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OSRS Thieving Guide: 1-99 Training - Old School Runescape

OSRS Thieving Guide: 1-99 Training - Old School Runescape

In-depth Thieving guide with tips on how to train it from level 1 to 99

OSRS Thieving Guide

From Scratch to Level 99

Check out our article on the Best Money making skills in OSRS to find guides on the other most profitable skills in Runescape Old School

 

Introduction

Thieving, a Member-Only Skill, allows you to steal Gold Coins and Items from Chests, Market Stalls, and even directly from NPC's pockets. It also enables you to disarm traps and pick locks on closed doors, allowing you to access some new areas and shortcuts. Thieving is definitely one of the more interesting Skills in the OSRS, and it is also one of the most profitable ones. Pickpocketing Master Farmer NPC's at 90+ Level Thieving allows you to make over 1000000 Gold per Hour, making Thieving a mandatory skill for every money-oriented player.

Leveling up Thieving Skill can be quite engaging, especially when compared to leveling up Skills like Runecrafting, but some AFK-friendly methods are present as well. There are various ways of raising up this Skill efficiently, while also making a good profit. This Guide will go over the fastest, the most efficient, and the most profitable, alternative methods of leveling up Thieving from 1 to 99. It will also cover stealing methods in general, Thieving-related Quests, and some optional Gear and Items that can make skilling process smoother.


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Before You Start

There are some preparations to be made before you begin to level up Thieving Skill. Some of these preparation steps are mandatory, while others are optional but recommended. These steps take a form of Quests and Items that improve your Skilling efficiency and generally make your Leveling process much more bearable. There are also a few things you should remember when Leveling Thieving, we will cover these as well.
Quests

Some Quests are a great way of getting the few additional Thieving Levels under your belt without the painful grind. Completing them is generally much faster (and quite cheaper) than Grinding through the corresponding Thieving Levels traditionally. Quests with higher requirements (and the longer ones) can be used for getting some additional Thieving Experience or as a small leap away from the boring, repeatable grind. They might be slower, but they are very engaging, and rewards are generally worth the hassle.

Note: There are about 24 Quests that award you with Thieving Experience in the OSRS. We have decided to mention some of the more interesting and worth-while ones.

