OK...Silly question time...About backstabbing

Khazad · Post by **Khazad** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 6:53 am

This one is about backstabbing....Is there some special technique to backstabbing?

I am currently playing an 11th level assassin...Hide in shadows is like 110 and move silently is like 80....I am wielding the Blade of Roses+3 and have on the Girdle of Hill Giant Strength (so I have a pretty good THACO)....As well as multiple stealth enhancing magical items....

Here's the deal: I normally spread out my characters in a room or area and have them lay in wait while my tank goes out and lures monsters into ambush. I have my assassin hide in shadows, usually in a corner of the room...When the tank gets the monsters into the room, he and the rest of the party engage them pretty close to the center of the room....Then, I have my assassin slip up behind them (still hiding in shadows) and attack...

I have worked about 1/2 of the side quests in chapter 2 so far, so, I have been on this current game for quite a while...IN THIS ENTIRE TIME, I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BACKSTABBED 2 TIMES...OUT OF LIKE 50-60 ATTEMPTS.....

What is the deal!?!?!? Am I doing something wrong!?!?!? Or is this just another example of my usual hideous luck on the dice rolls!?!?!?!?

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 7:52 am

Do you try to backstab enemies with very low AC? Do you try to backstab Mages with Stoneskin up? Do you fail your Hide in Shadows check just before you're about to backstab? What's your THAC0, BTW?

Khazad · Post by **Khazad** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 8:08 am

'Spose it could be a combination of the possibilities that you suggested...I think that my THACO with the Blade of Roses is like 10...

I do know that I normally pay attention as to whether or not I am still in stealth mode....I do know that as soon as I sneak up behind the person and click the weapon icon to stab them I get the "leaving shadows" message....But that is normal, right?...Or is it?

Also, the two times I was actually successful it displayed a message that said "successful backstab"....Some of the other times, I hit for damage, but did not get the backstab message....

It seems like I must be doing something wrong because my success rate is sooooo incredibly low....But maybe it is just some of the situations you suggested combined with some poor luck on dice rolls.....

Leonardo · Post by **Leonardo** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 8:09 am

If you are away from your target and click on him with your sword icon your Hide in Shadows will begin to fade as soon as you click, and maybe it goes away completely before you actually hit, causing your backstab to fail. It's better to simply walk towards him, position yourself behind him and only then clicking to attack.

Dour von Zlo · Post by **Dour von Zlo** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 2:06 pm

Man, I've NEVER made a successful backstab...I've only tried it with Imoen early in the game, and maybe with Nalia (who sucks as a thief), but I always stepped out of shadows just before, and it was treated as just a normal attack, and did, like, 1 damage or something.
So, Khazad, you aint the only one - I've been wondering about this for ages, but never got round to asking. Does nobody know the answer for certain? Maybe it is just a case of being right up next to them when you click attack, as Leonardo says.
Hmmmm.

dolonjha · Post by **dolonjha** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 2:42 pm

back stab

Don't worry I am another such loser .. I did not EVEN get to TRY back stab .. hide in shadows itself was rarely succesful for me ... I never quite understood why some hides were succesful and some weren't.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 3:21 pm

Re: back stab

Originally posted by dolonjha
Don't worry I am another such loser .. I did not EVEN get to TRY back stab .. hide in shadows itself was rarely succesful for me ... I never quite understood why some hides were succesful and some weren't.

Are you familiar with the thief skills? You know you put a percentage in the different skills as you level up? If you got a low percentage in Hide in Shadows, you're not very likely to succeed. Also, your chance of successfully hiding is greater if you stand in the shadows and not in the sun.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 3:25 pm

Are you certain you really stand right behind the opponent?

It's all right to get that message.

You could experiment with the backstabbing using your own party members. Make sure to save and disable the AI first.

DrSlikk · Post by **DrSlikk** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 8:26 pm

u ave to stand directly behind.
when u are in shadows ure thaco is much lower than normal.
even if u fail the roll for shadows, u don't appear right away, but there is a wait period that increases as u increase in level.
helmets prevent backstab
stoneskin prevent backstab

pay attention to what happens, pause and read the text widnow.

Eerhardt · Post by **Eerhardt** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 12:36 am

check out
this thread and
this one.

I'm not sure, but I think helmets only protect from Critical Hits (as in: damage will not be doubled in case of a Critical Hit, if the victim is wearing a helmet) and not from Backstabbing.

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 1:12 am

Originally posted by Eerhardt
I'm not sure, but I think helmets only protect from Critical Hits (as in: damage will not be doubled in case of a Critical Hit, if the victim is wearing a helmet) and not from Backstabbing.

That is correct.

dolonjha · Post by **dolonjha** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 10:56 am

Astafas

Hi Astafas .. thanks .. You know I have finished playing the game once and am taking my time to get back to playing it a second time ... But in the meanwhile I am daily sort of looking through this site to read thru all the great discussions and stuff and learning quite a bit ... I know this that when i play through my second time I shall enjoy it a lot lot lot more ...

Khazad · Post by **Khazad** » Fri Jun 07, 2002 5:26 am

Ah-Ha!

I have it now! I think that i was just not using proper time and patience to slink up into close enough striking distance before attempting the backstab! It is regularly working perfectly now....And the quintiple damage is sweet! Nothing like hitting that pesky monster for 60+ damage before the fight even starts!

Thanks for the help guys!

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » Fri Jun 07, 2002 6:20 am

Originally posted by Khazad
Ah-Ha!

I have it now! I think that i was just not using proper time and patience to slink up into close enough striking distance before attempting the backstab! It is regularly working perfectly now....And the quintiple damage is sweet! Nothing like hitting that pesky monster for 60+ damage before the fight even starts!

Thanks for the help guys!

Wait untill you have a level 40/40 fighter/thief, with 24 strenght, then you get some serius backstabs.

And as soon as the assasin get's his/her 7xbackstab he/she is a killer!!!

A nice tip, is to buy 1 or 2 rings off ......... at the adventurers market (they don't have many rings for sale), they give you 1 (greater) invisibility a day. soa fter a backstab, you can go invicible and stab again!

kopywrite · Post by **kopywrite** » Fri Jun 07, 2002 6:48 am

Originally posted by Stilgar
A nice tip, is to buy 1 or 2 rings off ......... at the adventurers market (they don't have many rings for sale), they give you 1 (greater) invisibility a day. soa fter a backstab, you can go invicible and stab again!

That's a great idea for back stabbing, the rings of air control...and Ribald has a seemingly endless amount for sale.

(Or you could just recharge the same one by putting it in a gem bag and taking it out again...but no, that's cheese, don't go there

)