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Thief

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This page is specifically for the thief class in Baldur's Gate:
Enhanced Edition (2012)
This icon indicates content from the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition campaign., Baldur's Gate:
Siege of Dragonspear (2016)
This icon indicates content from the Siege of Dragonspear campaign of the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition., and Baldur's Gate II
Classic & Enhanced
This icon indicates content from all games of the 2nd Baldur's Gate instalment – all editions and expansions. This may include The Black Pits II..

For the version in Baldur's Gate (1998)
This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate campaign. and Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast (1999)
This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast campaign., refer to Thief (Baldur's Gate).

Introduction[]

Thieves are rogues who can open locks, steal items, hide in shadows, find and disarm traps. Given their skillset, thieves can't be lawful good. However, you'll run into many situations in game that require these thieving skills, making a thief party member essential for almost every playthrough.

Thieves can't wear any metal helmets, they wear leather, studded leather and hide armor and can only use bucklers as shields to protect themselves. Their array of weapons consists of lightweight weapons such as long swords, short swords, katana, scimitars, wakizashi, ninjatōs, daggers, throwing daggers, clubs, quarterstaves, light crossbows, shortbows, darts and slings. All of the above restrictions can be later overcome by the Use Any Item high-level ability, which grant rogues access to almost all items.

All races can become a thief as a profession.

Ability scores table[]

Character Ability Score Minimum Score Shadowdancer^^
Strength^^ 3 10
Dexterity* 9 15
Constitution 3 3
Intelligence 3 3
Wisdom 3 3
Charisma^^ 3 12

During character creation, rolls below the minimum value for the class will be increased to that value. This table uses the values for Humans, other Races have modified ability scores.

*Prime Requisites for Dual-classing.

^^ The Shadowdancer class kit has a different set of minimum ability scores and has Strength and Charisma as prime requisites for Dual-classing in addition to Dexterity.

Thieving skills[]

A thief gains a fixed +25 thieving skill points (numbers vary among kits) upon level up. Starting stats and subsequent play values in various thief skills are further modified by dexterity and race, with the exception of Detect Illusion, which isn't modified by dexterity or any other ability score. At no time may you put more than 250 skill points into a skill. Therefore, the only way to raise the base skill higher is by raising dexterity after 250 points have been invested into that skill. Different potions and items may be stacked up to a bonus cap of 30 to each skill. Some thieving skills have no benefit over 100 points.

It's also worth noting that some values presented in in-game descriptions are incorrect. For example, the in-game description for Elves claims they get +5% to Move Silently and +10% to Hide in Shadows, but they actually get +15% to both (per the table below and the SKILLRAC.2DA file).

Note: In the original Baldur's Gate, Move Silently and Hide In Shadows are summarized as Stealth, and Detect Illusion and Set Traps don't exist, thus the difference in the totals of the following table.
Full starting points by race
Race Open Locks Pick Pockets Move Silently Hide In Shadows Stealth Baldur's Gate (1998)
This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate campaign. 		Find Traps Detect Illusion Set Traps Total Total Baldur's Gate (1998)
This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate campaign.
Humans 10 15 10 5 10 5 0nr 0 45 40
Dwarves 20 15 10 5 10 20 5nr 10 85 65
Elves 5 20 15b 15 20 5 0nr 0 60 50
Gnomes 15 15 15 10 15 15 10nr 5 85 60
Half-elves 10 25 10b 10 15 5 0nr 0 60 55
Half-orcs 10 15 10 5 – 5nr 0nr 0 45 –
Halflings 15 20 20b 20 25 10 0nr 0 85 70

Pick Pockets[]

A thief can steal items from non-hostile characters (including party members and charmed enemies) by using the Thieving skill on them. The chance to steal an item depends on the thief's and the target's Pick Pockets level and the place of that item inside the target's inventory.

The formula to determine the success of a pick-pocketing attempt is: 

(Thief pickpocket skill - Victim pickpocket skill) / 5 >= 1d20

Victim pickpocket skill will apply only if the victim has Thief class (single, multi or dual) and will be the sum of racial bonus, dexterity bonus and assigned pickpocket skill points. The thief will need at least 5 more pickpocket skill points than the victim in order to have any chance of success and if the attempt is successful, the thief's pickpocket skill has to be at least equal with the difficulty of the item slot from which he's attempting to steal (see table below) in order to actually steal the item. In the Enhanced Editions, a roll of 20 will result in a critical failure.

