As title. Right now, the only time they really call for backup is when they turn hostile and they can see you right there, usually while you're exchanging fire with them. As long as you remain out of line of sight of windows while you're fighting, there's really no chance for anyone to turn hostile on you where you're not in a position to directly shut them up. As a result, it's possible to complete covert missions with a complete lack of anything resembling stealth as long as you don't actually shoot any of the base defences.
Yes, even without noise suppressed or audio masked weapons. I've wiped out a settlement with an unmodded P-15 before, without the alarms going off.
To give you an idea of what stealth is like if you know what you're doing, here's an example of me, today, being the stealthiest secretest secret operative, carrying out a raid on a base in the most covert loadout I could muster.
LIKE A SHADOW IN THE NIGHT.
Yes, if this was a covert mission, this would technically pass. Because the alarms weren't raised.
What do I suggest to fix this?
Long story short, settlement personnel need to be more trigger happy about calling for backup. I've noticed that there are two kinds of alarm in the game - the kind that are raised by heist/sabotage targets and data ports, that cause all the guards to run towards the source of the alarm and investigate but don't turn the entire base hostile or summon dropships full of backup, and the kind that are raised by people actively being shot at, or shooting the settlement defences, or other such direct "we are under attack, send help" actions that do turn the entire base hostile. As such, I'd suggest the following at minimum:
Further things that would make stuff super interesting:
Yes, even without noise suppressed or audio masked weapons. I've wiped out a settlement with an unmodded P-15 before, without the alarms going off.
To give you an idea of what stealth is like if you know what you're doing, here's an example of me, today, being the stealthiest secretest secret operative, carrying out a raid on a base in the most covert loadout I could muster.
LIKE A SHADOW IN THE NIGHT.
Yes, if this was a covert mission, this would technically pass. Because the alarms weren't raised.
What do I suggest to fix this?
Long story short, settlement personnel need to be more trigger happy about calling for backup. I've noticed that there are two kinds of alarm in the game - the kind that are raised by heist/sabotage targets and data ports, that cause all the guards to run towards the source of the alarm and investigate but don't turn the entire base hostile or summon dropships full of backup, and the kind that are raised by people actively being shot at, or shooting the settlement defences, or other such direct "we are under attack, send help" actions that do turn the entire base hostile. As such, I'd suggest the following at minimum:
- People that discover a body should raise the alarm without calling backup.
- People that hear multiple gunshots/explosions, even if they can't see the person responsible, should assume there's an active shooter on base and raise the "under attack" alarm - yes, this should turn the base hostile, you're the only one that's not supposed to be there and they're actively under attack. Put two and two together. (essentially, if they're already in suspicious/search mode and they hear more gunshots, that should confirm their suspicions)
- People that want to raise the alarms but can't because they've been disabled, should head for the alarm console and turn them back on.
Further things that would make stuff super interesting:
- Overloading airlocks/devices should flag them up on a settlement terminal in the facility list. Technicians/guards periodically check this list when they're near a terminal, and if something has been tripped they'll go to investigate it - you could come back to find your sneaky access point is being guarded.
- Guards should periodically check in - they already have the voice lines. If a guard doesn't check in for a while, other guards might go looking for them around their last known position (and if they find a body, whoops that's an alarm) - yes, this means that a covert takedown/assassination on a guard would be tricky and mean getting out of the settlement before anyone notices the guy isn't answering his comms.