) such as: 14 vs. 11, 15 vs. 12, 21 vs. 18, and so on. This is because Helsik has a +3 bonus on Perception rolls from Wisdom, meaning the raw d20 results for her Perception roll and the player's Stealth roll are actually equal in these examples.
• At this time, this is presumed to be an intermittent bug which often causes the two d20 rolls to have the same result - a failure in the game's randomization logic.

Lines of sight of non-party creatures can be viewed by holding the Show Sneak Cones key; Left Shift by default. They can be manipulated using distractions such as  Minor Illusion or  Meow, which compel a creature to turn towards a specific direction and / or walk to another location, creating an opening for a stealth attack.

Invisibility

Stealth checks are used to maintain  Greater Invisibility when performing an action while under its effect. The Difficulty Class (DC) for this kind of check begins at 15, then becomes 17, then increases by 1 for each subsequent check.

• Outside of Honour mode, the DC scales linearly: $\text{DC}=15+(\text{number of previous successful Stealth checks})$
• In Honour mode, the DC scales quadratically: $\text{DC}=15+(\text{number of previous successful Stealth checks}{)}^2$

Actions with the Invisible flag can be performed without this Stealth check. They also do not increase the Stealth check DC of subsequent actions.

Ways to boost or penalize

Equipment and items

Name	Bonus or Penalty	Notes
Assassin's Shortsword	Advantage
Dark Justiciar Half-Plate (Rare)	Advantage	(while obscured)
Dark Justiciar Half-Plate (Very Rare)	Advantage	(while obscured)
Drow Studded Leather Armour	+1
Elegant Studded Leather	Advantage
Elixir of Halfling Luck	Advantage	All ability checks
Elixir of Human Versatility	Proficiency	All skills
Gloomstrand Shield	+1
Hedge Wanderer Armour	+1	All Dexterity ability checks
Hide Armour +1	+1	All Dexterity ability checks
Hide Armour +2	+1	All Dexterity ability checks
Leather Armour +1	+1	All Dexterity ability checks
Leather Armour +2	+2	+1 to other Dexterity ability checks
Nimblefinger Gloves	+1	All Dexterity ability checks, +2 DEX (Gnomes), +1 DEX (Halflings/Dwarves)
Penumbral Armour	+3	(while obscured)
Resonance Stone	Advantage	All physical ability checks
Ring of Shadows	+10	(via  Pass Without Trace)
Scarlet Leather Armour	+1
Shadeclinger Armour	+1
Shapeshifter's Boon Ring	+1d4	All ability checks while shapeshifted/disguised
Smuggler's Ring	+2
Spidersilk Armour	+1
The Graceful Cloth	Advantage	All Dexterity ability checks, +2 Dexterity
Viconia's Priestess Robe	Advantage	(while obscured)

Disadvantage on Skill Checks

With the exception of the following items, all Heavy Armour and all variations of Scale Mail and Half Plate Armour provide  Disadvantage on Stealth checks.

•  Armour of Agility
•  Helldusk Armour
•  Protective Plate
•  Unwanted Masterwork Scalemail
•  Yuan-Ti Scale Mail
•  Sharpened Snare Cuirass

Actions and spells

Name	Bonus or Penalty	Notes
Ascendant Bite	-1 (target) +1 (user)	All ability checks
Aspect of the Wolf	+DEX mod	Dexterity modifier of the user
Astral Knowledge: Dexterity	Proficiency	All Dexterity skills
Bardic Inspiration  Combat Inspiration	+1d6 +1d8 +1d10	Next ability check
Bend Luck: Ability Check Bonus	+1d4	All ability checks
Bend Luck: Ability Check Penalty	-1d4	All ability checks
Bestow Curse: Dexterity Disadvantage	Disadvantage	All Dexterity ability checks
Blessing of the Trickster	Advantage
Bolstering Magic: Boon	+1d4	All ability checks
Cat's Grace	Advantage	All Dexterity ability checks
Contagion: Seizure	Disadvantage	All Dexterity ability checks
Cosmic Omen: Ability Check	+1d6	All ability checks
Cutting Words	-1d6	All ability checks
Guidance	+1d4	All ability checks
Hex (Dexterity)	Disadvantage	All Dexterity ability checks
Hide in Plain Sight	+10
Improved Bardic Inspiration	+1d12	Next ability check
Knowledge of the Ages: Dexterity	Proficiency	All Dexterity skills
Pass Without Trace	+10
Vampire Bite	-1 (target) +1 (user)	All ability checks

Other sources

Name	Bonus or Penalty	Notes
Aura of Possibility	+10	All ability checks
Bliss Spores	+1d6	All ability checks
Blood-draw Sickness	-1	All ability checks
Dark One's Own Luck	+1d10	All ability checks once per short rest
Drunk	Disadvantage	All Dexterity ability checks
Jack of All Trades	Proficiency bonus/2	All skills not proficient in
Off Balance	Disadvantage	All Dexterity ability checks
Remarkable Athlete: Proficiency	Proficiency bonus/2	All Strength/Dexterity/Constitution skills not proficient in
Shocked	Disadvantage	All Dexterity ability checks
Slightly Drunk	Disadvantage	All Dexterity ability checks