The formula to determine the success of stealing from a merchant's inventory is: 

(Thief pickpocket skill - Store Stealing Difficulty) / 5 >= 1d20

Store Stealing Difficulty is a value defined in the store template, is not influenced by the merchant's race, dexterity or pickpocket skill points and the highest store stealing difficulty in the game is 128 (Bernard from the Copper Coronet). There is no critical failure when stealing from a store, meaning that if the thief's pickpocket skill is at least 100 points above the store stealing difficulty, the steal attempts will always succeed.


Pick Pockets is raised by 5 points for every point of Dexterity above 16 and lowered by 5 points for every point of Dexterity below 12 (up to -15 at 9 Dexterity, which is the minimum for a thief during character creation).

BUG: In the original Baldur's Gate II, if the character's Dexterity is lowered below 9 by some special effect, the penalty to Pick Pockets will be removed entirely. The character's Pick Pockets level will be reverted to the value it would be without any Dexterity modifier (as if their Dexterity were in the range 12-16). The Enhanced games fix this and cap the penalty at -15 for all Dexterity below 10.

Also in the original Baldur's Gate II, both Dexterity modifiers and racial bonuses affect the maximum value of Pick Pockets. A character without a Dexterity modifier or racial bonus may raise their Pick Pockets up to 265 with skill points alone (270 for Elf and 275 for Half-elf). Beyond this point, a Half-elf with 25 Dexterity and magical effects that boost Pick Pockets can reach the cap of 325.

Also in the original Baldur's Gate II, both Dexterity modifiers and racial bonuses affect the maximum value of Pick Pockets. A character without a Dexterity modifier or racial bonus may raise their Pick Pockets up to 265 with skill points alone (270 for Elf and 275 for Half-elf). Beyond this point, a Half-elf with 25 Dexterity and magical effects that boost Pick Pockets can reach the cap of 325.

In the Enhanced games, Dexterity modifiers and racial bonuses only affect the starting value of Pick Pockets. The maximum value which can be reached with skill points alone is fixed at 250, regardless of race or Dexterity. The absolute cap is still 325 which can be reached with magical effects that boost Dexterity and Pick Pockets.

Not all items are stealable. Every item entry on a creature has a set of flags as seen in game file inspectors such as Near Infinity. Having either the "Not stealable" or "Undroppable" flag will make the item unstealable. The "Stolen" flag will make the item unsellable to most vendors. Furthermore, the item will also be unstealable if the item file itself does not have the flag "Droppable".

A failed Pick Pockets attempt is treated as an attack against the target and will cause most neutral characters to become hostile.

  • Baldur's Gate I & II: Enhanced Editions
    This icon indicates content from all Enhanced Editions of the Baldur's Gate games. May situationally encompass Siege of Dragonspear and The Black Pits I & II content as well.     However, not every "fail" is a ""failure": the Enhanced Editions handle cases where the thief's skill isn't high enough to steal from any of the available item slots (or if the target has no items) not as a failure and the attempt will not count as detected and thus not yield consequences.
Pick Pockets
Helmet –
Armor –
Shield –
Gauntlets 80
Ring 60
Amulet 80
Belt 80
Boots –
Weapon* 95
Fists –
Quiver* 50
Cloak 80
Quick item 50
Personal item 10
Magically created weapon –
*Impossible for the currently equipped weapon, unless it's using a quiver. Then the active quiver is unstealable, but the weapon using it is.

Each inventory slot is assigned a value which is the required level of Pick Pockets for a thief to steal from that slot. A value of 0 means the slot cannot be stolen from. The original games and the Enhanced games have different sets of values.

In the original Baldur's Gate, the following inventory slots cannot be stolen from: Armor, Belt, Boots, Cloak, Gauntlets, Helmet, Shield and active Weapon (incl. Fists) or Quiver. All other inventory slots can be stolen from even with a very low Pick Pockets level (e.g. 4).

The Enhanced games assign more dynamic values to various inventory slots, which are shown in the table to the right.[1]

Finally, although pickpocketing will break Invisibility, it does not break Sanctuary, meaning that Cleric/Thieves can safely pickpocket from charmed enemies in the middle of combat, for example.