  • The Giant Dwarf (Optional, Skill Requirements: 14 Thieving, 16 Firemaking, 33 Magic, 12 Crafting, and optionally 20 Smithing, 20 Mining. 2500 Mining, Crafting, and Smithing Experience, 1500 Firemaking, Thieving, and Magic Experience). This is more of a Mining/Smithing Quest, but it is quite easy (and there is a good possibility that you have done this Quest already when you were Leveling up your other Skills).
  • Hazeel Cult (Optional/Recommended, Skill Requirements: None. Reward: 1500 Thieving Experience, 2000 Gold Coins). Very short, beginner-friendly Quest that can be completed quickly for some initial Thieving Experience.
  • Tribal Totem (Optional/Recommended, Skill Requirements: 21 Thieving. Reward: 1775 Thieving Experience, 5 Swordfish). Another short and a rather easy Quest with low requirements that can be completed for some additional early Thieving Experience.
  • Death to the Dorgeshuun (Recommended, Skill Requirements: 23 Thieving, 23 Agility. Reward: 2000 Thieving Experience, 2000 Ranged Experience, access to the H.A.M Storerooms, access to Dorgesh-Kaan). There are some treasure Chests located in the H.A.M Storerooms, and guards that are patrolling the area can be pickpocketed for keys, which means that this quest unlocks an alternative way of getting some good Thieving Experience and quite a lot of Gold.
  • The Queen of Thieves (Optional, Skill Requirements: 20 Thieving. Reward: 2000 Thieving Experience, 2000 Gold Coins, Access to The Warrens, 10% Piscarilius favor, an item that teleports you to the Port Piscarilius). Quest with close to zero requirements, and a short one to boot. Definitely worth doing if you are looking for something to do during breaks from Thieving Experience grinding.
  • Fight Arena (Recommended, Skill Requirements: None, Weapons, Food and Armor are required though. Reward: 12175 Attack Experience, 2175 Thieving Experience, the Khazard Armour). Bosses in this Quest can be cheesed out with the proper usage of safe spots, which makes this Quest a great place to start your Thieving (and Attack Skill) journey.
  • The Slug Menace (Optional, Skill Requirements: 30 Runecrafting, 30 Thieving, 30 Slayer, 30 Crafting. Reward: 3500 Thieving Experience, 3500 Crafting Experience, 3500 Runecrafting Experience). This Quest is worth completing, especially if you want to Level up your Runecrafting Skill as well.
  • Icthlarin's Little Helper (Optional/Recommended, Skill Requirements: None, but you will have to defeat Level 91 monsters during the Quest. Reward: 4500 Thieving Experience, 4000 Woodcutting Experience, 4000 Agility Experience, Catspeak Amulet, access to the Sophanem city). A quite simple Quest with some good Experience rewards, that is also a prerequisite for some other worth-while Quests.
  • Darkness of Hallowvale (Optional, Skill Requirements: 22 Thieving, 40 Strenght, 5 Construction, 33 Magic, 26 Agility, 32 Crafting, 20 Mining. Reward: 6000 Thieving Experience, 7000 Agility Experience, 2000 Construction Experience, a Tome of Experience). The Tome of Experience gained from this Quest can be used to allocate a total of 6000 Experience to Skills of your choosing (three packages of 2000 exp can be allocated to skills below Level 30, and the same skill can be chosen multiple times).
  • Contact! (Optional, Skill Requirements: None. Reward: 7000 Thieving Experience, 7000 Experience to two other Skills of your choosing - Attack, Magic, Defense, Strenght, Hitpoints, or Ranged, The Keris, access to the Sophanem's Bank). Don't be fooled by the lack of Skill Requirements, this is a Master difficulty Quest suited for the most experienced players only, but the reward is appropriately high.
  • Dragon Slayer II (Optional, Skill Requirements: 68 Mining, 75 Magic, 62 Crafting, 70 Smithing, 60 Agility, 50 Construction, 50 Hitpoints, 60 Thieving. Reward: 18000 Mining Experience, 25000 Smithing Experience, 15000 Agility Experience, 15000 Thieving Experience, access to the Myths' Guild, various other rewards). Very long and very difficult Quest, suited for only the most experienced and dedicated Players, with appropriately high rewards.
  • The Feud (Recommended/Mandatory, Skill Requirements: 30 Thieving. Reward: 15000 Thieving Experience, the Desert Disguise, access to the Rogue Trader minigame, a Glass of Beer, ability to steal from Villagers, Bandits and Manaphite Thugs). This is a great Quest to do as soon as you reach Level 30 Thieving. Doing it at an appropriate level will rise your Thieving Level to 37. If you plan to speed level Thieving, completing this Quest is mandatory, as it is the fastest way of advancing from Level 30 to Level 37 Thieving. It is also required to unlock Blackjacking which is a very fast Thieving Skilling Method.
  • Mourning's Ends Part I (Optional, Skill Requirements: 50 Thieving, 60 Ranged. Reward: 25000 Thieving Experience, 25000 Hitpoints Experience, access to the Mourner HQ basement, access to the Village of Lletya, Mourner Clothing Set, Elf Teleport Crystal, the Fixed Device). Very long Master difficulty Quest with a very high Thieving Experience reward. It is quite interesting and worth completing if you meet all the requirements, rewards are also quite interesting (Toad Cannon, yay).
Items and Equipment

If there are any OSRS Skilling rules, this is certainly one of them: If there is an item or a piece of equipment that can make your grind easier, you should use it. Below, we present you a list of items that will make your Hunter journey a little easier.

