What does 'Move Silently'?

[TheAmazingOopah]

What does 'Move Silently' do?

Basicly, I have no idea what the advantage is of having a thief that is skilled in 'moving silently'. Is it a skill that is necessary if you want to hide in shadows as long as possible? If you have a thief who is very skilled in stealth but who is extremely low on moving silently, what will be the effect of that?

Edit: Whoops, embarrassing typo in the title. It's supposed to be 'What does 'Move Silently' do', of course. Just a minor thing, but if one of the moderators could fix that, I'd be grateful

[QuenGalad]

Well, D&D manual says your thief's ability to hide in the shadow is a combination of these two abilities. That means you should keep them on a similar level. I think they imagined "stealth" was an ability to conceal yourself using dark corners, cupboards or bushes, and silent move was an ability to avoid knocking down a china vase while doing so . Or get detected because you breathe too loudly.

Don't know how that's in the game, though.

[TheAmazingOopah]

Well, D&D manual says your thief's ability to hide in the shadow is a combination of these two abilities. That means you should keep them on a similar level. I think they imagined "stealth" was an ability to conceal yourself using dark corners, cupboards or bushes, and silent move was an ability to avoid knocking down a china vase while doing so . Or get detected because you breathe too loudly.

Don't know how that's in the game, though.

Uhuh, the FAQ on Sorcerer's Place says the same:

Q: Have the allowable character's skills changed in BGII:SoA?
A: Some changes and additions have been made to the character's skills. For instance, the Stealth ability of Baldur's Gate has been split into Hide in Shadows and Move Silently as in AD&D. Thieves will also be able to Set Traps and Detect Illusions. You will need to redistribute your skills when importing a character.

My guess would be that that translates into the game by having the Hide in Shadows ability enabling you to, well, hide in shadows, and the Move Silently ability to help you stay in the shadows. It's one thing to hide in the dark being basicly invisible, but a second thing to actually stay fully undected, soundwise also. So I suppose that being specialized in Hide in Shadows but low on Move Silently, will make your succes on hiding high, but will shorten the duration of being invisible. That's just a guess though, it might be good if someone could confirm that.

[Grombag]

Well if I look at what the console says when my thief uses hide.
Hide in the shadow ... (succesfull or failed) immidiatly and from time to time this message shows up again. This doesn't add up in the way TheAmazingOopah explains it. My gues it would be more like the way QuenGalad explains it. The checks are being made against the hide in the shadows skill. The moving silently option comes into play when the hidden character tries to move. It could impose a penalty for the check (depending how skilled the character is).

This is my gues, I don't have any advanced messages enabled. Any feedback would be usefull.

[Lark]

Move Silently is much more important than Hide in Shadows.

The chance to enter stealth mode is (Move Silently + Hide in Shadows)/2 in %.
The chance to remain in stealth mode is Move Silently in %.
Moreover, Move Silently determines the amount of time you remain in stealth mode after you "Leave Shadows".

You could theoretically rely on Move Silently alone, but be careful not to put to may points in Move Silently (or any other thief skill) because values of more than 250 (achieved perhaps by items or DEX boni) wrap around to zero.

Lark

[darkmenethar]

Move Silently is much more important than Hide in Shadows.

The chance to enter stealth mode is (Move Silently + Hide in Shadows)/2 in %.
The chance to remain in stealth mode is Move Silently in %.
Moreover, Move Silently determines the amount of time you remain in stealth mode after you "Leave Shadows".

You could theoretically rely on Move Silently alone, but be careful not to put to may points in Move Silently (or any other thief skill) because values of more than 250 (achieved perhaps by items or DEX boni) wrap around to zero.

Lark

If your words are true it is good for role playing Because Move Silently is an important skill for a rogue. But if move silently has no effect on entering hide in shadows mode it is useless.