Newbie question about stealthing jailbreaks

[Cornflower2]

Hi. I'm new. Yes, I did a search, but I need clarification.

I'm under the impression that you can complete a lot of missions with a stealth squad of a couple of shinobis. That makes sense, but I can't do it. I tried all day (4 hours straight) to make a simple jailbreak with my two shinobis. No can do...
When I look at the stealth/solo missions I've found on YouTube, the evac volume is always very near the "jail". I never got that. All my maps had 3-5 rounds of dashing from the jail to the evac volume. No way I can get through the 3-4 mobs that activate when I hack the cell door.

Do I have extremely bad luck with my jailbreak map, or has something changed since "everybody" posted strategy and advice?
Or (most probably) am I doing something wrong?

Or, should I interpret "stealth mission" as: Bring a couple of shinobis to scout, but bring lots of firepower so I can fight my way to the evac volume?

[stefan3iii]

You're looking at videos of 1.2. In 1.3 stealth was nerfed, you can't really stealth most missions anymore, including jailbreaks.

[Dwarfling]

Stealth got nerfed because it was too easy, too efficient and too boring/repetitive. On the current patch you sort of have to come ready for a fight on every mission. You can partially stealth a mission sometimes, as in, fight only half of the map then make a run for it, but it's all luck. Some people say stealth is still possible but you have to abort missions if the conditions aren't met. You might need a larger volume of missions to make up for the failures.

[Cornflower2]

Ah, OK. I'll rearrange my teams from 3 hit-teams and one only-shinobis-for-stealthing then. I think I have enough people to do 4 balanced teams with a shinobi scout in each team.

Thank guys for the clarification. I thought I was being totally unlucky, stupid or both. It's a relief to know I'm only acting on outdated info. That's what I get for being late to the party...

[stefan3iii]

The only missions I "stealth" now are Hack Workstations and Dark VIP, which I usually send suicide rookies or rangers on. Even then, my failure rates are a lot higher than in 1.2, because of the solo drones scanning edges of the map and the more numerous pods in general.

I suspect you can rookie suicide a facility as well, haven't tried.

If I was going to try to legit stealth a data recovery, I'd probably try something like a solo Spark. It can hack at range, can probably survive long enough to get away when shit hits the fan, and have overdrive so they can move -> hack -> move again. I actually need to try this now for a data recovery mission.

Jailbreaks I don't think are reasonably stealthable at all, running 5 rebels across the map to the evac is not reasonable. Extracts are maybe stealthable if you have a good shinobi escort, but I think are a huge crap shoot, I think they'll fail most of the time, with a good risk of losing your shinobi too.

[virtualangel]

I have been pretty successful in stealthing some missions. I normally only do it when it’s something I really need, like a scientist, assassination or intel. I love stealth and assassins, so I do them, it’s fun.

Tips:

* Smoke, Smoke, Smoke is your friend. You just have to survive until you get out.
*Move blue, then move again, never just dash.
*Know your activation tiles, don’t peek… resist the urge.
*The idea is speed, move as fast as you can and get out as fast as you can.
*Plan your escapes before reveal, move around the edges of the map and position yourself as close to your escape as you can.
* Sometimes you need only one turn to finish mission and escape, plan it, its ok to activate a pod if you are leaving that turn or next turn.
*If you need to call the Sky Ranger, pull back out of sight, drop the beacon and wait for it to pop before moving forward.
*Use smoke grenades to cover your rescues and draw enemy fire to your soldiers (who should be in good cover).
*If things don’t add up, get out and fail the mission. I save my guy over all other options.
*Run away. With a fast Shinobi you can stay out of battle even with an active pod on you if you run and hide (for a few rounds, maybe).
*Try not to fight, even when active, get in and out as a priority.
*Use the Sniper or Hacker to draw Advent Campers away from the target. Go to max distance away and draw attention, then move in with the Shinobi to finish mission, then run/smoke for your lives.
* Use the Spider Suit to rapidly move around the map, can’t say how many times this saved me.
*Shinobi only – Use Reaper to chop your way closer to evac point, target only those that you can one shot kill. Resist the urge to showboat and kill everything.
*Fear/Respect Poison and mind effects. Gear for it.

If you die, “that’s XCOM baby”.

Shinobi Gear: Spider Suit, SMG, Sword (best I have), Smoke, Hasmat Vest and Mind Shield (or early: Smoke, Medkit, Armor Plating)
Shinobi Skills: Blademaster, Shadowstep, Cutthroat, Low Profile, Reaper, Tradecraft, Conceal
Favored AWC Perks: Rapid Deployment, Untouchable, Fortify, Smoker
Officer Training: Oscar Mike, Incoming, Jammer, (either), Defilade, Air Controller, (either)

I also bring a Hacker sometimes and a Sniper sometimes. Snipers are really handy, if they are ranked up. Being able to take out a pod of guards who just will not move outa the way is great or to draw a pod away from the objective. I have had a Double Shot sniper take out a pod camping the target many times. Also good for killing pesky drones that try and reveal the Shinobi.

[llll BlackFlag]

Virtualangel's tips are spot on. Also try employing officers to command a move. You can either drop evac within objective sight then dash with a specialist + command + hack, or stealth to the objective with a shinobi and have an officer command triple move him back to the evac. Stealth is still a lot of fun, and can help you get an extra mission or two in while the majority of your squads are deployed.