Open Locks[]

A thief can pick the locks on doors and containers to open them. The chance to pick successfully depends on the difficulty of the lock and works on a threshold system — if the thief is more than 8 points below the lock's difficulty they have no chance of success, and if strictly above the difficulty, success is guaranteed.

The formula to determine the success of lockpicking is[2]:

Open Lock skill - 1 + 1d10 > Lock difficulty

The score of the 10-sided die is affected by the thief's Luck. A lock difficulty of exactly 100 cannot be opened. The highest openable lock has difficulty 95 in BG1 and Siege of Dragonspear, and 99 in BG2, meaning that it is not necessary for a thief to have more than respectively 87 and 91.

Find / Disarm Traps[]

Main article: Find Traps / Detect Illusion

This skill allows a Thief, Monk or familiar to find traps, which a Thief or familiar can then disarm using the Thieving button given enough points were attributed to the "Find Traps" skill. Each trap in the game has a Trap detection difficulty value and a Trap removal difficulty value, which are independent of one another. A detection or removal difficulty value of exactly 100 means that the trap cannot be detected or cannot be disarmed respectively.

The formula for finding traps is: 

Skill points >= Trap Detection Difficulty


The formula for disarming traps is the same as the one to unlock containers and doors: 

Skill points - 1 + 1d10 > Trap Removal Difficulty

Meaning that there's a chance to disarm starting from 8 points below disarm difficulty, but it will only be certain success at Difficulty+1. The 1d10 roll benefits from high luck.

Maximum difficulties encountered in each game: [3]

Container traps Ground traps
Detection Disarming Detection Disarming
BG:EE and SoD 91 97 90 [4] 99
BG2:EE 99 101 95 [5] 99 [6]

Move Silently / Hide In Shadows[]

These skills allow the thief to effectively become invisible. See the Stealth article for more information. If both are set to 200, it will always succeed.

Detect Illusion[]

Does not benefit from scores higher than 100.

Thieves may attempt to dispel non-friendly illusion spells within 15 ft whenever their Find Traps skill is active. Does not receive any modifier from a thief's dexterity score.

Find Traps / Detect Illusion is the modal skill used by players and some enemies. It is unblockable. Other enemy thieves use Detect Illusion (enemy) instead, which can be defended against.

Set Traps[]

Does not benefit from scores higher than 100.

The chance to set a trap through the "Set Snare" special ability is equal to the thief's "Set Traps" skill value modified by the thief's Luck. For example, a thief with 70 points in the Set Traps skill and a current Luck of 1 will have a 71% chance to succeed whenever they attempt to set a trap. A thief with a value of 100 in Set Traps will never fail to set a trap. Failures/critical failures are only possible for values (including the Luck bonus) under 100; in this case, if the thief fails to set a trap, they will have a 25% chance of incurring a critical failure causing them to be hurt by their own trap.

Thieves can set one trap per rest at level 1, plus one additional trap per rest for every 5th level thereafter. Traps remain even after rest, so it's possible to set more, even at level 1, but there is a hard maximum limit of seven traps per map area. (TRAPLIMIT.2DA determines the current map area trap limit (per class/class combo) and equals the per-rest limit +1. So, for example, if the number of traps a thief can set per rest as determined by character level is one, then the maximum number of traps the thief can set in that area is two (1 + 1). However, regardless of character level, the total number of traps that may be active in any area is capped at seven.) Setting a trap has the same 1-round (6-second) cooldown period as casting a spell or using a magical item; therefore, a thief can't use a potion or spell or set another trap until the next round.

Traps can only be set when an enemy is not in the thief's line of sight. Traps activate when an enemy gets within a certain distance (the damage range of a fireball spell) and fire projectiles that strike all enemies in the area. Allies of the thief are not affected.

Backstabbing[]

The backstab ability allows attacks a thief makes while concealed and behind a target to perform additional damage. The additional damage is substantial enough to often kill targets in a single blow. See the Backstab article for more details.

Backstab multiplier / Level

Thief Assassin Stalker Shadowdancer
1-4 x2 x2 x2 -
5-8 x3 x3 x2 x2
9-12 x4 x4 x3 x3
13-16 x5 x5 x3 x4
17-20 x5 x6 x4 x4
21+ x5 x7 x4 x4

XP gains for Unlock and Disarm[]

Baldur's Gate II introduces XP gains for disarming traps and unlocking doors and containers. This system was carried over into Baldur's Gate I with the Enhanced Editions, though with drastically reduced numbers. Below are listed Unlock and Disarm XP gains for each level.

