Ambush and night vision

[Hal900x]

Do activated night vision goggles count as illumination for this feat? And secondly, must you actually be in complete darkness or does stealth mode count as "darkness"? Knowing this game, I'm guessing the answer to both is "no", but it's worth checking.

[Tygrende]

Do activated night vision goggles count as illumination for this feat?

No.

And secondly, must you actually be in complete darkness

Yes. The tile you are standing at must be completly free of any light.

does stealth mode count as "darkness"?

No. Tile illumination is the only factor.

[Hal900x]

[Tygrende]

It's still a great feat on any build that stacks critical damage high and puts points into stealth, namely snipers, plasma pistols and possibly crossbows. Situational, but when it works, it works wonders. You can easily reach 100% critical chance by the end of the game.

This video shows this pretty well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hEIzls7qPc

That said sometimes it's hard to determine if the tile you are standing is completly dark and if the enemies are sufficiently illuminated. Generally enemies are sufficiently illuminated if:

1. They are standing right next to a fire barrel or other strong source of light such as wall lamps, etc.
2. They are standing right on top of a flare. Not next to it, the flare has to exactly under them
3. Close to the center of molotov flames
4. Inside very bright rooms

As for the illumination of the tile you are standing in, take a look at your portrait- if you see some flickering lights that means it's not totally dark.

I really feel there should be some sort of a indicator that shows whether the conditions for ambush are met or not. But beyond that, it really does work great.

[Hal900x]

Yeah, actually I knew that from a previous playthrough. Although it doesn't sound so great on paper, due to the seemingly tight requirements, I was pleasantly surprised how often it activated on my sniper rifle playthough: ("ambush"."ambush"...etc)

[Bruno]

Any tips on illuminating enemies if you have 0 points invested in throwing? (So no flares or fire grenades)

Incendiary traps maybe? Or burning chemical pistol?

[UnLimiTeD]

If you have neither throwing now psionics, you will probably find tactical options to be somewhat limited in this respect.
Setting the target on fire might work, but then one of them might move your way.

[Tygrende]

Enemies set on fire are count as sufficiently illuminated so yes, incendiary traps and incendiary blob pistol should work.

That said, you don't necessarily need to illuminate enemies yourself to benefit from Ambush- enemies standing right next to a light source with light-free tiles nearby are actually pretty common.