Thieving training

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Introduction

This guide describes the most effective methods to train the Thieving skill. The experience rate estimates in this guide do not incorporate the use of any experience boosting items or bonus experience. Thieving is a support skill which involves using techniques such as pickpocketing, coshing and lock picking to steal items and to gain access to restricted areas. As players level up the Thieving skill they gain the ability to steal from NPCs and scenery objects which award greater amounts of experience when they are successfully stolen from. Levelling up Thieving also decreases player's chance of failing Thieving activities where there is a chance of being unsuccessful.

Useful equipment

Ardougne cloak

Different tiers of Ardougne cloak are awarded on completion of the easy, medium, hard and elite sets of Ardougne tasks. While an Ardougne cloak 3 or 4 is worn it increases the player's chance of success when pickpocketing NPCs anywhere in RuneScape.

Featherfingered necklace

While wearing a featherfingered necklace the player has a chance to take no damage and avoid being stunned while pickpocketting. The necklace contains 10 charges and can be made by enchanting an opal necklace or bought from the Grand Exchange for 1,334.

Soul-in-a-box

A soul-in-a-box is an item whose blueprint is unlocked by completing Nomad's Elegy. It's a reusable item which can be activated to summon a Distracting soul, which aids in pickpocketing. Each Distracting Soul costs 100 charges from the charge pack and lasts for 1 minute.

Enhanced excalibur

The Enhanced Excalibur heals 40% of total lifepoints over 40 seconds and has a cooldown of 5 minutes. This is especially useful when activated at low health because many thieving targets hit less when a player has fewer lifepoints.

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 2,322 each or created at the Fancy Clothes Store in Varrock from 2 dark kebbit furs for a cost of 600. 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 89, and thread, costing 10, on the gloves.

Black ibis outfit

Wearing components of the black ibis outfit gives a percentage increase in the amount of base experience that is gained while thieving. There are four pieces in the set: the mask, body, legs, and boots. Items from the outfit can very rarely be found while looting urns and sarcophagi within the Pyramid Plunder minigame. The chance of finding a piece of the black ibis outfit is increased if the player is wielding a sceptre of the gods. The sceptre of the gods is obtained as a rare reward from looting the engraved sarcophagus in the final room of the minigame. The engraved sarcophagus requires level 91 Thieving to access and level 75 Runecrafting to open. If all pieces of the outfit are worn, then an additional set bonus effect is given.

Image	Name	Experience boost
	Black ibis mask	1%
	Black ibis body	1%
	Black ibis legs	1%
	Black ibis boots	1%
Set bonus	1%
Total experience boost	5%

Trahaearn exoskeleton set

The Trahaearn exoskeleton set is a reward obtained upon completing the Plague's End quest. The set consists of the exoskeleton headband, exoskeleton torso, exoskeleton legs and exoskeleton bracers. When wearing a complete set, players gain the following bonuses:

• 25% chance of avoiding being stunned and damaged following an unsuccessful pickpocketing attempt.
• 25% chance of avoiding being bitten by a snake during an unsuccessful attempt to loot an urn at Pyramid Plunder.
• If the player owns pieces of the black ibis outfit, then they will receive their increased base experience effects while wearing the exoskeleton set.
• If the player has at least level 75 Thieving and level 75 Hunter, then they will gain a 5% increased chance of success when pickpocketing with the exoskeleton bracers equipped (this effect is equivalent to that given by equipping gloves of silence, so it is recommended that players use the bracers instead of gloves of silence if they are able to do so).

Camouflage outfits

Parts of camouflage outfits could be won as a prize from Treasure Hunter during the Camouflage Thieving Sets promotion which ran between 5 and 9 May 2016 or created through the Invention skill with camouflage fragments obtained through training Thieving. The desert camouflage outfit, Keldagrim camouflage outfit and Prifddinas camouflage outfit consist of head slot, body slot, leg slot, hand slot and feet slot items. When wearing a complete version of any of these three outfits, players gain the following bonuses:

• 5% chance of double pickpocketing.
• 5% chance to avoid being stunned when pickpocketing.
• Increased chance of finding black ibis outfit pieces and sceptres in Pyramid Plunder.
• Increased chance of not being hit by snakes in Pyramid Plunder.
• Increased chance of passing doors in Pyramid Plunder.
• If a player owns a black ibis outfit, they will receive its 5% increased base experience effect while wearing a camouflage outfit.
• If a player owns a Trahaearn exoskeleton set, they will receive its effects while wearing a camouflage outfit.

