The woe's of a theif! grrrrrrr

Lowkei · Post by **Lowkei** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:00 pm

Alright prepare yourselves people because I have alot of problems here.
Firstly what is the deal with the sneak skill, i mean does it actully work because in my experiance it's nothing but trouble. I am trying to make a decent theif charecter so i can join the theifs guld as i have never actully tryed that guld much, but most of the quests are stealing items. HOW AM I SURPOSED TO STEAL IF THE BLOODY SNEAK SKILL DON'T WORK! My sneak skill is on level 90 an my security is on level 40, now i no the two skills an meant to work together to get a succesful bit of theivery, but i have tryed and tryed to do the quest were you have to steal the key to nerano manor for Habbasi. I got right up behind the bloke in nerano manor with my little sneak icons visible so i knew he couldn't see me. I clicked on him to pickpocket his key and all he had on him was 87 gold. OK i though i'll try again an see if it will appear next time, but why not take the 87 gold wile im here, so i took it and he turned round and cought me. So first of all the key wasn't there.....why the hell not? Second even if the key was there he would have cought me any way as he did with the money so how are you ever to steeal in this game with out gettin caught. Maybe if i make a 100% chameleon spell even if he turns round he won't be able to see me. will that work? but even if that does i need alot of magic to pull it off which is somthing theif charecters don't have.....so should i make a theif charecter into a half mage or a mage charecter into a half theif. So that way i have theif charecter with alot of magic and a high illusion skill to pull of chameleon spels and other useful spells to aid me in my theivery. To be honest i don't think this game adapts well to stealth it just donen't have the right elements, which brings me back to my point that the sneak skill is more trouble then it's worth. If any one has any advice for my problem then please reply so i don't end up puttin my fist through my xbox and then laughin at untill i go insane!

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 4:16 pm

How to Steal

1) Get the Recall Spell.

2) Set the spell for one of the Thieves Guild people who can fix fines.

3) Go out.

4) Steal.

5) If anybody sees you and starts attacking you, cast Recall.

6) Get your fine fixed.

7) Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

PS: Sneak stinks. I never use that.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:22 pm

Sneak is actually quite easy to use

I find I can sneak quite effectively once I have it at about 45 or 50, and after that it just keeps getting better.
The trick is to make sure your sneak icon is reading steady, and not flickering. Try to attract the person's attention by pulling their gaze in the opposite direction of the item you are trying to steal. This is often easily achieved by just walking over there. Go into sneak mode and skulk over to some neutral location, swing back behind the NPC, and approach the item.

I just managed to steal all the glass items in Ghostgate with my sneak at 49, using that precise method.

If you are having real trouble, try to get the Amulet of Shadows, it gives you 80% Chameleon for 60 seconds. (note: I do not currently have this amulet)

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 6:02 pm

[QUOTE=dragon wench]If you are having real trouble, try to get the Amulet of Shadows, it gives you 80% Chameleon for 60 seconds. (note: I do not currently have this amulet)[/QUOTE]

Pfaaah. That's going back to magic!

Mind, Chameleon and Invisibility are very nice spells, at that.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 7:14 pm

[QUOTE=fable]Pfaaah. That's going back to magic!

Mind, Chameleon and Invisibility are very nice spells, at that.[/QUOTE]

lol, yes it is

Though, as I demonstrated above, you don't need magic to sneak, it's just getting the hang of it that takes a while. And truth be told, it took me a long time to master the basics

Once you figure out how it works though, you can steal anything without getting caught, and without using the Amulet of Shadows.

Though, admittedly, I do find it fun sometimes to brew up potions of telekinesis as well

Coot · Post by **Coot** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 2:07 am

Pickpocketing is relatively hard in MW. My thief has 100 sneak, has the abilities to temporary increase that and still messes up picking pockets a lot of times.
As for the Nerano Manor key:
1) Nerano has it on him, but part of the success of pickpocketing is actually detecting all items. If you were to reload and try again, you might actually see it.
2) There's another way to get the key.
SPOILER:

Sovor Trandel, his servant, has it. Go to the Council Club near the silt strider and bribe him. It'll cost you around a 1000 septim and you might want to improve your dispostion first.

I found playing a thief-like character in MW very satisfying, much more fun than playing a magic or combat based pc - but it can be challenging. Thankfully you don't have to pickpocket all that much. Sneak is extremely useful: to remain unseen while stealing (nothing more satisfying than emptying the Hlaalu and Telvanni treasure chests under the nose of a couple of Ordinators) or sneaking past powerful enemies (why fight yet another Dremora Lord? Just rob the Shrine and make tracks).
Still, a little magic never hurts to improve your stealing (Mysticism, Illusion, Alteration) and neither does having some skill in either short blades (backstab) or markmanship (why melee when you can avoid it?).
Finally, there are quite a few items that make life easier for a thief. DW mentioned the most useful (and cheesy) one.

Rookierookie · Post by **Rookierookie** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 6:11 am

Charm spells can save a significant amount of bribe money.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:26 am

[QUOTE=Coot]I found playing a thief-like character in MW very satisfying, much more fun than playing a magic or combat based pc - but it can be challenging. Thankfully you don't have to pickpocket all that much. Sneak is extremely useful: to remain unseen while stealing (nothing more satisfying than emptying the Hlaalu and Telvanni treasure chests under the nose of a couple of Ordinators) or sneaking past powerful enemies (why fight yet another Dremora Lord? Just rob the Shrine and make tracks).[/QUOTE]

I tend to agree, I always inevitably end up with a thief-like character. I think this is because even when you are good at it, it is still challenging to steal items right from beneath their owners/guardians noses.
You feel as though you've gotten away with something, which makes for fun roleplaying

Usually, I just steal for the Hell of it, and stash it all away in my residence. The really nice stuff I'll display as trophies

Equally, it can still be difficult to sneak past enemies at high levels, or at least, if you roleplay, there is a sense of danger, and then relief at not being seen.
I also really like combining thieving and sneaking with Marksman. Again, because it can be challenging, and I've noticed that Marksman seems to level more slowly as well.

Coot · Post by **Coot** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 3:21 am

[QUOTE=dragon wench]Equally, it can still be difficult to sneak past enemies at high levels, or at least, if you roleplay, there is a sense of danger, and then relief at not being seen.[/QUOTE]That's why it's fun, at least for me, not to have too many weapon or armorskills. That way you're really in trouble when you get caught (sort of like in the "Thief" games from Eidos).