Posted on 2019-05-15
Thieving is a pretty linear and basic skill in terms of skill training. Dependant on the method you choose to use, you’ll be spending a lot of time training in the same place. This makes it boring for many players, however others enjoy the simplicity and ease of methods such as pickpocketing Ardougne Knights at higher levels. Dependant on your tolerance to these actions, you’ll either love or hate training Thieving.
In this guide, I will discuss the various methods available to you, their advantages and disadvantages, approximate costs (or profits) and XP rates. I’ll also explore the reasons that may motivate you to train the Thieving skill, and outline the content that requires a specific Thieving level in order to access. Early thieving levels probably won’t make you decent amount of gold but that’s not an issue. You could just easily order some here at food4rs for great rates and 24/7 service!
Why should you improve your Thieving skill in Oldschool Runescape?
Training Thieving could be done for a multitude of reasons, one of which begin that at high levels, pickpocketing certain NPC’s can yield upwards of 1M GP per hour profit. For those seeking high XP rewards, players with higher Thieving levels are also capable of gaining 200-300K+ XP per hour, which is pretty desirable and fast comparatively against other skills.
Additionally, there is the reason of content unlocks; there is a limited amount of content locked behind a Thieving Level requirement (outlined below), the most notable being the Achievement diary tasks of which the rewards are often highly desirable.
Some players may choose to level Thieving via methods such as pickpocketing, whereby you’re essentially spamming left click on a single tile to gain XP. Many players find this relaxing and enjoy being able to multitask whilst gaining XP. However, some may find this process tedious and opt to use a different method (such as the Pyramid Plunder minigame), discussed later.
Quest Requirements
There are many quests within OSRS that have a Thieving level requirement in order to complete them. The most notable are Dragon Slayer II, which requires Level 60 Thieving to complete, Monkey Madness II which requires Level 55 Thieving, and Desert Treasure at 53 Thieving. The complete list of Quests with Thieving level requirements are as follows:
Level 13 - The Lost Tribe
Level 14 - The Giant Dwarf
Level 15 - Cold War
Level 15 - Watchtower
Level 17 - The Hand in the Sand
Level 21 - Tribal Totem
Level 22 - Darkness of Hallowvale
Level 23 - Death to the Dorgeshuun
Level 25 - Creature of Fenkenstrain
Level 25 - The Dig Site
Level 25 - The Golem
Level 30 - The Feud
Level 30 - The Slug Menace
Level 37 - Spirits of the Elid
Level 40 - Fairytale II - Cure a Queen
Level 42 - Temple of Ikov
Level 50 - Legends' Quest
Level 50 - Mourning's End Part I
Level 53 - Desert Treasure
Level 55 - Monkey Madness II
Level 58 - Grim Tales
Level 60 - Dragon Slayer II
Diary Requirements
Similarly, many Achievement Diaries in OSRS have Thieving level requirements in order to complete. Diary rewards are arguably even more useful than Quest rewards within the game, therefore this may act as a strong incentive for players to level up their Thieving skill. The Diary tasks that have a Thieving level requirement are as follows:
| Level | Diary | Difficulty | Task |
| 5 | Ardougne | Easy | Steal a Cake from the East Ardougne market stalls |
| 5 | Fremennik | Easy | Steal from the Keldagrim crafting or baker's stall |
| 5 | Varrock | Easy | Steal from the Tea stall in Varrock |
| 21 | Desert | Easy | Open the sarcophagus in the first room of Pyramid Plunder |
| 25 | Desert | Medium | Steal a Phoenix feather from the Desert phoenix |
| 25 | Kourend & Kebos | Easy | Steal from a Hosidius Food Stall |
| 38 | Ardougne | Medium | Pickpocket the Master Farmer north of East Ardougne |
| 38 | Lumbridge & Draynor | Medium | Pickpocket Martin the Master Gardener |
| 40 | Falador | Medium | Pickpocket a Falador guard |
| 42 | Fremennik | Medium | Steal from the Rellekka Fish stalls |
| 47 | Kandarin | Medium | Steal from the chest in Hemenster |
