The Best OSRS Thieving Guide
Published by RuneDeal on February 15, 2021
OSRS skill training is mostly more comfortable and faster if you spend more money on it (using expensive training methods). But that doesn't actually apply to all of the skills in OSRS.
Some skills require a long time to get them to the maximum level or even the mid-levels, and you can't make it much faster through spending money. In addition to being exhausting, you must be active during most of the training process.
Those skills include Thieving OSRS, one of the most time-consuming skills for training.
The process of training your Thieving OSRS requires much attention, and you can say it takes a long time, which will be shown in this OSRS Thieving Guide. However, it doesn't require having a fair amount of OSRS gold to train it, like Magic or Construction, for example.
You shouldn't get confused when we say it is exhausting or takes a long time; that's because it is simple and straightforward to train Thieving. But the EXP rates are not that high, just to keep everything balanced.
The Importance of Thieving
Thieving OSRS can disable traps, unlock doors, and even steal from NPCs by pickpocketing them. The higher your Thieving level, the better the chance of doing any of these activities.
In essence, it is one of these money-making skills in the game, but still not that much money compared to many other methods, especially the combat ones.
However, some players may find making money through skilling is much better and less stressful than combat money-making.
Besides, you don't have to spend a fortune to max it out. This is why Thieving OSRS is considered an excellent money-making skill.
You will also need to train your Thieving for other needs, such as doing a quest or helping you through raiding.
Upon reaching level 99 Thieving OSRS, you will obtain the Thieving cape, which gives you a 10% success chance of Pickpocketing any NPC in the game regardless of the location.
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How to Train OSRS Thieving
Training Thieving is pretty simple, whether through Pickpocketing an NPC or Stealing from a stall. The whole process consists of three or two clicks and, most of the time, just one click.
You will need to repeat the process many times rapidly to sustain a good EXP Ratio, and you will fail most of the time, which is why it is kinda exhausting.
There are some items (excluding the Thieving cape) that will reduce the failure chance during the training process, these items are:
- Ardougne Cloak (10% success chance)
- Gloves of Silence (5% success chance)
- Dodgy Necklace (25% chance of not getting stunned)
NOTE: Ardougne Cloak only works inside Ardougne, but the Gloves of Silence works everywhere in the game. Completing Ardougne Hard Diary will make the Gloves of Silence useless as you will be able to use the Ardougne Cloak anywhere in the game, and both of them are not stackable.
OSRS Gold won't help you speed up the training process, as we mentioned in this Thieving Guide OSRS. But being accurate and active will make it much faster for you to reach level 99 Thieving.
To Make money through Thieving, you will need to reach a high Thieving level (85+), and there are various ways to do it. Also, note that obtaining the Rogue's Gear from Rogue's Den will grant you a 100% double loot chance upon Pickpocketing any NPC.
In this Thieving Guide OSRS, we will introduce you to the most efficient training methods that are very easy to follow and probably less exhausting than others.
Follow the Thieving Guide OSRS below until the desired Thieving level you want to achieve.
NOTE: Disable the Attack option from the settings to make it easier for you to Pickpocket the NPCs during this OSRS Thieving Guide rather than attacking them by mistake.
Level 1 to 5
Pickpocketing Men/Women
- Successful actions needed: 49
- EXP/Action: 8
- EXP Ratio: 10K/Hour
- Recommended Items: none
Men/Women NPCs are the recommended NPCs for the first 5 Thieving OSRS levels. They can be found in many places around OSRS, but we highly recommend those around Lumbridge Castle.
Pickpocketing an NPC might fail and get your character stunned and damaged. You may get stunned for 5 seconds for this method and receive damage of 1 Hitpoint.
That means you may need to bring some food or just bring an empty inventory and die safely if your respawn point is in Lumbridge.
You may also bring a Dodgy Necklace to decrease the chance of getting stunned, but that is not recommended for this method.
Once you successfully pickpocket Men/Women, you will receive a Coin Pouch, which is stackable with a limit of 28(you won't be able to Pickpocket anymore until you empty the Pouches.
Each Coin Pouch contains a random number of coins depending on the NPC. Thus, you will be making money during the process.
Generally, there are no items recommended for this method as it is straightforward to reach level 5. Getting level 5 Thieving may take less than 5 minutes.
Level 5 to 25
Stealing from Bakery stalls
- Successful actions needed: 466
- EXP/Action: 16
- EXP Ratio: 24K/Hour
- Recommended Items: Ardougne Cloak 1
Upon reaching level 5 of Thieving, you will start stealing from the Bakery stalls. The recommended location of these Bakery stalls is inside East Ardougne's market.
The stolen Cakes can make you some money, but it isn't worth it. Thus it is recommended to always drop the Cakes for a faster EXP Ratio.
Stealing from the Bakery stalls is very simple as you just need to click on the Stall (Steal from Baker's Stall) to complete the process.
You may get spotted by an Ardougne Guard or the Stall's owner while stealing from the Stall. The Guard will keep attacking you unless you run away from the market.
You can keep running away from the market each time you get spotted, but we highly recommend using the safe spot further east behind the Stall to prevent the Guards from attacking you.
We recommend using the Ardougne cloak 1 (obtainable upon completing Ardougne Easy Diary), which gives a 10% Success chance when stealing from Ardougne stalls.
You should keep stealing from the Bakery stalls until level 25 Thieving, but you can also switch to the Silk stalls at level 20.
