History Main / UselessUsefulStealth

* Cloe Walsh's stage in NoMoreHeroes2. Right from the start, you are encouraged to hide from the stage's spotlights and guards, but getting caught only means that you have to fight all the guards instead and they each go down in 2-3 hits. Plus, the poorly implemented stealth mechanics make it far more difficult ''not'' to get caught.

* There's no tactical benefit to ambushes. Game mechanics limitations mean RTS units generally suffer no drawbacks for being surrounded, taken by surprise, caught in bad terrain, or attacked at point-blank range, and (like base structures) there usually isn't a particular unit that can be taken out first to gain an advantage. (Except hero-type units, in games that have those, but heroes generally have too many hit points to be killed quickly.)

* In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones'', it's possible to 'Speed Kill' enemies by sneaking up on them and completing a Quick-Time Event. This can be very difficult to get right, and it's almost easier to go for an all-out fight.

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Many {{Role Playing Game}}s that are mainly based on combat also have a "stealth" mechanic that can ostensibly be used to get past monsters without fighting, thus enabling another choice of strategy. However, this stealth often turns out to be close to useless, for the following reasons:

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* Hiding used to be an effective strategy in ''Left4Dead'', until tanks gained the [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard ability to detect players]] who should be ''invisible''.

** This is also averted for many quests. A Rogue can do certain gathering quests very very easily by stealthing, using Sap on any nearby mobs, looting the item, and restealthing. You miss out on [=XP=] and loot this way, but it lets you get the quests done much faster than they would be if you fight every enemy,[[hottip:*:(and [=XP=] rewards for questing generally outweigh [=XP=] gained from grinding mobs, as a function of player time invested so it tends to balance out in the player's favor)]] and stealthing also lets you fight enemies on your terms and control the opening.

** However! The leveling limitation only applies to ''humans''. There's a bit of grinding involved, but it's relatively easy to clear Oboromaru's chapter at lv. 16[[hottip:*:there's an enemy that generates two spirits each time you enter a certain shed about a third of the way through]]. This is ''absolutely'' necessary to beat a couple of [[BonusBoss Bonus Bosses]] in the chapter.

* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': Update 7 introduced {{Back Stab}}s. However, there are enemies that are either outright {{Kung Fu Proof| Mook}} or otherwise have too much health to be {{One Hit Kill}}ed with them, which would thus set off an alert. Furthermore, there is no exp bonus for doing stealth kills or a full StealthRun other than an occasional challenge. This is counterproductive to your leveling, since you would normally want more enemies to kill for more exp.

* Used (poorly) in ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsWarOfTheRing''. The Elven Archers and Haradrim Slayers both are permanently invisible and are some of the highest damaging units available, so often there isn't reason to build a balanced force. Especially with the elves, which can outrange most other units and even towers. The detection units for both sides are largely useless in combat and die quickly.

* Certainly present in most of the ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'' series. Sure, you can slap a silencer on most weapons, even get a VSS Vintorez which is virtually completely silent...but once you nail one guy [[TheAllSeeingAI the rest of them know exactly where you are]], which is actually helpful because then they show up on the mini-map. Besides, sneaking past is not an option and really not recommended, since you get most of the best hardware, plenty of artifacts, and your main income from looting corpses.

* BioshockInfinite mostly thrives on frantic wide-open encounters with lots of enemies, making stealth useless as either enemies are scripted to spot you, or you can get as far as a free shot on the first enemy. However, it averts the trope HARD in one of the latter stages, where you are required to navigate a hospital-cum-asylum. The place is littered with lunatics who will ignore you... UNTIL one of their trumpet-headed overseers spots you, screams and sends potentially dozens of lunatics at you. This is also the only part of the game where ammo drops are in extremely short supply, so even if you showed up with two fully loaded weapons, after the first wave of lunatics you will undoubtedly be running low. All of this combines to make sneaking past the trumpet-heads a very viable option (possibly the only one on higher difficulties).

* Stealthing by enemies prevents you from [[LevelGrinding getting the experience and loot rewards that you would have received had you killed them]], so it leaves you handicapped for later in the game.

* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': Update 7 introduced {{Back Stab}}s. However, there are enemies that are either outright {{Kung Fu Proof| Mook}} or otherwise cannot be {{One Hit Kill}}ed with them, which would thus set off an alert. Furthermore, there is no exp bonus for doing stealth kills or a full StealthRun other than an occasional challenge. This is counterproductive to your leveling, since you would normally want more enemies to kill for more exp.

** There is one unit of ninja equivalents that can hide in open country. However for scouting it is better to spend the money on cavalry (almost never in the game does it matter that the enemy knows you have spotted them) and it is difficult to effectively ambush as there are only six men in the unit (most infantry have 60-100). Also you are only allowed to have 16 units in a battle so picking any number of these means you will be heavily outnumbered.

