Well it seems like the issue to me is Snipe and Mortal Blow then, particularly Snipe because at least Mortal Blow requires a source point. 500% damage bonus is pretty ridiculous though. Maybe Guerilla could make only statuses bypass armor if those really are the concern since those skills don't apply statuses.
My point is making a talent that just provides a flat increase to sneak-attacks isn't very interesting. And I want to avoid a situation where you ought to only do sneak attacks, since that encourages the awkward behavior of sneaking when you're already right behind an enemy for the backstab bonus. Talents ought not be just stat increases, nor should the tactics they encourage be overly simple (encouraging only basic attacks on static targets).
Moreover, a 2 AP sneak with a 25% damage bonus even if regular attacks don't kill sneak still sounds really weak, if not almost worse than it is now. You'd break even with non-guerilla damage after, what, 4 consecutive sneak attacks? It'd be better from initiating with sneak on the first turn, but again, this has the awkward effect of basically requiring enemies to be dumb and not turn around for it to be any good except on the first turn of combat.
I don't think my solution of adding status piercing on sneak attacks is necessarily the best. That also encourages situations where you'd sneak while already standing right behind someone just to get the status effect on them. Perhaps you could do something like requiring you to start your turn while sneaking to get the status pierce.
I guess I should explain how I imagine sneak should work. I think it should be used to initiate combat, and during combat as a mix of defensive and offensive tool that lets you re position in a safer but also deadlier position. Ideally you'd have to be smart about where you hid, rather than just standing in the wide open but outside vision cones, but that would involve a lot of work making "stealth zones" or something. I dunno if they could do something where standing next to bushes or barrels would give you a sneak bonus? Basically give certain objects a "sneak" aura? Or standing in smoke would grant a sneak bonus (though enemies can't see you in smoke half the time anyway.) But I digress. My point is, making sneaking fun and interesting is probably one of the most difficult things in games where AI is really dumb.
Last edited by Baardvark; 15/12/16 01:48 AM.
