PC Stealth Builds. How are you guys doing?

[4sheetzngeegles]

Until they slowly materialize right in front of you once you're a few feet away from their spawn point and then magically disappear again if you slowly back away!

I wish in this case only one adjustment if it were possible, and performant.
That the lot associated with the poi, was the main trigger, for all of the sub
spawn volumes. So If you are going to do a poi all associated entities, within
a sphere of influence, were pre-spawned. And if not awake, would despawn
if you were to leave the lot. Not so you could do the hokey pokey to cherry
pick, but part of the stealth is to recon an area. I have 6500 pois, I don't do
entire pois always, sometimes I just go to the kitchen for a quick snack now,
not even looking for loot rooms. Then move on deeper, without using the
permanent enviro disablers.

 

[meganoth]

I have found that there is really not much problem sneaking around in most POIs under T5. It's when you hit T5 that the BS starts to happen where TFP literally spawn Zs behind you in rooms you already cleared the second you pass some imaginary line. Some of them, like NDC #7 or something, there is a section of showers and you can clear out the first row completely, go all the way to the end, loot the lockers, turn back to go down the second row, and the instant you get in the hallway between the first and second row, 15 or so Zs spawn in the row you just cleared and all the ones in the second row wake up pinching you in the middle. There is no "stealthing" that away. You better have an M60 ready to mow the back group down enough you can slip back through the glass doors that lead to the section and back into the stairwell, or you are definitely a dead man.

You don't need an M60. I don't have the area you are talking about in my mind so I will mention 2 general options you have in this case as an AGI player:

1) Run away about 100 meters, probably along the way you came. If zombies spawned behind you and it is a narrow path you might have to lead them on a bit until you can pass them. Then stealth behind some corner or better yet at a location where they couldn't reach you even if they knew where you are. If you have small stones in your belt, throw those to lead zombies still following you away from you.
Normally this should make it so you only have at most 1 or 2 zombies still following you. Either the small stones confuse them, your unassailable location makes them hit walls, or you can kill them fast with a silenced AGI gun. After this you can track back and kill most of them stealthy with a bow

2) If you have leveled up parkour and have looked for places you can jump up to then T5 pois often have quite a few places where you simply can make yourself "unavailable" and kill them with even with bow or pistol.

 

[zztong]

I have found that there is really not much problem sneaking around in most POIs under T5. It's when you hit T5 that the BS starts to happen where TFP literally spawn Zs behind you in rooms you already cleared the second you pass some imaginary line. Some of them, like NDC #7 or something, there is a section of showers and you can clear out the first row completely, go all the way to the end, loot the lockers, turn back to go down the second row, and the instant you get in the hallway between the first and second row, 15 or so Zs spawn in the row you just cleared and all the ones in the second row wake up pinching you in the middle. There is no "stealthing" that away. You better have an M60 ready to mow the back group down enough you can slip back through the glass doors that lead to the section and back into the stairwell, or you are definitely a dead man.

Yeh, that's a rough one. You would have to know of the ambush in advance and prepare an escape to be able to shake them and regain stealth.

I would agree T5's are "special." At tier 5 I don't care about completing the quests. I'll do the POI when I want, how I want, leave when I want and come back. I've been known to create enough of a entryway to bring in my vehicle which is often my mobile medicine cabinet. Then I might later use the Trader's mission just to reset the POI. That's clearly not what TFP envisions.

Well, I should say it depends on the POI. The Crack-A-Book HQ POI, for instance, I've been able to 100% stealth. I've not seen it in 2.5 yet, so maybe it has changed.

Post automatically merged: Jan 7, 2026

Run away about 100 meters, probably along the way you came

This isn't always possible depending on where the ambush places the zombies. Sometimes you're surrounded by active zombies and in tight quarters.

 

[meganoth]

Yeh, that's a rough one. You would have to know of the ambush in advance and prepare an escape to be able to shake them and regain stealth.

I would agree T5's are "special." At tier 5 I don't care about completing the quests. I'll do the POI when I want, how I want, leave when I want and come back. I've been known to create enough of a entryway to bring in my vehicle which is often my mobile medicine cabinet. Then I might later use the Trader's mission just to reset the POI. That's clearly not what TFP envisions.

Well, I should say it depends on the POI. The Crack-A-Book HQ POI, for instance, I've been able to 100% stealth. I've not seen it in 2.5 yet, so maybe it has changed.

Post automatically merged: Jan 7, 2026

This isn't always possible depending on where the ambush places the zombies. Sometimes you're surrounded by active zombies and in tight quarters.

Lazman, one of the POI developers, once said he is usually making sure that there are always spots for a AGI players to jump to or other opportunities. If you have examples of unfair death trap locations for stealthers you probably can make a bug report and it will be changed.

