Stealth mode is a special ability introduced in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs and later in Age of Empires IV and Age of Mythology: Retold - Immortal Pillars.
Overview[]
Units in stealth mode are typically invisible to most enemy units but break stealth when entering combat. This mode can be used to hide important units from enemies or sneak up on enemy units to gain a combat advantage. Certain units or buildings may be able to see through stealth.
Age of Empires III[]
Stealth mode icon
Available to a limited range of units, activating this mode renders the unit invisible to enemy Line of Sight (LOS). While in this mode, units move slower and no longer engage enemy units automatically. They will abandon stealth mode if ordered to attack by the player.
Units cannot switch to stealth mode if enemy units or buildings are nearby.
Some units and buildings have the AbstractCanSeeStealth tag and will uncloak stealthy enemy units within their LOS. Not all stealth units are also anti-stealth. Notable anti-stealth units include Heroes, Forts, Outposts, War Huts and Town Centers.
When Spies is researched, the player can see other players' stealth units whether they're in stealth mode or not.
List of stealth-capable buildings[]
- War Hut (Inca, with Cloud Fortresses Home City Card)
- Stronghold (with Cloud Fortresses Home City Card)
List of stealth-capable units[]
- Lakota War Chief (with Heyoka Home City Card, keeps his normal speed while in stealth mode)
- Sohei Archer (with Intonjutsu Stealth)
- Eagle Scout
- Native Scout
- Spy
- Navajo Rifleman
- Coyote Runner (with Silent Strike Home City Card)
- Shinobi (only loses a quarter of his speed)
- Forest Prowler
- Jaguar Prowl Knight
- Ninja
- Tashunke Prowler
- Chimu Runner (with Cloud Warriors Home City Card)
- Jungle Bowman (with Cloud Warriors Home City Card)
- Jaeger (with Savolax Jaegers)
- Aztec Jaguar Warrior*
- Salteador
- Chinaco (with Zapata Maneuvers Home City Card)
- Inquisitor
List of buildings that can uncloak stealthed enemies[]
- Fort
- Town Center
- Agra Fort
- King's Hill
- War Hut*
- Nobles' Hut*
- Castle*
- Regent's Castle*
- Outpost*
- Tower*
- Stronghold
List of units that can uncloak stealthed enemies[]
- Native Scout
- Ninja
- Envoy
- War Dog
- Explorer Dog
- Spy and Muhbir
- Shinobi
- Mongol Scout
- Hot Air Balloon*
- Advanced Hot Air Baloon*
- Pets*
- Inquisitor
- Heroes
Stealth tactics[]
Stealth is a useful tactic against a human opponent. In proper use, it can end a game, or bring a game close to completion.
The most useful units for using stealth on are the Prowlers of the Native American civilizations. They are not only capable of stealth and surveillance, but combat as well. For example, a squad of Tashunke Prowlers can stealth into a large grove of trees, and when Villagers appear, can use their area-of-effect attack to quickly destroy them, then stealth back to avoid enemy retaliation. This can pay off by wasting the enemy's resources, as they would have to purchase the Villagers, and removing their potential to collect resources. A Haudenosaunee Forest Prowler, with Home City Cards, can stealth behind the enemy base and create a forward base, which forces the enemy to divert their troops, which can hurt civilizations with more population-intensive units (like Cuirassiers), as they are less effective when split up. Also, an Aztec Jaguar Prowl Knight can stealth into an an enemy base and wreak havoc with the superior sieging ability.
However, this does not mean that Native American civilizations are the only ones capable of using stealth effectively. A pair of Japanese Monks with a few Monastery upgrades can stealth into an enemy base, sabotage some buildings - notably economic buildings or Houses (Anything else is likely to require multiple sabotages), and use Smoke Screen to escape when in danger. A European civilization can use a Spy to ambush a lone Explorer, War Chief, or Monk on their way to capture a Trading Post.
Age of Empires IV[]
| “ | Enter Stealth for 30 seconds. When in Stealth, units are invisible until they are revealed by enemy Scouts, Outposts, or they engage in combat. | ” |
| —Age of Empires IV description for the Musofadi Stealth ability | ||
Stealth mode in Age of Empires IV is only available to the following Malian units by default:
For these units, stealth mode is an activatable ability that lasts for 30 seconds or until entering combat. The units can also gain additional bonuses when leaving stealth through either the Local Knowledge or Fort of the Huntress landmark. The Fort of the Huntress also has the ability to passively apply stealth to all friendly infantry units within its aura radius, as long as they are out of combat. The ability lingers for 30 seconds after leaving the vicinity of the landmark.
The Japanese Shinobi also has a stealth ability which works in a slightly different way. The Shinobi can target an enemy unit or structure to disguise itself as a Villager of that player.
With either stealth mechanism, Scouts, Outposts, and Capital Town Centers automatically reveal any hidden units that enter their Line of Sight. Stealth forests can also be used to hide units in Age of Empires IV, but they function differently in that they do not impact how a unit looks to an enemy, but rather severely restrict the Line of Sight of most units and buildings, except for the aforementioned ones, making it difficult for opposing units to find one another.
Age of Mythology[]
In the original Age of Mythology, only the campaign Shades have something resembling stealth. They are permanently invisible to the enemy AI.
In Immortal Pillars, there are two ways to gain stealth. One is by invoking the god power Vanish on units, which grants them stealth for the god power's duration only as long as they do not attack enemies. The other is by keeping units, including flying units, on top of Shennong's Farms. Both of these are only available to the Chinese.
Units under stealth refrain from attacking nearby enemies, no matter their stance, or if they were tasked to attack move or patrol, and will only attack if directly ordered. Attacking or the use of certain special abilities (such as a Pioneer releasing a Sky Lantern) will cause the unit to be revealed. Enemy attacks which deal area damage such as abilities or god powers or chain damage such as the chain lightning of the Son of Osiris can still hit units in stealth mode if they are near the target. There is no proximity detection of stealth, nor any detector unit, power, or building.
Gallery[]
