Idlechasing for thieves
Largely filched from the idlechasing for assassins page, with some of the numbers filed off.
You should read Idlechasing and understand the basics of idlechasing before this is expected to make any sense.
Making Thief Aliases
Because we have a lot of high xp commands, we don't have to worry about having 5 minutes between restarting the alias, and can use 11 or more commands instead to make sure you get full xp every time you use you alias. If you're lower level, you might want to throw in every command you can use, even crafts and such, to TM. If you're past the point of TMing much of anything, it's good to focus on the high xp commands.
Thief Commands
Basically, use all the 30x commands listed as a priority, then add in things you want to TM, preferably at 15x return rate. Some commands are a bit tricky however and require special equipment or techniques.
Thief 30x XP rate Commands
With a plain package you add pick and probe to your 30x command list - that way you only need 2 15x "filler" commands (low gp use recommended for filler commands). With a shearer and calm, you add abscond, backstab, plant, and rifle to your list, taking you past the magic number of 30x commands - 11.
Targetted commands
Most of these commands are best accomplished if you obtain a sheep shearer from the NW corner of Sheepridge. A calm baton and the appropriate skills may also be necessary if they notice you stealing. I like to have a couple spares on hand in case I kill one from time to time (such as if I'm AFK and the sek pool is empty so I don't calm him).
You can also use these on training dummies.
Abscond and ambush
Use this any time after starting combat with the training dummy. Also great for your xp rate and TMing covert. Ambush--the first part, anyway--can be used without combat, much like warcry.
Backstab
This can be used on dummies, or on imps from watches. For the imps, unholding your weapons or using a rubber weapon may be necessary to avoid killing them.
Case
This can actually be used on any other person--even other players, whether or not you're pk. But, if you're using it, it's good to make sure that there will be another person there.
Filch and steal
These work well in conjuction with plant: plant two pence (or coins of your choice) on the shearer, then steal one and filch one. Of course, this has its limits: in Ankh-Morpork, you'll have to be off leave and put it on your quota, and other places can have punishments for theft (if you're caught):
- In Ankh-Morpork, you can steal "worthless" items. You can use "tear" on most pieces of clothing to get a worthless strip, and then plant and steal the strip while on quota. It goes on your quota, but with a worth of $0.00.
- In Djelibeybi, if certain priests catch you, they'll toss you out into the desert/savannah/plains, which can be inconvenient.
- In Ohulan-Cutash, shopkeepers and Will (the vaultkeeper) will refuse to serve you until you serve half an hour (in-game; it's only ten minutes or so in real time) of jail time in the watch house. (To turn yourself in, just go to the watch house in the southeast corner of the market. The warden won't take anything from you--except the cell key, if you have it out.)
In addition, either one makes the shearer attack you if you fail.
Peek
You can peek at your shearer or any living thing besides yourself ("peek living thing except me"). This is only a 15x command, but it can tm the relevant covert.stealth skill, so it's still worthwhile.
Plant
This is difficult to do if you don't want to steal your stuff back. Luckily, kissing your shearer causes him to drop everything.
Rifle
This is pk-checked. Though a shearer carries nothing on him, you can still rifle his purse.
Throw
Another option is to throw a rubber knife at the shearer. They bounce off so do no damage and don't start combat. This is another 15x command, but it could be worthwhile for the tms.
Package Commands
These commands work great if you get a locked package from the Harbor Mistress in the Genuan sewers.
Disable
The package doesn't have a trap, but you can try to disable it anyhow and get teh XPz. Yay!
Pick
You need a sub alias so you can "stop" right after you start picking without stopping your entire alias. If you don't stop, you might succeed in unlocking the package and it will disappear. Be sure to get a lockpick.
Probe
This needs a lock, and the package is a great lightweight portable locked item.
Map
Using "map" while hidden takes no gp, but can tm covert.casing.place, making it useful. However, it can also bring you out of hiding and prevent you from using unhide.
