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Why Thieves Rule

[NOTE: This guide is partly inaccurate. See this thread for more information.]

THIEVES RULE! Why? Here is the answer: They can do things no other class can do, their main advantage is their inherent flexibility and their stealth that allows them to decide when or where to engage the enemy - or when not to fight...

I'll start with the class.

1. The plain thief and the thief kits:

THE PLAIN THIEF:

He is the all round rogue who has full thieving abilities. Unlike his kits that are mainly alternatives to multi classed fighter-thieves, his strength is the original discipline: He relies on his wits and stealth rather than on combat - he is notably weaker in combat. Anyway, this is my favorite variant of the thief - the plain thief has an excellent flexibility and lots of thieving abilities when you need them in BG-2: Early in the game, in Athkatla. Since a thief has no chance in a direct confrontation, he has to use his stealth and skill to attack his enemies at their weakest point: Backstabbing is an outstanding ability!

Advantages: unlimited thieving abilities; backstabbing; set-traps ability

Disadvantages: restricted in combat; low hit points

Thieves in combat

Thieves are no frontliners, they lack strength and number of attacks (thieves only have one attack per round) to cause damage, hitpoints to take damage and - worse - THAC0 to hit the target.
Thieves are also very limited considering their weapon proficiencies, they start with 2 * at lvl-1 and gain another * every 4 levels. On lvl-15 they reach their best THAC0 of 10 - and then they won't improve any further till lvl-40. So when you look for a robust thief - take a multiclassed fighter-thief since that class offers a substantial melee ability ... at cost of thieving abilities of course.
As you see: Straight melee isn't the thieves' world ... to survive he has to use ranged weapons (darts for example offer 3 attacks per round) or attack his opponent where he is vulnerable - by backstabbing.

For backstabbing you:

(a) need to use a (suitable) bladed weapon (as the word "stab" indicates) and
(b) have to stand "behind the back" of your victim. The only thing that changes with leveling up is the amount of damage your thief deals out:

lvl-1 to 4: 2x damage

lvl-5 to 8: 3x damage

lvl-9 to 12: 4x damage

after lvl-13: 5x damage

A thief can backstab with every melee weapon allowed to a thief, especially daggers, short swords, scimitars (including wakizashis, ninja-tos), katanas and long swords.
You have to make sure that your character is still on stealth when he tries to backstab. If you handle it badly (or your thief has poor stealth) he steps out of the shadows first and deals only single damage. I recommend using the <F2> function to attack from shadows, it makes it easier. In combat you can use potions of invisibility to get a second quick backstab at need. Generally: The higher your thief's stealth abilities are, the longer he will remain undetected after stepping out of the dark. That's important when your char leaves the shadows instead of backstabbing immediately. When he is still invisible, he can still backstab, despite the fact that he is no longer hidden in shadows.
A thief hidden in shadows, btw - just like a ranger, receives a +4 THAC0 bonus for his melee attack.

THE THIEF-KITS:

Assassin:
This is a killer trained in discrete and efficient murder, relying on anonymity and surprise to perform his task. Assassins must be of Evil or Chaotic Neutral alignment.

Advantages: Assassins get a THAC0-Bonus of +1 to hit and +1 damage. As a trained killer the assassin focuses on backstabbing and poison, so his backstabbing ability is better than that of a normal thief. The assassin progresses just like a pure thief - up to lvl-17.
But upon reaching lvl-18 assassins cause 6x damage, and at lvl-21 they cause 7x damage when backstabbing.

The assassin has a formidable poison weapon ability: he may coat his weapon in poison once per day per 4 levels. The poison effect improves with level of the assassin in three steps, it works faster then especially. Poison weapon can be devastating when used with a ranged weapon, darts especially (for the high number of attacks) or when backstabbing a mage.

-lvl 1: 1 damage per second for 24 seconds; 3 damage for the first 6 seconds - no saving throw; a saving throw vs. poison limits damage to 12 total

-lvl-10+: 2 HP poison damage every sec for 12 seconds unless save vs. poison; 3 poison damage every sec for 2 seconds - no saving throw; max 30 poison damage, 6 if target saves

-lvl-15+: 3 HP poison damage every sec for 10 seconds unless save vs. poison; 3 poison damage every sec for 4 seconds - no saving throw; Target is slowed for 30 seconds unless save vs. paralyze - max 42 poison damage, 12 if target saves, plus stun effect unless target saves

Disadvantages: Only 15 points per level to distribute on abilities - since they are best spent on stealth first the remaining thieving abilities are pretty limited for the early part of the game - anyway, a very powerful combat-oriented thief class.

