Sneak Skill

Sneak
Specialisation	Stealth
Perks	9
Perk Points To Fill	13
Governing Stone	The Thief Stone
Notable Perk	Assassin's Blade

Sneak governs escaping detection in Skyrim by reducing how visible and how noisy you are. It is the backbone of any stealth character and the source of the game's largest damage multipliers.

Sneak Attacks Are The Point

An undetected attack multiplies damage, and the multipliers are extreme. Backstab triples one-handed damage and Assassin's Blade multiplies dagger damage by fifteen. Paired with Illusion and the right gear, a dagger becomes the highest single-hit damage in the game.

Deadly Aim triples sneak damage with bows, which is the archer equivalent.

Sneak And Stealth Are Not The Same Word

The game uses both. Stealth is the group of six skills governed by the Thief Stone, of which Sneak is one; Sneak is the specific skill. Perks also cover avoiding pressure plates, rolling forward while crouched, and briefly vanishing mid-combat.

Sneak Attack Multipliers

Only while undetected.

Weapon	Perk	Multiplier
Dagger	Assassin's Blade	15x
One-handed	Backstab	3x
Bow	Deadly Aim	3x

Progression

The eighteen skills split three ways. Full list on Skills.

Specialisation	Stone	This skill
Magic	The Mage Stone	-
Combat	The Warrior Stone	-
Stealth	The Thief Stone	Yes