Thieving training

This is a guide for training the Thieving skill.

'This is a very useful tip for pickpocketing: ''Go to the options menu, go to the game controller at the top right, and select "Hidden" under "NPC 'Attack' options". This will turn the 'Pickpocket' option into a left click, rather than a right click. Also, one may pickpocket more than once in a single animation, so spam clicking will maximize experience. '''

'''When training with blackjacks, sometimes victims will catch you every time you try to knock them out. When this happens, the victim may be in some sort of "alert" state. To fix this, go through the Lure dialogue until the victim is successfully lured.'''

Ardougne cloak
Different tiers of Ardougne cloak are awarded on completion of the easy, medium, hard and elite sets of the Ardougne diary. Having an Ardougne cloak 2 increases the player's chance of success when pickpocketing by 10% within Ardougne. However, possession of an Ardougne cloak 3 or 4 will work anywhere in Gielinor.

Gloves of silence
Gloves of silence increase players' success rate while pickpocketing by 5% while they are equipped. A Hunter level of at least 54 is needed in order to wear the gloves. Gloves of silence can be bought from the Grand Exchange for each or created at the Fancy Clothes Store in Varrock from 2 dark kebbit furs for a cost of. Gloves of silence are damaged each time that the player is unsuccessful in a pickpocketing attempt and they are destroyed after 62 failures, if counted from when they are new. If a player has multiple gloves of silence then they will all display the same status when their condition is checked. However, if the gloves of silence currently being used do fall apart, then any other pairs that the player owns are reset to the "new" condition. The condition of the gloves is only relevant to the player owning them, and is not a property of the gloves themselves. Players with at least level 64 Crafting can restore their gloves of silence to "new" condition by using 1 dark kebbit fur, costing, and thread, costing , on the gloves.

It should be noted that the gloves of silence 5% success rate do not stack with the ardougne cloaks 10% success rate effect. The effect of the cloak overrides the 5% effect of the gloves and therefore the gloves become obsolete.

Rogue equipment
While wearing components of the rogue equipment, there is a chance of pickpocketing twice the loot from an NPC, with the full set guaranteeing double loot.

The set consists of the rogue mask, rogue top, rogue trousers, rogue gloves and rogue boots. Items from the outfit can be found while looting the safe (1/8 chance) at the end of the Rogues' Den minigame.

Dodgy necklace
Dodgy necklace gives the wearer a 25% chance to not be stunned and damaged when failing to pickpocket an NPC, making it very useful for pickpocketing. The necklace has 10 charges until it crumbles to dust.

Levels 1-5: Men/Women
When first starting Thieving, your only option is to pickpocket men or women around RuneScape. After reaching level 5, head off to Ardougne.

You may also do the quest Fight Arena for 2175 experience, which brings you to level 14 if starting from 1.

Levels 5-25: Cake stalls/Tea stalls
Steal from cake stalls in Ardougne. The cake stall further east has less guard activity, making it easier to thieve. Cakes are a good source of food for later training. At level 20, you can steal silk from the nearby silk stall. There is also a cake stall in the Kingdom of Great Kourend behind the slayer dungeon in the middle of Great Kourend. This cake stall has a safe spot where you cannot be spotted (Unless a guard accidentally walks back there, which doesn't happen often) when stealing from behind it. There are also many other stalls here.

Alternatively, steal tea from the tea stall in Varrock (located south-east of the eastern bank, near to the small fenced area). This gives the same amount of experience per steal, except it can offer much higher rates due to the lack of guards to stop the player and because the shopkeeper will never move from his spot to interfere. The downside is the usefulness of the tea itself; although it raises attack by 3 levels, it has poor healing and is of little value.

Levels 25-38: Silk stalls/Warrior women
Finally, you can thieve more things around the RuneScape world. You should start thieving warriors (located in Varrock Palace, East Ardougne, north of East Ardougne, and Al-Kharid Palace) to get your level up, then when you reach level 32, you can try rogues in the Wilderness (but be safe)! They are good experience, but you should stick with warriors if you're a skiller or have low levels.

Another method is to steal from Silk stalls until 27. This method gives 24 experience each successful attempt rather than the 26 experience you get from warriors. The difference is that you are much more likely to successfully steal from a silk stall in East Ardougne than you are to steal from a warrior.