Multi and Dual Class thieves will use the average level of active classes, rounded up.

Level
1 – 5 6 – 10 11 – 12 13 – 15 16 – 40
BG:EE [7] Unlock 10 17 27 27 [8] 32
Disarm 25 40 95 95 15
BGII Unlock 250 400 950 1,550
Disarm 1,000 1,750 2,750 3,250

Class kits[]

Thief[]

To accomplish one's goals, for good or ill, the Thief is a skilled pilferer. Cunning, nimbleness, and stealth are a thief's hallmarks. Whether a thief turns talent against innocent passersby and wealthy merchants or oppressors and monsters is a choice for the Thief to make.

Class features:

  • May not wear armor heavier than studded leather
  • May not equip shields larger than bucklers
  • May only use the following weapons: long sword, short sword, katana, scimitar, dagger, club, quarterstaff, light crossbow, shortbow, dart, sling
  • May only become Proficient (one slot) in any weapon class
  • May only become Proficient (one slot) in any fighting style
  • May distribute 25 points per level (40 at level 1) in thieving skills: Open Locks, Pick Pockets, Find Traps, Move Silently, Hide In Shadows, Detect Illusion, Set Traps
  • May backstab for increased damage: Lv1-4:x2 Lv5-8:x3 Lv9-12:x4 Lv13+:x5
  • May use the Set Snare ability once per day. Gains one use at level 1 and an additional use every 5 levels thereafter. Set a trap in the chosen location when no hostile creatures are in sight. Traps grow more powerful with the Thief's level and can only be triggered by enemies.
    • 1st level: Deals 2d8+5 missile damage
    • 11th level: Deals 2d8+5 missile damage and additionally deals 2d6 poison damage per round for the next 3 rounds
    • 16th level: Deals 3d8+5 missile damage and 4d8+2 fire damage
    • 21st level: Deals 3d8+5 missile damage and 20 poison damage with no save, slays target if a Save vs. Death with a +4 bonus is failed
  • Alignment restricted to any except lawful good
  • Hit Die: d6
  • Prime Requisites For Dual-Classing: Dexterity

Assassin[]

Assassins are killers trained in discreet and efficient murder, relying on anonymity and surprise to perform their tasks.

Advantages:

  • -1 bonus to THAC0 and +1 bonus to damage rolls
  • Backstab ability reaches x6 (at Lv17) and x7 (at Lv21) multiplier instead of capping at x5
  • May use the Poison Weapon ability. Gains one use at level 1 and an additional use every 4 levels thereafter

Disadvantages:

  • May only distribute 15 skill points per level among thieving skills

Gameplay

  • Poison Weapon applies poison to any attacks, including AOE attacks such as Arrow of Detonation and Fire Seeds, and magical projectiles like Melf's Minute Meteors. Even though this ability has been severely nerfed in EE, it remains as a valuable option
  • Assassin dual-classers arguably have the highest backstab damage potential in game, take the following extreme cases as comparisons:
    • Assassin (21) > Cleric: (18 Staff of the Ram & Righteous Magic + 0 proficiency + 1 style + 1 kit + 2 Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise) x 7 = 154 (max)
    • Kensai (24) > Thief: (18 Staff of the Ram & Kai + 5 proficiency + 1 style + 8 kit + 2 Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise) x 5 = 170 (max)
    • Assassin (21) > Fighter: (15.5 Staff of the Ram average + 5 proficiency + 1 style + 1 kit + 2 Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise) x 7 = 171.5 (average)
    • Assassin (21) > Mage: (18 Black Blade of Disaster average + 5 proficiency + 1 kit + 2 Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise) x 7 = 182 (average)
    • Keep in mind that what's shown above doesn't include bonus from many spells, strength or critical hits
Note: In the original Baldur's Gate II, damage bonus from Grand Mastery proficiency is 4 instead of 5.
  • Although backstabbing multiplier looks astonishing, in practical use it is very meaningless. Most of the Monsters will be killed in single strikes with backstab multiplier x5 already. If not, they are likely to be immune to backstabs anyway.

