So I don't think this has come up yet, but as we all probably noticed in the E3 footage, some enemies, such as Radscorpions and Mole Rats (and possibly Radroaches going by Fallout Shelter), can burrow out of the ground. This is an interesting idea, since it means that we'll have to keep our guard up and not get as complacent. But I've started wondering: How will our stats affect this?

I mean, Perception helps us notice enemies in the area via our compass. Will the sand negate our Perception entirely, essentially diminish our Perception (say -6 when it comes to underground enemies) or not change it at all? What about sneaking? Agility governs sneaking now, so can we, if sneaking with a high Agility, step over these areas without summoning up enemies at all? Or are these like the diving dragons in Dawnguard's trailer, and they'll only do it in scripted situations?

I don't think it will have anything to do with our stats. Just, we get ambushed by Mole Rats or Radscorpions in certain areas. A Perception perk might tip us off to them, or show their compass marker while they're still moving around underground. They might only ambush us if they detect us, so Sneaking could still work; unless the ambushes work as trigger boxes we step into, but in that case they might spawn and not immediately know where we are.

That's an interesting question, and I think can be extrapolated a bit to enemies being able sneak as well as the player character. Mole rats burrowing underground is their stealth mode and our perception would determine if we detect them. It's probably not as developed as all that (I'm picturing human enemies sneaking around to flank you or get a sneak critical) but it would be a cool addition.

I am hoping that enemies have a wider amount of behaviors and tactics. It would be cool if Feral Ghouls were pretty much mindless enemies that charged straight at you, while Raiders demonstrated a bit more self preservation, and other enemies, such as Brotherhood of Steel and Deathclaws would actually employ ambushes, feints, things like that.

The enemy markers now have a height measurement attached too do they not? I'm sure if your perception is high enough you'll be able to pick up enemies beneath you. They'll probably have a higher threshold tho. And yeah, high sneak being able to avoid detection from below makes sense.

Maybe it's like the mudcrabs in Skyrim. They move around some and then hunker down to look like rocks. Burrowing enemies might move around a bit and then burrow when they detect you or something.

This is how I see it going.

Out stats wont matter in these situation, they will just be trigger boxs/scrpted events.

Perception will still probably work like normal, with us being able to detect them just as easily as we would if they weren't underground.

I really hope they aren't scripted. I'm sure the Dogmeat one is scripted, but I hope they can just be organic encounters after that. It'll be so much duller if it's something that always happens when you go through area X. It becomes a checklist. Like how I eventually got so used to exploring certain areas I knew when I had to turn and pop off three shots to kill Talon Mercs before continuing on my way.

Maybe it's an aesthetic choice, a way to avoid the sight of some varmint just pacing back and forth somewhere waiting for the player to get close enough to go aggro. In the demo, even the Deathclaw bursts out of a sewer grating.

But that kind of nerfs sneaking to get critical hits.