  • Gloves of silence - Shhh! These Gloves increase your Pickpocketing success rate by 5% while they are equipped. You need Level 54 Hunter to wear those, but if you meet that requirement, you should definitely take advantage of them. They are very easy to get because they can just be bought from the Grand Exchange (the current price is 2200 Gold) or created from 2 Dark Kebbit Furs at the Fancy Clothes Store in Varrock (this option costs 600 Gold, plus 2x 530 Gold for Furs, so it is currently cheaper). You might need a few pairs, as they get damaged by unsuccessful pickpocketing attempts, and disappear after 62 failures (if you have more than 1 pair, don't use the first pair until it disappears, and switch the gloves instead, because when a pair disappears after 62 failures, all other pairs get restored to the "new" state). Players with at least 64 Crafting can restore the Gloves to pristine condition by using 1 Dark Kebbit Fur and a Thread, which is over twice cheaper than making/buying new ones.
  • Ardougne Cloak - Not only Heroes wear Cloaks. Ardoughe Cloaks of different tiers are awarded for completing elite, hard, medium, and easy sets of the Ardougne Diary. These Cloaks increase your pickpocketing Success rate by 10% ( from level 2), and success rate of Thieving from stalls by 10% (from level 1) (Ardougne Cloak 1 and 2 work only within Ardougne, and Cloaks 3 and 4 work anywhere in Gielinor). Cloak's bonus applies even if you are not wearing it. You should go out of your way and get at least Ardougne Cloak 2 because it will greatly increase your Skilling efficiency and make the Thieving Leveling process much less annoying.
  • Dodgy Necklace - What? That wasn't me. This Necklace gives you a 25% chance of not being Stunned and Damaged after failing a pickpocket attempt on an NPC, it has 10 charges and cannot be recharged, so a hefty supply of them may be required for training. Wearing this Necklace will greatly increase your Skilling efficiency, as it can save you up to 50 Health and 40 to 60 seconds of being Stunned.
  • Rogue Equipment - Very inconspicuous clothing, Sir. Each part of the set gives you a chance of getting double loot from pickpocketing an NPC, and the full set guarantees double loot. While this will not speed up your Skilling process, it is still recommended, because it will basically double your Gold earnings during Thieving Leveling, making it much more profitable (after all, you are doing this for gold, aren't you?). The whole set can be obtained from Rogue's Equipment Crates that are in turn obtained by successfully opening Safes at the end of the Rogue's Den minigame and consists of Rogue Mask, Rogue Top, Rogue Gloves, Rogue Trousers, and Rogue Boots. There is 1 in 8 chance of getting a set piece from the Crate and you can choose which piece you want to receive, so the grind is not as painful as it seems.

Note: Gloves of Silence do not stack with the Ardougne Cloak, so you should go for one or the other (Gloves are a simpler option if you have the skill to wear them, but they grant a lower bonus and the Cloaks are harder to get but give you 5 extra percent of pickpocketing success rate).

Things to Remember

 

  • If you change your Attack options to "Hidden", you will be able to pickpocket NPC's by left-clicking on them. Doing this will make your pickpocketing much faster.
  • Unlike Pickpocketing, Thieving from Market Stalls has a 100% success rate as long as you are out of the Owner NPC's and nearby Guard's line of sight. If you get spotted while Thieving from the stall its Owner will alert nearby Guards who will then attack you. Moreover, you will not be able to interact with the Stall owner for 10 minutes after the successful Thieving attempt.

 

The Training

For the most part, leveling up Thieving is straightforward, but there are some alternative methods available here and there, so you should pick the ones that suit you (and your wallet) the best.

Fight Arena Quest
Skill Levels 1-14 ⇒ The "Fight Arena" Quest
  • Doing this Quest awards you with 2175 Thieving Experience which is enough to get you from 1 to 14 Thieving instantly.
  • The Quest itself does not have any Skill Requirements.
  • As its name suggests, this Quest involves you fighting monsters in the Arena, luckily there are some safe spots that can be used for safe playthrough.

