Are they any good? Should i use a straight thief or like a assasin or bounty hunter? Thief-Fighter maybe? Someone fill me in

It's best to have a thief with decent skills, even if you certainly can get around without one. No necessary or very powerful items can be found behind difficult locks and traps can mostly be easily avoided, though trap setting is a wonderful skill which can be very useful in a number of difficult fights. A bounty hunter certainly holds the most offensive power, his special traps can be thrown (set from a distance) and you can thus use them as a regular ranged weapon (a la exploding potions), only restriction is that the enemy has to be out of the thief's sight. An Assassin does what he sounds like, he turn invisible and move in on a party and get rid of mages or just about anyone in an eye-blink and retreat just as fast while your fighters move in to tackle the now severely weakened party. You could use a Swashbuckler if you're short on melee power, no backstab modifier for him.

if you're a beginner, i suggest getting a normal thief. and if you want to make A LOT of money the easy way, fill him/her up with pickpocketing skill. this way you can steal from people on the streets, but even more important, from most stores (you can't steal from Adventurer's Mart). You may also want open locks skills. Yoshimo,(who you get pretty much at the beginning) is full of the other skills.

I still wanna know how to backstab. my guy wont do it and hes a straight thief. and also ive been out of irenicuses dungeon for around 20 minutes and ive probly already stole around 50000 gp in items from stores. to bad you cant sell the items you steal

go to the shadow thieves guildhall(docks), they will buy them
also apperently there is some guy who appears in wakeens promenade after dark but i'm not exactly sure who or where he is

backstabbing is simple once you learn how. all you need to do is...

1. equip a weapon capable of backstab (sorry, i don't know which weapons are allowed, but i do know that daggers and short swords can be used)
2. successfully hide in shadows
3. walk up behind a guy and attack!
4. then run cause you won't be completely hidden anymore.

Hope this helps! [img]smile.gif[/img]

invisiblity works too, rather than hide in shadows. Improved invisibility and a cloak of non-dection is particurly nasty

where do i find a cloak of non-detection?

I think you should try a assassin there me fav.
Becuse there backstab is a wonder!! you can do so much damage and there great scout's.

The assassin's poison weapon ability is fantastic.

MINOR SPOILER
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(Also the Thief Stronghold is fairly profitable, not that you can already amass the $$$ without it, but it is an interesting stronghold that makes money)

[ 12-19-2002, 02:29 AM: Message edited by: Mahlennacht ]

the fighter stronghold makes money, and actually the mage stronghold makes items

Yes, of course you're right about the fighter stronghold - but in my case, my fighter was too nice and didn't ask for money :D With a thief it's OK to try to make more money...

Another thing regarding thieves - I read somewhere that Swashbuckler/Fighter can be insane, but I haven't tried it yet...

actually the fighter stronghold can cost you money too, depending on how you play it. If you take the money(and raise taxes) it's defintely profitable.

As far as a thief in your party is considered, you must have some kind of thief with you or you will suffer to the end of the game. The game is overtrapped and only a thief is able of removing traps. A monk can detect traps, a mage can also detect traps by means of a spell, but only a thief can remove traps.
Therefore, a thief is a necessity. What kind of thief - this depends on your play style. If you are a "fighter" or a "mage" and if you need a thief only for detecting and removing traps then choose a dual class thief/something, or, perhaps better, a swashbuckler/something. Invest all your skill points into Detect Traps and Remove Traps and dual immediately. If you want to specialize in thief abilities like backstabbing or using poisoned weapons then select a corresponding type of thief.
If your protagonist is a dual class thief/something then you get a thief stronghold most probably. Also, you will not able to work for Bodhi. If you do not want that then you must not have a thief protagonist and you must accept some predefined thief in the game. It's a problem because the offer isn't good:
Imoen - you will lose her after leaving Irenicus dungeon and regain her late in the game.
Yoshimo - you will lose him in Asylum.
Ian - the only thief who will not leave you.
Therefore Ian. The only alternatives are a thief protagonist or a custom party.

In PnP D&D the cloak of non-detection is great. However, has it's benefits translated to the computer game? I know if their is a scripted fight, it doesn't matter if you have the cloack on, the enemy will always know you are there.

Has anyone tested if the mindflayers (or other ESP creatures) can spot you if you're invisible - without the cloak versus with the cloak.

There are certain creatures that can see invisible people so the cloak doesn't work. The cloak works well with wizards and clerics casting true sight.

There's always Nalia, who is pretty much the same as Imoen, except you can have her from the very beginning of the game.(MINOR SPOILER.................she is in the copper coronet, Slums district)About thief classes, the regular thief is good if you want a thief that doesnt fight or deal as much damage(though you can deal damage with backstab and traps), but a thief detects/removes traps, picks the locks(plenty of money behind locks)and pockets etc. the assassins poison weapon is a killer,and in throne of bhaal expansion the x7 backstab multiplier deals a lot of extra damage. the downside of the assassin kit is that he only gets 15 points to the thief skills. i personally dont like the swashbuckler kit because of the no backstab multiplier, so i would have to say that the swashbuckler is for those who dont like or remember to backstab. the swashbuckler gets full thieving skills, so thats an upside. the bounty hunter is a very good kit, what with having nearly full thieving skills(20 per level) and the x5 backstab multiplier. the traps are neat too. so i would recomend the bounty hunter or regular thief for beginners, and the assassin for veterans.

[ 12-19-2002, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: Raistlin Majere ]

The cloak of non-detection is found in the Den of Seven Vales inn in Waukeens Promenade. Go upstairs and you'll see a group of adventurers that mock you and you can attack them. The cloak is on the mage.

to backstab you can use any weapon allowed by a straight class thief (not a weapon class) so Valygars Katana cannot be used in this way, nor can the staff of the magi, however any melee weapon that a single class thief can use can be used, and a backstab with the celestial fury is an extremely ugly sight

[ 12-19-2002, 11:56 AM: Message edited by: Morgeruat ]

So i can use long sword to backstab? a straight thief can use them but backsatb isnt workibng

F/T is an exellent combo.i played solo and it was so easy.

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CAN I BACKSTAB WITH A LONGSWORD?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[ 12-19-2002, 03:44 PM: Message edited by: Sir Galefin ]

Assuming your either a thief or stalker then yes you can.