Runescape Thieving Guide.

Introduction

Dictionary: To take (something) by theft or commit theft.
In RuneScape, thieving is a very diverse skill. You can pick locks, loot chests, steal from stalls, and even pick pocket certain people. All these acts can be very rewarding; however, they are still dangerous since there are always characters on the lookout for annoying thieves. A level 99 thief wrote this guide, providing all the best locations and strategies to help you level faster.

Lock Picking

Throughout the RuneScape world, you will find that you are unable to open certain doors. If you are lucky, the door you are trying to pass through can be pick locked. To pick a lock, simply right click on the door and select "Pick Lock." If you are successful the door will open you will automatically walk through. If you fail, you will have to try again.
Successfully opening some locked doors requires you to have a lockpick in your inventory in order to pick their locks. You can obtain lockpicks from other players, or pick pocketed from bandits and rogues. Martin Thwait in the Rogue's Den also sells lockpicks.

Door	Location	Required Level	Experience	Lockpick?	Location Picture
Door to 10gp Chest	East Ardougne	1	3.5	No	Picture
Ardougne House Door	East Ardougne	14	15	No	Picture
Door to Nature Chest	East Ardougne	16	15	No	Picture
H.A.M. Trapdoor	East of Draynor Village	17	4	No	Picture
Axe Hut Door	Level 54 Wilderness	32	25	Yes	Picture
Ardougne Sewers Gate	Ardougne Sewers	31	25	No	Picture
Pirate Hall	Level 54 Wilderness	39	35	Yes	Picture
Chaos Druid Tower	North of Ardougne	46	37.5	No	Picture
Paladin Door	Ardougne Palace	61	50	No	Picture
Yanille Agility Dungeon Door	Eastern Yanille	82	50	Yes	Picture

Chest Looting

Unlike doors, the chests you are able to thieve from in RuneScape are not safe. If you do not take care when thieving from chest, the traps hidden in them will hurt you. To find a trap on a chest, right click on it and select "Search for Traps." Your character will automatically find the trap and disarm it if your thieving level is high enough.
To add onto the danger of thieving from chests, you have a chance of getting a poison cloud any time you search for a trap. The cloud doesn't poison you, but it can do a little bit of damage so be sure to take along some food if you plan on thieving from these chests.
Please note that when you loot the Paladin and Blood Rune chests, you will be teleported outside their containing buildings. For the most part, chests do not give very good experience. The only chest that is really worth thieving is the Blood Rune Chest since it produces a fair amount of profit on top of the experience given. When thieving the Dorgesh-Kaan chests, you need a lockpick.

Chest	Location	Required Level	Experience	Items Thieved	Respawn Time	Location Picture
10gp Chest	Ardougne (x2) Rellekka Axe Hut (x3)	13	7.5	10GP	7 seconds	Picture
Nature Chest	Ardougne (x2) Rellekka	28	25	3GP, Nature Rune (1)	10 seconds	Picture
50gp Chest	Ardougne	43	125	50GP	70 seconds	Picture
Arrow Tip Chest*	Hemenster Rellekka	47	150	5 Steel Arrow Tips and 20GP	210 seconds	Picture
Average Chest	Dorgesh-Kaan	52	200	Oil lantern, bullseye lantern, cave goblin mining helmet, frog armour, cave goblin wire, rope, frog armour, bone bolts, bone crossbow, bone dagger, H.A.M. clothes, spade, bucket, hammer, newcomer map, big bones, coins, runes (air, earth, fire, water, body, mind, cosmic, chaos, nature, death or law), staff orb, talisman (water, air, earth or fire), Dorgeshuun light orb, empty light orb, Oldak's Marvellous Moving-over-distance Sphere, clue scroll, charms	165 seconds	N/A
Blood Rune Chest	Chaos Druid Tower	59	250	500GP, Blood Rune (2)	135 seconds	Picture
Customs Lockers	Rock Island Prison (x17), Must have completed Rocking Out	63	75	Rune scimitar, uncut diamond, uncut ruby, uncut emerald, uncut sapphire, shark, mithril bar, gold bar, pirate boots, steel sword, iron bar, pirate shirt, eye patch, steel scimitar, iron scimitar, bronze scimitar, clue scroll, 300 coins	200 seconds	N/A
Paladin Chest	Ardougne Palace	72	500	1,000GP, Raw Shark, Adamant Ore, and Uncut Sapphire	240 seconds	Picture
Rich Chest	Dorgesh-Kaan	78	650	Uncut gems (including semi-precious), bullseye lantern, cave goblin mining helmet, frog armour, iron bar, Dorgeshuun light orb, empty light orb, 500-2500 coins, charms	510 seconds	N/A

* Requires lock pick to open chest.

