1-99 Thieving Guide OSRS

Unlock the secrets of becoming a master thief in Old School RuneScape with our extensive 1-99 Thieving guide. Explore highly efficient methods, useful tips, and proven strategies to level up from 1-99 in the shortest time possible. Learn the best locations and NPCs to pickpocket for maximum XP and loot. Whether you're an OSRS beginner or an experienced player, our guide helps you master Thieving skill swiftly and efficiently.

Does VIRTGOLD offer Powerleveling Services for me?

Yes! In fact, our team of expert Powerlevelers has mastered every inch of efficient OSRS training methods, and we're ready to help you accomplish the same feat. Whether you're a seasoned adventurer or just starting out, our personalized approach ensures that you'll receive the most affordable prices and most skilled workers to come out on top. So why wait? Take on the grind of OSRS with confidence, thanks to VIRTGOLD. Want to skip the grind all together? Consider our other services such as Currency and Questing!

General Information and Tips:

- Tip for pickpockets: Go to the options menu, select "Hidden" under "NPC 'Attack' Options" in the game controller at the top right. This will change the 'Pickpocket' option to a left-click instead of a right-click. Additionally, you can steal multiple times in a single animation, so clicking quickly will maximize your experience.

When training with blackjacks, sometimes the victims will catch you every time you try to knock them out. When this happens, go to the "Lure" dialogue until the victim is successfully lured.

*Ardougne Diary: The different levels of the Ardougne Diary increase the likelihood of successfully stealing from various NPCs. Completing the Medium Ardougne Diary increases the player's success rate by 10% when stealing within Ardougne, while the Hard Ardougne Diary extends this bonus to all of Gielinor. It is not necessary to have the Ardougne cape equipped or in the inventory to benefit from this bonus.

*Rogue Equipment: While wearing Rogue Equipment pieces, there is a chance to steal double the loot from an NPC. Using the full set guarantees double loot. However, experience gains are not affected.

*The set consists of the Rogue mask, Rogue top, Rogue trousers, Rogue gloves, and Rogue boots. These items can be found by looting the wall safe at the end of the Rogues' Den minigame. To access the minigame, you need level 50 Thieving, but with level 80 Thieving, you gain an additional shortcut to make it faster.

*Dodgy Necklace: The Dodgy Necklace gives the user a 25% chance of not being stunned or damaged when failing to pickpocket an NPC, making it very useful for thieving. The necklace has 10 charges before turning to dust.

*Shadow Veil: While under the effects of the Shadow Veil spell, players have a 15% chance to avoid being stunned and damaged while pickpocketing NPCs. This stacks multiplicatively with the Dodgy Necklace, resulting in a total of 36.25% chance of not taking damage when failing a pickpocket.

*Silent Gloves: Silent Gloves increase players' success rate when pickpocketing by 5% while equipped. They require level 54 Hunter to use. Silent Gloves can be purchased on the Grand Exchange for 3,170 coins each, or they can be crafted at the Fancy Clothes Store in Varrock using 2 Dark kebbit fur for a cost of 600 coins.

The benefits from the Ardougne Diary override the effects of Silent Gloves, as they offer a 5% success rate. Therefore, Silent Gloves become obsolete within Ardougne after completing the Medium Ardougne Diary, or completely obsolete after completing the Hard Ardougne Diary.

Silent Gloves are damaged every time the player fails a pickpocket attempt. They are destroyed after 62 failures, counted from when they are new. If a player has multiple Silent Gloves, they will all show the same state when checking their condition. However, if the currently worn Silent Gloves crumble, any other pair owned by the player will reset to the "new" condition. The condition of the gloves is only relevant to the player who owns them and is not a property of the gloves themselves. Players with at least level 64 Crafting can restore their Silent Gloves to a "new" condition using 1 Dark kebbit fur, which costs 559 coins, and thread, which costs 11 coins, at the gloves.

Fastest Experience:

Levels 1-37: Quests

To quickly advance in the early levels, quests that grant Thieving experience can be completed. By completing the quests "Biohazard," "Hazeel Cult," "Fight Arena," "Tower of Life," and "Tribal Totem," a total of 7,200 experience is obtained, which will take the player from level 1 to 24. These quests can be easily done at a low level and have minimal requirements, although some involve combat.

Additionally, by completing the quests "The Queen of Thieves," "The Giant Dwarf," "Death to the Dorgeshuun," "The Golem," "Creature of Fenkenstrain," and "The Feud," an additional total of 22,500 experience is obtained, taking the player to level 37.