Players who own all pieces of the desert camouflage outfit, Keldagrim camouflage outfit, and Prifddinas camouflage outfit could combine these outfits' components to form the master camouflage outfit. This outfit gives superior benefits to those given by the other camouflage outfits. Players gain the following bonuses from a master camouflage outfit in addition to those given by a regular camouflage outfit:

• 7% chance of double pickpocketing (as opposed to 5% with the other camouflage outfits).
• 7% chance to avoid being stunned when pickpocketing (as opposed to 5% with the other camouflage outfits).
• Teleports to Lletya, the Thieves' Guild, Pollnivneach, the Consortium in Keldagrim, Pyramid Plunder, and the Prifddinas clan districts (Iorwerth, Ithell, Cadarn, Amlodd, Trahaearn, Hefin, Crwys, and Meilyr).
• Increased chance of pickpocketing Seren's symbol pieces.
• Auto-pickpocketing to a maximum of 10 pickpockets in a row.

Summoning familiars

There are 2 Summoning familiars available which can be used to give a temporary visible boost to a player's Thieving level if their special move scroll is used while they are summoned. This can be used to allow the player to access content which they do not currently have the required level for as well as giving a slight improvement in thieving success rate.

Image	Name	GE cost of a pouch	Summoning level required	Familiar duration (minutes)	Special move scroll	Thieving levels boosted	Scroll cost
	Magpie	1,702	47	34	Thieving fingers scroll	2	98
	Abyssal lurker	5,536	62	41	Abyssal stealth scroll	4	495

Five-finger discount auras

Five-finger discount auras increase a player's chance of thieving successfully by a fixed percentage while they are activated. These auras' effects last for one hour after they are activated. Players may use 5 or 10 vis wax to extend a five-finger discount aura's activation time by 50% or 100% (costing 77,165 or 154,330). This effect must be applied before the aura is activated. Once a five finger discount aura has been used the player must wait 3 hours before using it again. Five-finger discount auras can be bought using Membership loyalty points. All lower tiers of the aura must be owned before a higher tier aura can be purchased.

Tier			Percentage chance of thieving successfully increased by	Loyalty point cost
				Individual	Cumulative
1		Five-finger discount	3%	5,000	5,000
2		Greater five-finger discount	5%	14,000	19,000
3		Master five-finger discount	7%	33,500	52,500
4		Supreme five-finger discount	10%	58,500	111,000
5		Legendary five-finger discount	15%	119,000	230,000

Seren spells and prayers

Access to Seren spells and prayers, which can be found in the ancient magicks and ancient curses spell and prayer books, is unlocked upon completing The Light Within quest. Crystal Mask requires level 90 Magic and 7 earth, 6 fire, 5 body and 4 soul runes to cast. For 5 minutes after it is cast, Crystal Mask increases the player’s chance of pickpocketing successfully by 15% and gives a chance to not be stunned by NPCs who stun the player following a failed pickpocket attempt. With at least level 80 Prayer players can use the Light Form prayer, which enhances the effects of Seren-aligned spells while it is activated, to further increase their chance of pickpocketing successfully. Players will need to consume around 53 doses of prayer potion per hour, with level 99 Prayer, to maintain the prayer points required to keep Light Form activated. Use of prayer renewal potions can be used to help regain prayer points.