Note: This is the recommended way of getting the first few Thieving levels, as it is a lot less time-consuming than the standard Experience Grind.

Woman & Man
An alternative approach for Levels 1-5 ⇒ Pickpocketing Women and Men
  • This is the only alternative for the first 4 Level-ups.
  • Men and Women can be found all over the Runescape world (for example in Falador and Lumbridge).
  • Pickpocketing Man or a Woman awards 8 Thieving Experience and 3 Gold Coins.
  • a total of 49 successful pickpocketing attempts are required to advance from Level 1 Thieving to Level 5 Thieving.
Cake / Tea
Skill Levels 5-20 ⇒ Thieving from Cake Stalls in Ardougne/Thieving from Tea Stalls in Varrock
  • Both of those methods award 16 Thieving Experience per successful attempt.
  •  Remember that you must remain out of Guard's and Owner's line of sight while Thieving or you will get caught and attacked.
  • Cake Stall on the east side of the Ardoughe market has low guard activity, making it the best choice for Thieving Cakes.
  • Ye Olde Tea Shoppe from which you can steal Tea is located south-east of Varrock's eastern bank.
  • The Ye Olde Tea Shoppe has no Guards around it, making it a better overall Skilling spot, but you will make more overall profit/save more gold out of stealing from Cake Stalls (Cakes will come in handy at the later Skilling Stages because you will lose Health after failed pickpocketing attempts).
Silk
Skill Levels 20-25 ⇒ Thieving from Silk Stalls in Ardougne
  • The best Silk Stall to steal from is located at the East Ardougne Market.
  • You can get up to 15000 Thieving Experience per Hour with this method.
  • Advancing from level 20 to level 25 Thieving with this method will require 141 successful Thieving attempts.
  • Gained Silk can be sold to a Silk merchant, which results in about 30000 Gold per Hour profit.
Fruit Stall
Skill Levels 25-45 ⇒ Thieving from Fruit Stalls in Hosidius
  • This method requires 15% Hosidius House Favor (if you don't have the favor, gaining it is worth it as this is a very quick Skilling method).
  • The Fruit Stall can be found in front of the Logava Gricoller's Cooking Supplies store, which is located in the southern coast of the Great Kourend's Hosidius House.
  • Thieving from Fruit Stall gives you 28,5 Thieving Experience per successful attempt.
  • Guard Dogs that are protecting the Stall can be easily locked away inside the house, which allows for a 100% Thieving Success rate (just attack them, lure them inside, walk outside, and close the door behind you).
  • It is possible to get up to 30000 Thieving Experience per hour with this method if you drop all the loot on the ground.

Note: You can buy Baskets from the nearby Vannah's Farm Store (walk east of the Fruit Stalls). A single basket can store up to 5 Fruits, effectively increasing your efficiency if you want to bank/sell stolen Fruits instead of just dropping them on the ground (you should buy at least 20 of them for the best effect).

The Feud Quest
An alternative approach for Levels 30-37 ⇒ "The Feud" Quest
  • This is a recommended way of getting from Level 30 to Level 37 Thieving (you should go back to the Fruit Stall after the Quest is completed).
  • This Quest is required for Blackjacking, which makes it mandatory if you want to Level up Thieving Skill quickly.

Note: For more information about the Quest itself and Rewards from it, please check its description in the "Quests" section of this Guide.

Blackjacking
Skill Levels 45-91 ⇒ Blackjacking
  • Blackjacks are special member-only melee weapons that can be used to knock out NPCs located in Pollniveach. For the best efficiency, you should get a Maple Blackjack.
  • With this method, you will be knocking out Bandits and pickpocketing them while they are unconscious.
  • At Thieving Levels 45-55 you should be Blackjacking Bearded Pollnivnian Bandits in the northern part of Pollnivneach.
    • With enough actions per minute, it is possible to achieve up to 80000 Thieving Experience per hour with this method.
  • From Thieving Level 55 to Thieving Level 65, you should be Blackjacking an unbearded Bandit (they are equipped with a Shield and a Scimitar) located in Pollnivnech (this requires completion of the Feud Quest).
    • With enough actions per minute, it is possible to achieve up to 150000 Thieving Experience per hour with this method.
  • From Thieving Level 65 onward, you should be Blackjacking Manaphite Thugs, which are located in the southern part of Polliniveach.
    • With enough actions per minute, it is possible to achieve up to 200000 Thieving Experience per hour with this method.