Levels 5-25: Baker's Stalls

From level 5 to 25, the fastest way to gain experience is by pickpocketing from the baker's stalls in the East Ardougne market or the outer courtyard of Kourend Castle. In East Ardougne, there is a safe spot from the guards: simply stand underneath the baker behind the easternmost bakery stall, and the guards won't be able to see you. In the Kourend Castle courtyard, there is also a safe spot where you cannot be seen, unless a guard accidentally returns, which doesn't happen frequently. Players can obtain up to 19,200 experience per hour if done correctly.

Although the tea stall in Varrock is available at this level, it is significantly worse than the baker's stalls due to its slower respawn rate. Silk stalls offer better experience rates than tea stalls but are still inferior to the baker's stalls.

Levels 25-45: Fruit Stalls

For the fastest experience from level 25 to 45, it is recommended to steal from the fruit stalls in Hosidius. This requires 15% favor in Hosidius and grants 28.5 experience per stolen fruit. The best place to do this is in the easternmost house near the beach, where there are 2 stalls close to each other, and there are no patrolling guard dogs nearby. Quickly steal from both stalls, dropping the fruit while running between them. The strange fruits obtained can also be eaten or stamina potions can be used to replenish running energy. Alternatively, you can steal from only one stall, which is easier and doesn't require running. Players can obtain up to 42,750 experience per hour by stealing from both stalls or 34,200 experience per hour by stealing from one stall only.

Storing the fruits is not recommended as it significantly reduces experience rates. If ironmen wish to store the fruits in a bank, they should use the stall in the market and the bank just west of it, bringing 15-20 baskets to carry more fruits per trip. However, there are three guard dogs guarding the stall, which can interrupt the player. Both dogs can be attacked simultaneously and trapped directly behind the fruit stall.

Levels 45-49, 65-91/99: Blackjacking

To quickly gain experience, it is recommended to use the blackjack method on bearded Pollnivnian bandits in Pollnivneach, from level 45 to 49, and then from level 65 to 91 or 99. Although there are three different types of bandits that can be blackjacked, the method is the same for all of them: stun the bandit to render them unconscious and steal from them twice while they are unconscious. If the bandit is not successfully stunned, they will hit the player and become aggressive. If the bandit is stolen from quickly without being stunned, they will also hit the player (twice if not stolen from).

To use the blackjack, players must have partially advanced in the quest "The Feud" and have any type of blackjack. The type of blackjack doesn't matter for this activity. It is recommended to obtain the full rogue equipment at level 50 to get double loot from stealing, although this does not affect experience rates.

Players will also need food for healing, as the bandits frequently cause damage, even at higher levels. It is recommended to bring Saradomin brews or high-healing food (such as cakes or curry) in noted form in the inventory, and dispose of them at the Noted Food Trader near the general store when necessary. Alternatively, wine jugs can be purchased from Faisal the Barman, located in the bar at the southern end of Pollnivneach. It is recommended to use the hitpoints cape for faster health regeneration if the player possesses it.

- From level 45 to 55, it is recommended to steal from level 41 bearded Pollnivnian bandits that are equipped with a blackjack.

- From level 55 to 65, it is recommended to steal from level 56 Pollnivnian bandits that are equipped with a scimitar.

- From level 65 onwards, it is recommended to steal from Menaphite Thugs in the southern part of Pollnivneach.

Tips:

- Lure a bandit to a place where they get stuck and cannot move to another spot. Make sure the bandit cannot pass through you. This can be achieved by stunning the bandit, quickly moving away, and repositioning them in front of you. The bandit will not teleport to their respawn point as long as you keep playing blackjack. One of the best houses to lure a bandit is Ali the Dyer's house in the northern part of Pollnivneach, which is small and has a staircase that can be used to quickly reset the bandit's aggression if needed. A Menaphite Thug can be lured to the southern part of the house, right next to the bar.

- It is recommended to have a full inventory using high-healing food in noted form. This minimizes the chance of being stunned by the bandit while stealing. The time saved by avoiding stun will significantly increase experience rates. However, it is important to note that having a full inventory does not completely prevent stealing from a conscious bandit, as even with a full inventory, stealing can occur on the same tick that the bandit becomes conscious. If Saradomin brews are used for healing, it is recommended to disable auto-destroy empty vials to maintain a full inventory after drinking the potions.

- To minimize mouse movement (similar to the construction method), it is recommended to set the "Attack" options for NPCs to "Hidden," use resizable mode, zoom in, and adjust the camera angle so that right-clicking on a bandit places the cursor on "Pickpocket."

- Players can steal from unconscious bandits twice at the right timing. The right timing is when an experience drop is obtained every 2 ticks, so it is helpful to have experience drops enabled for a visual cue. Players should click the next action on the same tick that they get an experience drop from the previous action: click to stun the bandit on the same tick they get the experience drop, and click to steal a second time when they get the experience drop from the first steal.

