I know that the rangers have stealth in Vanguard but I wondered if the stealth relates to there abilitys or is it just to get past mobs unseen? (like invis for mages in eq2)

Of course! I haven't played for a long time, but one of your ability (critical shot?) does double damage or more damage when in stealth mode. Just mouse over your abilities and read the descriptions.

I believe you can use it to stealth past certain mob types

Err ... yes, where "some" = all. I think only raid trash mobs cant be bypassed with Stealth.

Invisibility is seen through by many mobs (like Undead, which need a special "invisibility to undead" spell instead). It doesnt slow you down though.

Stealth slows you down. On a ranger, anyway, I think Rogue can still move full speed. I dont know if Wolf Shaman is slowed down, or not. Those are the three classes that get Stealth in Vanguard (neither Bear nor Phoenix Shaman gets Stealth, though, so its more like 2 and one third classes).

P.s.: Oh, and Stealth can of course fail if you're too low level. And you shouldnt get too close to mobs with it (range dependency). And its really hard to level on a Ranger (havent tried neither Rogue nor Wolf Shaman, so I cant say about those, but I would assume Rogue is much easier to level).

Originally posted by Adamantine

Err ... yes, where "some" = all. I think only raid trash mobs cant be bypassed with Stealth.

Invisibility is seen through by many mobs (like Undead, which need a special "invisibility to undead" spell instead). It doesnt slow you down though.

Stealth slows you down. On a ranger, anyway, I think Rogue can still move full speed. I dont know if Wolf Shaman is slowed down, or not. Those are the three classes that get Stealth in Vanguard (neither Bear nor Phoenix Shaman gets Stealth, though, so its more like 2 and one third classes).

 

P.s.: Oh, and Stealth can of course fail if you're too low level. And you shouldnt get too close to mobs with it (range dependency). And its really hard to level on a Ranger (havent tried neither Rogue nor Wolf Shaman, so I cant say about those, but I would assume Rogue is much easier to level).

There is a certain range where mobs will aggro. But its relatively easy to get skill gains, it doesnt matter what class you play that can stealth. In stealth mode you can creep near a mob and right when you see the blue exclaimation mark on top of its head, its letting you know that the mob can see you, but wont aggro. If you move closer to them then they will aggro. There is a certain range that you must stay in order to get skill gains without getting aggroed.

All I did to get gains was what I explained to you, and I went afk to go eat while still stealthed. 30 mins later I was maxxed out in hiding and sneaking. Also you can buy crafted jewelry and capes that gives you hide and sneak stats. There is also an armor set in Old Targonor that gives you sneak and hide stats. They drop off the various named bosses in the towers. The hardest by far to come by is the boots. I made a living selling the armor sets for 3.5pp back in the old days.