The only death traps I have seen are rooms where you have to jump down to, without a way back. But those places are obvious death traps, the player can and should notice them and react accordingly, that is part of the stealth gameplay.
So even without knowing the POI you can immediately see that you better provide for one or better two additional exits (for example some carefully placed ladder). Often there is also an exit supplied by the designer where you have to click on a key rack, but noticing that while running away from zombies is a matter of luck.

Just as an example: When I visited the POI "Area 7" for the first time just a few weeks ago all the "trap locations" were obvious and spacy. Still I was killed once because I failed to jump a ladder I had placed to escape one trap room. But I noticed the trap even though it was my first time, provided a way to escape, but just failed the actiony part of jumping at that ladder.

Another example: The final gym room of the big school building. It is obvious that you will be jumped there as there is a big pile of loot and not one zombie to be seen. You can actually stealth into that room some way and kill some of the zombies that are well out of sight but not impossible to notice. I think there are high spots on the wall you can reach with parkour, but not sure, but you have time to place them there yourself if you want. And you always have the option to in until you trigger them and then run out. After you turned some corners (through the shower rooms) and got back to the proper school area, most of the zombies should not follow you anymore and you can practically go back after some seconds waiting and stealth kill most of them

 

[Sapient6]

I mean even in Splinter Cell, a game that is about stealth, you didn´t stealth 100% of the game. Do a bit of mix up in your playing styles. Also gets boring fast if you do every POI the same way.

Man did I love the hell out of that game. And I would just bang my head against each segment between save points until I could complete it without being spotted a single time.

 

[theFlu]

If you have small stones in your belt, throw those to lead zombies still following you away from you.

This sounds mainly superfluous, but might also be a little dangerous. Zeds that see you, or are following the forced targeting from being triggered at a volume, will not react to stones. The zeds that will follow a stone have already been "lost", they may be running to some noise somewhere, but they're not coming to you. The stones are relatively useless until everything has calmed down, then you might be able to use them to lure zeds out to a spot to attack them at.

The dangerous part is, if you don't know the difference, you'll waste valuable running time trying to aim a stone; it will not help if you're still in actual danger, but it will slow you down. You might also end up calling in the ones you already shook off if you place a rock poorly, and even others from the area.

Then again, just stab 'em.

(plus most quest areas aren't a 100m even in diagonal; but I assume you're exaggerating )

 

[meganoth]

This sounds mainly superfluous, but might also be a little dangerous. Zeds that see you, or are following the forced targeting from being triggered at a volume, will not react to stones. The zeds that will follow a stone have already been "lost", they may be running to some noise somewhere, but they're not coming to you. The stones are relatively useless until everything has calmed down, then you might be able to use them to lure zeds out to a spot to attack them at.

The dangerous part is, if you don't know the difference, you'll waste valuable running time trying to aim a stone; it will not help if you're still in actual danger, but it will slow you down. You might also end up calling in the ones you already shook off if you place a rock poorly, and even others from the area.

Then again, just stab 'em.

(plus most quest areas aren't a 100m even in diagonal; but I assume you're exaggerating )

I am bad at estimating distances in 7 days and quite possible 100m is too much. If someone wants to play stealth he should find out himself what works.

With all the changes to zombie AI it never is easy to know what exactly are the rules now. I thought if the zombie does not see you then he follows a breadcrump trail to the last location where he sensed you, all while trying to detect you again. And I thought if the zombie senses a noise at that time (while still not seeing you directly and while you don't have anything else to do but crouching and acting uninvolved ;-) ) he would be vulnerable to small stones. I could be wrong, I have used stones seldom and not recently.

 

[Lax]

I mean even in Splinter Cell, a game that is about stealth, you didn´t stealth 100% of the game. Do a bit of mix up in your playing styles. Also gets boring fast if you do every POI the same way.

Gotta hit that puddle of water with a Sticky Shocker to fry those Mercs!

 

[theFlu]

I am bad at estimating distances in 7 days and quite possible 100m is too much.

For reference, Rekt's compound is a little under 60x60. I don't see myself fleeing the entire length of that and still consider myself not just "gone"

With all the changes to zombie AI it never is easy to know what exactly are the rules now.

That's true, I'm not 100% sure either, but I haven't seen any evidence to the contrary yet. So, afaik.

 

[meganoth]

For reference, Rekt's compound is a little under 60x60. I don't see myself fleeing the entire length of that and still consider myself not just "gone"

Hard to compare, the Rect compound is open space and a T5 POI often is a labyrinth of halls and corners where you might run a zigzag course. But simply running from one side to the other (i.e. 60m) in that compound seems it would not be enough to get outside the view of a fast zombie like a feral wight (by the way those seem to be the hardest to loose in my experience). As an AGI player you probably can run from one side to the other in less than 4 seconds (just an estimate, not sitting at a gaming PC at the moment), that isn't really much.

