OSRS Thieving Guide: Level 1-99 Fast & Profitable Methods

What’s going on everyone, my name is Theoatrix, and welcome to the updated level 1 to 99 Thieving guide for Old School RuneScape (OSRS).

This comprehensive guide will cover everything you need to efficiently train your Thieving skill in OSRS. We’ll start with the fundamentals, delve into the fastest routes to level 99, explore alternative training methods, and highlight profitable options. Let’s dive right in and master the art of Thieving!

If you prefer a visual guide, you can check out the video version below. Otherwise, continue reading for the in-depth written guide.

Why Train Thieving

Why should you invest time in training Thieving? Leveling your Thieving skill is crucial for overall account progression in OSRS.

Many important quests have Thieving level requirements. Key examples include:

The Legends’ Quest
Desert Treasure
Monkey Madness II
Dragon Slayer II
You’ll need level 64 Thieving to obtain the Quest Cape, a prestigious achievement for completing all quests.
Level 91 Thieving is required for the Achievement Diary Cape, another highly sought-after cape showcasing significant game completion.

Furthermore, high Thieving levels unlock some of the most profitable skilling money-making methods in OSRS, such as pickpocketing Elves, which can yield up to 3 million gold per hour.

Overall, Thieving is a relatively fast skill to level to 99 and can be quite profitable. Following the fastest training methods outlined in this guide, reaching level 99 Thieving can take approximately 60 hours.

Essential Unlocks for Thieving

Throughout your Thieving journey to level 99, there are several useful unlocks that can significantly enhance your training efficiency.

Ardougne Achievement Diaries: Completing the Ardougne Diaries boosts your success rate when pickpocketing, directly increasing your XP rates.

The Medium Ardougne Diary provides a 10% success rate boost within Ardougne.
The Hard Ardougne Diary extends this 10% boost to everywhere in RuneScape, making it highly beneficial.

Gloves of Silence: With level 54 Hunter, you can equip Gloves of Silence. These gloves offer a 5% increase to your pickpocketing success rate.

It’s important to note that the Gloves of Silence effect does not stack with the Ardougne Diary boost. Therefore, use the gloves only if you haven’t completed the Ardougne Diary.

Dodgy Necklaces: Dodgy Necklaces are essential for efficient pickpocketing training.

When worn, a Dodgy Necklace provides a 25% chance to avoid being stunned when you fail a pickpocket attempt. This significantly reduces interruptions and greatly boosts your overall XP rates.

Shadow Veil Spell: While pickpocketing, utilizing the Shadow Veil spell from the Arceuus Spellbook is highly recommended.

When active, Shadow Veil grants a 15% chance to avoid getting stunned upon a failed pickpocket, and this effect stacks with the Dodgy Necklace, maximizing your stun avoidance.

Rogue’s Outfit: To maximize your gains from Thieving, obtaining the Rogue’s Outfit from the Rogue’s Den minigame is highly beneficial, especially for profitable methods.

Wearing pieces of the Rogue’s Outfit gives you a chance to receive double loot when pickpocketing. Equipping the full set guarantees double loot, significantly increasing profit when pickpocketing NPCs that drop valuable items.

Optimal Leveling Path to 99 Thieving

For the most efficient route to 99 Thieving, you should primarily follow the fastest pathway outlined below, while incorporating alternative and profitable methods to diversify your training and prevent burnout.

Fastest Thieving Training Methods

The fastest Thieving training methods often require high focus and can be click-intensive. Therefore, it’s recommended to mix in less intensive methods like Ardougne Knights and profitable methods to maintain engagement and enjoyment.

Level 1-20: Questing

Questing is a remarkably efficient way to gain early Thieving levels.

There are 26 quests in OSRS that reward Thieving experience. Low-level players can easily reach level 20 Thieving by completing quests like:

Biohazard
Hazeel Cult
Fight Arena

These quests have minimal requirements and offer a significant Thieving XP boost at the start.

Level 1-5: Men and Women

If you choose to skip questing for early levels, begin by pickpocketing Men or Women. These NPCs are common in most RuneScape cities. Lumbridge offers easily accessible targets wandering around the town.

You’ll need approximately 49 successful pickpocket attempts to reach level 5 Thieving, which should take around 10 minutes.