| 49 | Kourend & Kebos | Hard | Deliver an artefact to Captain Khaled. |
| 50 | Falador | Hard | Crack a wall safe within the Rogues' Den |
| 50 | Karamja | Hard | Kill a Deathwing in the dungeon under the Kharazi Jungle |
| 65 | Desert | Hard | Knock out a Menaphite thug |
| 72 | Ardougne | Hard | Attempt to steal from King Lathas' chest |
| 75 | Fremennik | Hard | Steal from the Keldagrim gem stall |
| 75 | Western Provinces | Hard | Pickpocket a Gnome |
| 78 | Lumbridge & Draynor | Elite | Steal from a Dorgesh-Kaan rich chest |
| 80 | Ardougne | Elite | Pickpocket a Hero |
| 82 | Ardougne | Elite | Attempt to picklock the door to the basem*nt of the Yanille Agility Dungeon |
| 84 | Wilderness | Elite | Steal from the Wilderness Rogues' Chests |
| 85 | Western Provinces | Elite | Pickpocket an Elf |
| 91 | Desert | Elite | Steal from the Grand Gold Chest in the final room of Pyramid Plunder |
Quests With Thieving XP Rewards
Additionally, there are a variety of quests that reward Thieving XP. You may want to complete these before heading for Level 99 if you feel that the XP reward given is worthwhile:
| Quest | XP Reward | Thieving Req |
| Tower of Life | 500 | - |
| Creature of Fenkenstrain | 1,000 | 25 |
| The Golem | 1,000 | 25 |
| The Hand in the Sand | 1,000 | 17 |
| Spirits of the Elid | 1,000 | 37 |
| Biohazard | 1,250 | - |
| The Giant Dwarf | 1,500 | 14 |
| Hazeel Cult | 1,500 | - |
| Tribal Totem | 1,775 | 21 |
| Death to the Dorgeshuun | 2,000 | 23 |
| The Queen of Thieves | 2,000 | 20 |
| Fight Arena | 2,175 | - |
| Fairytale II - Cure a Queen | 2,500 | 40 |
| The Fremennik Trials | 2,812 | - |
| The Slug Menace | 3,500 | 30 |
| Icthlarin's Little Helper | 4,500 | - |
| Ratcatchers | 4,500 | - |
| Darkness of Hallowvale | 6,000 | 22 |
| Grim Tales | 6,000 | 58 |
| Contact! | 7,000 | - |
| Dragon Slayer II | 15,000 | 60 |
| The Feud | 15,000 | 30 |
| Monkey Madness II | 15,000 | 55 |
| Mourning's Ends Part I | 25,000 | 50 |
Some Good-To-Know’s
MouseKeys
For repetitive clicking tasks such as pickpocketing, you should know about a Windows program called MouseKeys. MouseKeys is an ease-of-access tool that allows you to control the mouse by using the keyboard NumPad keys. You can find full tutorials on how to use this software online, but essentially once enabled, you’ll be able to use the ‘5’ key on the NumPad to left-click the mouse. Due to the click intensive nature of such tasks, this is preferable over using the mouse conventionally, as it is easier on the hand and feels more comfortable over long periods of time.
Rogues’ Outfit
Rogue equipment is an untradeable set of armour obtained from a rogue's equipment crate, which are obtained from successfully opening the safes at the end of the Rogues' Den minigame. While wearing pieces of the rogue armour, there is a chance of pickpocketing twice the loot from an NPC, with the full set guaranteeing double loot.
It is obtainable with 50 Agility and 50 Thieving, which you’ll need in order to start the minigame. Obtaining the full outfit takes between 1 hour (at high Thieving levels) to 4 hours, dependant on RNG. It is recommended to obtain the full outfit as soon as you’re able to if you intend on levelling up using pickpocketing, as the total loot will be substantially greater.
This is almost essential if you’re going to be using methods involving pickpocketing, such as Master Farmers or Ardougne Knights.
Pickpocketing Tips
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 maximise experience.
Additionally, there are a number of items that you can obtain that significantly increase the success rate of pickpocketing. Notable items include:
Ardougne Cloak
2 - 10% increased chance to pickpocket in Ardougne (even if the cloak is not equipped)
3 - 10% increased chance of succeeding when pickpocketing around Gielinor (even if the cloak is not equipped)
Dodgy Necklace
While equipped, the necklace provides a 25% chance to prevent the player from being stunned and damaged while pickpocketing NPCs. The necklace begins with 10 charges; one charge is consumed each time the necklace successfully prevents damage.