Since both hide and ambush leave you hiding, you can use map after only one of them, and unhide after the other to avoid this.
ambush map hide unhide
This works even if you don't come out of hiding--you can ambush after a successful hide, and vice versa.
Thief Alias Examples
Example 1 (Without combat, stealing, or a package)
hide unhide ambush case <target> peek <target> rifle purse of <target> palm <thing> from <container> conceal it unconceal it slip it to <container> plant <thing2> on <target>
Or, in an easier-to-copy format:
hide;unhide;ambush;case <target>;peek <target>;rifle purse of <target>;palm <thing> from <container>;conceal it;unconceal it;slip it to <container>;plant <thing2> on <target>
This requires some kind of living thing--a pet or sheep shearer is ideal.
The only 15x command here is peek--chosen both because it costs few gp, and because it can tm stealth. The others are 30x commands.
Note that even if you fail the unconceal, the act of slipping will cause it to no longer be concealed. You should decide beforehand what "<thing>" should be, since some things can't be concealed (coins, for example, or smelly seeds).
For the planting aspect, you can:
- Use a pet, and ask them to drop it/wait for them to drop it
- Use a sheep shearer and obble them so that they'll drop it
- Convert a few dollars to pence and plant one penny at a time. Then steal the coins back at the end, kill the npc to get them back, or resign yourself to the loss.
Example 2 (With a package, a lockpick, a penny, and a shearer, but no calm)
kiss obble rifle purse of shearer case shearer peek shearer plant penny on shearer kiss shearer get penny ambush map hide unhide slip penny into here palm penny conceal package unconceal package probe package lpick (pick package;stop)
This uses 12 30x commands and 1 15x command. The use of the 'map' command while hiding doesn't add any gp cost or xp, but does tm co.ca.pl at a very nice rate (at least 1 tm every two hours, in my experience). It will not work in a room with multiple people using multiple shearers.
Map has been changed recently and it now tends to break your hiding all too often. For that reason it's best not to have it before unhide.
In pastable form:
alias 1 kiss obble;rifle purse of shearer;case shearer;peek shearer;plant penny on shearer;kiss shearer;get penny;ambush;map;hide;unhide;slip penny into here;palm penny;conceal package;unconceal package;probe package;lpick
alias lpick pick package;stop
Example 3 (With a package, a lockpick, and any NPC)
rifle purse of <npc> case <npc> ambush map hide stop hide map hide stop conceal package unconceal package slip package into container palm package from container probe package disable package lpick package (pick $*$;stop)
This comes to 11 30x commands.
This assumes you have some container, e.g. a satchel or backpack, nicknamed as 'container'. In general, you should use an obscure nickname to avoid confusing your alias. This is significantly safer than using the room, since someone or something else might be there to pick up your object.
The use of the 'map' command while hiding doesn't add any gp cost or xp gain, but does tm co.ca.pl.
This example is fail-safe; you can fail any command and it still works, although it won't tm from map. If you are certain you will succeed at hiding, and won't be taken out of hiding by map, you can add unhide.
It is also group-safe; it makes no difference who is in the room with you doing what, so long as the NPC remains available (you may want to use a combat dummy or other immortal NPC). It makes no assumptions about the NPC in question; if you are using an NPC that you can steal/filch from reliably, you can add plant, steal, and filch (these are NOT fail-safe; the latter two will start combat if they fail, and won't return the object). Remember, if you want to be group-safe, avoid moving anything to the room (shearer aliases are NOT group safe; someone else might take your obble).
In pastable form:
alias lpick pick $*$;stop
alias 1 rifle purse of $*$;case $*$;ambush;hide stop;hide;map;hide stop;slip package into container;palm package from container;conceal package;unconceal package;probe package;disable package;lpick package;
Syntax: 1 <npc>
GP cost: 20 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 20 + 40 + 25 = 195 XP return: 195 * 30 = 5850
Assuming 4 gp regen, this can be fired every 48.75 heartbeats. You will get a higher efficiency if you can hit an integer number of beats, as this will waste less time in the final beat.
