The scenario.
I'm playing a level 3 Sorcerer, using the Shadow Sorcer Origin provided by Xanathar's Guide to Everything. Before combat began (or in the immediately previous round, if you like) I cast Darkness, using my Eyes of Darkness feature on a dagger that I'm holding in my hand. I hold a Rapier in my other hand. Because Eyes of Darkness allows me, the caster, to ignore the effects of my own Darkness spell, I am perfectly capable of seeing through my own darkness but my enemies cannot see me. If they become blinded (per the Condition).
This round, I run up to my target, a Human Bandit, using 15 feet of movement. I drop the dagger on the ground, and then use the Rapier (the character is Drow, so they have Rapier proficiency) to attack the bandit. Regardless of whether the attack connects, I then use my remaining 15 feet of movement to move to another point within the 15 feet radius sphere of Darkness … I left the Dagger where I dropped it. This movement does not trigger an Opportunity Attack, because an OA requires the person making the Reaction to be able to see their target, which they can't in this scenario.
So here's the core question:
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Does the Bandit know where I am, beyond the obvious knowledge that I'm still somewhere inside the sphere of Darkness?
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Does this sequence of events require me to use the Hide action to
conceal my new location, or would the Bandit implicitly know my new
location, through implied noise that my movement creates? -
Is the Bandit's knowledge of my new location contingent on their own
Perception check against my Stealth abilities, or would they be able
to know my position without any checks at all?In the Player's Handbook, in the section for "Making an Attack", there is the following information (relevant parts emphasized by me):
Unseen Attackers and Targets
Combatants often try to escape their foes' notice by hiding, casting the invisibility spell, or lurking in darkness.
When you attack a target that you can't see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. This is true whether you're guessing the target's location or you're targeting a creature you can hear but not see. If the target isn't in the location you targeted, you automatically miss, but the DM typically just says that the attack missed, not whether you guessed the target's location correctly.
When a creature can't see you, you have advantage on attack rolls against it.
If you are hidden—both unseen and unheard—when you make an attack, you give away your location when the attack hits or misses.
My takeaway from this is that simply being in Darkness is enough to fully conceal my position, but that attacking is enough to give away my location. Does this imply that even if I move 15 feet away afterwards, that I've made too much noise this round to fully obscure my position, or is the bandit only informed that I was in melee range in front of them at some point during the round?
Best Answer
You must take the Hide action to conceal your location
In combat, Hiding is never an automatic thing (unless some feature specifically says it allows you to). It always requires you to take the Hide Action.1
Even if you cannot be seen, you can still be heard and hearing is enough for an opponent to discover your location.
The rules for Hiding state:
Being in darkness in not enough to conceal your location. Concealing your location has a certain mechanic to it and that mechanic is called the Hide action.
Jeremy Crawford agrees here:
Invisibility here functions mechanically identically to your darkness for the purpose of the discussion of hiding in that it makes you unseen relative to the enemy. And neither will allow you to hide without taking the Hide action.
If you don't Hide, your location is known
So, if you are moving around an enemy and you don't take the Hide Action then you are heard and your location is known. In this case, they will be able to attack you (at disadvantage) in accordance with the rules on attacking unseen enemies.
The enemy doesn't need to make a check (perception) and neither do you (stealth). Since you aren't trying to hide your whereabouts using the Hide action, they simply know where you are by hearing you.
Hide to conceal your location
However, if you take the Hide action you once again follow the rules for Hiding:
If you succeed and keep succeeding at that check, you are now "unseen and unheard" and your location is unknown. The enemy must guess your location in order to attack you. This falls under the rules for Unseen Attackers and Targets:
1 - An argument could be made that, outside of combat, taking the Hide action explicitly might not be necessary to be hidden, but this is outside the scope of this Q&A.