Gloves of Silence
The Gloves of Silence reduce your chance of failure while pickpocketing by 5%. They eventually break after 62 failed pickpockets. To wear the gloves of silence, players need at least level 54 Hunter. It is worth noting that these gloves do not stack with the effects of the Ardougne Cloak(2) or (3), meaning that these should only be used before the cloak is obtained.
Starting Out
Level 1 - 5: Pickpocketing Men
When first starting Thieving, your only option is to pickpocket men or women around OSRS. After reaching level 5, head to Ardougne. Acquiring 5 thieving from pickpocketing men and women takes 49 successful pickpockets.
You may also do the quest Fight Arena for 2,175 experience, which brings you to level 14 if starting from 1.
Levels 5-20/25: Cake Stalls
Next, you’ll want to steal from Cake Stalls in Ardougne, of which each successful steal will yield 16XP. You’ll need 4,082 XP, requiring 256 stolen cakes to achieve Level 20, or 7,454 XP which is 466 cakes for Level 25.
There is also a Cake Stall in the Kingdom 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.
Levels 20-38: Silk Stalls
Similar to Cake Stalls, Silk Stalls are also conveniently located in Ardougne Market. Players earn 24 Thieving experience every time they steal some silk, and it takes four seconds for the stock to replenish. You’ll need to gain 25,938 XP to achieve Level 38, which equates to 1081 Silk stolen. This method should be considered an alternate method for those that do not wish to unlock Hosidius fruit stalls, which yield substantially better XP.
At level 30, you should complete the quest The Feud because it grants the player 15,000 Thieving experience
Levels 25-45/55: 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. The fruit also spawns significantly faster than the Silk at Silk Stalls. This method is highly effective and is capable of yielding 25,000 - 33,000 XP per hour which is excellent considering the relatively low level.
This method is recommended for most players, and you shouldn’t fear the Favour gaining process as it’s relatively quick and straightforward.
Level 45/55 - 91: Blackjacking
Blacjacking is a highly click intensive method, with comparatively high XP per hour rates. If you can tolerate it, this method is the fastest Thieving method until the high levels (81+) whereby Pyramid Plunder and Ardougne Knights begin to overtake in XP rate.
From level 45 to 55, blackjack Bearded Pollnivnian bandits located in northern part of Pollnivneach. It is possible to achieve around 50,000 - 80,000 experience per hour depending on your Thieving level and clicking speed. You should expect to achieve somewhere around 80,000 experience per hour once closer to level 55 and with a reasonably fast clicking speed.
At level 55, you can start blackjacking bandit located in Pollnivneach after completion of The Feud quest. For blackjacking, you need a small cash stack, noted food (such as jugs of wine) and a blackjack of any type.
Level 55 - 99: Ardougne Knights
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, 150,000 experience per hour at level 80 and 250,000 experience per hour at level 95 using this method.You stop failing pickpocketing knights at level 95 with the diary perk.
You’ll also gain coins for each pickpocket, namely 50 per successful pickpocket. This loot is doubled if you have the full Rogue Outfit equipped. Approximately 3,000 pickpockets per hour is possible, meaning that profitability of 300K XP per hour is possible at high levels.
There are methods that exist to stop the Ardougne Knight from moving, which is very useful and convenient. To find the current world, head to the South Ardougne Bank and join the clan chat channel ‘Thievinghost’, whereby you’ll be able to see the current active world.
Pyramid Plunder
Pyramid Plunder is a Thieving minigame accessible from Level 21, however it is recommend to use alternative methods such as Blackjacking until Level 71, due to the fact that XP rewards are dependant on your current Thieving level. XP rates vary, with up to 120,000 XP per hour being possible from Level 71, jumping to up to 200,000 per hour at Level 81, and finally upwards of 270,000 XP per hour from Level 91 upwards.
Ideally, you should use this method from Level 71 - 91, assuming that you find it preferable to Blackjacking. At Level 91 upwards, there’s very little reason to do anything other than Ardougne Knights due to the unmatchable XP rates and afk level.
