Thieving is one of the most handy (pun intended) skills in Old School RuneScape. With the only requirement to train being having two hands, Thieving is used for various minigames, quests, and activities across Gielinor.
Despite the assumption that training the skill is just pickpocketing NPCs (which is mostly correct), there are many different training methods for you to utilize on the way to your Thieving skillcape.
Recommended Read: How to Get Hosidius Favor in Old School RuneScape
Today, we are going to discuss what the road to 99 Thieving looks like, the different training opportunities for you, as well as other tips and tricks to make the journey as easy as possible. Grab your lockpicks and blackjacks, and you will be on your way to 99 Thieving in Old School RuneScape in no time!
To reach 99 Thieving in Old School RuneScape, you will start off by pickpocketing Men/Women, then move on to steal from Bakery stalls at 5 Thieving and Fruit stalls at 45 Thieving. From here, your methods of choice will vary, with the fastest being blackjacking the bandits in Pollnivneach, pickpocketing the Knights of Ardougne, or doing the Sorceress’s Garden.
Table of Contents
- Best Way to Reach 99 Thieving in OSRS
- Levels 1-5: Pickpocketing Men/Women
- Levels 5-25: Stealing from Bakery/Tea Stalls
- Levels 25-45: Stealing from Fruit Stalls
- Levels 25+: Underwater Thieving (Fossil Island)
- Levels 45+: Blackjacking
- Levels 49+: Stealing Artefacts in Port Piscarilius
- Levels 55+: Pickpocketing Knights of Ardougne
- Levels 65+: Sorceress’s Garden
- Levels 78+: Stealing from Dorgesh-Kaan Rich Chests
- Levels 82+: Pickpocketing Vyres
- Levels 85+: Pickpocketing Elves
- Levels 91+: Pyramid Plunder
- Other Things to Consider
- Obtaining the Thieving Skillcape
Best Way to Reach 99 Thieving in OSRS
Thieving is one of the few skills in the game that almost forces you to travel to the different regions of Gielinor.
Although pickpocketing NPCs is a common method of training thieving, there are other avenues through blackjacking, stealing from stalls, and certain minigames that can give you decent experience rates.
Levels 1-5: Pickpocketing Men/Women
OSRS players who just became a member’s account will likely do this to start their account progression.
The regular citizens of RuneScape can be pickpocketed at 1 Thieving, giving you coin pouches that can be opened for gp.
Thankfully, the process from 1-5 Thieving is speedy, as it should only take about 5 minutes to accomplish.
Levels 5-25: Stealing from Bakery/Tea Stalls
At 5 Thieving, you can steal from both bakery and tea stalls. bakery stalls are your best option all the way to 25 Thieving, as they provide the best respawn times, and the guards can be trapped to prevent you from being spotted.
Skill stalls also become available at 20 Thieving, but it is still recommended to stick with bakery stalls.
The best location to do this is the market in East Ardougne. You can position yourself between the crates and the barrel on the east side of the stall to hide from the guards.
Stealing from bakery stalls can gain you around 19k experience per hour.
Levels 25-45: Stealing from Fruit Stalls
At 25 Thieving, you can move to the fruit stalls in Hosidius.
There are three different stalls to choose from. However, two of them are right next to each other (by the house on the east side of the marketplace).
Stealing from fruit stalls also requires you to have at least 15% Hosidius favour. Be sure to check out our guide on how to gain Hosidius favour the fastest way possible.
There are guard dogs that will protect the stalls and attack you if you are caught, but they can also be trapped behind on of the stands to prevent this from happening.
Stealing from both of the stalls back and forth will get you around 42k experience per hour.
Levels 25+: Underwater Thieving (Fossil Island)
When Fossil Island was released into the game, a multitude of activities and areas came with it, including an entire underwater section.
Here, players can take from the treasure chests and giant clam shells to earn Thieving experience.
You will also gain Agility experience in the process as you will have to navigate through different obstacles.
You will also need to maintain your oxygen levels as they will deplete while you are underwater.
While searching the chests and clams, you will gain Mermaid’s tears, as well as Glistening tears.
The latter can be traded to Mairin for either Thieving exp, Agility exp, or a combination of both.
If you were to only turn in your Glistening tears for Thieving experience, you can expect somewhere between 100k-210k experience per hour, depending on your Thieving level.
Levels 45+: Blackjacking
Blackjacking bandits is one of the more click-intensive Thieving methods, but the experience rates speak for itself.
In order to do this method, you must have completed a portion of “The Fued” quest up until the point where you learn how to use the blackjack.
After reaching Pollnivneach, you should find a bandit in a tent where they cannot travel far if they stun you. Then, the process to blackjack is as follows:
- Rick-click and “Knock Out” the bandit.
- Pickpocket them at least twice before they wake up.
- After they wake up, quickly knock them out again and repeat.
You will also need some forms of heat protection to stay in the desert for long periods of time. There are sources of food in the form of Jugs of wine that can be bought, so it may be worth bringing a stack of coins.