RuneLite Plugin Tip: Utilize the Menu Entry Swapper plugin on RuneLite for faster pickpocketing. With the plugin active, holding ‘Shift’ and right-clicking an NPC allows you to set ‘Pickpocket’ as the left-click option, streamlining the process.

Level 5-25: Ardougne Bakery Stalls

From level 5, the best XP rates are achieved by stealing from Bakery Stalls in the Ardougne Market, located in eastern Ardougne.

Position yourself directly underneath the baker NPC to minimize the chance of being caught. Leveling from 5 to 25 at Bakery Stalls will take approximately 30 minutes.

Level 25-45: Hosidius Fruit Stalls

Starting at level 25, Fruit Stalls within the Hosidius House in Kourend offer superior XP per hour until level 45.

These stalls require 15% Hosidius House favor to steal from. It’s recommended to use the stalls in the easternmost Hosidius House for training.

At this location, two adjacent Fruit Stalls are available. Training on a single stall yields up to 35,000 XP per hour. For even faster rates exceeding 40,000 XP per hour, alternate between stealing from both stalls, dropping the fruits as you go. Reaching level 45 from level 25 will take approximately 1.5 to 2 hours.

Level 43-45: The Feud Quest (Optional but Recommended)

If you reach level 43 Thieving and haven’t yet completed The Feud quest, it’s highly recommended to do so. Completing The Feud provides enough Thieving experience to boost you from level 43 to 45 and is a prerequisite for the next, highly efficient training method unlocked at level 45: Blackjacking.

Level 45-91: Blackjacking in Pollnivneach

Levels 45 to 91 are most efficiently trained using Blackjacking in Pollnivneach.

Fast travel options to Pollnivneach include using a redirected house teleport tablet or traveling through the Shantay Pass and taking a carpet ride.

Blackjacking Equipment and Inventory:

Blackjack: Any type of blackjack will work; use the one obtained from The Feud quest.
Food: Bring noted food and coins to un-note them at the exchange merchant in Pollnivneach. Alternatively, bring coins to purchase wine from the local bar.
Inventory Management: Consider bringing food items that leave an item behind after consumption (like pies or stews) to help keep your inventory full and prevent accidental normal pickpocket attempts.
Optional Weapon Switch: Bring a second weapon to quickly exit combat if a thug attacks you, improving efficiency.

Blackjacking Technique:

Trapping Bandits: Trap a bandit in a house to keep it stationary. Lure a bandit to a house, enter, and close the door behind it to trap it.
Combat Reset: If a thug attacks you after a failed knockout, switch to your secondary weapon and attempt to knock them out again. This will take you out of combat.
Ladder Method (Alternative): Lure a thug to a room with a ladder. If attacked, climb up and down the ladder to reset combat.

Blackjacking Process:

Knock Out: Use your blackjack to knock out the bandit.
Pickpocket Twice: Pickpocket the knocked-out bandit twice.
Repeat: Repeat steps 1 and 2 continuously.

Level 45-55: Bearded Bandits

Begin blackjacking training on Bearded Bandits in the northern part of Pollnivneach. Use the houses in the area to trap them. Expect to gain around 100,000 XP per hour. Leveling from 45 to 55 will take approximately 1 hour.

Level 55-65: Non-Bearded Bandits

At level 55 Thieving, switch to Non-Bearded Bandits, also located in northern Pollnivneach. Utilize the same house-trapping method. These bandits provide around 140,000 XP per hour. Reaching level 65 from 55 will take about 2 hours.

Level 65-91: Menaphite Thugs

Upon reaching level 65 Thieving, transition to Menaphite Thugs, found in the southwest region of Pollnivneach. Again, use houses to trap these thugs. The blackjacking technique remains the same. XP rates will range from 200,000 to 250,000 per hour on your path to level 91. Leveling from 65 to 91 will take approximately 25 hours.

Level 91-99: Pyramid Plunder

From level 91 Thieving, the fastest XP is obtained by playing the Pyramid Plunder minigame.

Pyramid Plunder Access and Gameplay:

Quest Requirement: You must have started the ‘Icthlarin’s Little Helper’ quest to access Sophanem, or use a Pharaoh’s Sceptre teleport.
Starting the Minigame: Speak to Tarik, located between the two pyramids in Sophanem, to begin.
Entering the Pyramid: Find the Guardian Mummy at one of the Northern Pyramid entrances, or teleport directly using a Pharaoh’s Sceptre.
Rooms and Strategy: Inside the pyramid, there are 8 rooms, each with a Thieving level requirement.

