You mentioned bows, there were throwing axes in Aetolia I believe, mages can shoot from afar with their staff, you can swing runes from another room. So it's there, guns wouldn't be different. They fire only in straight line last I checked.

Imperian has an entire skill devoted to bows.

It started out horribly overpowered. Everyone in that guild who had an arti bow pwned everyone without breaking a sweat. Then they nerfed it into the ground.

But, it did exist. They have firearms too, but they're mostly a novelty.

Well... demesnes are about the least stealthy thing you can have.

Yeah, true. They're not really ranged, they just hit people from one room away. Real ranged weapons are harder to do.

To me that just increases thier stealth factor. If you don't see a demense your not going to expect a mage to jump out of nowhere and boulderblast you.

Dreamweaving, illusions... just shout stealth to me.

Kind of. I like the 'jump through a window and stab you in the back' kind of stealth better, though. Mages aren't really stealthy, they just have a lot of illusions to cover up the sparks.

Yeah, but those are sub-sets to the main skill, which involves demesnes (Which ain't stealthy, unless you're Geb.). I guess in a way you have a point, but.. yuck. All the way or none at all.

i'd think that only firing in straight lines as many rooms away as it goes striaght for(but with a penalty in accuracy the further away) would work, because there's not very many very long straight areas, and there's quite a few 3 room long places, which would give an advantage to the gun-person, but because of the long loading time it would be that the opponent could run/find the attacker and begin to attack more accuratly and quicker. it would also be a good way to combat demenses, or atleast something to keep in mind when building a demense, don't have a place with too many straight areas leading in. extra strategy.

and i can't remember what else i was going to write...there originally was a point to this message.

You tend to say that a lot.

Seriously, ranged combat usually ends up depending on who gets the jump on whom. Besides, Lusternia has elevations. A Trill or Faeling archer could fly over some poor sap. Picture the carnage.

Mages are not stealthy, I don't know what gave you that idea.

i have a bad memory
and here's another thing i tend to say allot: hmm, very good point there, i hadn't thought of that.

can trill or faeling mages staffcast from above, though? if not, how is that solved?

Whats so sneaky about lableling yourself as the "secret and sneaky guild"? Kind of takes all the sneak out of it.

Verithrax - Druids/Mages can shoot their staff up to 10 rooms away. That is pretty damn long range.

Edit: They can also shoot with their staff down from the sky or trees, and up to the sky or trees. Many of the same features as runes. They're basically wielding wooden rifles
/Edit

Also, Druids are very stealthy if the combat is in a forest based environment. Running through trees or flying, able to attack from above.

They be

Consider the sneaky guilds in Imperian and Achaea. In Achaea, very few classes can shroud: Only occies and serpents. So just being able to be invisible makes you stealthy.
In Imperian, AFAIK, any Necromancy user (malignist, noctusari or diavlous, that's all of Stavenn) can shroud. Sabs and Idras can hide. However, only sabs and idras can hide their identity through masking.

In Lusternia, virtually everyone has a shrouding ability, even if it's limited. So I suppose a stealthy class would be the only one to have a masking skill: You don't know who's attacking you until they kill you and you get suspect, or from the deathsight, maybe not even that. Stealthyness doesn't mean surprising someone because you're invisible; it means attacking without the victim knowing, and attacking without being identified.

EDIT: And yes, come to think of it, Druids are our ranged combat guild. We get a ranged cudgel, ranged demesne, and a choice between ranged runes, ranged motes, or ranged fetishes. Of course, mages get a ranged spell (Hailstorm or whatever the geo equivalent is) ranged staff, ranged demesne, and a choice between ranged runes, ranged motes, and psionics (Which can be ranged).

No, masked combat wouldn't work. It would be -awful-.

Masked running around, sure. But as soon as you attack, you have to know who is attacking you. Too many problems otherwise.

They aren't paticularly stealthy, but they are the most stealthy guild

Dreamweaving - do stuff phased.
Illusions - Make them see what they dont.
Psionics - RANGED - you can hit them from rooms away.

Much stealthier than anything else, currently.

Perhaps just have the first attack not shown if you really wanted to and it was able to be done, but after the first attack you know someone is there.

How do you fight an unidentified person?

first attack blocked out, but they lose their shroud after.

I think that's how it works in Imperian.