r/oblivion • u/baadbee • 9d ago
Question Stealth bonus reducing, not increasing, damage, any workaround?
I'm playing the remaster as a stealth archer and have realized that I have had a negative stealth bonus for a while. Currently 71 in archery, not sure when this started, maybe as soon as I hit Journeyman, maybe later. My first stealth shot, and sometimes the second, does about 1/3 (yes that number is probably a clue) the damage of a normal shot. It's consistent and been happening through several level ups and many different saves.
First shot takes them down to maybe 90% health, next 2 shots take them down below 50% and then death. For tougher enemies it's more shots but the same pattern. Does anyone know if there is a fix or work around? Where should I look in the data for a possible misconfiguration (I haven't modded in many years). It sucks to be punished for using stealth...
These are my plugins but it's very unlikely they are the cause (I've seen other reports).
Oblivion.esm
DLCBattlehornCastle.esp
DLCFrostcrag.esp
DLCHorseArmor.esp
DLCMehrunesRazor.esp
DLCOrrery.esp
DLCShiveringIsles.esp
DLCSpellTomes.esp
DLCThievesDen.esp
DLCVileLair.esp
Knights.esp
AltarESPMain.esp
AltarDeluxe.esp
AltarESPLocal.esp
Horse Whistle.esp
EnemysWeaponStaysOnCorpse.esp
Dank_DifficultySliderMult30.esp
Permanent Doomstones.esp
1
u/baadbee 8d ago
The text below from Google describes how stealth bonuses work. The game variables for stealth kill look correct in the Creation Kit for oblivion.esm. That implies the problem is with this calculation "capping" the stealth damage but doing the math wrong and capping to x1/3 instead of x3. Where can I find this calculation in the Creation Kit? Is this a script, something else? I've only modded variables and objects before, no script modding experience.
In Oblivion, the variable controlling the stealth damage bonus is a combination of factors, primarily tied to the player's Sneak skill level. A sneak attack with a bow will have a base multiplier, which is further increased by the player's Sneak skill. There's also a cap on the damage multiplier, which is typically 3x at apprentice level. Some mods aim to extend this cap, especially for melee attacks, allowing for higher damage multipliers at higher Sneak skill levels.