Note: The best place to trap Bandits for faster leveling is Ali the Dyer's House, located just north of where the Banknote Exchange Merchant stands.

Pyramid Plunder
Skill Levels 91-99 ⇒ The Pyramid Plunder
  • You can begin to do the Pyramid Plunder at level 71 Thieving, but it will not be ass efficient as other methods on that level.
  • This is the fastest method of getting from 91 to 99 Thieving.
  • Starting the "Icthlarin's Little Helper" Quest is required to gain access to Sophanem, where the Pyramid is located (alternatively, you can use Pharaoh's Sceptre Teleport).
  • At Level 91+ Thieving, this method yields up to 270000 Thieving Experience per Hour.
  • Recommended Equipment for this method includes:
    • Graceful Outfit and Prayer bonus gear (Monk Robes for example)
    • Antidote++
    • A lot of Food
    • Some Gold Coins
    • Stamina Potions

Note: Completing the Quest "Contact!" gives you access to a Bank located near the Pyramid. You should consider completing this Quest if you want to maximize your Skilling efficiency at the Pyramid.

Master Farmer
An alternative approach for Levels 38-99 ⇒ Pickpocketing Master Farmers
  • Pickpocketing Master Farmers yields high amounts of Farming Seeds that are in high demand on the Grand Exchange.
  • At lower Thieving Levels, your Pickpocketing success rate on Master Farmers will be rather low (close to 50%), so this method, while still profitable, is not recommended below Level 50 Thieving if you want to Level up your Thieving quickly.
  • At 38 Thieving, with full Rogue Outfit, you should be able to make about 120000 Gold and 32000 Thieving Experience per Hour with this method
  • At Level 94+ Thieving, you can make up to 1000000 Gold per Hour with this method, which makes it the most profitable Thieving activity overall.

Note: If you want to know more about Pickpocketing Master Farmers, check our OSRS Gold farming Guide.

Knight of Ardougne
An alternative approach for Levels 55-99 ⇒ Pickpocketing Knights of Ardougne
  • This is a good alternative if you are looking for AFK-friendly method.
  • Knights of Ardoughe are residing in the East Ardougne Marketplace and in the courtyard of the East Ardougne Castle.
  • Successful pickpocketing attempt on the Knight awards you with 84,3 Thieving Experience.
  • Ardougne Cloak 2 or better is recommended for this, as it will increase your Pickpocketing success rate by 10%.
  • This method is slower than Blackjacking, but it still provides some nice Experience per Hour (from 60000 Exp at Level 55 up to 250000 Exp at level 95).
  • For the best efficiency, you should lure a Knight from the south-eastern part of the marketplace to a building located in the north of the marketplace (alternatively, you can go to the World 378 which is unofficial Knights of Ardougne pickpocketing world, that should have a Knight already lured).
  • You should be able to make up to 120000 Gold per Hour with this method at higher Skill Levels.


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END NOTE

This Guide has covered the basics of Leveling up Thieving Skill and should allow you to Grind Thieving experience efficiently. Please remember that all steps featured above are just raw guidelines, and you are free to develop your Skills however you want, but nevertheless, we hope that you will find this Guide at least somewhat helpful.

Please do note that this is an early version of our guide, and we will be happy to receive constructive criticism, that will help us improve it, so leave your suggestions in the comment section below. We also plan to add further, less known Skilling methods to the list in the foreseeable future.

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