Steel artefact vs Assassinate

[Roots]

I need to get this major artefact from that damned commander :p
Shall I steel it (#685) or assassinate him to maximise chances of success ?

Any hints from experienced players ?

[VEO]

685 is the easiest of the "hard" orders I've come across. If the artifacts increase the characters main skill ranks, they'd help make it even harder to assassinate him also. If you "can" assassinate him with confidence, but of course, do so.

[Roots]

Well actually this is my first game and I do not know what is assassinating with confidence :o

My agent is A67 + 25 stealth

My target is a commander leading a small army with rank 110-120 (artefact included)

Is success likely or not so much in steeling / assassinating ?

[DaveHolt]

There has always been lots of discussion about agents. Here is my best formula approach to figuring out agent success chances (based on MoS, personal experience, and other experienced player input):

Terms:
Net Agent Rank: Agent Rank + Agent Artifact(s) + Stealth Modifier
Stealth Modifer (1): Rand () * (Stealth Rank + Stealth Artifact(s))
Stealth Modifer (2): Agent Rank * (Stealth Rank + Stealth Artifact(s))/100
Net Guard Rank: Rand () * 2 * Net Agent Rank of Guard
Character Rank: Victim's highest unmodified (no artifacts) skill rank
Relations Adjustment: (see table pg 54 of rulebook. take the difference)

Note: I tend to believe Stealth Modifier (1) is the correct one as it more closely matches the way the rest of the software was apparently written.

Agent Action Success % (add 20% bonus to NetAgent Rank if CL):
Assass success: Net Agent Rank - Net Guard Rank - Character Rank*0.5 + Relations adjustment
Kidnap success (1): 5-10% easier than assass
Kidnap success (2): same success as assass success, but consequences of failure are less severe

Note: from my own experience I believe kidnap to be easier than assass, so I’d go with (1)

Someone mentioned that artifacts do help raise the character rank modifier. I don't know if that's true or not. Best guesses I've heard is that artifacts don't help. But who knows other than Bill Fields?????

cheers,
Dave