Arena:Thievery

Steal icon

Thievery is one of the many activities the player may perform in Arena activated by pressing the Steal Icon and interacting with a valid target. Thief Classes and Nightblades have an advantage in this activity, but characters of other classes may engage in it as well.

Quick Guide to Stealing

The chance to succeed in stealing an item from a target is based on series of factors mainly involving class and attributes. These defining factors are:

• Character level, as the higher the experience points, the better for the success chance in stealing an item.

• Stealth-themed classes have an innate advantage from the start of the game in performing successful stealing, which both Mages and Warrior Classes do not possess.

• Agility and intelligence attributes, both of which give a greater chance of success the higher they are. As always, luck also has an influence.

Should your target be a door or treasure trove, identifying it will toggle a message describing how hard it might be for you to open it. Using the steal interaction will allow you to make a roll against it to try and open it successfully. Should the target be an NPC, you roll to steal an item and depending on the result you may receive one of two Messages:

If you fail

You're unsuccessful…

If you succeed

You successfully stole a [Item]

Failing to open a door or stealing an item in a Settlement inevitably results in the target's disappearance and guards spawning to punish your crimes, a death sentence for most low-level characters.

Benefits of Stealing

Early in the game, stealing is quite an advantage for Thief Classes, compared to Warriors and Mages who, most of the time, will have to win legitimate gold and sell loot to match the prices of weaponry, armor and spells. A well cultivated steal ability can thus make a character lots of gold and earn more valuable items early on. Classes with no advantage as thieves will likely have a hard time succeeding in robbing, but later in the game most classes will gain at least some decent ability to steal items.

It is possible to rob both Equipment Stores and Mages Guilds, the latter being the preferable target due to the high value of enchanted items and the ability to save the game within them. Thus a quick succession of successful steal attempts on a Mage, with intermittent saving, becomes the quickest and safest way to gain quick gold.

Pickpocketing Messages

You may receive a number of messages when you successfully pickpocket someone:

• "You have pilfered a dirty, sticky handkerchief."

• "All your victim possessed was a greasy hairbrush."

• "Your victim's pockets were empty, except for some string and a bit of paper."

• "You have pilfered a few worthless pebbles."

• "Your victim had nothing worth stealing, just some scraps of snake skin."

• "For some reason, your victim was carrying a dead rat around."

• "There were a few pieces of glass in your victim's pocket with which you almost cut yourself."

• "You have pilfered a small piece of cloth, speckled with blood."

• "There is nothing in your victim's pocket but an ink-stained handkerchief."

• "Your victim was carrying nothing but a small scrap of yellow fabric."

• "All you managed to pilfer from your victim was a shopping list."

• "Your victim's pockets were full of leaves, none of which are particularly rare or unusual."

• "There is a draft for a romantic poem in your victim's pocket. It looks like a bad poem."

• "Your victim was carrying a bit of deer horn in a satchel."

• "There was nothing of interest in your victim's pockets, just some dice for gambling."

• "There were only two buttons and a bit of thread in your victim's pockets."

• "There were a few grapes in your victim's pockets, apparently being saved for later consumption."

• "You have pilfered a crust of bread, apparently once part of a sandwich."

• "There was a small piece of meat in your victim's pocket, apparently once part of a sandwich."

• "There was not much of interest in your victim's satchel, just a bit of bone from a small mammal."

• "There was a small glass marble in your victim's pocket, pretty but useless."

• "You have pilfered a small square of red fabric from your victim's satchel.& [sic]"

• "You have not pilfered much of interest, just a piece of cheese and a scrap of crusty bread."

• "There was some twine in your victim's pocket, but not enough to be of any use to you."

• "There is little [sic] of use in your victim's pockets, just some lint, a bit of thread, and an old button."

• "There is very little in your victim's pockets worth taking, just a few scraps of tattered paper."

• "Your victim's pockets are greasy with oil - apparently something spilled in there."

• "All you pilfer from your victim is a soiled handkerchief.& [sic]"

• "You pilfer a note from your victim, a shopping list for a nearby equipment store."

• "Your victim was carrying two small pieces of wood, apparently something that needed repair."

• "There is nothing of interest in your victim's pocket, just a few flakes of lint."

• "You find nothing in your victim's pockets, just a bit of lint and a piece of string."

• "You find a small, warm, wet ball in your victim's satchel - possibly a bit of bat guano."

• "You have pilfered a small engraving of a woman, apparently your victim's mother."

• "You have pilfered a note, a letter from your victim's father, detailing hometown gossip."

• "You pilfer a few amateurly drawn charcoal sketches from your victim."

• "Your victim had nothing but a letter from a friend, describing life in a nearby village."

• "You find an unmailed letter to your victim's mother, describing the petty crime common to the area."

• "You pilfer a pressed wildflower from your victim, pretty but not uncommon at all."

• "Your victim was carrying a packet of seeds, most of which are blackened with age."

• "There is nothing useful in your victim's pockets, just a small ball of wax."

• "You find nothing of value in your victim's satchel, just a ball of flavored wax."

• "You pilfer a receipt from a faraway tavern."

• "Your victim is carrying nothing of value, just a small square of black velvet."

• "There is nothing of value in your victim's pocket."

• "You successfully search your victim's satchel, but nothing in it is of value."

• "You do not find anything of worth in your victim's pockets."

• "There is nothing in your victim's pocket except a dull letter from a friend in a neighboring village."

• "You pilfer a few pebbles your victim has unaccountably been collecting."

• "All you pilfer from your victim is a contract from a local moneylender for ten gold pieces."