This isnât Skyrim, so why do so many of us want to play the same buildâa one-hit stealth archerâin Avowed? Well, because itâs downright fun! Who doesnât want to slink through the tall grass, line up the perfect bow shot, and wipe the floor with a Xaurip or Sparrowhawk after letting loose a single arrow? Hereâs the thing, though: The stealth mechanics in Avowed leave something to be desired, but we have a few tips that should help you one-up the competition and leave enemies wondering where you went if you havenât murdered them already.
Avowed gives you an absolutely broken stealth attack
Most of the enemies you encounter in Avowed prove to be pushoversâunless youâre playing on the âPath of the Damnedâ difficulty. If you are, well, good luck in finding any sort of fun from the experience (Editorâs Note: Iâve been playing on Path of the Damned and itâs been a frigginâ blast).
You can walk right over most of the gameâs enemies as long as youâre wielding a solid sword or whipping out a magic spellbook to toasting them to death with Fan of Flames. But they have something you donât, and thatâs numbers. To whittle away at the crowd, stealth!
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Thanks to your godlike powers, you can sneak up behind unaware enemies in the game and usually one-hit kill them with Divine Thorn, or take their health down substantially at the very least.
Divine Thorn is a unique spell-like melee attack that summons a blue-and-purple blade around your fist that looks wildly similar to the energy sword in Halo. In a swift animation, you thrust the blade into the enemyâs back, launching them forward in a burst of magicalâŠpowder? Well whatever this spectral blade does to them, theyâre done and gone, leaving you with one less enemy to fight.
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This power has its limits though. Donât try to stealth kill one-hit bosses or some of the more powerful enemies in Avowed, and theyâre less likely to fall and more likely to turn around and right-hook you.
Stealth tips and tricks for the sneakiest of players
There are a lot of ways to combine different class abilities and equipment to create a cool stealth build in Avowed. Stick to these tips to make the most out of your sneaky character.
Donât try to stealth-kill a bear or other large beast; it doesnât appear to work the same way as with smaller creatures. You can one-hit stealth-kill a bipedal, humanoid-ish enemy using Divine Thorn, so long as theyâre weak enough for your attack to wipe their health bar entirely.
Invest in Dexterity and Perception; Dex will make you speedier while Perception will up your Critical Hit Chance as well as your Maximum Range for ranged weapons.
Grab Shadowing Beyond from the Ranger class at Level 5; this will let you vanish into thin air and is a perfect combo with Divine Thorn.
Snag the gameâs best bow from Dawnshore: The Long Touch.
While you can use the tall grass to hide your approach, itâs not a requirement. So long as you remain crouched and behind enemies, youâll remain in stealth until you alert an enemy guard. I was wearing heavy armor and could still stealth-kill Xaurips with relative ease.
No one is watching you play (unless youâre streaming to the masses). Donât hesitate to lower the gameâs difficulty to Story or Easy to deal additional damage, especially when stealth-attacking enemies, to help clear zones quickly and efficiently.
Donât be afraid to fall back if you get spotted;itâs called a tactical retreat, not running away.
Avowed is available now on Xbox Series X/S and Windows PCs. And you can play it on Xbox Game Pass if youâre an active subscriber and donât feel like dropping $70 on another RPG this year!