 

[Khissi]

Yep, I went Agi/Intel and stealth is fun and interesting in early game but less necessary and/or effective as you progress. Once you get the SMG, though, you use stealth for what you can SEE or what you KNOW and have that spray-n-pray ready for the trigger points. A combination of SMG/turrets works very well, but for sure is not like the old days when you could stealth pretty much anything. Now, you have to think about it, use your recon skills, and learn a POI to be any good at it. I have fun, and tend to die when I'm not paying attention and that's what it's all about.

 

[Sapient6]

stealth is fun and interesting in early game but less necessary and/or effective as you progress.

I find it to be more effective in mid to late game, but I use it very differently. For me the primary use of stealth is to allow me to control how each encounter begins. Position myself just right, plan fallback routes, and get the first shot\shots. Sometimes the first shots are with a silenced weapon in order to get just a partial pull to start. Sometimes my opening shot is with a shotgun.

 

[theFlu]

But simply running from one side to the other (i.e. 60m) in that compound seems it would not be enough to get outside the view of a fast zombie like a feral wight (by the way those seem to be the hardest to loose in my experience).

I can't think of a T5 where you have the opportunity to get even a Rekt's worth of non-blocked distance; breaking line of sight drops agro just the same as added distance. Unless you make unnecessary noise afterwards, ofc. Mmmaybe in the prison yards, but then we're talking about shaking off the speedy bois - which you basically can't outrun anyway, without obstacles or "eat the walls" -mode.

I don't know, I believe you're speaking from experience of how you actually play, but somehow me reading that makes me think we're playing entirely different games at times ...

 

[meganoth]

I can't think of a T5 where you have the opportunity to get even a Rekt's worth of non-blocked distance; breaking line of sight drops agro just the same as added distance. Unless you make unnecessary noise afterwards, ofc. Mmmaybe in the prison yards, but then we're talking about shaking off the speedy bois - which you basically can't outrun anyway, without obstacles or "eat the walls" -mode.

I don't know, I believe you're speaking from experience of how you actually play, but somehow me reading that makes me think we're playing entirely different games at times ...

If you know area 7, what would be the distance from the garage to the other side of the central area or the guard cubicle be? That is the distance I used there, whatever it was. Since it all is inside and with corners I suspect I am overestimating the distances there. Likewise in the school building if I run back from the gym through the showers back into the school area into one of the classrooms, how far would that be?

With proper shoes and light armor one is faster than even the fastest zombies and can get quite ahead of them, maybe not far enough for wights, but for almost anything else I think.

 

[theFlu]

If you know area 7, what would be the distance from the garage to the other side of the central area or the guard cubicle be?

I don't know, but I seem to have misread you originally. The 100 meters isn't a separate agro-drop condition you're suggesting, it's just the distance you end up traveling, to bide your time to hit the reset timer. Sorry, my bad.

One block is enough distance, as long as you are hidden by it after the timer expires - I'm not sure when the timer starts, upon "entering combat" or "last time you were truly seen". It used to seem like it's from start of combat because: in proper darkness you could just crouch down in the face of a zed once some time had passed, and they'd just stop in their tracks. Haven't tested that part recently, may have changed, may not...

I do max my speed usually; but that's not really an issue here Dropping speedy zeds is still hard, but I was thinking you're running across a courtyard to drop them. For some reason, don't ask me why

 

[CoolJ]

You don't need an M60. I don't have the area you are talking about in my mind so I will mention 2 general options you have in this case as an AGI player:

1) Run away about 100 meters, probably along the way you came. If zombies spawned behind you and it is a narrow path you might have to lead them on a bit until you can pass them. Then stealth behind some corner or better yet at a location where they couldn't reach you even if they knew where you are. If you have small stones in your belt, throw those to lead zombies still following you away from you.
Normally this should make it so you only have at most 1 or 2 zombies still following you. Either the small stones confuse them, your unassailable location makes them hit walls, or you can kill them fast with a silenced AGI gun. After this you can track back and kill most of them stealthy with a bow

2) If you have leveled up parkour and have looked for places you can jump up to then T5 pois often have quite a few places where you simply can make yourself "unavailable" and kill them with even with bow or pistol.

Here we go. Official FunPimp guy who hasn't played the game telling me all about it. Just run 100 meters away bro... You are underground, in a building, in a tight hallway. The zombies spawn on top of you just meters away and they all know where you are instantly. There is only one way out. Zombies are between you and the exit. If you don't mow down the ones behind you and remember the single way out, you will die. There is no where to run away and break agro, there is no where to jump to safety.

