Thief Template Help

[fatmagic]

I'm slowly working on my new Thief, and I had a question about what abilities/skills I should take. Now I'm not planning on doing the typical thief that many others do. I wanted to craft this to be a bit "custom" and fun - instead of cookie cutter.

I want to play a thief, that is also an anti-thief at the same time. So here are the skills I DEFINITELY will have on the build (the basic thief ones) :

Stealth - 100
Hiding - 100
Stealing - 100
Snooping - 100

Obviously those above skills will be for the "thieving" part. I won't be doing ANY PvP, as I don't care for it at all. I just want to be a non-fighting thief. Get in, get out.

But I also want to have the ability to "sniff out" other hiders, stealthers & thieves alike. So what should be the next set of skills to take? I was thinking of using the following:

Detect Hidden - 100
Tracking - 100
Magery - 50 (for recalls)
????? - 50

What would you guys suggest? Again, i'm not interested in any combat skills, unless you feel that they are absolutely required in your experience. I'm hoping I don't need them though.

Looking forward to your responses!

[Duke Jones]

Maybe some trap-related skills?

[fatmagic]

Maybe some trap-related skills?

That's a good idea!
Are you thinking like Tinkering for traps? Are there any other skills that can do trap-type-things?

[fatmagic]

BTW - does Dexterity affect stealing, snooping or hide/stealth at all? Or is it purely for Stamina & Weapon Speed?

[Duke Jones]

I was thinking about lock picking and remove trap.

[fatmagic]

Ahh gotcha. Hmm. That's a thought too. I have to try and think through how I would use this character to the fullest.

And regarding my question before - does DEX affect any of the thieving skills? I'm considering trading off DEX for INT, but I'm not sure that is wise. I'm not going to need DEX for combat speed... so what are the other uses of it?

[Duke Jones]

That question... i personally don't have enough knowledge on to answer, sorry.

[fatmagic]

No problem! Thanks for helping so far

[archaicsubrosa77]

Tracking at GM is better for people who are actively hunting down a stealther who could be anywhere several screens away...on a stealther however tracking doesnt need to be so vast. Tracking for a stealther would primarily be minimal to ensure that he wont bump into anything hidden. (Not saying Tracking at GM wouldnt be good but as a thief your primary concern should be to escape with the loot)

Stealth
Hide
Snoop
Steal
Track 50
Detect Hidden
Magery 75
Wrestling 75

[fatmagic]

Tracking at GM is better for people who are actively hunting down a stealther who could be anywhere several screens away...on a stealther however tracking doesnt need to be so vast. Tracking for a stealther would primarily be minimal to ensure that he wont bump into anything hidden. (Not saying Tracking at GM wouldnt be good but as a thief your primary concern should be to escape with the loot)

Ahh that makes sense about the tracking. I think you're right. There is no need for me to be tracking many screens away. But a screen or two of tracking would be useful for finding the stealthers.

Stealth
Hide
Snoop
Steal
Track 50
Detect Hidden
Magery 75
Wrestling 75

This is excellent! I think I really like this template! The 50 tracking is quite achievable, and makes sense in light of your above post. Magery at 75 will be good for most things I want to do, and then even more.

Only question is with Wrestling - is this a defensive skill? How does it help?

Thanks very much so far for the advice!

[archaicsubrosa77]

wrestling is a defensive skill...
0 wrestling means a GM in any weapon skill will always hit you, which means you cant cast to heal or recall being you will always be interrupted.

Some thieves have Macing on their template for stamina drain so they will either be hit less often or will stop their mark in their tracks...or if you have greater heal wands and want to use them while stealing and dont want to be hit as often being wands are a mace weapon.

Being you are a stealth thief however wrestling and magery is a good choice...you can teleport then hide or if you have invisible jewlery go invisible and instantly stealth away after teleporting.

Keep in mind tracking in some areas of a populated city like Britain will not be possible. 50 tracking there even would be too much.

[Gatsby]

Stealth
Hide
Snoop
Steal
Track 50
Detect Hidden
Magery 75
Wrestling 75

What kind of stats would you use with a build like this
STR 100
DEX 75
INT 55
?
Also, I've been reading around, and can't find it anywhere, Does dex effect stealing success rate?

[archaicsubrosa77]

I would put intelligence higher if not topped at 100. Depends on if you are going to be running around alot. Dex does affect stealing I believe until the higher levels of it are gained. Shown skill is the bonuses you get from stats, real skill is how many real points you put into those skills.

At 0 stealing you still have the chance to steal even with dex at 25 you see.

[Hicha]

all you need is 21.4 tracking (real) to be able to track anyone on your entire screen, and you'll also be able to track them if they run for up to several screens away.

Wrestling is also great to have if you get caught and don't have time to get away.

or bring teleport and invis items; you can teleport and insta invis, they won't be able to see you except for a tiny puff shown when you teleport.

[Gatsby]

I would put intelligence higher if not topped at 100.

At 0 stealing you still have the chance to steal even with dex at 25 you see.

Thank you, and that's the best explanation for why dex helps stealing I've ever heard. I always get vague explanations. Thank you.

all you need is 21.4 tracking (real) to be able to track anyone on your entire screen, and you'll also be able to track them if they run for up to several screens away.

Wrestling is also great to have if you get caught and don't have time to get away.

or bring teleport and invis items; you can teleport and insta invis, they won't be able to see you except for a tiny puff shown when you teleport.

Thank you also. I copied, pasted, and reviewed a few different suggested templates, and decided I was going to get rid of tracking completely and gm mage and wrestling. Tracking seems like it's going to be nearly useless for what I plan to use this character for.

Thank you both again for the quick responses. I'm super pumped to get some characters past the training stage, I started playing for real here a few days ago, and already I've had several people who were more than willing to help out a noob.

Good shard. GG.