Bounty Hunter[]

This is a hunter of men, skilled in tracking quarry and bringing them back alive - whether for lawful authorities or underworld masters. Bounty Hunters are specially trained at their task and make fearsome opponents. They have honed their trap-making skills well beyond that of the average Thief.

Advantages:

  • +15 bonus to Set Traps
  • May use the Set Special Snare ability once per day in addition to the normal Thief's Set Snare. Gains one use at level 1 and an additional use every 5 levels thereafter. Set a trap in the chosen location when no hostile creatures are in sight. Traps grow more powerful with the Bounty Hunter's level and can only be triggered by enemies
1st level: Deals 3d8+5 missile damage and slows target for 5 rounds if a Save vs. Spell with a -4 penalty is failed
11th level: Deals 4d8+5 missile damage and holds target for 5 rounds if a Save vs. Spell with a -1 penalty is failed
16th level: Erects an Otiluke's Resilient Sphere around the target for 7 rounds if a Save vs. Spell is failed
21st level: Mazes the target, no save

Disadvantages:

  • May only distribute 20 skill points per level among thieving skills

Gameplay

  • Bounty Hunter’s special traps can be thrown at enemies as long as they’re not in the thief’s eyesight
  • companion Yoshimo is a bounty hunter

Swashbuckler[]

Swashbucklers are part acrobat, part swordman, and part wit: the epitome of charm and grace.

Advantages:

  • -1 bonus to Armor Class at 1st level, plus an additional -1 bonus every 5 levels
  • -1 bonus to THAC0 and +1 bonus to damage rolls every 5 levels
  • May Specialize (two slots, -1 THAC0 bonus, +2 damage rolls bonus, but does not gain extra 1/2 APR) in any melee weapons available to Thieves
  • May place 3 slots into Two-Weapon style
  • Gains the Whirlwind Attack HLA from the warrior pool in place of Assassination

Disadvantages:

  • May not use Backstab ability

Gameplay

  • Though they have no backstab multiplier for attacks from behind in stealth, swashbucklers still receive -4 THAC0 bonus for attacking from the invisibility state
  • They don't gain additional APR like warriors, so it is recommended to use weapons that grant APR bonuses like Belm.

Shadowdancer (EE only)[]

A Shadowdancer can harness the power of magic to increase their stealth abilities. Enigmatic and dangerous, these uniquely skilled thieves are able to blend seamlessly into the shadows in ways that a normal thief cannot, striking without warning - sometimes with supernatural speed.

Advantages:

  • +10 bonus to Hide In Shadows and Move Silently
  • Hide In Plain Sight: A Shadowdancer may hide in shadows even while being observed. Can be used together with Slayer Form.
  • May cast Shadowstep once per day. Gains one use at level 5 and an additional use every 5 levels thereafter. Step into the Shadow Plane and move for 7 seconds while others are frozen in time. The Shadowdancer cannot attack, cast spells, or use items while in the Shadow Plane and cannot use thief skills except Find Traps/Detect Illusion, Hide In Shadows. Items stolen from chests while shadowstepping will not raise any alarms.
  • Slippery Mind: -1 bonus to saving throw values.
  • Shadow Form (High-level class ability): Temporarily transposes some of the user's tissue with shadow-material, making the subject partially incorporeal. For the next 5 rounds, all physical attacks directed against the Shadowdancer only deal 50% of their normal damage. During this time, the Shadowdancer is also under the effects of Improved Invisibility and cannot be directly targeted by spells.
  • Shadow Maze (High-level class ability): Opens a temporary gateway to a small pocket within the Plane of Shadow. All enemies within 10 feet of the Shadowdancer must make a Save vs. Spell at a +4 penalty or become trapped inside a shadowy labyrinth as per the Maze spell.
  • Shadow Twin (High-level class ability): Creates an almost exact duplicate of the Shadowdancer for 1 turn. The duplicate is created at 60% of the level at which the Shadowdancer is currently on. It has all the abilities the Shadowdancer would have at that level. It also has 60% of the Hit Points of the Shadowdancer. The duplicate is fully under the control of the Shadowdancer

Disadvantages:

  • Alignment restricted to any non-lawful.
  • Backstab multiplier is one less than an unkitted thief, cannot backstab until level 5: Lv1-4:x1 Lv5-8:x2 Lv9-12:x3 Lv13+:x4
  • May only distribute 20 skill points per level (30 at level 1) among thieving skills.
  • May not use Set Snare ability, may not use Set Spike Trap, Set Exploding Trap, Set Time Trap HLAs.
  • Has three Prime Requisites for Dual-Classing: Strength, Dexterity (already has a min. requirement of 15) and Charisma.