[Note: Deciphering of the assassin poison weapon in cooperation with Extremist (the level based improvement was noted nowhere so we had to check the spell basis for that effect, SPCL-422)]

Swashbuckler
This rogue is part acrobat, part swordsman, and part wit: the epitome of charm and grace. Due to his THAC0 bonuses and proficiencies it is interesting to make this thief dualwield.

Advantages: Bonus +1 to AC (so at the start of BG-2 he has a +2 AC bonus already) and another +1 to AC for every 5 levels. Similar to the assassin they get a THAC0-bonus of +1 to hit and damage - only that theirs improves every 5 levels; so on higher levels you'll have a potentially very powerful and robust char with a THAC0 and damage similar to a fighter - you only lack their number of attacks and their hit points. May specialize in any weapon that a thief can use. Swashbucklers may also place three stars in two-weapon fighting style proficiency. Therefor dual wielding and use of weapons that have a high number of attacks (like darts) or give extra-attacks (Tuigan bow/ light crossbow of speed/ Kundane +2 short sword/ Belm +2 scimitar) makes sense for this class. No malus on his thieving abilities - like the thief he has 25 points to distribute per level.

Disadvantages: No backstab multiplier; therefor it is useless to spend a ToB high-level-ability slot in assassination :D

Bounty Hunter
This is a hunter of men, skilled in tracking quarry and bringing them back alive... whether for lawful authorities or underworld masters. Bounty Hunters are specially trained at their task and make fearsome opponents. They have honed their trap-making abilities well beyond that of the average thief.

Advantages: +15% to trap setting. He can lay special traps (other than the ones that all thieves receive). The traps are more powerful than the typical thief trap, and the effect varies according to the level:

lvl-1: The trap deals out damage and slows the target (if save is failed).

lvl-11+: The trap holds the target if a save is failed.

lvl-16+: The trap erects an Otiluke's Resilient Sphere around the target (if a save is failed).

lvl-21+: The trap mazes the target.

Disadvantages: Only 20 points to distribute between thief abilities each level.

[Note: Basic thief kit info in courtesy of Sorcerer]

2. The thief's basic thieving abilities:

(a) Basics:

Thieving abilities are basically influenced by the basic thief class, race and dexterity, plus the choice of your armor and some special abilities of some items you use (rings / shadow armor / gloves...).

At lvl-1 every thief starts with the basic setting: pickpocket 15% / open locks 10% / disarm traps 5% / move silently 10% / hide in shadows 5% - the new skills "set traps" and "detect illusion" aren't included in my guide for they start at 0 and have to be developed during the game.
In BG2 your char will be able to reach level 23, that means you will have a 470 total basic points (excluding dexterity and items / 360 points for bounty hunter and assassin) to distribute on the various thieving abilities. ToB's XP cap of 8 million XP will allow you to adjust your skills to absolute perfection.

Plain thieves and the thief kits:

At lvl-1 the plain thief and the swashbuckler receive 40 ability points to distribute on your skills, on the later levels only 25 points per level. Bounty hunters also get 40 start points but at level up they just receive 20 points to their thieving abilities. The assassin gets just 30 start points at level 1 and further 15 at each level up. These restricted thieving skills are implemented to compensate the special advantages of these kits (bounty hunter: more weapon options + improved set traps / assassin: strong poison weapon ability).

In BG-2 your char will be able to reach level 23, that means your plain thief or swashbuckler will have a 590 total (40 + (22 x 25) basic points to distribute - enough to become an excellent all-round thief or a *perfect* specialist thief. An assassin will be able to gather 360 points (30 + 22 x 15) and the bounty hunter can gather 480 total (40 + 22 x 20) points) to distribute on the various thieving abilities. A bounty hunter also receives +15% to set traps bonus ability since set traps is his special ability. Generally: The higher you developed your ability, like hide in shadows 200, the less likely it is to fail - this illustrate the real strength of the pure thief - he has most points to spend *and* backstabbing.

There isn't that much to say about the different thieving abilities. A thief can gain ability in pick pocketing, open locks, find and disarm traps (one skill!), he can move silently and hide in shadows too.
The only thieving abilities in BG2 that are neither DEX or race related are detect illusion and set traps. The higher the proficiency in set traps is, the lower is the risk of your char hurting himself when placing the trap. Detect illusion is activated with the find traps ability and can detect invisible creatures and, yes, illusions - which can be pretty useful and replace spells like detect invisibility or true sight.

