Last updated: 26 June 2026

BG3 Stealth Guide: Hide, Sneak & Sneak Attack Explained

Stealth in Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the most powerful systems in the game — but also one of the most misunderstood. Landing a surprise round, melting enemies before they act, and chain-hiding a Rogue for back-to-back Sneak Attacks all depend on understanding exactly how Hide works, what triggers detection, and how obscurity, light, and spells interact with enemy Perception.

01How the Hide Action Works

Hide is an action available to every character. Using it attempts to conceal you from nearby enemies, granting the Hidden status if successful. While Hidden, enemies cannot directly target you and any attack you make against them is made with Advantage.

You cannot use Hide while fully visible to an enemy — you must be outside all active enemy vision cones or in a sufficiently obscured area first. Once Hidden, attacking or casting an offensive spell immediately ends the status and reveals your position.

Hide costs a full action for most characters. Rogues are the major exception: their level-2 Cunning Action lets them Hide as a bonus action, so they can Hide, attack with Advantage, then Hide again — all in a single turn.

02Stealth Checks vs Enemy Passive Perception

When you use Hide, the game resolves your Dexterity (Stealth) check against the enemy's Passive Perception (10 + Wisdom modifier + Perception proficiency). Beat it and you become Hidden; fail and the enemy spots you.

Whether a check is even required depends on the light level of the area you are hiding in:

• Fully lit / Clear: you cannot Hide at all while directly in an enemy's line of sight in a bright, unobscured space.
• Lightly Obscured (dim light, light fog, sparse foliage): a Stealth check IS required while in an enemy's vision arc. Enemies with Darkvision treat Lightly Obscured as Clear, making the check impossible to pass.
• Heavily Obscured (magical Darkness, dense Fog Cloud, deep shadow): no Stealth check is needed — enemies cannot see you, unless they have Darkvision, in which case a check is still required.

Your Dexterity modifier and Stealth proficiency directly raise your check. Light or no armour helps; medium and heavy armour impose Disadvantage on Stealth unless a feature negates this.

03Reading Vision Cones and Ungrouping Your Party

When a character is Hidden or about to attempt Hide, enemy vision cones render as red overlays on the ground. Stepping inside a red cone means you may be in that enemy's line of sight — you will need to pass a Stealth check (Lightly Obscured) or be outright detected (full light). Staying outside all red cones removes the need for any check.

A common mistake is moving the whole party at once, sending a companion blundering through a sightline. The solution is ungrouping:

1. Click the chain icon near the party portraits to unlink party movement.
2. Select only the character you want to scout — ideally your Rogue or a high-Dexterity character.
3. Press C to crouch into sneaking mode, then manoeuvre around enemy vision cones.
4. Position the rest of the party out of sight, ready to move in after your scout sets up the surprise round.
5. Re-group or manually move companions into flanking positions once combat starts.

This lets one character get into position for a surprise attack while the rest of the party stays safe from triggering detection prematurely.

04Attacking from Hidden: Advantage and Sneak Attack

Any attack made while you have the Hidden status is resolved with Advantage — roll two d20s and take the higher. This substantially increases hit chance and is the primary combat payoff of stealth.

For Rogues, Advantage from Hidden is the cleanest trigger for Sneak Attack, which adds extra damage (scaling with Rogue level) to one attack per turn whenever the Rogue has Advantage, or when an ally is within reach of the target and the Rogue does not have Disadvantage. The Hidden-then-attack loop reliably produces Advantage without needing a nearby ally.

After the attack resolves, the Rogue loses Hidden. With Cunning Action: Hide they can immediately re-enter hiding in the same turn — denying enemies a clear target and setting up another Advantage attack next turn.

Other classes that benefit from attacking while Hidden:

• Ranger: consistent Advantage pairs well with Hunter's Mark and keeps Sharpshooter's -5/+10 more reliable.
• Fighter (Battle Master): Advantage helps manoeuvres like Trip Attack land their saving throw.
• Warlock: Advantage on Eldritch Blast helps proc Repelling Blast and other invocations consistently.
• Any high-crit weapon user: Advantage effectively doubles crit fishing, since you take the better of two rolls.

05Breaking Line of Sight and Using Terrain

Line of sight is the single most important variable in stealth. Enemies can only make Perception checks against you with a clear line of sight — pillars, walls, crates, large rocks, and doorframes all block it. Moving behind cover is often faster and more reliable than relying on obscurity alone.

Environmental tricks that manage sightlines and light:

• Extinguish torches: throw a water bottle or cast Create Water at wall-mounted torches to plunge an area into darkness, converting a Clear zone into Heavily Obscured.
• Use grease and surfaces: a Grease bottle coats the floor, can be ignited for smoke, and can keep enemies slipping in place while you reposition.
• Scrolls of Fog Cloud / Darkness: create Heavily Obscured areas on demand — drop one on your Rogue's position so they can Hide freely without a Stealth check.
• Half-cover and three-quarter cover: crouching behind low walls blocks the line-of-sight cone even without granting Hidden status.
• High ground: looking down from above often places you outside enemy vision cones entirely.

06Spells and Items That Supercharge Stealth

Invisibility is the most reliable stealth tool in the game. An Invisible character cannot be seen at all and needs no Stealth checks. The status ends the moment you attack or cast an offensive spell, so plan the trigger carefully. Sources include:

• Invisibility / Greater Invisibility spells (Wizard, Bard, Sorcerer): Greater Invisibility does not end on attack, giving a Rogue permanent Advantage plus a Sneak Attack every single turn.
• Potion of Invisibility: a consumable option for any character.
• Shadowheart's Cloak of Shadows (Trickery domain): grants Invisibility as an action once per short rest.
• Darkness spell (Warlock, Sorcerer): pair it with Devil's Sight so your Warlock can see inside Darkness while enemies cannot — you attack with Advantage, they attack with Disadvantage.
• Fog Cloud (Druid, Ranger, Wizard): a non-magical obscurement, so Darkvision does not pierce it — excellent for letting a whole party Hide at once.

For the surprise round, every enemy must be unaware when combat starts. Ungroup your party, move everyone into position while Hidden, then trigger combat with your best-placed attacker. Any enemy not alerted when combat begins is Surprised and loses their first turn entirely — a free full round for your party.