Depending on your Thieving level, there are certain bandits you should blackjack:
- 45 Thieving: Bandit (Level-41)
- 55 Thieving: Bandit (Level-56)
- 65 Thieving: Menaphite Thug (Level-55)
Based on performance and levels, you can expect experience rates around 120k-140k when you’re just starting and then peak around 240k-260k Thieving exp per hour when you reach 85-95 Thieving.
Levels 49+: Stealing Artefacts in Port Piscarilius
Starting at 49 Thieving and after having at least 75% Piscarilius favour, you will be able to steal artefacts around the different homes of Piscarilius.
You will start by talking to Captain Khaled on the east side of Port Piscarilius, who will assign you a house to steal from. Then, you can go to said house, avoid the guards, steal the artefact, and return it to him for a bit of gp.
It is recommended to have a Book of the Dead, as well as stamina potions to travel across Port Piscarilius efficiently.
At 49 Thieving, you can expect around 150k Thieving exp per hour but can reach around 240k-250k experience per hour at higher levels.
Levels 55+: Pickpocketing Knights of Ardougne
This is one of the more common training methods for players trying to reach 99 Thieving, as it is not only relatively simple to do, but you can get a decent amount of profit along the way.
Starting at 55 Thieving, players can find one of the Knights of Ardougne and pickpocket them for coin pouches (much like how I described pickpocketing from men/women earlier in this guide).
More often than not, players will trap an Ardy Knight behind a door or in the bank with an account splashing on it to prevent them from moving anywhere.
You can read our guide here on how you can splash effectively for low-effort magic experience.
Depending on achievement diary completion, the use of dodgy necklaces, and/or rogue equipment, you can see experience rates around 65k-100k per hour when you are first starting out and peaking at around 240k Thieving experience per hour at higher levels. You can also get around 100k-200kgp per hour.
Levels 65+: Sorceress’s Garden
Although you can do the Sorceress’s Garden minigame at 1 Thieving, it is best to wait until 65 Thieving to attempt this minigame.
This training method consists of stealing fruit from the different gardens in the center of a maze and turning them into sq’irks to give to Osman.
Weight-reducing gear and stamina potions are recommended for this method. However, you will also need empty beer glasses and a pestle and mortar to make the Summer Sq’irkjuice.
There are also elementals patrolling the maze that will send you to the front if you are spotted.
There is a method to “one-click” the maze by waiting until all the elementals are lined up in a certain position before clicking on the tree in the center.
It takes some time to set up, but this can make your run through the garden much more efficient.
Once you learn the right pathing, you can expect to get around 140k Thieving experience per hour.
Thankfully, this does not change based on your Thieving level, so you will earn the same amount of experience consistently.
Levels 78+: Stealing from Dorgesh-Kaan Rich Chests
After completion of the “Death to the Dorgeshuun” quest and 78 Thieving, players can steal from the rich chests throughout Dorgesh-Kaan. You will also need to bring lock picks to do so.
Rich chests can be found in different houses around the city, but the most optimal method is to find a house, steal from both of them and then hop worlds to steal from the same chests and repeat.
This method is fairly relaxed, as you do not take damage, nor are there guards to prevent you from doing so.
You can expect around 220k Thieving experience per hour if you are dropping the loot you receive. However, if you decide to bank them, you will gain around 180k Thieving experience and 250-300k gp per hour.
Levels 82+: Pickpocketing Vyres
After completion of the “Sins of the Father” quest and 82 Thieving, players will be able to pickpocket from the Vyres in the city of Darkmeyer.
The Vyrewatch Sentinels that wander the city are very dangerous, so it is recommended to have Protect from Melee active, as well as high-healing food in your inventory.
You can trap one of the Vyres in a building to repeatedly pickpocket, much like how you would for an Ardy Knight.
There is also a 1/5000 chance that you will pickpocket a blood shard (or two if you are wearing full rogue equipment).
They are currently going for around 6.2m, so this method is extremely profitable in the long run.
Depending on the equipment used and performance, you can expect around 140k Thieving experience and 2m per hour (if you get a Blood Shard) when pickpocketing from Vyres.
Levels 85+: Pickpocketing Elves
At 85 Thieving, players will be able to pickpocket Elves in the lands of Lletya and Prifddinas.
Although you can access Elves after completion of the “Mourning’s End Part I” quest, it is recommended you wait until you complete the “Song of the Elves” quest so they will be able to drop enhanced crystal teleport seeds.
Enhanced crystal teleport seeds are currently going for around 2.4m and can be received at a rate of 1/1024. Combined with the rogue equipment’s double loot effect, you can gain around 2.8m gp per hour.
Although a bit of a tedious method as they catch you a lot quicker than other NPCs, you can expect around 150k Thieving experience per hour when pickpocketing Elves.
Levels 91+: Pyramid Plunder
Although this minigame can be accessed at 21 Thieving, it is recommended to wait until 91 Thieving as there are other methods that offer better experience rates until now.
Pyramid Plunder has players run through the pyramid and raid the different levels, granting the players Thieving experience while avoiding the venomous insects and other creatures inside.
There is also a chance to get a Pharoah’s Sceptre from one of the chests which are currently going for 2.6m gp, making this a profitable method.
