Stealing Skill
Stealing is used to lift items out of another player's backpack. Blessed and insured items cannot be stolen, so thieves find the job an uphill battle. Even so, a thief can take anything that isn't insured or can't be insured -- cursed items such as power scrolls, for example. And every now and then a player forgets, or simply can't be bothered, to insure something they just picked up, and a thief will notice.
To steal an item, activate the stealing skill from your skill list. Then either target the specific item you want in the player's backpack, or target the player to grab something at random.
Higher stealing gives you a better chance of pulling an item off successfully. It also raises the maximum weight you can steal in one go. Even at 120 stealing, though, there is still a chance of being noticed while you work. If you are spotted you become criminal, and if you are inside a town the guards will punish you for the crime.
Even a successful steal doesn't mean you are in the clear. If you lifted something really valuable you will want to hide, because if you die within 2 minutes of stealing an item from a player, the stolen item automatically returns to its owner. Recently stolen items cannot be insured.
Joining the Thieves Guild
To steal from players you have to be a member of the thieves guild. There are a few requirements for getting in:
- Your Stealing skill must be at least 60.0,
- Your character must have at least 48 hours of online time,
- You must not have killed innocents (no kills on your record),
- At least 7 days must have passed since the character was created.
Once you are in the thieves guild, other players can tell you are a thief by using Forensic Evaluation on you. There is really no way to prevent this. If you kill a player, your thieves guild membership is suspended and you won't be able to steal until your kill count drops.
Another perk of being in the thieves guild is being able to use a disguise kit. To buy one, go to a thief guildmaster and say "{name} disguise"; he will tell you the price of the disguise kit, so drop that much gold on him. The disguise kit changes your appearance and your name for 2 hours, letting you steal while your real name stays hidden.
Besides stealing from players, the stealing skill can be used to steal artifacts from the Doom dungeon, Yomotsu Mines and Fan Dancer Dojo. Taking the skill to 120 improves your odds considerably.
Stealing is also heavily used in factions, for taking sigils while capturing a town.
You do not need to be a thieves guild member to steal artifacts, sigils, or to steal from NPCs, your own guildmates or murderers.
Skill Gain
To train stealing it helps to find a guildmate who also needs to raise the skill. Buy the items you will be gaining on, have your guildmate buy some too, stand next to each other and start stealing from one another. That way you always have a steady supply of items to steal.
For faster gains, steal items at the maximum weight your skill level allows. If you don't have items at the maximum weight, items a few stones lighter still work for gains, but the process will be a bit slower.
Maximum Weight You Can Steal at Each Skill Level:
- 0 - 7.5 : 2 stones (most crafting tools)
- 7.5 - 17.5 : 3 stones (lute, bone harvester, dye)
- 17.5 - 27.5: 4 stones (shepherd's crook, hatchet, drum)
- 27.5 - 37.5 : 5 stones (shovel, composite bow, wooden shield, buckler)
- 37.5 - 47.5 : 6 stones (bow, broadsword, bronze shield)
- 47.5 - 57.5 : 7 stones (crossbow, bardiche, metal kite shield)
- 57.5 - 67.5 : 8 stones (smith's hammer, scepter, heater shield)
- 67.5 - 77.5 : 9 stones (heavy crossbow, hammer pick)
- 77.5 - 87.5 : 10 stones (lap harp, war hammer)
- 87.5 - 97.5 : 11 stones (pickaxe, pitchfork)
- 97.5 - 107.5 : 12 stones (lance, ornate axe, iron ore)
- 107.5 - 117.5 : 13 stones (hmmmm?)
- 117.5 - 120 : 14 stones (mace)