Furthermore, zombies should not be spawning in rooms that the player has already cleared. Ever. That is lazy, poor game design. Just like the escalation of threat by just making zombies eat bullets and glow another color. In any kind of EOTE situation, plain old average human beings will be your worst nightmare. Zombies wouldn't last a week. We need bandits to fight and more than just that. A reason to fight them. You know, like a story. Novel concept for sure...

Imagine if Fallout was only Ghouls and a few rude traders. Maybe there is some strange person going around and drugging the ghouls and boarding them up inside closets and behind fake walls. When that isn't enough, just spawn them out of thin air.

 

[meganoth]

Here we go. Official FunPimp guy who hasn't played the game telling me all about it.

No. Just a player who doubles as volunteer moderator. Nothing official at all. And I play stealth for the majority of my play time (which upwards of 4000 hours now I think)

Just run 100 meters away bro... You are underground, in a building, in a tight hallway. The zombies spawn on top of you just meters away and they all know where you are instantly. There is only one way out. Zombies are between you and the exit. If you don't mow down the ones behind you and remember the single way out, you will die. There is no where to run away and break agro, there is no where to jump to safety.

You said NDC#7, right? Maybe I have a chance in my current game to go through that POI and if you are correct I'll make a bug report. I played through some tier 5 POIs already and either I just didn't notice or I did not find any unfair setups.

EDIT: Thinking back to one NDC I played a few months ago you could actually be correct, there is an unfair setup there with zombies behind your back, probably hidden in a container. With parkour one can evade that (go out of tent, jump on tent and escape back to entrance), but there should be at least a few more ways to cope with that and/or there should be indications of such a trap or a redesign

Furthermore, zombies should not be spawning in rooms that the player has already cleared. Ever.

I agree. But if that reallly were the case I am sure it could be reported as a bug.

Maybe those zombies didn't spawn behind you but were hidden or they fell from ceilings. The latter case is one where it is your own fault for not noticing the trap. Without specificing exactly where in what POI though I can only say I must have played through all the good T5 POIs recently and all the unfair ones must have eluded me. Or I am blind.

That is lazy, poor game design. Just like the escalation of threat by just making zombies eat bullets and glow another color. In any kind of EOTE situation, plain old average human beings will be your worst nightmare. Zombies wouldn't last a week. We need bandits to fight and more than just that. A reason to fight them. You know, like a story. Novel concept for sure...

Bandits and story are on the roadmap that was published when 1.0 came out, you seem to have missed that. But I don't think the bandits will make the game much different and the story will be rudimentary. If you don't like the game now you won't like 7d2d 4.0 as well.

Imagine if Fallout was only Ghouls and a few rude traders. Maybe there is some strange person going around and drugging the ghouls and boarding them up inside closets and behind fake walls. When that isn't enough, just spawn them out of thin air.

 

[zztong]

Furthermore, zombies should not be spawning in rooms that the player has already cleared. Ever. That is lazy, poor game design.

I partially agree. A possible case for a zombie showing up in a room you've cleared is to represent the zombie having responded to something. That is, it has just arrived. Ideally, that would actually be a zombie who is wandering or responding, but there are performance issues with scattering a bunch of zombies all around. I don't consider that lazy; I consider it making do with what is possible.

Still, it certainly can lead to a player feeling their careful efforts are wasted and that the game is cheating.

 

[InfiniteWarrior]

That is, it has just arrived. Ideally, that would actually be a zombie who is wandering or responding

I'm seeing this happen far more often than it used to. No smell or ballistic weapon useage to draw them, but something is drawing neighborhood zombies in more often. Not a bad thing in itself, so not an issue, imo. But I agree: don't spawn zombies in rooms I've already cleared. What's the point of clearing them in that event?

 

[zztong]

I'm seeing this happen far more often than it used to. No smell or ballistic weapon useage to draw them, but something is drawing neighborhood zombies in more often. Not a bad thing in itself, so not an issue, imo. But I agree: don't spawn zombies in rooms I've already cleared. What's the point of clearing them in that event?

This is why I say things like trigger volumes and minscripts can be overused and ultimately it is a matter of player taste. The POI can only be rigged one way and it will either be underwhelming, perfect, or overwhelming compared to individual player tastes.

My suspicion is that if we were flies on the wall of the POI team's discussion of any particular POI that we would be saying, "Oh I get it. That's a cool idea." But without that, you're left trying to guess and you're influenced by just having your butt handed to you by a nasty surprise. At the same time, the POI team is probably thinking "what kind of visual clues can we leave to tell the story", but given this is a real-time game, you can only perceive so much at once and it probably isn't going to be "let me read the room" when time is ticking.