I'm noticing a lot of times that when I get a sneak attack, the target doesn't notice me. Instead, they freeze, slide forward a couple feet and say something like "I think I just saw something". Because of this, subsequent hits also end up being these stunning sneak attacks. I would expect someone to notice pretty quickly when someone sticks a blade in them. And, in terms of game balance, you would think there would be limited to a sneak attack on your first strike. Is this a bug? The only other explanation I can think of is that the sneak attack is doing enough damage to stagger them, and they can't detect me until they recover from the stagger, so I can technically get in more sneak attacks. I don't know, though. Can anyone clear this up?

It happens if you're behind them, so they can't see you. They are indeed staggered, and can't search for you until they recover.

soem people ive attacked with just a fire ball just stand there and take about 30-40 before jut dieing and nto even a custom fire ball the 1 game starts you with

then theres those whoget hit take 2 steps and give up searching for me and repeat till dead

That happens to me, too. That's what makes me think there's a bug. Or, maybe it's part stagger and part bug.

I'm playing a ninja themed character, so the occasional stealth kill is nice, but I'm level 5 with a low blades skill and can pretty much take out anything without a scratch (at about 25 damage a hit) as long I start with a sneak attack. Has anyone modded to address this? I think something like instant detection after a hit would address the issue. That way they can still be stunned and staggered, but I can't just keep stacking sneak attacks on them.