Yoshimo is far and away the best thief in the game imho, personally i can't stand Jan and couldn't wait to abandon him in spellhold for eternity. Being multi classed he could never compete with Yoshimo as a thief, particularly later in the game. Yes Turnip brain is a mage as well but thats not the question, Yoshimo is the best thief.

Don't get bogged down into thinking that potions of invisibility and Master Thievery are the only potions available for a thief, there are a good few others.
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Potion of Master Thievery
STATISTICS:

Lock Picking: +40% bonus
Pick Pockets: +40% bonus
Duration: 3 hours
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Potion of Perception
STATISTICS:

Find/Remove traps: +20% bonus
Pick pockets: +20% bonus
Pick locks: +20% bonus
Hide in shadows: +20% bonus
Duration: 6 hours
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Potion of Power
STATISTICS:

THACO: Set to 80% of current base
Hit Points: +20% temporary (base only)
Hide in shadows: +20% (base only)
Pick pockets: +20% (base only)
Pick locks: +20% (base only)
Find/Remove traps: +20% (base only)
Duration: 4 turns
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Potion of Invisibility
For backstabbing once natural stealth becomes impossible.
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Potion of Speed
Useful if wearing the boots of Stealth rather than boots of speed. Increases attack rate and movement.
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Potion of Mind Focusing
Dexterity is ultra important for a good thief, assuming you have 18+ already this potion can tip the balance in your thiefs favour.
STATISTICS:

Intelligence: +3 bonus
Dexterity: +3 bonus
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It's bleedin dark down here, slippery too.
http://www.contrabandent.com/pez/cwm/cwm/piss2.gif Man, that's a pisser. http://www.contrabandent.com/pez/cwm/cwm/piss.gif

There is an important point or two missing here. just being invisible/in shadows does not guarantee your thief will succesfully backstab his opponent.
You need points assigned to both Hide in Shadows and Move Silently. If you check back and see that your backstab attempt reads "Thief X attacks enemy X" then chances are that your backstabbing action has been heard/detected at the last second and your backstab has failed and has now become a standard attack, albeit from behind the intended victim. The more points you assign to Hide in Shadows and Move Silently the more chance you have of succesfully carrying out the backstab.

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It's bleedin dark down here, slippery too.
http://www.contrabandent.com/pez/cwm/cwm/piss2.gif Man, that's a pisser. http://www.contrabandent.com/pez/cwm/cwm/piss.gif

IMO, Yoshimo is the best and only thief in the game: all others - multi- or dualclass - cannot compete with him.
I agree with Simon that Yoshi seems to detects traps faster than Jan (it's important to me, 'cause I do not like standing and waiting till Jan detect a trap or two).
Of course, Jan can cast spells but there is no shortage of spellcasters among NPCs...


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Tanda,
with best regards from Guild of Assassins

[This message has been edited by Tananda (edited 06-24-2001).]