Weight-reducing gear, antipoisons, and a fast teleport to a rejuvenation pool are highly recommended, as you will take a lot of damage while running through the different levels.
At 91 Thieving, you will get around 270k Thieving experience.
Other Things to Consider
When it comes to the Thieving skill, there are other factors that can make training levels 1-99 be completed quicker.
This is in the form of completing certain quests, using certain items, or applying other tips and tricks to your training.
Quests That Give Thieving Experience
There are nearly 30 different quests in Old School RuneScape that reward Thieving experience, some of which can be completed at 1 Thieving, allowing you to bypass most of the lower-level training methods.
Quest (Thieving Lvl Required) – Thieving Experience Rewarded:
- Biohazard (None) – 1,250
- Contact! (None) – 7,000
- Fight Arena (None) – 2,175
- Hazeel Cult (None) – 1,500
- Icthlarin’s Little Helper (None) – 4,500
- Ratcatchers (None) – 4,500
- The Fremennik Trials (None) – 2,812
- Tower of Life (None) – 500
- The Giant Dwarf (Lvl 14) – 1,500
- The Hand in the Sand (Lvl 17) – 1,000
- The Queen of Thieves (Lvl 20) – 2,000
- Tribal Totem (Lvl 21) – 1,775
- Darkness of Hallowvale (Lvl 22) – 6,000
- Death to the Dorgeshuun (Lvl 23) – 2,000
- Creature of Fenkenstrain (Lvl 25) – 1,000
- The Golem (Lvl 25) – 1,000
- The Fued (Lvl 30) – 15,000
- The Slug Menace (Lvl 30) – 3,500
- Spirits of the Elid (Lvl 37) – 1,000
- Fairytale II – Cure a Queen (Lvl 40) – 2,500
- Land of the Goblins (Lvl 45) – 8,000
- Mourning’s End Part I (Lvl 50) – 40,000
- Monkey Madness II (Lvl 55) – 50,000
- The Path of Glouphrie (Lvl 56) – 5,000
- Grim Tales (Lvl 58) – 25,000
- Dragon Slayer II (Lvl 60) – 50,000
- Secrets of the North (Lvl 64) – 50,000
All together, you can earn a massive 290,512 Thieving experience from questing alone!
Thieving-Related Items
Other than your hands, there are other items that you can increase your experience rates and even increase the amount of loot you can receive.
Rogue Equipment
Rogue Equipment can be acquired from the Rogues’ Den minigame in Burthrope.
You can reach here by teleporting to the Burthrope game room and heading down the trapdoor in The Toad & Chicken Inn.
In the minigame, you go through a lengthy obstacle course of traps, guards, and puzzles to reach the vault at the end.
If you are caught by any of the traps, you will be sent back to the beginning, where you will need to go through the course again.
At the very end, there are eight different wall safes to pick from, which have a chance to give you either a piece of the Rogue’s outfit or a Rogue kit where you can get thieving-related tools.
The correct wall safe that will successfully open rotates clockwise upon each attempt, so it is best to keep checking the same one until you are successful, then open the safes starting clockwise on each consecutive attempt.
Each piece of the Rogue’s outfit has a chance of giving you double loot on a successful pickpocket, with the chance peaking at 100% when you are wearing the full outfit.
This turns even the more moderate Thieving training methods into profitable money makers that can give you nearly 200k-300k gp per hour.
Dodgy Necklaces
Dodgy necklaces give players a 25% chance of not being stunned while they are caught. Each of them holds 10 charges and is destroyed upon the final charge being used.
Thankfully, charges carry over from necklace to necklace, so you do not need to worry about having multiple different stacks of Dodgy necklaces in your bank and can store them all at once.
Since they are low cost, it is highly advised to purchase a stack of them to use while you are training Thieving as they greatly increase your experience rates.
Gloves of Silence
Serving as an opposite to the Dodgy necklaces, the Gloves of Silence gives you a reduced 5% chance of failing a pickpocket.
Surprisingly, even though there is no Thieving requirement to wear them, you need 54 Hunter to equip them.
After 62 failed pickpockets, these gloves will “break”, and will need to be repaired by using a Dark Kebbit Fur, with a needle, thread, and knife in your inventory, on the gloves to repair them.
Ardougne Achievement Diary Reward
After completing different tiers of the Ardougne Achievement Diary, you will be rewarded with certain bonuses to Thieving.
- Easy Tier: None.
- Medium Tier: 10% Increased Pickpocket while in Ardougne & Hold a Maximum of 56 Coin Pouches.
- Hard Tier: 10% Increased Pickpocket around Gielinor & Hold a Maximum of 84 Coin Pouches.
- Elite Tier: Hold a Maximum of 140 Coin Pouches.
Obtaining the Thieving Skillcape
Once you have reached 99 Thieving, congratulations!
You can buy the Thieving skillcape from Martin Thwait at the Rogues’ Den for 99k gp.
While wearing this cape, you will have an increased 10% chance of succeeding on a pickpocket. This effect DOES stack with both the Ardougne Diary rewards and the Gloves of Silence.
That is how you train levels 1-99 Thieving in Old School RuneScape!
Do you have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.