Levels 49-65/99: Artifact Robbery

To quickly gain experience from level 49 to 65, it is recommended to steal artifacts in Port Piscarilius. This method is a feasible alternative for players who prefer something less click-intensive or for those who want to train Thieving while performing other actions that can be done while on the move, such as high-level alchemy, cutting gems, making potions, or baking pies with the "Bake Pie" spell.

Players must have at least 75% favor in Piscarilius and a lockpick for this activity. Since this method involves constant running, it is recommended to use stamina potions or super energy potions to replenish running energy. Using the graceful outfit is also recommended. Alternatively, players can teleport to their house and use a revitalization pool or better to restore running energy, although this will reduce experience rates.

It is also highly recommended to have completed the "A Kingdom Divided" quest to obtain a Book of the Dead. The book offers a quick teleport to the center of Port Piscarilius via the "Fisherman's flute" option, saving time on each run. Memories of Kharedst can also be used but have fewer charges.

Lastly, to achieve optimal experience rates, two guards should be lured to allow passage through bridges that cannot otherwise be crossed.

1. Speak to Captain Khaled to be assigned a house to rob.

2. Teleport with the Book of the Dead or Memories of Kharedst and steal the artifact from the drawers inside the assigned house.

3. Smuggle the stolen artifact without attracting attention from patrollers.

4. Take the stolen artifact to Captain Khaled and repeat the process. Recharge the Book of the Dead at the Old Memorial when necessary.

Each successful robbery grants Thieving experience and between 500 and 1,000 coins. Getting caught will significantly reduce experience rates, so it is generally better to wait for the right moment to go unnoticed among the patrollers rather than risk getting caught.

Levels 91-99: Pyramid Plunder

The Pyramid Plunder minigame is the fastest option for gaining Thieving experience in the game starting from level 91. The strategy for gaining Thieving experience involves looting the golden chest and all urns in the final room, as well as the golden chests along the way and some urns in the penultimate room if there is enough time. Although players can start training at Pyramid Plunder from level 71 or 81 as an alternative method to blackjack or artifact robbery, the experience rates are much lower before level 91.

Other Methods

Levels 1-25: Chambers of Xeric

Stealing from the Chests in the Robbery Room within the Chambers of Xeric is another option for early levels. There are no requirements for this activity, but having a stamina or super energy potion can be helpful, and having a lockpick in the inventory will allow opening the chests more quickly. To start, explore until you find a raid with the Robbery Room, initiate the raid, head to the Robbery Room, and steal from the chests. Each time you encounter a cave grub in one of the chests, you will receive 40 experience points. Some chests will slightly damage you when opened, so avoid them once identified. Make sure to drop or deposit the grubs when necessary instead of depositing them in the feeder, as you won't gain experience that way once the room is complete.

Players can earn over 21,000 experience points per hour by carrying a lockpick in their inventory.

Players will need to have access to Sophanem by having started the "Icthlarin's Little Helper" quest or by teleporting with a Pharaoh's sceptre to Jalsavrah. Inside the pyramid, high-healing food (such as Saradomin brews), some stamina potions, and some form of antipoison will be needed. For the highest experience rates, players will also need a charged Pharaoh's sceptre to teleport directly to the guardian mummy and highlighted artifacts to recharge it. Completing task sets in the Desert Diary will increase the number of charges the Pharaoh's sceptre can hold. If the player cannot obtain a Pharaoh's sceptre, it is recommended to access the nearby bank by completing the "Contact" quest. Otherwise, the player would have to travel back to a bank far from Sophanem whenever they need more supplies.

While training, you can loot a Pharaoh's sceptre from the golden chests. You can sell it for profit or keep it for personal use. Storing the artifacts is not recommended as it will significantly reduce experience rates, and the artifacts don't have much value. However, golden artifacts can be used to recharge the Pharaoh's sceptre.

Players can earn up to 270,000 experience points per hour starting from level 91. Before level 91, players can expect to earn up to 125,000 experience points per hour at levels 71-80 and 190,000 experience points per hour at levels 81-90. It will take approximately 335 rounds to reach level 99 in Pyramid Plunder.

Levels 25/85-99: Submarine Thieving

With the completion of "Bone Voyage" and access to Fossil Island, submarine thieving, also known as "swimming," becomes available.

Unlike most other training methods, this focuses on training two skills at once: Thieving and Agility. Although the Thieving experience is slower than other mentioned methods, the speed at which both skills are trained makes it efficient overall at certain levels. Due to the scaled experience rates based on the level, both Thieving and Agility levels play a role in determining whether this method is viable compared to alternatives. However, it generally becomes consistently efficient starting from level 85 in Thieving. Alternatively, Thieving or Agility experience can be gained instead of both, but this is usually inefficient due to the scaling used.

