Just a little information about myself and this guide. This is first update of my "So You Want to be a Thief" guide. Originally I wrote it about a week after starting the game and at lvl 30. Currently it has been 2 and a half weeks since version 1 of this guide and I am now lvl 40. In this version I plan to include an update to builds, gear and tips to make the most of this class.


Enjoy!

So you want to be a thief or thinking about rolling one, here is some food for thought before you take the plunge.

If your rolling this class to hopefully dominate PvP or do huge DPS then my advice is roll again and pick a ranged character. Go mage if your hoping to have utility or a Archer if you want pure DPS.

If your hoping to play some kinda stealthy backstabbing kind of character go assassin. With the current talent set and game mechanics the thief is more of a brutish brigand or highwayman than a stealthy rogue.

If your looking for mediocrity and the challenge of playing a broken class then the Thief is the class for you!

Leveling from 1 to 19 is pretty easy, follow the quest line and kill stuff along the way and you will hit lvl20 soon enough. The main thing is don't waste gold upgrading gear as it all gets replaced at lvl20. Feel free to experiment with stats and talents as mandrake leaves are pretty common drops at this level and are useless once you hit level 21. It is really important you do not complete the Quest in Valorne that gives you a free respec, waste this quest and you will end up having to pay real dollars or lots of gold for a new respec.

Stat allocation

Primary stat should be STR with STAM as your secondary. It is generally agreed that points in LUCK and DEX are generally USELESS! The % bonuses you get from leveling attack speed and crit are pitiful and at low levels and will scale poorly with your items. If your new to this game you get 4 stat points per level and you need 10 points to get 1% crit or 2.5% attack speed, and neither of these stats improves your characters survivability. STR improves your damage per hit and the damage of your skills - increasing your average and burst DPS more than luck would (as crit damage is NOT increased by luck) while attack speed does not synergise with most of your skills. Stamina is important because not only are you melee, you lack the healing or defensive skills of the other classes. The best defensive skill a thief has is stealth which does nothing to improve your tankiness. Hence going glass cannon is generally a bad idea.

Equipment

When grinding you generally want to build up your burst DPS especially once you get double strike. Therefore you generally want a weapon with a high BASE DAMAGE over a weapon with a high DPS. As mentioned earlier most of your skills will not synergise well with attack speed but will with your weapons hitting power. In lamens terms slow weapons hit harder - which is GOOD!

Secondly dont fall into the mistake alot of new players make, the offhand weapon does not attack. The offhand is purely a stat stick. So at early levels it is very viable to use a shield for addition durability. It is also a complete waste to upgrade the damage of your offhand as it will have no effect. The advantages of using a offhand weapon vs using a shield is some skills (Double strike and Blade Dance) require a offhand weapon and you get access to a bonus 2 slots.

Weapons

• Base damage
  
• + Hit
  
• + Str
  
• + Stam

Anything else is just gravy. Crit and attack speed are nice but don't do much for you at low levels as mentioned above.

Everything else

• + hit
  
• + defence
  
• + Str
  
• + Stam
  
• + Dodge

On a side note some items or seals can give you + % exp this can be really useful if your trying to power level as long as using that piece of equipment doesnt slow you down killing stuff.

Why is plus hit so important?
With high burst damage you should be able to defeat any non elite/boss mobs of same level as you. However if you want to be able to clear mobs that are 4 or 5 levels higher efficiently then +hit is a MUST. A normal mob that is 5 levels higher than you has a base 30% dodge against your attacks and when you do land then the blow will be significantly weaker. Having a high + hit will allow you to farm and grind in areas much higher than what you should be doing.

Okay you've graduated from a rogue to a thief. Now your job is to keep following quest lines and you should be able to comfortably grind your way to 25 by visiting all the areas adjacent to Valorne and in the catacombs in the city. After this the quests should start drying up and you should just power level inside the Tellurium tower until you hit 30. It is highly advisable to do this in a group of four, otherwise people will grief you alot.

Stat allocation is pretty much the same as before focus on STR and STAM depending on what you need. If you got good gear focus on STR as you will not be taking much damage if you can 1-2 shot everything. Take more STAM if your dying more than you would like.

Gear Itemisation is the same as before weapon takes priority and if you can get gear with +hit whenever possible. Otherwise try and save your gold when possible and look for bargains at the markets.

Talents Once again talent trees will vary with builds. However Fighting and Massacre trees appear to be the strongest and most viable. However this is a matter of personal opinion. Having only reached level 30 my advice with the benefit of hindsight is to lvl the Massacre tree first and then go into Fighting just because it looks like the strongest of the 3 especially the first 3 set of talents that are available.

By now you should have some idea about how to play this game and what to look for. Also hopefully you have joined a good guild and picked up some nice loot. Around now you should have maxed out one of the talent trees and be looking to max out STR. There isnt too much to say here but I will give you some tips.

Dual wielding Fiery Devourer and Time Piercer at lvl35/36
Despite being the lower lvl item the Fiery Devourer actually hits alot harder than the Time Piercer. On the flip side the time piercer gives you STR and Hit making it one of the best offhands at around this level for a rogue, if you fluke a nice seal even better. Properly upgraded you could use this combo well into the 40's. Just remember the Fiery Devourer should be your main hand weapon and Time Piercer you offhand. If your still having trouble hitting mobs it is very viable to just dual wield Time Piercers.

Maxing out Strength
Around lvl35-40 you should be aiming to maxing your STR out. The cap is 100 and as mentioned before STR should be your main stat. The rest of your stats should go into Stam, post lvl 40 you could consider putting points into luck or continuing to max Stamina after STR.

ROBBERY
The thief has one of the most powerful PvE and least used skills in the game ROBBERY. What it does is you hit the enemy for a fair chunk of damage and there is a 50% chance of them dropping loot and in return the pissed off mob attacks you faster. It does not work on bosses or players. Here are some little known facts about this skill.

Although it may not work on Bosses it will work on Elites such as Alpha Male and Mega Tirex - Double loot on rare spawns!!!!

The dropped loot does not affect the mobs normal loot. Basically if it works you are getting double loot drops. Very handy on rare mobs and elites.

Has no cool down. Played right you can basically farm with 50% more drops using this skill.

Can be combined with greed for 4 times the gold. May not seem like much but it adds up.

If someone else or another group has tagged the mob you want - you can still use Robbery on it and THE LOOT IS ALL YOURS (I have tried and tested this on Alpha Male)

So at this point you may be wondering what are the pros of going a Thief?

• You got 2 AoE stuns and a single target stun in Ice bomb, Magic bomb (Chaos) and Stunning.
  
• You have can stealth, a handy skill for getting away and catching people by surprise
  
• High DPS - useful if your opponent sits still
  
• Can dual wield swords, daggers and axes or use a shield. Compared to Katars it means you can potentially equip 3 more cards and 1 more enchant on your character.
  
• Walk around looking like a male cowboy stripper
  [*} Have LOTS of Damage over Time skills.
  

Anyway that's all from me. It's my first guide and I hope it helps you would be thieves out there. I may or may not update this guide at a later date for the higher levels and a more fuller in depth analysis of the class and talent trees.

Hope you enjoy reading this guide and feel free to leave comments below :P