At level 30, you should complete the quest The Feud because it grants the player 15,000 Thieving experience which will bring you to level 37 and access to blackjacks. Alternatively you can keep thieving here until you have 15,408 experience before doing the quest which, after it's complete, will bring you to level 38 and allow you to steal from Master Farmers.

Levels 25-38/55: Hosidius fruit stalls
An alternative method to thieving silk stalls is thieving from Hosidius fruit stalls. Hosidius fruit stalls at Great Kourend require you to have 15% Hosidius House Favour and level 25 thieving. Stealing from these fruit stalls give 28.5 experience per fruit. There are 2 guard dogs defending these stalls but they can easily be avoided as long as you trap them in the store adjacent to the stalls by attacking them and closing the door once you have lured them inside (see picture on right). This removes any disturbances and allows a 100% success rate as you will never get caught. The closest bank is just north-east from the fruit stalls (see picture).

Alternatively, you can simply drop everything for 30k exp/hr.

Levels 38-55: Master farmers
At level 38 you should be stealing from Master Farmers (15k exp per hour) for lots of seeds. At level 40 guards are also an option (20k exp per hour) in Ardougne, Varrock, or Falador. Guards and Master Farmers do catch you more often than you succeed and require you to use food often, but they are both good for your level. You can always steal from the Bakers Stall for food when needed.

At level 45, stealing from Fremenniks becomes a valid option, granting 50% more experience per pickpocket than Master Farmers (must have completed The Fremennik Trials). (50k exp / hr) Food can be fished in Rellekka and cooked on one of the many fires, making banking unnecessary. You can also bring noted food and trade it with the merchant at the stalls or simply steal from one of the fish stalls, to the west of the hall.

Another tactic for thieving guards is to get a staff of air, a fire rune, and a law rune and to only have those items and head to west Varrock to steal from the guards. After you die from failing to thieve, you will keep the runes and the staff, but drop your stack of money. Simply teleport back to Varrock, grab more runes, and pick up your stack of money. No food needed.

Another tactic that doesn't require any items or money to be spent, is after finishing the Recruitment Drive quest, you can change your spawn point to Falador. After you die, you will spawn in the Falador Castle, where you can cross the bridge and resume pickpocketing.

Another tactic that doesn't require food or money is to thieve guards in Ardougne. One can be trapped in the building to the north of the market for minimal hassle, and you can easily steal more food from the bakery stall in the market once you run out.

Levels 55-91: Blackjacking
At level 55, you can start blackjacking bandits located in Pollivneach after completion of The Feud quest. For blackjacking, you need a small cash stack, noted food (such as jugs of wine) and a maple blackjack of any type.

The basic method of blackjacking is to knock out the bandit, and pickpocket them twice while they are unconcious. You can pickpocket them thrice if you are fast enough (mouse keys are extremely useful here, but it is still possible without them). If you are caught while trying to knock out the bandit, they will hit you for 4 hp. When this happens, keep trying to knock them out again them and eventually then will be knocked out again. If you aren't quick enough might continue to attack you, if that happens then simply climb the ladder and come back down and they won't be aggressive anymore. It is better to try and knock them out again, as failing a pickpocket will result in you not being able to attempt a knock out for a few moments.

When you run out of food, use your noted food on the Banknote Exchange Merchant located in northern part of Pollivneach and he will unnote some of your food for a price. You will be able to make more money pickpocketing than you spend unnoting your food, so don't worry about bringing a huge amount of gold. Ali the barman also stocks 13 wines for 1 gp each. Each wine heals 11 hp and decreases your attack. The bar is on the south end of Polliniveach.

From level 45 to 55, blackjack Bearded Pollnivnian bandits located in northern part of Pollivneach. It is possible to obtain around 50,000 - 80,000 experience per hour depending on your Thieving level and clicking speed. You should expect to obtain somewhere around 80,000 experience per hour once closer to level 55 and with a reasonably fast clicking speed.

From level 55 to 65, blackjack Pollivnian bandits. It is possible to obtain around 75,000 -150,000 experience per hour depending on your Thieving level and clicking speed.