Stall Thieving

In the past, you could only thieve stalls in the city of Ardougne, however recently there have been many stall-thieving additions to the game. Stealing from stalls is a lot like chest looting; however, there are no traps on the stall. Instead, certain in game characters will be on the lookout for thieves like you and will fight you or knock you out if they catch you.
To thieve from a stall, right click and select "Steal from." If nobody catches you in the act, you will take the items from the stall and they will appear in your inventory.
You may be caught by the stall owner or any guard type NPC surrounding the stall. To avoid this, try to stay out of their lines of sight.
When training the skill of thieving, the stall that require a high thieving level to steal from are not very useful because of their slow rates of respawn. I would recommend thieving from the Vegetable, Baker's, Tea, Silk, Seed and Fur stalls for the best experience. A tip for thieving from the fur stalls is that the market keeper may wander inside a house. You should then close the door, which allows you to stand on his side of the stall, therefore it allows you to steal without being bothered by guards etc.

Stall	Required Level	Location	Experience	Items Thieved	Respawn Time
Vegetable Stall	2	Miscellania and Etceteria	10	Onion, Cabbage, Potato, Tomato, or Garlic	2 seconds
Baker's Stall	5	Ardougne Keldagrim	16	Cake, Chocolate Slice, or Bread	2 seconds
Crafting Stall	5	Marim Keldagrim	10	Chisel, Uncut Emerald, Ring Mould, or Necklace Mould	7 seconds
Monkey Food Stall	5	Marim	16	Banana	7 seconds
Monkey General Stall	5	Marim	10	Pot, Hammer, or Tinderbox	7 seconds
Tea Stall	5	East Varrock	16	Cup of Tea	5 seconds
Silk Stall	20	Ardougne Keldagrim	24	Silk	4 seconds
Wine stall	22	Draynor Village Market	27	Jug of water, Jug of wine, Grapes, Jug, Bottle of wine	14 seconds
Seed Stall	27	Draynor Village Market	10	See Master Farmer	11 seconds
Fur Stall	35	Ardougne	35	Fur, Gray Wolf Fur	12 seconds
Fish Stall	42	Rellekka	42	Raw Salmon, Raw Tuna, or Raw Lobster	10 seconds
Crossbow Stall	49	Keldagrim	52	3 Bronze Bolts, Wooden Stock, or Bronze Limbs	10 seconds
Silver Stall	50	Ardougne Keldagrim	54	Silver Ore	30 seconds
Spice Stall	65	Ardougne	81.3	Spice	80 seconds
Magic Stall	65	Marim	100	Air, Earth, Fire, Water, or Law Rune (1)	80 seconds
Scimitar Stall	65	Marim	160	Iron Scimitar	80 seconds
Gem Stall	75	Ardougne Keldagrim	16	Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, Diamond	180 seconds

Pick Pocketing

Pick pocketing is one of the major aspects of thieving since there are so many characters to pick pocket around RuneScape. To pick the pocket of a NPC, right click on it and select "Pickpocket."
If you are successful, you will have gained some loot and thieving experience. If you fail, the NPC will stun you. When you are stunned, you will be unable to move.
Remember the higher the thieving level you have, the lower the chance that you will fail.
Pick pocketing will usually bring the best experience for thieving enthusiasts. The best NPC's to thieve from for the most efficient training would be Men/Women, Warrior women, Warriors, Rogues, Master Farmers, Guards, Desert bandits, Knights of Ardougne, Yanille Watchmen and Paladins.

