A Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 stealth kill or sneaky takedown gives you two options - either choking them out into unconsciousness, or a backstab with a Dagger. You can still kill them once they're down with a "Slaughter" option - driving your sword into their sleeping body - but there's ultimately advantages to both methods, and which you should do depends on the situation you're in.
Below, we'll explain how to stealth kill enemies in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, as well as how stealth and backstabs work generally, as well as where you can get a dagger for the silent kills.
The Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 stealth kill system explained
You can do a stealth kill in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 by finding and equipping a Dagger. Once you have a dagger, you need to equip it in your inventory like a weapon, but you can't actually hold it in your hand like a normal sword or bow. Don't worry - once it's equipped, you'll get an extra prompt when you're standing behind an enemy and unseen to perform a stealth kill by holding down L2/LT.
You can do something similar without a dagger called a Chokehold, simply by tapping the L2/RT button. Either way, you then have a timed reaction: press R2/RT when the blue sword icon comes up to complete the kill/chokehold.
There's a chance it'll fail anyway - this is a percentage based on your skills - at which point the enemy will try to elbow you and get free. When this happens, press L2/LT to counter their blow. If you time it just right (it is a very small window), you'll manage to overpower them and complete the stealth kill/chokehold. At this point, you can drop or carry the body away. if you picked the Scout when choosing your Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Playstyle early on, you'll have an immediate stat bonus to stealth and thievery.
Should you knock out or kill people?
The advantages of a knockout over a kill are mixed - obviously if you're committing a crime, stabbing a guard to death will impose much more severe consequences over just knocking him out, and killing anybody will incur massive reputation penalties with that faction if your crime is detected and pinned on you.
On the other hand, knocking a foe out means that they will eventually come back around. This takes some time in-game, but if another enemy finds them, they can be awoken immediately. Choose which you do accordingly with that information: a bloody kill is easier now, but might punish you more later. If you choke somebody out and change your mind, you can hold R2/RT over their body to "Slaughter" (stab them with your sword).
How to get a Dagger in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
Daggers in KCD2 are sold by most Blacksmiths and many merchants - they're not hard to find and usually not very expensive. There's also no difference between different daggers - one knife is the same as another. Try checking the smiths' in Tachov or Trosky Castle if you're early in the game.
There's also one special dagger you can get in The Lion's Crest pre-order quest, "Brunswick's Dagger". It doesn't do anything different, but it has a different skin, and you get it for free for finding the first treasure cache. If you want help with that, we've got all the different Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Brunswick armor locations here!
If you're learning the ropes of KCD2, there's plenty more to get to grips with! Find out our pick of the Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 best weapons here, or discover where to get Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 healing potions and Marigold Decoctions!
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