However, switching to the Silk Stalls is not recommended as it has 5 seconds of respawn time even if it has higher experience per stolen piece.
Each Cake will respawn in 2 seconds, so reaching level 25 may take 30 minutes.
Level 25 to 41
Stealing from Fruit stalls
- Successful actions needed: 1,191
- EXP/Action: 28
- EXP Ratio: 38K/Hour
- Recommended Items: Stamina potions & Graceful Outfit
Stealing from the Fruit Stalls is unlocked at level 25 of Thieving. These stalls are located in Hosidius as well as Kourend Castle.
Stealing from the Fruit Stalls located in Hosidius requires having 15% Hosidius favor, which is pretty easy to obtain.
Each time you steal from the Fruit Stall, you are awarded 28 EXP rates and one fruit. It is recommended to drop all the fruits you obtain to a better EXP Ratio.
The recommended Fruit Stalls for this method are located in Hosidus, specifically the ones far east near the beach.
These eastern ones are recommended due to having no dogs to guard the stalls, so you can literally steal from them without failing/getting spotted.
We are also highly recommending stealing from the two stalls there for a better EXP ratio as you won't need to wait for the Fruits to respawn(it takes 2 seconds). That means you will need to use Stamina potions (the Graceful outfit is also helpful) so you don't run out of running energy eventually.
You can still use one Stall if you find it exhausting to steal from 2 stalls simultaneously, but the EXP ratio will be decreased to around 29K/Hour.
Reaching level 41 Thieving may take more or less than 45 minutes.
Level 41 to 99
Playing Pyramid Plunder minigame.
- EXP/Action: varies
- EXP Ratio: up to 270K/Hour
- Recommended Items: Stamina potions, Antidote++ potions, some food & Weight Reducing Armor
The Pyramid Plunder minigame is a Thieving minigame playable at level 21 Thieving. You can start the minigame at Sophanem City by taking to the Guardian mummy found inside the pyramid.
The Guardian Mummy can be found at any of the four pyramid doors; you simply have to keep entering each door until you find the Mummy.
The minigame consists of 8 rooms; each room requires a specific Thieving level. Starting from level 21 Thieving, each room of the 8 rooms will be unlocked for every 10 Thieving levels you gain.
NOTE: This minigame is labeled under the dangerous minigames; dying there will lose your items. Thus it is highly recommended not to bring any essential items while inside.
Each room has several Urns; searching them will earn you a various Thieving EXP depending on the Room level.
There is a chance of getting poisoned when you search the Urns, so bringing an Antidote++ potion is necessary. Opening the doors will also earn you some Thieving EXP.
There are many traps inside the pyramid, so we recommend bringing some food to not die inside.
NOTE: Drop all the Stone Seals you obtain from the Urns once you have a full inventory.
Staying inside the pyramid has a limited time, so the target is to gain the highest possible EXP before you run out of time. Thus, at the higher levels, it is recommended to only steal from the last 2 or 3 rooms available for you to be able to get the best EXP Ratio.
You can keep playing the minigame until level 99 Thieving, and that will take around 65 hours if you do it continuously with a minimum amount of mistakes.
Level 60 to 99 (Alternative)
Pickpocketing the Knights of Ardougne
- Successful actions needed: 151,373
- EXP/Action: 84.3
- EXP Ratio: around 230K/Hour
- Recommended Items: Gloves of Silence (or Ardougne Cloak 2), some Food & Dodgy Necklace
Instead of playing the Pyramid Plunder minigame until level 99, you can just do it until level 60. From level 60 of OSRS Thieving, you can switch to Pickpocketing the Knights of Ardougne, which is actually kinda better and less exhausting than playing Pyramid Plunder.
Although Knights of Ardougne may have less EXP Ratio than Pyramid Plunder, the EXP Ratio is much better at the early levels.
An additional advantage of this method is that you can actually make decent money all the way up to level 99 Thieving.
This method can be done by luring one Knight of Ardougne inside a house to Pickpocket him without having to chase him every time he stuns you.
Luring the Knight can be quickly done, but we recommend going to World 378, where players are already doing it inside a specific House. That house is located north of East Ardougne.
The process will stop once you have 28 Coin Pouches in your inventory, so you will have to click on them to turn them into Gold coins.
You can sacrifice the advantage of making money to not get interrupted by the Coin Pouches, which is done by making your inventory full so you don't receive any Coin Pouches.
To avoid getting stunned so often, it is recommended to equip a Dodgy Necklace, which has a 25% chance of preventing you from getting stunned 10 times.
A Gloves of Silence (requires level 54 Hunter) is also recommended as it gives a 5% success chance. This is only recommended if you haven't completed the Ardougne Medium Diary, but it is highly recommended to complete the Diary.
The Gloves of Silence will eventually need to be repaired, while the Ardougne Cloak doesn't even require being in your inventory to give you the 10% Success chance.
Once you reach level 95 Thieving, you will never get stunned, which will boost the EXP ratio to a stable 252K/Hour if done without mistake.
Do not forget to bring some Food to avoid dying during the process (it is safe, though).
Conclusion
Thieving training is generally exhausting, so you better pick what makes you feel more comfortable from the methods mentioned in this Thieving Guide OSRS.
Reaching level 99 Thieving costs almost nothing at all, so you better do it even if it takes time.