Gameplay

  • Since the Staff of the Magi grants invisibility when equipped, a Shadowdancer can backstab and then swap to the staff while waiting for Hide in Shadows to cool down. This offers a (less efficient) alternative to Mislead for performing multiple backstabs.
  • Shadowdancers can easily avoid single-target spells by using Hide in Plain Sight just when an enemy is trying to cast a spell on them.

High-level class abilities[]

Thieves start to get HLA at level 24 and each level after, single class thieves will have 17 in total at level 40

Table for experience, hit dice and weapon proficiency[]

Level Level
Cap 		XP
Required 		Hit Dice Weapon
Proficiency 		THAC0 Saving throws
D/W/P/B/S 		Backstab
Bonus 		No. of HLA
1 0 1d6 +2 20 13/14/12/16/15 x2TAB
2 1,250 2d6 20 13/14/12/16/15
3 2,500 3d6 19 13/14/12/16/15
4 5,000 4d6 +1 19 13/14/12/16/15
5 10,000 5d6 18
17Sw 		12/12/11/15/13 x2S
x3TAB
6 20,000 6d6

18
17Sw

12/12/11/15/13
7 40,000 7d6 17
16Sw 		12/12/11/15/13
8 70,000 8d6 +1 17
16Sw 		12/12/11/15/13
9 110,000 9d6 16
15Sw 		11/10/10/14/11 x3S
x4TAB
10 Baldur's Gate:
Enhanced Edition (2012)
This icon indicates content from the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition campaign.

The Black Pits (2012)
This icon indicates content from the Black Pits campaign in the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition.

160,000 10d6 16
14Sw 		11/10/10/14/11
11 220,000 10d6+2 15
13Sw 		11/10/10/14/11
12 Baldur's Gate:
Siege of Dragonspear (2016)
This icon indicates content from the Siege of Dragonspear campaign of the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. 		440,000 10d6+4 +1 15
13Sw 		11/10/10/14/11
13 660,000 10d6+6 14
12Sw 		10/8/9/13/9 x4S
x5TAB
14 880,000 10d6+8 14
12Sw 		10/8/9/13/9
15 1,100,000 10d6+10 13
10Sw 		10/8/9/13/9
16 1,320,000 10d6+12 +1 13
10Sw 		10/8/9/13/9
17 1,540,000 10d6+14 12
9Sw 		9/6/8/12/7 x6A
18 1,760,000 10d6+16 12
9Sw 		9/6/8/12/7
19 1,980,000 10d6+18 11
8Sw 		9/6/8/12/7
20 2,200,000 10d6+20 +1 11
7Sw 		9/6/8/12/7
21 2,420,000 10d6+22 10
6Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 x7A
22 2,640,000 10d6+24 10
6Sw 		8/4/7/11/5
23 Baldur's Gate II:
Shadows of Amn (2000)
This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn campaign. 		2,860,000 10d6+26 10
6Sw 		8/4/7/11/5
24 3,080,000 10d6+28 +1 10
6Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 1
25 3,300,000 10d6+30 10
5Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 2
26 3,520,000 10d6+32 10
5Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 3
27 3,740,000 10d6+34 10
5Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 4
28 3,960,000 10d6+36 +1 10
5Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 5
29 4,180,000 10d6+38 10
5Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 6
30 4,400,000 10d6+40 10
4Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 7
31 4,620,000 10d6+42 10
4Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 8
32 4,840,000 10d6+44 +1 10
4Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 9
33 5,060,000 10d6+46 10
4Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 10
34 5,280,000 10d6+48 10
4Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 11
35 5,500,000 10d6+50 10
3Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 12
36 5,720,000 10d6+52 +1 10
3Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 13
37 5,940,000 10d6+54 10
3Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 14
38 6,160,000 10d6+56 10
3Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 15
39 6,380,000 10d6+58 10
3Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 16
40 Baldur's Gate II:
Throne of Bhaal (2001)
This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal campaign.

Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition – Shadows of Amn (2013)
This icon indicates content from the Shadows of Amn campaign of the Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition. The Black Pits II:
Gladiators of Thay (2013)
This icon indicates content from the Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay campaign in the Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition.

