I hope this is the right place to ask this,

Playing at master difficulty and curious to how does 2x damage dealt in sneak more really work? i'm confused because i've noticed that sometimes i can one shot wolves and bandits in sneak mode dealing 2x damage while other times they are left with very low hp. It usually happens when i saved in sneak mode then loaded when i missed my shot but then i can no longer 1 shot a bandit(yes a bandit the weakest of the lot) unless i restart the game.

I'm left pondering is this a bug?

Oh and i'd also appreciate some tips on how to achieve absurdly damage in sneak mode with a bow w/o using exploits that is

Much obliged!

I had this issue. I think it only does full damage if you are fully sneaking i.e. the eye is shut and they aren't looking for you

Get the sneak perk that increases the bow sneak damage (and dagger one if you use daggers)

I did a sneak bow character (had 50 archery from Faendal before I left riverwood even) and later did bow/dagger and then bow but mainly dagger/dagger when I discovered how fun and cool the kill cams were for sneaking and attacking with a dagger

The eye is always shut when i do my 1 hit attempts on enemies i know i can 1 hit, the thing that's really bothering me is why can i 1 hit them before i save but not after? and only again if i restart the game?

Oh and thanks for those tips i'l be sure to get the sneak perk for the bow, for some reason i like being sneaky even though my current character is a warrior type

Oh and if anyone asks the only mod i have it USKP and the official Hi-res pack.

Stop spamming the Save key for one thing. Your not doing yourself any favors by overwriting the save file so many times. Besides, there is nothing in the game that requires this kind of save habit.

Second, reloading the cell resets everything so you are not in Sneak Mode when the cell is first rendered, it takes a while for things to settle down. And, reloading this often is not doing you any favors either as you can end up with a corrupted cell and who knows what that will do to your save.

Wait what? spamming quick save/load can ruin a save file? seriously? i've been doing it for quite a while and never had any issues regarding cell corruption or do you mean dead bodies clipping through walls or the floor coz that i have noticed but can contend with.

As for the second part of your explanation that i didn't know, much obliged for that important bit of info

Oh and as for my save habit i have this obsession in wanting to influence the loot i get from enemies i kill so yeah i spam quick save specially when dealing the killing blow

Try and get some nice archery equipment too - things like Circlet/Necklace/Ring of Eminent/Peerless Archery make a decent difference.

^yup i know that much and i plan my end-game armor set to have the helmet enchanted with archery. And i just unlocked Deadly Aim and imo sneak perks are OP lol and it also solved my problem with not being able to 1 hit bandits with my saving habit

Games like this tend to set their loot when the cell is loaded, not when you open the chest or loot the body. So reloading to get better loot from your target is generally a waste of time. You'd have to save outside the area you're trying to get better loot from, make your way back to where you reloaded at, then try again. Trying to get good loot from a single chest can take a while. Trying to get good loot from every chest in an area is just a nightmare. You've got better things to do with your time. Like actually play the game.

Archery breaks sneak, as do projectile spells even with silent casting. The only attack that doesn't is daggers as they are both silent and have no projectile. With them, you can move from target to target without breaking sneak.

You need to wait for the enemies to stop looking for you and the reticle to say hidden before you can get the multiplier.