RaceFace64 on 5/8/2004 at 06:02
For some reason I'm having tremendous difficulty increasing my sneak skill with my new Imperial character. I didn't take this skill as a major or a minor so as I understand it the skill will come up slower than usual anyways. But this is just rediculous!
[the situation]
I'm playing Morrowind with the Tribunal expansion, out of the box with no patches (PC version of course). I have a method of keeping the button pressed for sneak mode so I can go into constant sneak while away from the computer. I know this is sort of cheating, but my character could really use that +5 agility modifier for the next 8 or so levels (already trained sneak 10 levels for a total of 20 so the next maneuver would be possible). Not to mention that you can steal just about anything that isn't nailed down when you have sneak at 100.
I hope I'm not confusing anyone here, but now I'll explain how I max sneak without sitting at the computer. See there's this one spot in the mage guildhall in Balmora that you can stand in sneak mode (helps if sneak is at about 20) and you will get the key icon to flash on and off periodically as the NPC mages move around the room, thus raising your sneak skill. So I simply set it up with the sneak button down before I go to bed and then after I wake up and get home from work some hours later I have significantly increased the sneak skill. I've done this exact same thing with two other characters, however both of them happened to be dark elves who had a decent amount of agility to start with (agility being the governing stat for the sneak skill). Now I try this same trick with my imperial and sneak hasn't even begun to raise AT ALL, and I've been doing this for 2 days now.
[The Question]
What I'm wondering is this, does the governing stat of a certain skill also govern how fast that skill raises during use? I know I selected the stealth option at character creation (custom class) so I can't figure out what's holding back my sneaking. Maybe Imperials just weren't meant to sneak? I also have marksmanship as a minor skill so if I need to raise agility I could just buy myself a few levels and get that horrid 35 agility up to 40 or 50 even (making plenty of cash selling Dark Brotherhood armor with the Imperial's high mercantile skill and good personality score).
Sorry for the long post, but if someone could please let me know if raising agility will help me raise sneak while using the skill I would really appreciate it, and if this is the case I would also love to know who trains marksmanship. I've already checked all the guilds in Balmora and I'm about to start going on the road, it would just really help to have some direction.
,Thanks
-Race
madphilb on 5/8/2004 at 06:50
The level that the skill is at determines how fast it levels.... the higher you go the more successful uses of a skill you need to raise to the next point.
Going in and out of sneak really shouldn't raise your sneak faster than just being in sneak.... I think the idea that the sneak needs to keep going on and off (the icon) is a poor observation of sneak increasing levels when it's low (and failing as often as not).
The best places I've found for sneak to work is with characters that don't move... I like the guy who locked himself in the lower level of the mage's hut, the one who summoned the Scamp and lost control of him, that and the maid/servant of the murdered noble in Balmora.... both of them just stand in one spot, and if you can get behind them without them looking at you, all you have to do is put yourself into sneak mode and walk away from your computer.
Arondil on 5/8/2004 at 20:38
Sneak has always seemed to me to be a skill which doesn't seem to raise to quickly, certainly not without being selected intitially. It does seem to take a while for it to raise levels, especially when to me it has always been a skill which is very useful for short periods, but not too often.
As for marksman (a skill I've rarely trained a level), the master trainer I know is in [SPOILER]Falsmaryon, I think anyway, the fortress closest (NE) to Maar Gan[/SPOILER] but I'd be surprised if you couldn't find something a little closer (Ald'Ruhn seems a safe bet to find someone).
cyrano on 7/8/2004 at 22:26
Like many undeveloped skills, sneak is a very difficult skill to raise by playing. You have to be successful to improve, but you are not likely to be successful with a sneak of 5. This is an instance where I am an advocate of training–get the skill high enough so you can be successful some of the time. When sneak is raised high enough, you will have the opposite problem. I’ve raised sneak a couple levels accidentally in a matter of seconds, when a rat I didn’t see in the dark walked past me without detecting me. It seems so ridiculous, that I reloaded the game.
skammunist on 8/8/2004 at 03:25
ok, heres how to increase sneak really, really fast. the easy way.
step 1) be at least lvl 20.
step 2) raid a daedric shrine.
step 3) sell expensive artifacts to the scamp in ghorak manor, caldera for full price.
step 4) go to [SPOILER]caldera, shenks shovel tavern[/SPOILER] and train with the khajit upstairs.
step 5) ta-da your sneak lvl 100!
