It happens on all stages, but depending on how colorblind the opponent is and what color the floors are, some stages make it easier to see the footsteps than others.

On top of this, experienced people have a sense for timing and "wanted angles" of attack, so even if they don't see you, they can still know where you're planning to attack from, if you're not being deliberate.

For example:
- Most enemies will attack from the "back" or "side" of your character.
- Recons can only move at a certain speed, so if you have a feel for how long it takes for someone to walk directly towards you from where you last saw them, you can literally wait that length of time then suddenly turn around and attack or even step in and 'cut off' their movement.

So, yeah. They can tell where you are.

Recon sucks.

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Now... to get around it.

As a recon, you need to be able to play with your opponent's vision.

Yes, they might be able to see your footsteps, but tracking footsteps is kind of like watching a fly: footsteps aren't a line that trace exactly where you are, but only periodic 'blips' on the ground. If they see your footsteps and plan to 'cut you off' and attack, they need to make an assumption that you will continue moving in the same pattern that they see you moving. It's up to you to turn that around by making them imagine a different pattern than what you're really doing. So with that in mind:

- Try stepping backwards into (or sideways from) your old steps to throw off their prediction, since you can hide your new footsteps in your old ones.
- The only time when you are completely invisible with no trace is when you're not moving. By standing still, you can both throw off the attack 'rhythm' that they predict and also make them lose their visual tracking of your location.
- You can uncloak and purposefully show yourself walking in some direction then recloak (different choices: they tend to assume you're continuing in the direction they saw you cloaking, but you can also step sideways, stand still, or walk backwards).
- You can use a gun, because then you change the game from your approach (melee recon approach is dangerous to pull off), to forcing them to approach (or just challenge them to a ranged battle). If you can get superiority in a ranged fight, you force them to do a melee approach, and that means that you have a chance to hit them before they hit you.

None of these are guaranteed for you, but it's the fact that some of these "branch off" into different situations (instead of just "oh, walk directly behind him and slash") that also means that your opponent isn't guaranteed to hit you either. You just need to weave your opponent into future you want.

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Anyway, that's kind of what goes through my head when I play. Yeah, there's still the hurdle of being able to have good execution (your own aim and footwork, and deciding on + pulling off a movement in the same time period that it takes for a striker to slash>shield>boost 3-4 tiles>slash again), but assuming you get past that, to be recon is to play mindgames. There are different levels of doing so for different people, but figuring that out is what makes recon really fun. ¦3