Help for a would-be thief in the early game.

I've tried a few times to start a halfling thief, and always seem to fail miserably. How do all of you thieves out their prosper in the early game? It seems I can't even make it to Tarant or Dernholm without being killed by a wolve or a mountain lion or something. Being a halfling, they can swallow me in like, one bite. I don't want my character to be beautiful or particularly charismatic (0,1, or 2 followers, probably just one), and I'd rather get along with tech as opposed to melee, namely explosives, but I'll go firearms if I have to.

 

Put some points into firearms when you start the game. Then, when you level, you can work on your Pick Pocket. I hope this helps. Or, you can raise your DX and put points in throwing AND pick pocket..they take the same stat :wink2:

 

considering that youre a halfling and will have low strength, you may want to take throwing and explosives. the better guns have high msr and you need a lot of ammo. with throwing you dont need much strength to sport a boomerang and gernades.

if you dont mind having your character having tech and magic, you should learn some first level spells as gernades arent dependent on TA. Agility of Fire can save you points in DX and its stackable. Strength of Earth can be used to up your strength if you need to carry a lot and is also stackable. Purity of Water is useful when youre shopping as prices go way down when you light up two or three at once, although this isnt really that important as youll be stealing anyway. disarm might also be good to learn as it is extremely useful in getting the best neutral throwing weapon in the game and is good in other situations as well.

 

considering that youre a halfling and will have low strength, you may want to take throwing and explosives. the better guns have high msr and you need a lot of ammo. with throwing you dont need much strength to sport a boomerang and gernades.

if you dont mind having your character having tech and magic, you should learn some first level spells as gernades arent dependent on TA. Agility of Fire can save you points in DX and its stackable. Strength of Earth can be used to up your strength if you need to carry a lot and is also stackable. Purity of Water is useful when youre shopping as prices go way down when you light up two or three at once, although this isnt really that important as youll be stealing anyway. disarm might also be good to learn as it is extremely useful in getting the best neutral throwing weapon in the game and is good in other situations as well.

 

Backstab is very useful. I had a halfling thief, and I went the tech route, and once I got a high level of backstab, I could whack those ore golems from behind a couple of times and take them down very quickly. I increased most of the thief skills, as well as melee and dodge, my strength and dex, and pretty much left everything along the tech and magick trees alone. I mastered something like half a dozen skills .

Oh yeah, also start wearing Oiled Thieves Leather. Some small bonuses which allow you to get your skills to the 4.5 (you know, out of the five you can possible invest in each skill) which allows you to get master training when the relevant stat is only 15 instead of 18. Very handy for saving many CP's. Doesn't work for everything, but it does for most skills.

 

Look at the Raised by Orcs background. ST + 2, PE + 2, all combat skills + 1/4. this is big as 2 1/4 points is all you need for Expert training in any field. Also an advantage of the Oiled Thieves Leather.

The PE is primary in firearms, but used in all ranged weapons.

If you go the backstab route, you will want Expert in mele.

But might I sugest an archer.