From level 65 to 91, blackjack Menaphite Thugs located in the southern part of Pollivneach. Even at just level 65 thieving, you can expect to get somewhere around 100,000 - 202,000 experience per hour. A 30 min test run, at 87 thieving, provided 232.6k exp/hour (and 100k gold/hour). This test run was done in optimal circumstances and with very high concentration. A more realistic exp/hour at 87 thieving would be 200k exp/hour, which is still extremely high. Blackjacking Menaphite Thugs offers the fastest experience up to 91 Thieving, but it is very repetitive.

Menaphite Thugs are noticeably easier at level 77, even compared to level 76.

Levels 55/95-99: Knights of Ardougne
At level 55, you can pickpocket Knights of Ardougne. Having completed medium tasks of the Ardougne Diary is strongly recommended, as this increases the success rate of pickpocketing in Ardougne by 10%. Assuming that the diary has been completed and the player uses dodgy necklaces, it is possible to gain around 60,000 experience per hour at level 55 Thieving, 105,000 experience per hour at level 70 and 250,000 experience per hour at level 95 using this method. You stop failing pickpocketing knights at level 95 with the diary perk. Compared to blackjacking, this method offers slightly slower experience rates at higher levels but more profit and it is significantly more AFK.

Attack a knight located south-eastern part of the Ardougne marketplace and lure him towards the building to the north of the marketplace. Go stand in the doorway of that building so that the knight is standing south next to you. Quickly run two squares south and use a dragon spear's special attack on him. The knight should move diagonally north-west, after that go stand west next to the knight. Use the special attack again so that the knight will move to the doorway. Go stand south of the knight and use the special attack once again. Quickly run inside and close the door before the knight is able to walk back outside. After waiting a while, the knight will move to most southern squares of the house and he will only be able to move between those two squares. If he is able to move elsewhere, you have lured a wrong knight and you will have to do this once again.

You can also simply hop worlds until you find a world where the knight has already been lured.

After the knight has been lured correctly, go stand north of him. Turn your camera west and all the way down, and zoom in. This way you are able to spam-click the same spot (around the chest) to pickpocket. It is important that you don't stand any of the squares he is able to walk on, as he will get stuck and will despawn after 5 minutes of stationary activity.

An alternative method is to bring a splashing account and lure a knight to a spot where the splasher is able to safespot the knight, such as in the south-eastern bank of Ardougne where it is possible to use the fences as blockades. As long as the knight is aggressive towards the splasher, the knight will not despawn.

Players can also bring a stack of law runes and a staff giving unlimited water runes instead of food to make the process more simple. After death two law runes and the staff will be kept, enabling the player to quickly teleport back to the Ardougne marketplace. Pick up your coins and stack of law runes off the ground and continue pickpocketing. Enabling Rapid Heal can help extend trips longer.

Levels 71/81/91-99: Pyramid Plunder
Players may wish to begin training at Pyramid Plunder at level 71 as an alternative method to ardougne knights or menaphite thugs. At 71-81 Thieving, approximately 125,000 experience can be gained in an hour. Thieving at levels 81-91 approximately yields around 190,000 experience per hour.

It is recommended to start doing Pyramid Plunder from level 91 as it is the fastest thieving experience in the game at this level, yielding around 255,000 exp per hour, with up to 270,000 exp per hour at higher concentrations.

Before level 91 it can be an optional method to train as it gives decent gold per hour (it should be noted that it is not as good experience per hour as pickpocketing Fremennik's until at least level 55 and not as good experience per hour as blackjacking Menaphite Thugs until level 91).

You need to have started the quest Icthlarin's Little Helper to be able to enter Sophanem. Completing Contact! is also highly recommended for a bank near the pyramid, otherwise you will have to travel back to the bank in Nardah every time you need food or anti-poison potions.

You could keep all the loot from the urns and sell them to Simon Templeton at the Agility Pyramid; However, it's recommended to leave them, since the required banking will lower your experience per hour. It should be noted that you can possibly loot a Pharaoh's sceptre from the golden chests or sarcophagi, which can then be sold to other players, or kept for yourself, in order to significantly shorten bank trips, as it can not just teleport you to Pyramid Plunder but to the Guardian mummy directly, along with several other destinations, making this minigame's profit potential much higher.

It takes approximately 335 games to get from 91 to 99 in Pyramid Plunder.

Refer to the page of Pyramid Plunder for a proper strategy guide.