Levels 55-99: Ardougne Knights

Stealing from Ardougne Knights is a slower but easier and slightly more profitable option than blackjack from level 55 onwards. However, since this method is quite slow at lower levels, players may consider using faster methods until reaching around level 80-90 in Thieving. At higher levels, the experience rates become comparable to faster training methods, being only slightly slower than blackjack from level 95 onwards.

It is recommended to complete the medium tasks in the Ardougne Diary for this method, as it increases the success rate of stealing from Ardougne Knights by 10%. Without this benefit, players won't be able to steal as much and will have much lower experience rates. Players will stop failing to steal from Ardougne Knights starting from level 95 with the diary advantage at medium level. Using dodgy necklaces is strongly recommended to reduce the chances of being stunned and receiving damage, which will slightly increase experience rates. It is also recommended to use the full rogue equipment set to get double loot from stealing. Training from level 55 to level 99 on Ardougne Knights will yield approximately 7,500,000 coins without the rogue equipment and approximately 15,000,000 coins with the full set.

The experience rates are shown in the following table. These rates assume the player has completed the Ardougne Diary at medium level and is using dodgy necklaces. They also assume some time is devoted to failures and opening coin purses. From level 95 onwards, the optimal rate is 252,900 experience points per hour. Players are expected to use approximately 200 dodgy necklaces and need to heal 16,000 damage points (with natural regeneration taken into account at a 1x health point restoration rate) from level 55 to 95.

Lure two knights to the southeast of the market

One could say the best method, although more complicated, involves luring two knights to the southeast of the market. The advantage of this technique is that it doesn't require a second account to play, and once set up, the player doesn't need to move the mouse at all, not even to open coin purses.

To do this technique, a dragon spear and runes for entangle or freeze are required.

1. Attack one of the two knights located in the southern half of the market and lure them to the marked square on the right.

2. Stun the knight with a trap or entangle spell.

3. Use the dragon spear's special attack three times until the knight is just north of the door, ensuring to only attack from the northern tile.

4. Open the door, push the knight once more with the dragon spear's special attack, and close the door behind them.

5. Run south to make sure the knight is no longer aggressive.

6. Repeat steps 1-5 with the second knight (ensuring to have enough special attack).

7. Once both knights are trapped inside the building, use the second door to the east and stand on the marked square on the right.

8. Adjust your camera to face west and downwards, placing your coin purse in the top-right of your inventory.

9. Change your settings: go to Options, then to Advanced Options, and enable side panels so that you can open and close your inventory with the Esc key (enabling mouse keys is also recommended).

10. Position your cursor at the top-right of the coin purse and keep it there, close your inventory (by pressing Esc), and steal from the knight.

By following these steps, with the inventory closed, you can steal from the eastern knight while moving between the two tiles without needing to move the mouse. When you need to open your coin purse, simply press Esc, and your coin purse should be under your cursor. By staying one tile south of the two knights, they will never disappear.

Level 82-99: Vyres Pickpocketing

Pickpocketing vyres from level 82 onwards with dodgy equipment and dodgy necklaces, in addition to completing the Ardougne Diary at its hard level, will provide between 120,000 and 180,000 experience points per hour and earnings of 2,047,980.08 coins per hour, depending on the Thieving level. To access vyres, the "Sins of the Father" quest needs to be completed.

Level 85-99: Elf Pickpocketing

Pickpocketing elves from level 85 can yield good profits and decent experience for players seeking both benefits. It is recommended to have completed the "Song of the Elves" quest before starting to pickpocket elves, as they will drop enhanced crystal teleport seeds.

At level 99, players can expect to gain around 150,000 experience points per hour and earnings of 2,441,869.49 coins per hour, assuming they use dodgy necklaces and the full rogue equipment set.

Levels 94-99: Master Farmers

Starting from level 94 and with the hard Ardougne Diary bonus, players can pickpocket master farmers with a 100% success rate. These farmers often drop ranarr and snapdragon seeds, which can be sold for a high price. The rates for these profitable seeds depend on the Farming level, so having a high Farming level (71+) is recommended. Although master farmers are available from level 38 Thieving, you're very likely to get caught frequently at lower levels and require a lot of food, significantly reducing experience and earnings per hour. The best location to pickpocket a master farmer is Hosidius, just north of the marketplace, as there is a house where you can easily trap them in a spot where they can't move to another spot. Players can earn up to 115,000 experience points per hour.

With 99 Farming level, the Farming cape can be used to "suicide" the master farmers in the Farming Guild, making it a viable method even for low-level training. Farmers can be pickpocketed until the player dies; the Farming cape will almost always be kept upon death in this scenario and can be used to quickly return to the Farming Guild, where the seeds can be retrieved from the player's grave. In most cases, an inventory solely composed of seeds won't generate a grave cost. This method, of course, is not viable for more challenging Ironman players.

Tags: