Stealthy units can move without being seen on the strategic map. This allows them to try to infiltrate hostile territories. Patrolling units and the inherent patrol effect from province defense can however discover them. This happens after movement in the Turn Order Sequence, so a hidden commander cannot be caught by patrols in a province they are leaving, but could be caught by patrols in the province they are moving to. If they are caught by patrollers in the province they are moving into, a battle ensues immediately.

This means, in practice, that stealthy units moving around in friendly territory, in battle zones, or on top of sieged forts are safe.

Almost all nations will have some access to stealth through scouts – either national ones (such as Bangar Log's Markata Scouts) or generic independent ones (Scout) – to hang out in enemy provinces and reveal what is happening there. Some nations have stealthy commanders (such as EA Ulm's Warrior Chiefs and Shamans) and stealthy troops for them to lead (such as Steel Maidens).

Notably, almost all "elves" (Vanir, Tuatha, etc. – see the roster of EA Vanheim for examples) are inherently stealthy, and have Glamour. (The main exception is the Morvarc'h Knights of Ys. Sometimes nearly everything fielded by these nations has stealth, leading to the potential for very nasty surprise attacks. This is colloquially referred to as "being elfed".

Stealthy commanders can also be summoned, notably with the early rituals Black Servant and Bind Shadow Imp.

The Hotkey for moving stealthy commanders without sneaking is ctrl + click on a province.

Examples

Stealth Side		Patrol Values
Units	Stealth Value	Min Catch	50/50 Catch	Catch Almost All
Shademail Haubergeon	20	1	20	66
Most Scouts	50	4	50	96
Elves and most assassins/seducers	65	19	65	111
High stealth assassin e.g. Dimvaetti	80	34	80	126
Condor (lol)	140	94 (!)	140	186 (lmao)
Catching Stealthy Parties
Bakemono Chief leading 40 Bakemono-Sho	40 - 40 = 0	1	1	46
Centaur Hierophant leading 10 White Centaurs	40 - 10 = 30	1	30	76
Vanjarl leading 10 Van	65 - 51) = 60	14	60	106

A stealthy commander has a number of interesting uses:

1. Scouting and witnessing battles their nation isn't involved in.
   • Spies can reveal additional information, cause unrest or infiltrate capitals.
2. Ferrying and carrying gems and items for an army. Keeps spare gems safe for later.
3. Avoiding fights.
   • A commander set to perform a stealthy order does so before other orders such as rituals or assassinations, which can make them very difficult to catch, and rather effective at raiding. Using rituals such as Teleport or Cloud Trapeze will not prevent an enemy raider from hiding or sneaking away.
4. Starting fights.
   • They can attack provinces the enemy thought were safe. When done on a massive scale, this is the infamous "elfing".
   • This can be done by sneaking even through friendly lands so that enemy scouts do not see their approach.
   • Using rituals such as Teleport or Cloud Trapeze on top of a friendly stealthy unit that has switched orders to attack their current province (without moving) will have the stealthy unit join the fight in the Magic Phase.
5. Moving into or out of forts that are under siege.
   • Sneaking into a fort does not allow defending against a storming attacker on the same turn, but sneaking out of a fort can be done as an attack.
6. Priests, if stealthy, can hide and preach in an enemy province.

There are only two items that grant stealth to commanders that don't have it already: Shademail Haubergeon and Amulet of the Doppleganger (a unique artifact). Shademails are exceptionally useful because they can be transferred. They be used to sneak commanders in and out of besieged forts, hide key mages in battles, or even keep thugs safe from magic-phase counterattacks. As an example, you can give Shademail Haubergeon to a Scout, then use a heavy thug with combat armor (such as Armor of Knights) into a province. If the scout sneaks into the province as well, next turn they can swap armor (with both becoming stealthy) and sneak out, dodging magic-phase counterthugs (such as kitted Vanjarls).

Several other items enhance the stealth score of commanders that already have it. These are only useful in niche cases, since many of the benefits of stealth don't require you to dodge patrols.

Commanders set on stealthy orders (hide or sneak) are unaffected by:

• Independents, who will never patrol them out
• Armies on top of a fort under siege since they can't patrol or have province defense
• Conventional assassination by units with the assassin ability
• Remote assassination spells such as Earth Attack or Manifestation
• Seeking Arrow

Commanders set on stealthy orders are still affected by:

• Mind Hunt, both as a valid target and protecting astral mage
• Vengeful Water
• Vengeance of the Dead
• Murdering Winter
• Using the wish spell to wish for friends, and being in the affected province