Level 91+ Pyramid Plunder Strategy:

At level 91, the optimal strategy is to skip the first six rooms and focus on looting everything in the final (eighth) room and as much as possible in the seventh room. Prioritize looting Golden Chests in each room you enter, even if skipping rooms. This method yields approximately 270,000 XP per hour. Leveling from 91 to 99 using this method will take around 26 hours.

Total Time to 99 Thieving (Fastest Pathway): Approximately 60 hours.

Alternative Thieving Training Methods

Blackjacking, while fast, is highly click-intensive. Here are some alternative methods to diversify your training and offer a less demanding experience.

Level 49-65: Piscarilius Artifact Stealing

At level 49 Thieving and with 75% Piscarilius House favor, you can begin Stealing Artifacts in Piscarilius.

Artifact Stealing can be faster than Blackjacking up to level 65 if performed efficiently. However, beginners may experience lower XP rates initially. If you’re looking for a change from Blackjacking, it’s worth trying.

Artifact Stealing Process:

Task from Captain Kaled: Speak to Captain Kaled to receive an artifact stealing task.
Steal Artifacts: Steal the assigned artifact from houses to the west of Captain Kaled.
Evade Guards: Avoid patrolling guards while carrying the artifact.
Return to Captain Kaled: Return to Captain Kaled to complete the task and receive XP.

XP rates for Artifact Stealing range from up to 150,000 XP per hour at level 49, scaling to 185,000 XP per hour at level 65.

Level 55+: Ardougne Knights

At level 55 Thieving, you unlock Ardougne Knights, a significantly less click-intensive training method compared to Blackjacking.

When pickpocketing Ardougne Knights, utilize Dodgy Necklaces and the Shadow Veil spell to minimize stuns. Completing the Ardougne Diaries is highly recommended for increased success rates.

Finding Ardougne Knights:

To find an Ardougne Knight for training, join a friends chat like “Thieving Host” or “Splash Worlds”. These communities host players who splash (intentionally keep in combat without killing) Ardougne Knights at the Ardougne bank, making them constantly available for pickpocketing. Join their friends chat and check the player list to identify the designated world with a splasher.

Ardougne Knights are a highly recommended alternative, offering a far more relaxed Thieving training experience that requires less focus than other methods.

Level 71+: Pyramid Plunder (Alternative)

Pyramid Plunder can also be used as an alternative training method from level 71 onwards. While slower than Blackjacking for levels 71-91, it is still a fast and less monotonous option. Use the same strategy as described for levels 91-99: focus on the highest level rooms for looting.

Profitable Thieving Methods

Let’s explore profitable Thieving methods that offer decent XP rates while generating income, providing a balanced approach to training.

Level 38+: Master Farmers

You can start pickpocketing Master Farmers at level 38. They drop a variety of seeds, including valuable herb seeds, making them a profitable option. However, at level 38, your success rate is low, leading to frequent failures.

Master Farmers become significantly more profitable at level 94 Thieving, where, with the Hard Ardougne Diary completed, you achieve a 100% success rate, maximizing seed income.

Level 82+: Vyrewatch (Vyres)

With level 82 Thieving and completion of the ‘Sins of the Father’ quest, you can pickpocket Vyrewatch (Vyres) in Darkmeyer. Vyres have a 1 in 5,000 chance of dropping a Blood Shard, a valuable item. This drop rate is doubled when wearing the full Rogue’s Outfit, making it almost essential for this method.

Level 85+: Elves

At level 85 Thieving and after completing the ‘Song of the Elves’ quest, you can pickpocket Elves in Prifddinas. Elves have a 1 in 1,024 chance of dropping an Enhanced Crystal Teleport Seed, another highly profitable item. This drop rate is also doubled with the Rogue’s Outfit.

While Elves are very profitable, the XP rates are generally slower than Vyres due to a higher failure rate when pickpocketing them.

Guide Recap

That concludes this comprehensive level 1-99 Thieving guide for Old School RuneScape! By following these methods and tips, you can efficiently and effectively train your Thieving skill, unlock valuable content, and even make some GP along the way. Good luck on your journey to 99 Thieving!