(b) Race bonuses for thieving abilities:

Human & Half Orc: no bonuses

Dwarf: open locks +10 / disarm traps +15

Halfling: pickpocket +5 / open locks +5 / disarm traps +5 / move silently +10 / hide in shadows +15

Gnome: open locks +5 / disarm traps +10 / move silently & hide in shadows +5

Elf: pickpocket +5 / open locks +5 / move silently +5 / hide in shadows +10

Half-elf: pickpocket +10 / hide in shadows +5

When you want to play a very combat oriented thief you might like to have a half-orc assassin - his str-19 will make him a formidable backstabber - but, lacking racial bonuses, he'll be only a mediocre thief. In my opinion the halfling and elf races are best suited for thievery for their race bonuses and because they can have 19 DEX and BG1 veterans will probably have about 20 DEX which vastly improves their thieving skills. (See table below.)

(c) Dexterity bonuses:

I'll skip the penalties for being clumsy-handed and start at DEX-16 with the first bonus.
Thieves receive bonuses for high dexterity in some of the thieving abilities.

dex-15: no bonus

dex-16: open locks +5

dex-17: pickpocket +5 / open locks +10/ move silently & hide in shadows +5

dex-18: pickpocket +10 / open locks +15 / set, find and disarm traps +5 / move silently & hide in shadows +10

dex-19: pickpocket +15 / open locks +20 / set, find and disarm traps +10 / move silently & hide in shadows +15

dex-20: pickpocket +20 / open locks +25 / set, find and disarm traps +15 / move silently & hide in shadows +18

dex-21: pickpocket +25 / open locks +30 / set, find and disarm traps +20 / move silently & hide in shadows +20

dex-22: pickpocket +30 / open locks +35 / set, find and disarm traps +25 / move silently & hide in shadows +23

dex-23: pickpocket +35 / open locks +40 / set, find and disarm traps +30 / move silently & hide in shadows +25

dex-24: pickpocket +40 / open locks +45 / set, find and disarm traps +35 / move silently & hide in shadows +30

dex-25: pickpocket +45 / open locks +50 / set, find and disarm traps +40 / move silently & hide in shadows +35

[Note: The high-dex modifiers on thieving abilities were extracted from the game database with the Infinity Engine Explorer - I was surprised the stealth-abilities didn't progress symmetrically like the other thieving abilities]

(d) Level based thievery action XP:

pick locks | disarm traps

lvl 1-5: 250 1000

lvl 6-10: 400 1750

lvl 11-15: 950 2750

lvl 16-40: 1550 3250

Another bonus for the thief - they can gain XP without fighting. This makes it particularly attractive to play a mage-thief - so it is also possible to gain XP by learning spells. In my opinion the gnomish Illusionist-thief is the most attractive char of this kind.

(e) Armor penalties on thieving abilities:

The armor a thief usually wears hinders him in using his thieving abilities to the maximum, so there are penalties for a thief wearing armor at work:

No armor: pick pockets +5 / move silently +10 / hide in shadows +5

Elven chain: pick pockets -20 / open locks -5 / disarm traps -5 / move silently hide in shadows -10

Leather armor: pick pockets -30 / open locks -10 / disarm traps -10 / move silently & hide in shadows -20

Bards suffer a -25 penalty on pickpocket when wearing regular chain mail.

3. Lore

Thieves get a lore ability, allowing them to identify items. Thieves get, just like mages, a general +3 lore points per level, an advantage for the mage-thief. Lore is also improved by high intelligence and wisdom. The bonus progression is the same for INT and WIS:

-int & wis-15: +3 lore bonus

-int & wis-16: +5 lore bonus

-int & wis-17: +7 lore bonus

-int & wis-18: +10 lore bonus

-int & wis-19: +12 lore bonus

-int & wis-20: +15 lore bonus

-int & wis-21+: a further 5 points for every int and wis point

So a level 23 thief, with int-15 and wis-18 would have a lore ability of 82.

4. Thieving potions:

-Potion of Mind Focusing: Gives +3 on DEX & INT for 12 hours - improves AC, thieving abilities and lore

-Potion of Agility: DEX set to 18 for 15 turns - not really necessary for a thief for he should have dex-18 at least

-Potion of Master Thievery: Gives +40% pick pockets, +40% open locks for 3 hours; the great helper of any thief, especially in the early stages of the game.

-Potion of Perception: Gives +20% on open locks, find & disarm traps, pickpocket and hide in shadows for 6 hours; not as strong as the potion of master thievery, but more versatile.

-Potion of Power: THE POTION! Improves hide in shadows, pickpocket, open locks, find & disarm traps by +20% of the base value, adds 20% hit points and adds 80% on THAC0 for 4 turns. It is rare and valuable, very helpful in the major fights.

-Potion of Strength: Sets STR to 18 for 20 turns.

-Potion of Invisibility: Not quite a thieving ability booster, but it allows your thief to disappear immediately after a back stabbing attack to back stab again. These potions are very effective and occur in the game frequently. They make backstabbing almost unbalancingly powerful.

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