Methods

Summary

Levels	Method	Experience per hour	Alternative methods
1-5	Pompous merchants	6,000
5-15	Bakery stalls	11,000
15-41	Thieves' Guild Jail doors	61,000 (with level 15-35 Thieving) 83,500 (with level 35-41 Thieving)
41-65	Coshing volunteers	89,000–140,000
65-90	Menaphite thugs with crystal mask	250,000 (at level 99)	Begin thieving from monkey knife fighters at level 70 thieving, this gives up to 240,000 an hour with level 99 Thieving. Alternatively, start looting from Dorgesh-Kaan Rich Chests at level 78 Thieving; this gives around 230,000 experience an hour.
90-99+	Dwarf traders using Crystal Mask	Up to 447,500 experience an hour with level 99 Thieving.	Continue thieving from monkey knife fighters or training at Dorgesh-Kaan Rich Chests. Start training at elven clan workers with level 96 Thieving; this gives up to 373,000 experience an hour at level 99.

Levels 1-5: Pompous merchants

Players should begin their Thieving training by pickpocketing pompous merchants. Around 6,000 experience an hour can be gained from this method with level 1-5 Thieving. However, as only 388 experience is needed to achieve level 5 Thieving, players with no previous experience of the skill should achieve level 5 in approximately 4 minutes. Pompous merchants are found in Taverley, just east of the lodestone. Players will gain a few coins each time that they successfully pickpocket a merchant but will lose some life points and be stunned for several seconds if their pickpocketing attempt is unsuccessful.

Levels 5-15: Bakery stalls

Note: If you are an ironman, use this method until level 24 as ironmen can't obtain a lock pick before From Tiny Acorns.

At level 5 Thieving players can begin stealing from bakery stalls to gain approximately 11,000 experience an hour. As only 2,300 experience is needed to reach level 15 Thieving it should take players around 11 minutes to reach level 15 Thieving. Bakery stalls can be found at the East Ardougne market or within Taverley marketplace. Players should stand on the opposite side of the bakery stall to any market guards or guards present in the area; otherwise these NPCs will attack the player when they attempt to steal from the stall. Providing players are not spotted by the guards, attempts to steal from the stalls are always successful and result in the player gaining items including cakes, bread and chocolate bars. After an item has been stolen from the stall, the player must wait for the shop stall's stock to replenish before they can steal from the stall again.

Levels 15-41: Thieves' Guild doors

With at least level 15 Thieving players should start training by opening doors in the practice chest area of the Thieves' Guild. To access this area of the Thieves' Guild the player must have completed the Buyers and Cellars quest. The practice chest area is located south-east of the main training room within the guild; it is composed of 6 jail cells containing practice chests. Players should train their Thieving by opening the jail cell doors within this area. Once a door has been opened it will remain open for around 5.5 minutes, so players should change worlds (using the "join" option on any player added to their friends list or the "hop worlds" option in the options menu) to find a world where the doors are closed after having opened all the doors on their current world.

With level 15 Thieving players will only be able to open the 3 doors on the northern side of the corridor. At level 35 Thieving players will also be able to open the 3 doors on the southern side of the corridor. A lockpick is required in order to open the doors on the southern side of the corridor. Between levels 15 and 35 Thieving players can gain approximately 61,000 experience an hour using this method. With level 35-41 Thieving players can gain around 82,500 experience an hour, opening all the doors in the practice chest area.

Levels 41-65: Coshing volunteers

At level 41 Thieving players can begin thieving from coshing volunteers to gain between 89,000 experience an hour and 140,000 experience an hour, with around level 65 Thieving. To thieve from coshing volunteers the player must have completed the Buyers and Cellars quest in order to gain access to the Thieves' Guild. Completion of the From Tiny Acorns and Lost Her Marbles capers and partial completion of The Feud quest (up until the point where the player is taught about blackjacking techniques) is also required in order to expand the guild so that it contains Dodgy Derek's Dirty Deals, from which the player can purchase a rubber blackjack. Alternatively, one can attempt to cosh a volunteer with a normal wooden blackjack, and they will give the player a rubber one for free.

