Stealing is a fun way to obtain gold coins in The Elder Scrolls Online. To pickpocket without getting caught by guards, you need a successful Thief build first. In this guide, Nightharrow Gaming shows his best way to make a Thief character. If you follow most of the guide, you will become a Thief that can make a lot of money by pickpocketing in the game.
Skill Setup
Racial Skill Line
The ideal Race for stealing is a Khajiit because it has two useful Racial skills – Feline Ambush and Cutpurse.
Feline Ambush decreases your detection radius in stealth, which is helpful when you have a Bounty. Cutpurse increases your chance to pickpocket successfully by 5%. Although the 5% bonus is not big, it is still nice for starters who haven't got a higher Legerdemain level.
Class Skill Line
Nightblades is an ideal choice because of their Shadowy Disguise skill, and this skill is one of the most important ones for the Thief build. The skill allows you to become invisible to guards even if you've been detected.
Alternative Skills for Magicka Nightblade
If you are a Magicka Nightblade (aka. Magblade), there are several alternatives that are easier to obtain:
Twisting Path and Refreshing Path increase your movement speed by 30% for 4 seconds. But note that they will make you come out of stealth whenever you use them.
Another alternative skill for Magicka Nightblade is Concealed Weapon. When this skill is slotted, your movement speed while sneaking or invisible is increased by 25%.
Vampire Skill Line
It is highly recommended to become a Vampire and get the Dark Stalker passive. This passive allows you to ignore the movement speed penalty of sneak and decreases the time it takes to enter sneak. This passive makes it possible to get that same bonus without wearing a five-piece set.
Legerdemain Skill Line
Improved Hiding reduces the cost of sneak, which is important for a Nightblade, especially while you have to be stealthed the whole time. If you're a Magblade, the cost of sneak could be a problem for you because you won't have all the Medium Armor passives that further reduce this cost. However, it's not a big deal if you follow most of the things shown in the guide. But remember that it could be an issue if you're gathering, running long distances, or staying perma-stealthed as a Magblade.
Light Fingers increases the chance of pickpocketing successfully, and it is recommended to level this skill up as early as possible. It is worth noting that different NPCs have different difficulties. Although Nobles have higher value items, they are harder difficulty NPCs. Therefore, for starters or people with a lower Legerdemain level, choosing a Drunk or Sailor is recommended as it's easier to pick their pockets. Light Fingers is an essential skill for pickpocketing, so you will want to take this passive skill and have it maxed out.
Trafficker increases the number of fence interactions you can use each day. This is an essential skill because selling and fending items is the main way you level the Legerdemain skill line. You should take this passive and level up it as quickly as possible.
Locksmith improves your chances of forcing locks by 70%.
Kickback reduces Bounties you willingly pay to guards and fences by 40%.
Dark Brotherhood Guild Skill Line
Blade of Woe lets you instantly kill NPC targets, provided you approach them while in stealth.
Scales of Pitiless Justice (optional) reduces your Bounty and Heat if you are witnessed committing murder or assault.
Shadowy Supplier is one of the coolest passives in the game. Unlocking this skill will cause Remains-Silent to appear in Outlaws Refuges, the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary canteen, and the Thieves Den in Abah's Landing. Every day, she can provide useful items, including an Unmarked Sack, which contains a Monk's Disguise – a cowled robe that temporarily conceals your Bounty status from guards.
Spectral Assassin (optional) gives a 15% chance to shroud you when using the Blade of Woe, shielding you from being witnessed and receiving a Bounty.
Thieves Guild Skill Line
Swiftly Forgotten (optional) reduces your Bounty and Heat. But this is not a must-have skill if you don't have many Skill Points.
Haggling would be more helpful for you because it grants you an extra 10% gold for the stolen items sold at a fence.
Clemency (optional) gives you a free pass once per day if you are accosted by guards. This skill can help you when you are trying to sell things at the Guild Trader but happen to get caught by the guards. But this is also not a must-have skill.
Veil of Shadows is important as it is the only skill that reduces the detection radius of crimes. Even gear can't give you a smaller detection range when committing crimes, but this skill can. So this skill is highly recommended.
Psijic Order Guild Skill Line
Race Against Time (optional) increases your movement speed while being stealthed. However, you don't have to grind out the Psijic Order skill line just for this skill.
Champion Points
In the Craft tree, there are several stars that are recommended to get:
Out of Sight reduces the radius you can be detected while sneaking.
Friends in Low Places is another good way to reduce the gold cost of your Bounty easily. You can choose whether to slot it, depending on the space and what other stuff you'd like to do.
Infamous allows you to sell the fenced item for 25% more.
Cutpurse's Art increases the chance of getting higher-quality Treasure items when pickpocketing.
Fade Away also helps you to reduce your Heat quickly.
Homemaker (optional) gives you a 10% chance to find a second furnishing plan whenever you find a furnishing plan. But most of the time, this star is not useful.
Gear Setup
Four sets are recommended to get: Vesture of Darloc Brae, Night Terror, Ring of the Wild Hunt, and Velidreth/Selene.
Vesture of Darloc Brae allows you to regen Magicka and Stamina while being stealthed. This set is pretty helpful for a Thief build because moving while sneaking will burn Stamina, and Magicka is also required for casting Shadowy Disguise, even if you're playing as a Stamina character. Furthermore, Vesture of Darloc Brae reduces the detection radius and the cost of sneak. Therefore, the set is an excellent one for stealing in ESO. You can farm the Vesture of Darloc Brae set in Northern Elsweyr. But since the set is pretty cheap, you can also buy it from other players.
Night Terror is another good set for the Thief build, and you only need to wear three pieces of this set. Like the Vesture of Darloc Brae, the Night Terror reduces the radius you can be detected while sneaking and the cost of sneak.
Ring of the Wild Hunt is optional. If you have access to the Antiquities system, it is highly recommended to grab this Mythic item. As one of the best Mythics, the Ring of Wild Hunt helps you to run faster when you are pickpocketing or gathering.
Velidreth and Selene are also optional gear for this build. They allow you to kill an NPC pretty quickly, so either set will be helpful.
Consumables
If you play a Stamina character, you will want to use the Essence of Magicka potion because Race Against Time, Twisting Path/Refreshing Path, and Shadowy Disguise all cost Magicka. Although there is Vesture of Darloc Brae that grants Magicka, you would probably cast some of the skills more often than you need. So if you start to run out of Magicka, the Essence of Magicka could come in handy.
Similarly, if you play a Magicka character, you might be running low on Stamina as you're running around in stealth all the time. That means you would need Essence of Stamina.
That is Nightharrow Gaming's guide to making a Thief character for money-making in The Elder Scrolls Online. If you like his content, please don't forget to leave a thumbs up and subscribe to his channel.
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