The problem with Distract

...is that it's very situational, making it one of the weakest 1st level skills that you'll ever acquire. Since the aggro range of mobs outstrips it by a big margin, the only time it becomes practical to use is when you pick up Silent Movement which is higher up on the Subterfuge tree. Silent movement isn't invisibility so you do need to divert a mob once in a while so it doesn't sense you close up.

Camouflage (which breaks if you move) actually makes more sense as a tier 1 skill. This way you'll have the option of picking up Distract or Silent Movement on the 2nd tier.

Btw, nice move on making the light spell conflict with the stealth skills. This gives people a good reason to pick up night vision which now increases in duration as it improves (mine now lasts 75 seconds). I also love the way I can shift from silent movement to camouflage then back to Silent Movement with minimal chance of being spotted. Reminds me so much of the classic Thief game

 

Train the skill up more and the range will exceed the Agro range, possibly

 

That could be true though I haven't really tried levelling it that much yet. Camouflage though works well the second you get it. Distract will get you killed several times over , it's easier to just run past the mob banking on speed. That's why so few people actually use it.

 

Seems like it could also be useful in pickpocketing NPCs.

 

Now that would work. The other skill Distract would be useful for would be SAP which requires that the target has it's back to you. Either way though, you'd still have to be in stealth mode - at least initially.