To steal from coshing volunteers a rubber blackjack must be equipped. To begin coshing, use the "lure" right-click option on any coshing volunteer to distract his attention. Once a volunteer has been lured they will follow the player for a short period of time, so it is recommended that the player firstly lures the volunteer to a spot where the NPC cannot move away, such as behind the door of the room containing Dodgy Derek, in order to make it easier to steal from the volunteer. After luring the volunteer the player should use the right-click "knock out" option. If the player succeeds in knocking the coshing volunteer unconscious then they can use the right-click "loot" option up to 3 times to gain Thieving experience before the volunteer regains consciousness. Players will also receive hanky points which can be exchanged for Thieving experience once per week. If the player fails to knock-out the coshing volunteer then they will be dealt 1 damage and be stunned for several seconds, during which they will be unable to interact with the coshing volunteer. Players can hold down their space bar while thieving from coshing volunteers; this will skip the dialogue that takes place between the player and coshing volunteer and speed up training.

Levels 65-90: Menaphite thugs with crystal mask

With at least level 65 Thieving players can pickpocket from menaphite thugs in Pollnivneach. Because of the high rate of failure when pickpocketing from menaphite thugs, players should only train at them if they are able to use the crystal mask spell and light form prayer to increase their chance of pickpocketing from them successfully. Players may obtain up to 250,000 experience an hour, at level 99 Thieving, using crystal mask and light form at menaphite thugs. To make pickpocketing from a menaphite thug easier the player should then trap one on a space where it is unable to move. Players using the Evolution of Combat mode interface can also eliminate the need to move the mouse while pickpocketting the thug by reducing their game view down to a narrow window at the bottom of their screen using the 3D World Editing options in Edit Mode. With the thug positioned to the south of the player's character this should make it so that when the player right-clicks the thug, the option to pickpocket the thug is in the same place as the player's cursor, using this in combination with Windows Mousekeys the player is able to perform both left and right click with one action further increasing the experience an hour.

Coshing volunteers (65-70/78)

Players who wish to gain experience quickly but do not have access to seren spells and prayers should continue training at coshing volunteers until level 70 Thieving. Stealing from coshing volunteers can give up to around 124,000 experience an hour at level 70 Thieving.

At level 70 Thieving, if players do not have access to Ape Atoll, then they should continue training at coshing volunteers until level 78 Thieving. Otherwise, they should begin training at monkey knife fighters. Stealing from coshing volunteers can give up to around 155,000 experience an hour with level 78 Thieving.

Monkey knife fighters (70-90)

Players can begin training at monkey knife fighters with level 70 Thieving. Stealing from monkey knife fighters can give up to around 240,000 experience an hour at level 99 Thieving. Monkey knife fighters are found in the building just west of Ape Atoll prison on Ape Atoll. The Do No Evil quest must be completed to use this method. The easiest ways to reach Ape Atoll would be to either teleport (requiring 64 Magic and the completion of the Recipe of Disaster subquest, Freeing King Awowogei), or to take Fairy ring CLR (requiring the completion of Fairy Tale III). If using the Fairy ring, a Monkey greegree or Ninja monkey greegree is required to leave the agility course. Additionally players need to have a gorilla greegree or bearded gorilla greegree equipped in order to steal from the monkeys.

After equipping the correct greegree, players can use the right-click "punch" option on a monkey knife fighter to knock it out. If the player is successful in knocking out the monkey knife fighter then they will be able to use the "pickpocket" right-click option to steal from the monkey up to 2 times before it regains consciousness. With some practice, players will be able to consistently pickpocket twice per knock-out, with good timing. Upon a successful pickpocket the player will receive Thieving experience and can receive items including coins, cooked lobsters, main-hand and off-hand black knives or scimitars ranging from mithril to dragon. Failing to knock out a monkey unconscious, or trying to pickpocket from one while it is conscious, will result in the player being hit for 60 damage and being stunned for a few seconds. If the player is unsuccessful in attempting to knock out a monkey knife fighter 3 times in a row then they will be removed to the Ape Atoll prison. There is also a 1/5 chance that the player will be sent to the prison if they pickpocket from a monkey while it is conscious. Both of these situations are fairly unlikely with attentive clicking, especially at higher levels.