8,000,000 10d6+60 +1 10
2Sw 		8/4/7/11/5 17
Total 12 17
T Indicates the base Thief kit.
A Indicates the Assassin kit.
B Indicates the Bounty Hunter kit.
S Indicates the Shadowdancer kit.

Sw Indicates the Swashbuckler kit.

Stronghold[]

In Shadows of Amn campaign, thieves gain Thieves' Guild Stronghold after the side quest Find Proof of Mae'Var's Treachery.

Armor[]

The following armor can be worn by thieves without disabling their stealth abilities.

Item Type AC Can Cast?
Aeger's Hide Leather 3
Armor of Deep Night Leather 3
Armor of Missile Attraction Leather 5
Armor of the Viper Leather 2
Aslyferund Elven Chain Chain Mail 0 Y
Bladesinger Chain Chain Mail 1 Y
Drow Adamantine Chain Chain Mail 0 Y
Drow Elven Chain Chain Mail 2 Y
Elven Chain +1 Chain Mail 4 Y
Elven Chain Mail Chain Mail 5 Y
Grandmaster's Armor Leather 1
Hide Armor Leather 6
Human Flesh Leather 7 Y
Human Flesh +5 Leather 3
Karajah's Life and Death Leather 5
Leather Armor Leather 8
Leather Armor +1 Leather 7
Leather Armor +2 Leather 6
Leather Armor +3 Leather 5
Orc Leather Leather 4
Protector of the Second Leather 6
Shadow Armor Leather 4
Shadow Dragon Scale Leather 1
Skin of the Ghoul Leather 4
Studded Leather Armor Leather 7
Studded Leather Armor +1 Leather 6
Studded Leather Armor +2 Leather 5
Studded Leather of Thorns Leather 1
Sylvan Chain Chain Mail 3 Y
The Night's Gift Leather 3
The Night's Embrace Leather 5
White Dragon Scale Chain Mail -2
Dark Elven Chain Chain Mail 4 Y

Class exclusive items[]

Class Group exclusive items[]

Recommended items[]

Gameplay[]

Except for swashbucklers, thieves are relatively poor melee characters:

  • they have a poor THAC0 progression;
  • due to their weapon proficiency caps, they're unable to receive the additional THAC0, damage or APR bonuses offered by higher proficiency levels;
  • they can't easily increase their attacks per round;
  • they don't have many hit points;
  • their armor restrictions can result in a poor armor class value.

Here are some general ways to mitigate these shortcomings:

  • Consider playing an Elf. Elves have a max Dex of 19, which not only gives them higher thieving skill scores, but it improves their ranged THAC0 and armor class. Elves also have a +1 to-hit racial bonus when using short swords and long swords.
  • Halfings also have a max Dex of 19. They don't have the additional melee bonuses, but they do have access to "shorty" STs.
  • See the THAC0 article for general ideas on improving that attribute
  • See the Stealth article for a list of armors that will improve AC but with a (small) penalty to thieving skills.

Notes[]

Bugs[]

Mod content[]

This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.

The Rogue Rebalancing Mod Link on this fandom Wiki is worth a view if you want to explore new thief and bard content. Available for the basic and EE games.

With the Spell Revisions mod's Non-Detection spell active on a creature, even the rogue's Detect Illusion skill is blocked. The Non-Detection spell must be removed with a Breach or a Dispel Magic effect first - in order to allow the skill to function.

Sources[]

  • Special thanks to kjeron, for the explanation of mechanics on stealing!

References[]

  1. ↑ SLTSTEAL.2da
  2. ↑ https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/comment/1035828/#Comment_1035828
  3. ↑ A detection difficulty of exactly 100 means a trap can't be detected regardless of skill points. Same for disarming difficulty.
  4. ↑ There's one trap with detection difficulty 99 in the Third Subterranean Level of Durlag's Tower.
  5. ↑ There's one trap with detection difficulty 120 in Kiser Jhaeri's basement.
  6. ↑ There's one trap with disarming difficulty 110 outside of Sendai's Hideout.
  7. ↑ Table data is taken from XPBONUS.2DA, but in BG:EE this file inverted labels for DISARM_TRAP and PICK_LOCK. This wiki table gives the correct data.
  8. ↑ Cells with a red background are inaccessible in BG:EE even with SoD because of the level cap.

 Gameplay (community)[]

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