Detecting stealthed enemies

[Hazard]

Is it just me, or is it basically impossible to detect stealthed enemies before they attack without being in stealth mode yourself? My current character is level 12 with Paranoia, 13 Perception and +50,5% detection goggles. Together these add up to a detection value of 222, but I'm still unable to spot anyone in time before they initiate combat. As far as I know, there are no other ways to boost the detection stat any higher apart from leveling up, so it kinda seems like high detection alone is utterly ineffective.

[Altos]

Yeah, in my experience I've found that there's really no point to investing in Detection if you aren't already playing stealthily yourself.
Plus, it only takes me a couple of runs through an area to memorize all of the enemy locations, at which point Detection is even more useless because I can just throw a grenade or a fireball where I already know they're going to be. The main holes in this tactic are the Faceless Gaunts in Deep Caverns, which patrol in very... unusual ways (and, seemingly, love to hide in corners).
Detection still helps you with uncovering traps and mines, though, right? There's still a lot of use in that (if you haven't memorized where they are, too, of course).

[Elhazzared]

Detection works the same both ways. Which means it takes some time until the enemy is actually seen while stealthed. So unless you are stealthed as well in order to have the necessary time to detect them, no you cannot detect them before they attack you.

[Hazard]

Detection still helps you with uncovering traps and mines, though, right? There's still a lot of use in that (if you haven't memorized where they are, too, of course).

That's true of course, although in my experience detecting traps rarely requires any extra measures if you're playing with a high Perception character.

Detection works the same both ways. Which means it takes some time until the enemy is actually seen while stealthed. So unless you are stealthed as well in order to have the necessary time to detect them, no you cannot detect them before they attack you.

What annoys me to no end is that there seems to be a point where you will get instantly spotted, if your stealth is low enough and enemy has high enough detection. Two examples from my current playthrough: first is in the Protectorate embassy in Junkyard, where there are three guards, one in metal armor and two in tactical vests in the inner courtyard, just outside the ambassador's office. With zero base stealth, but around 55 effective skill from equipment, the guards with tac vests still spotted me instantly from max range, while the tin can and the ambassador's assistant couldn't. Another one is the smuggler's cove in the caves between SGS and Foundry. There are two stealthed lurker smugglers there waiting. When I entered their vision range while wearing motion detector goggles and stealth gear with an effective skill of 48, I was again instantly spotted, but if I switched the goggles for a balaclava so that my stealth skill went up to 59, I wasn't spotted and I could actually close in and spot the lurkers first. Their detection meters rose very slowly, even though the difference in skill between these situations was only 11 points.

So the questions are, how much does the difference between detection and stealth need to be before stealth is effectively nullified, and how bloody high is the stealth skill of lurkers, crawlers and other such sneaky enemies? Is it even possible for the player to arrive at this instant detection point before he/she is so over-leveled compared to the opposition that it doesn't matter anymore?

[Elhazzared]

As far as I can tell (and I can be horribly wrong here) enemies always have a relatively high detection, enough that if you try to go into an area where you are not level appropriate in stealth you will be detected automaticly.

As for whether you can instantly spot enemies in stealth. My guess is that no, they always have enough stealth to never be auto spoted unlike you. At least that's what I get from my experience. However I'll also say that even if you could all that would result is the enemy instantly initiating combat since just like you, the enemy knows when it's spoted and will initiate combat.

[STEN]

Well, there is one way that helped me - lob a genade in suspicios places, before going there (it's a brink of metaplay, though).

[Elhazzared]

That is one way, another is to use a flare. Flares reveal enemies in it's AoE when they land. I always carry about 10 of them for crawlers since you can throw one per turn.

[NEvercalled]

As far as I can tell (and I can be horribly wrong here) enemies always have a relatively high detection, enough that if you try to go into an area where you are not level appropriate in stealth you will be detected automaticly.

As for whether you can instantly spot enemies in stealth. My guess is that no, they always have enough stealth to never be auto spoted unlike you. At least that's what I get from my experience. However I'll also say that even if you could all that would result is the enemy instantly initiating combat since just like you, the enemy knows when it's spoted and will initiate combat.

not rly.

With the proper stealth items and detection googles you can at lvl 12-13 go whenever you want.

Bonuses are huge. Especially googles.

From gear you have like 60 from googles you have +60-90% detection easily.
My sniper at lvl 10 had 160 stealth with the food included.