Despite the player being in gorilla form during this method, wearing gear that helps with Thieving, such as the Black ibis outfit or the Trahaearn exoskeleton set, will provide their usual effects. It's possible to use Seren spells and prayers, however player needs to walk outside the building and cast Crystal Mask spell every time it's timer runs out, and then walk in again (in gorilla form).

Dorgesh-Kaan Rich Chests (78-90)

At level 78 Thieving, players without access to Ape Atoll should start to loot from Dorgesh-Kaan Rich Chests, which requires a lockpick and awards 650 Thieving experience. Once a rich chest has been opened the player must wait 8 minutes and 20 seconds before it respawns and is able to be looted again. Therefore, the most effective way to train at these chests is to open both chests in a room with 2 rich chests before quick hopping to another world. By doing this the player may gain around 230,000 experience an hour.

Levels 90-99+: Dwarf traders with crystal mask

With at least level 90 Thieving players can pickpocket from dwarf traders at the Trade Octagon in Keldagrim. Because of the high rate of failure when pickpocketing from traders, players should only train at them if they are able to use the crystal mask spell and light form prayer to increase their chance of pickpocketing successfully. Players can obtain up to around 447,500 experience an hour, with level 99 Thieving, by training at traders using crystal mask and light form. Use of additional methods to improve pickpocket success rate is highly beneficial when pickpocketing from traders.

It is recommended that players steal from the trader wearing a yellow vest located near a lamp on the northern side of the Trade Octagon, as this trader always stands on the same spot, allowing for easier thieving. Simply click on the trader to steal from them. Upon successful pickpocket the player will receive Thieving experience and items including bronze-rune bars, copper/tin-rune ores, harvest heaven seeds, coins, hard clue scrolls, court summons and crystal triskelion fragments. When the player is unsuccessful in pickpocketing the trader they will be dealt 10 damage and stunned for several seconds. They will also be attacked by a trade floor guard if there is one in the near proximity and will be unable to continue thieving while they are engaged in combat with the guard.

To avoid having their training interrupted by the guards, players should trap the guards in the rooms surrounding the Trade Octagon. The Trade Octagon contains 8 floor guards. Attack the 4 guards on the northern side of the area and lead them to a room in the north-western corner of the Trade Octagon. Once all 4 guards are inside the room, step just outside and close the door in order to trap the guards inside the room. Repeat this process with the 4 guards on the southern side of the area after luring them into the south-eastern room. Players may find it helpful to play on the unofficial dwarf traders world, world 48 - if they have the 2600 total level required to access this server, as the presence of other players who may be luring or killing trade floor guards can reduce the player's likelihood of having to deal with the guards.

Monkey knife fighters or Dorgesh-Kaan Rich Chests (90-96)

Players who are unable to use crystal mask to improve success rate while stealing from traders should continue training at monkey knife fighters until level 96 Thieving. Players may also wish to continue thieving from Dorgesh-Kaan rich chests.

Elven clan workers (96-99+)

Players who are unable to use crystal mask should begin training at Elven clan workers at around level 96 Thieving. Eight different types of elven clan workers are found in Prifddinas; with each clan's district containing a different kind of worker. Completion of the Plague's End quest is required in order to access Prifddinas. To steal from a clan worker simply click on the worker: the player's character will continually pickpocket the worker until they are caught. Upon first being caught by a worker, the player will receive the first of 3 strikes. The clan workers' suspicion towards the player and the player's likelihood of being caught in future by the clan workers will be increased. The player will also be unable to pickpocket from the worker that they were caught by again (as indicated by a no-pickpocket icon () that will be displayed above the worker). The player can still steal from any other worker within the clan until they are caught for a second time. The clan's suspicion and the chance of the player being caught while pickpocketing within the clan will be further increased. The player will now be unable to pickpocket from both the first and second workers that they were caught by. After being caught for a third time, the player will receive the last of 3 strikes and will be unable to pickpocket from any of the clan's workers for 20 minutes. A message in the player's chatbox will notify them when a clan has forgotten about the player's pickpocketing. While successfully pickpocketing from an elven clan worker the player can receive items including coins, hard and elite clue scrolls, crystal motherlode shards, Prifddinian musician's robes pieces, crystal triskelion fragments, crystal acorns, clan symbol pieces, and brawling gloves, as well as items related to the skills favoured by the particular clan.

