Editorial: Thief Overview

Posted by Stilgar

It has been the general concensus that thieves are one of the more challenging classes to play, but under the "right" conditions, levelling a thief can become a much less daunting task. These conditions depend on your style of play and the resources available to you. Often, this means levelling a mage or a barbarian on the side in order to obtain equipment for your thief. Having some basic knowledge of the mud, ie. knowing which mobs to kill, goes a long way towards surviving the harsh Isengardian environment. The following document will outline some basic advice for the beginning/intermediate player and dedicated to the mavericks deviating from the norm in the quest for greater personal rewards.

-The Challenge-
Part of the challenge of playing thief lies in the fact that they do not have a whole lot of HP to work with. To make matters worse, their casting (both defensive and offensive) and hitting prowess are rather limited. And up until level 7 or 8, thieves often wonder whether "backstabbing" is one of their abilities since they miss so often. Hence, for the first few levels, forgo backstabbing and hit mobs to build your sharp/thrust proficiency.

As with other classes, a set of good armor, weapon, and a few wands helps to restore a thief's competitive edge in gathering experience versus other classes of similar level. To gain the upper hand, however, involves a combination of persistence, skill, and luck.

-The Reward-
Over the years, thieves have had the reputation of being one of the shadier social classes in Isengard. They receive the scorn of other classes who proudly proclaim how their sacred crusades give testament to justice and honor. Yet, despite their commonly regarded outcast status, there is a certain lure that attracts many newbie thieves, this is the lucrative business known as stealing.

While stealing is unique to thieves, there are certain limitations. It becomes progressively harder to steal from mobs of levels higher than you and unsucessful steals will make them attack you. You may only steal from pledged players and lastly, you cannot steal from your fellow thieves.

-Grouping options-
*with stunner
This is a popular choice for both thieves and assassins because they allow them to cast and develop their realms. *with circler
Anybody can level anything with a circler, watch for those failed circles to avoid getting hit by the mob. *with stabbers
With a good number of high level stabbers, this party can clear out most of the muds' mid level perms in the least amount of time. Backstab and cast to kill the mob before it has a chance to hit back.

-General tip on how to start a thief- by Abecedarian

There are a few things to think of when you make a thief. Most players do not use their thieves as their "main" character, so they choose their stats wisely for the level they are aiming for. Once you have chosen your stats, you can either have a higher level friend who circles well and group with him or fly solo. If you want to do it yourself you should gather some equipment before you start, I would suggest using elf or human. These is the minimum eq you should have, which is not too hard to get.

giant hammer of thunder or better (such as galv sickle, mustafal daggers) buckler box of strawberries 8 wedding bands (40k) ebonite codpiece 2 silver-nickle neckguards + whatever armor you can find.

Low ac will help a lot, but nothing helps as much for low levels as a good weapon.

Primarily, you should go kill llamas and goats, if they hit you, move south (don't flee, move). Wait until you are full before going back. Before you know it, you will have enough experience to gain level 2. Repeat until you have achieved level 4. Stay away from newbie-killers. If you do not feel confident, keep doing these until you are level 5 or 6, now move on to design students in Halfast hall. At level 6 you can start backstabbing, I would not recommend backstabing during levels 1-5 unless you have a good reason to. Level 6 is a newbie-thief trap, many thieves stop here because they feel that they cannot do anything. Keep killing design studnets, Luistrin (if lower ac than 3). If you have an ac of 0 or better, take out Grant and Igor as well. And at level 6, go seek out shaman and do your hit, remove weapon, flee combo a few times, (make an alias that does this for you) then tell someone that he is in so they can finish him off. This also works for the Soul of Claudia.

There are of course better things to do, but they require experience and skill, this simple solution will get you to level 8 and it is suitable for anyone who can get their hands on 60k gc and 2-3 decent weapons.