* Heavily averted in ''[=DnD=]''-derived {{roguelike}} Videogame/{{Incursion}}, where stealth is one of the best tools avaliable to stay alive. Stealth in this game is also much more useful than the ones in other {{roguelike}}s.

* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': Update 7 introduced {{Back Stab}}s. However, there are enemies that are either outright {{Kung Fu Proof| Mook}} or otherwise cannot be {{One Hit Kill}}ed with them, which would thus set off an alert. Furthermore, there is no exp bonus for doing stealth kills or a full StealthRun other than an occasional challenge.

* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': Update 7 introduced {{Back Stab}}s. However, there are enemies that are either outright {{Kung Fu Proof| Mook}} or otherwise cannot be {{One Hit Kill}}ed with them, which would thus set off an alert.

* There's no tactical benefit to ambushes. RTS units generally suffer no drawbacks for being surrounded, taken by surprise, caught in bad terrain, or attacked at point-blank range, and (like base structures) there usually isn't a particular unit that can be taken out first to gain an advantage. (Except hero-type units, in games that have those, but heroes generally have too many hit points to be killed quickly.)

** Interestingly, in Brotherhood and Revelations you will only fail a StealthRun if a guard actually catches sight of the player character. As long as that doesn't happen you can be as unsteathly as you like, for instance by shooting everyone or throwing grenades. In fact, one of the easiest ways to complete many of these is to have mercenaries or your fellow assassins enter open combat and slaughter any enemies that get in your way.

* Cloaking devices are much more useful in the ''StarTrekStarfleetCommand'' games, but other ships can still be set to scan for cloaked targets which will sometimes result in a temporary reveal. Additionally, while it's easy for a cloaked ship to sneak up, decloak, and open fire, it also leaves the first ship vulnerable, as it takes a second or two for the shields to come back up. Even the ''Scimitar'' (from ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'') in a special mission of the third game acts like a regular Romulan ship when cloaked (i.e. lowered shields, can't fire), even though the fact that it could do both was kind of the point of the movie.

* Used (poorly) in ''{{War of the Ring}}'', the other ''LordOfTheRings'' RTS. The Elven Archers and Haradrim Slayers both are permanently invisible and are some of the highest damaging units available, so often there isn't reason to build a balanced force. Especially with the elves, which can outrange most other units and even towers. The detection units for both sides are largely useless in combat and die quickly.

* In ''StarCraft'', stealth and detection are frequently factors in victory: Without a detector, stealth units are invulnerable, even when attacking, unless an area effect goes off nearby. The Zerg get a flying (but slow) detector from the very beginning, so they're relatively immune to stealth attacks. But the other two races have to constantly be on the lookout for cloaked units. The Terrans get the ability to scan an area of the map, temporarily revealing any cloaked units, as well as missile turrets and a midlevel detector flying unit. The Protoss get a permanently cloaked detector that is relatively cheap. As for cloaked units themselves, the Protoss have the Dark Templar, which if even two of these find their way into your base without detection, you can kiss your workers goodbye. Terran Ghosts aren't as useful (at stealth, anyway--the Lockdown ability is still killer), particularly as the metagame evolved, but cloaked, flying Wraiths have some utility when going up against small numbers of Protoss Carriers. And the Zerg's Lurker can only attack while burrowed (an immobile form of stealth), but it is damaging enough that those without detection usually can't effectively fight them. Most Zerg can also burrow but not attack.

*** Completely flip flopped in ''StarCraftII'' where the Overlord's all-around functionality has been split up between the Overlord itself (an air transport that also independently spreads the Creep) and its Tier 2 evolved form the Overseer, which is a Detector with a handful of caster abilities. While Zerg will inevitably have more detectors than other factions, their utter immunity to cloaked units from the first game isn't as foolproof now. This led to some amusing moments in multiplayer when players used to the Overlord being the default detector would either have their cloaked units flee or take [[MemeticMutation terrible, terrible damage]] when playing as Zerg due to forgetting this change.

*** This is compounded by most AFK cloakers being in Stealth Bombers, which are capable of taking out most PvE ships singlehandedly (albeit usually with the assistance of NPCs), or fitting Cynosural Field Generators, enabling them to instantly call the cavalry. It's a scare tactic with teeth.

* Averted in ''{{Allegiance}}''. Of course it's a multiplayer-only game, so AI cheating and limitations don't really play a role. Still, it is essentially a Real Time Strategy game with human players directly controlling each of the individual units, and some of the most feared ships in the game are stealth-based. A good team can sneak stealth bombers into an enemy sector to strike when the enemy has no chance of successfully defending, and competent players can use stealth fighters to quickly take out the miners that are the back-bone of every team's economy. Even units that are not designed to be stealthy can take steps to lower their chances of being detected, and this often adds greatly to their effectiveness. One of the most feared factions in the game (when in the hands of a veteran commander) has stealth as their [[PlanetOfHats hat]]. Trying to keep your forces stealthy and to keep enemy stealth units from sneaking up on your team are significant elements in the strategy in the game.