The Thieving level required to pickpocket from an elven clan worker varies from level 91 to 98 Thieving, depending on the clan that the worker belongs to. As it typically takes around 4 minutes to reach 3/3 strikes for a particular clan, it is recommended that players do not begin training Thieving on elven clan workers until around level 96 Thieving. At this level players will be able to access 6 out of the 8 possible clans, meaning that they should be able to continuously train Thieving by rotating through different districts within Prifddinas during the 20 minute waits for previous clans to forget about their pickpocketing.

To gain the most Thieving experience per hour players should prioritise thieving from elven clan workers within the 2 districts that are currently affected by the Voice of Seren as often as possible, as base experience obtained from pickpocketing clan's workers is increased by 20% while the Voice of Seren is active. In between stealing from these clans, the player should steal from the other clans that they are able to access in order of descending level requirement, as elven clan workers with a higher Thieving level requirement award more Thieving experience per successful pickpocket. Crystal teleport seeds can be useful for teleporting between districts. It is possible to gain around 373,000 experience an hour by pickpocketing from elven clan workers while wearing a Trahaearn exoskeleton set at level 99 Thieving (with Meilyr and Ithell clans being affected by the Voice of Seren). The amount of experience that can be gained per hour while pickpocketing elven clan workers depends on which clans are currently affected by the Voice of Seren, as well as the player's ability to access clans which give greater amount of Thieving experience upon successful pickpocket.

Worker type	Thieving level required	Thieving experience (with Voice of Seren)	Clan symbol
Meilyr worker	98	170 (204)
Crwys worker	97	155 (186)
Hefin worker	96	150 (180)
Trahaearn worker	95	145 (174)
Amlodd worker	94	140 (168)
Cadarn worker	93	135 (162)
Ithell worker	92	130 (156)
Iorwerth worker	91	125 (150)

Alternative methods of gaining experience

Completing quests

See here for a list of quests that grant Thieving experience on completion.

Balthazar Beauregard's Big Top Bonanza

Players can do a Thieving performance at the Circus Distraction and Diversion once per week if they have completed the Some Like It Cold quest. To enter the circus the player must gain a circus ticket from the ticket vendor, which is randomly located in one of 12 possible locations each week. Players can start their Thieving performance by standing on the star next to Teddy.

During the performance players have 5 attempts to perform up to 5 different tricks. Thieving experience is received upon the first successful attempt of each trick that the player performs: repeating a trick more than once does not grant additional experience. Each trick has a recommended Thieving level to attempt; however this level is not required in order to perform the trick, as it is possible to successfully perform or fail to perform a trick at any Thieving level. It may take several attempts for a trick is successfully performed. However, when a player performs a trick that has a higher recommended Thieving level than they currently have, the experience received will be the same as that given for performing a trick with half the recommended Thieving level, rounded down.

File:Water Tank Escape.gif

To gain the most experience from the Thieving performance players should begin by performing the highest recommended level trick for their current Thieving level, and work down to the trick with a recommended level half of their current Thieving level. After this players should perform any tricks with a recommended Thieving level which is greater than their current Thieving level and then finally perform any tricks with a recommended level of less than half of their current Thieving level. The Distraction and Diversion's interface will display the recommended Thieving level for the performance's tricks, as well as show which tricks the player has performed successfully. Players can receive a total of 14,260 experience, in about 45 seconds, if they successfully perform all 5 tricks with level 90 Thieving or higher. With completion of the Back to the Freezer quest players may gain up to 1.5 times as much experience from each trick, at level 99.

Name of trick	Recommended Thieving level	Experience
Pretend Levitate	50	2,206
Card Trick	60	2,647
Flowers from Sleeves	70	2,794
Rabbit from Hat	80	3,088
Water Tank	90	3,525

Money making using the Thieving skill

Thieving money making guides

Method	Profit	Skill	Experience