So what the hell makes a Wispmother so special when it comes to sneaking?
Wispmothers are possibly one of the rarest encounters in Skyrim and what makes them different from other enemies is that once her and her wisps spot you and enter a hostile state they stay aggravated permanently...until dispatched of course.
For the cunning sneak this creates a unique situation...
The best spot for this method is actually very close to Riverwood, just outside South Skybound Watch...
...as you can see here the player has approached the Wispmothers location from the mountainside and used an arrow to wake her up. The key with this method though is to simply loose a quick arrow (or just stick your head over the wall) and then make your way back down the mountain towards Riverwood (don't bother engaging).
The result is four hostile enemies that will continue searching for you (with no success) permanently. Dropping into stealth mode at this point will begin quickly leveling up sneak.
Given this locations close proximity with the Thief Stone it's a good idea to select it in advance for the 20% bonus. It can take a character from 15 Sneak to 50 in around 20 minutes without touching a single button (go make your favorite sandwich) and will continue to 100 if that's your goal.
While this method isn't perhaps as effective as sneak attacking Ralof during the tutorial it's very useful if you decide to take a character in a slightly sneaky direction mid-game or if you're just feeling lazy. The fast leveling is sometimes good for characters that have multiple skills and need the extra perk points to fatten out their spread or if there's a specific sneak perk you want in a hurry (Assassins Blade).
Another example of this method in action is the radiant encounter with the two low level bandit chiefs and two goons. You'll usually be alerted to this encounter by 4 hostile blips suddenly appearing on your compass in the distance, hitting sneak when this happens will result in exactly the same effect, the four bandits will remain hostile permanently and will remain this way until you close in on them and take them down. This encounter is fairly rare though while the Wispmother method is very reliable.
So what the hell makes a Wispmother so special when it comes to sneaking?
Wispmothers are possibly one of the rarest encounters in Skyrim and what makes them different from other enemies is that once her and her wisps spot you and enter a hostile state they stay aggravated permanently...until dispatched of course.
For the cunning sneak this creates a unique situation...
The best spot for this method is actually very close to Riverwood, just outside South Skybound Watch...
...as you can see here the player has approached the Wispmothers location from the mountainside and used an arrow to wake her up. The key with this method though is to simply loose a quick arrow (or just stick your head over the wall) and then make your way back down the mountain towards Riverwood (don't bother engaging).
The result is four hostile enemies that will continue searching for you (with no success) permanently. Dropping into stealth mode at this point will begin quickly leveling up sneak.
Given this locations close proximity with the Thief Stone it's a good idea to select it in advance for the 20% bonus. It can take a character from 15 Sneak to 50 in around 20 minutes without touching a single button (go make your favorite sandwich) and will continue to 100 if that's your goal.
While this method isn't perhaps as effective as sneak attacking Ralof during the tutorial it's very useful if you decide to take a character in a slightly sneaky direction mid-game or if you're just feeling lazy. The fast leveling is sometimes good for characters that have multiple skills and need the extra perk points to fatten out their spread or if there's a specific sneak perk you want in a hurry (Assassins Blade).
Another example of this method in action is the radiant encounter with the two low level bandit chiefs and two goons. You'll usually be alerted to this encounter by 4 hostile blips suddenly appearing on your compass in the distance, hitting sneak when this happens will result in exactly the same effect, the four bandits will remain hostile permanently and will remain this way until you close in on them and take them down. This encounter is fairly rare though while the Wispmother method is very reliable.
Wow, I never knew this! Could be very useful with the Frostfall/Hunterborn/Realistic Needs and Diseases mod trio, since lowbies really need some help to survive the wilds when they can't take out an elk in a single shot.
Wow, I never knew this! Could be very useful with the Frostfall/Hunterborn/Realistic Needs and Diseases mod trio, since lowbies really need some help to survive the wilds when they can't take out an elk in a single shot.