NPC	Required Level	Experience	Stun Effects	Locations
Man/Woman	1	8	5 seconds 1 Damage	Lumbridge, Varrock, Falador, Edgeville
			3GP
Farmer	10	14.5	5 seconds 1 Damage	Lumbridge, Falador, Ardougne
			9GP, Potato seeds, Onion seeds
Female H.A.M. Follower	15	18	6 seconds 1-3 Damage	H.A.M Hideout
			Bronze-Steel Dagger, Bronze-Steel Pickaxe, Uncut Jade, Uncut Opal, Buttons, Damaged Armour, Rusty Sword, Bronze-Steel Arrows, Clue Scroll(level 1), Herbs, Bronze-Steel Hatchet, Needle, Thread, 2-22gp, Iron Ore, Coal, Ham Hood, Ham Shirt, Gloves, Ham Skirt, Boots, H.A.M Logo, Ham Cloak, Anchovy, Feathers, Hardleather Body, Cow Hide, Logs, Raw chicken, Buttons.
Male H.A.M. Follower	20	22	6 seconds 1-3 Damage	H.A.M Hideout
			Bronze-Steel Dagger, Bronze-Steel Pickaxe, Uncut Jade, Uncut Opal, Buttons, Damaged Armour, Rusty Sword, Bronze-Steel Arrows, Clue Scroll(level 1), Herbs, Bronze-Steel Hatchet, Needle, Thread, 2-22gp, Iron Ore, Coal, Ham Hood, Ham Shirt, Gloves, Ham Skirt, Boots, H.A.M Logo, Ham Cloak, Anchovy, Feathers, Hardleather Body, Cow Hide, Logs, Raw chicken, Buttons.
Warrior Woman	25	26	5 seconds 2 Damage	North Ardougne, Varrock Castle
			18GP
Warrior	25	26	5 seconds 2 Damage	Al-Kharid
			18GP
Rogue	32	35.5	5 seconds 2 Damage	Rogues' Castle
			2-50GP, Air Runes (8), Lockpick, Jug of Wine, iron(p) dagger
Cave Goblin	36	40	5 seconds 1 Damage	Dorgesh-Kaan
			Coins, iron ore, tinderbox, swamp tar, oil lantern, torch, green gloop soup, frog spawn gumbo, frog burger, crispy froglegs, bat shish, wall beast fingers, bullseye lantern, cave goblin wire
Master Farmer	38	43	5 seconds 3 Damage	Draynor Village Market, North Ardougne
			Asgarnian Seed, Barley Seed, Belladonna Seed, Bittercup Mushroom Spore, Cabbage Seed, Cactus Seed, Cadavaberry Seed, Dwellberry Seed, Hammerstone Seed, Herb Seeds, Jangerberry Seed, Jute Seed, Krandorian Seed, Limpwurt Seed, Marigold Seed, Marrentil Seed, Nasturtium Seed, Onion Seed, Poison Ivy Seed, Potato Seed, Ranarr Seed, Redberry Seed, Rosemary Seed, Snapdragon seed, Strawberry Seed, Sweetcorn Seed, Tomato Seed, Tarromin Seed, Watermelon Seed, Wildblood Seed, Woad Seed, or Yanillian Seed
Guard	40	46.8	5 seconds 2 Damage	Varrock, Falador, Ardougne
			30GP
Rellekka Citizen	45	65	5 seconds 2 Damage	Rellekka
			40GP, Steel nails(1)
Bearded Pollnivnian Bandit	45	65	4 seconds 5 Damage	Pollnivneach
			40GP
Desert Bandit	53	79	5 seconds 3 Damage	Bandit Camp (Desert)
			30GP, Lockpick, Antipoison (1)
Knight of Ardougne	55	84.5	5 seconds 3 Damage	Ardougne
			50GP
Pollnivnian Bandit	55	84	5 seconds 5 Damage	Pollnivneach
			50GP
Watchman	65	137.5	5 seconds 3 Damage	Yanille Watch tower
			60GP, Bread
Menaphite Thug	65	137	5 seconds 5 Damage	Pollnivneach
			60GP
Paladin	70	151.75	5 seconds 3 Damage	Ardougne
			80GP, Chaos Runes (2)
Gnome	75	198.5	5 seconds 1 Damage	Tree Gnome Stronghold, Tree Gnome Village
			GP, Swamp Toad, King Worm, Gold Ore, Fire Orb, Earth Rune (1)
Hero	80	275	6 seconds 4 Damage	Ardougne
			GP, Fire Orb, Wine, Death Runes (2), Blood Rune (1), Gold Ore, Cut Diamond (1)
Elf	85	353.5	6 seconds 5 Damage	Lletya
			GP, Jug of Wine, Gold Ore, Cut Diamond, Death Runes (2), Natures (3), Fire orb, Unicorn horn

Training Methods

The following steps are a guide to help level you thieving stat as fast as possible. Remember that they are just guidelines.

Level 1-5

When you first start out thieving, there is no choice of what to thieve. You must start out thieving men and women because they are the only thing you can thieve at levels 1-4. Once you have reached level 5 make your way to the Baker's stall.

Level 5-25

After reaching level 5 thieving you can now thieve items from the Baker's stall, which is the best experience at your level for a while. I recommend thieving from the Baker's stall until about 25 thieving. Then you can take your shot at warriors.

Level 25-42

Finally, you can thieve more things around the RuneScape world. You should start thieving warriors to get your level up then when you reach 32 you can try rogues' castle in the wilderness. They are good experience, but you should probably keep going with warriors. Also, you could steal from Baker stalls in Ardougne. They are fast XP up until you reach level 42. Alternatively, you could also steal from Master Farmers in Draynor Village at 38, but to sucessfully thieve from them regularly, it is recommended you start at around 40.

Level 42-65

You should be 42 thieving now and stealing from guards. Yes, the guards catch you a lot and use food, but they are good for your level. Thieving the guards in Ardougne would be the best recommended location. You could thieve some lighter food from the Bakers Stall whenever your health starts to get low. If you do wish to take a break from guards try the master farmers, they are easy left click theiving and should catch you less than the guards. Once you hit level 57 thieving (or 55 with gloves of silence) you could change things up by pickpocketing Knights of Ardougne. This provides a more efficient experience per hour rate, but your chances of getting caught are greater.

Level 65-72

You can thieve without having to waste your own food! You should head down to the Yanille Watch tower or teleport over there if you have completed the Watch tower Quest and begin. If you escape detection every time you steal from a Yanille Watchman, they will give you some bread and GP. Although that sounds like a good deal you should probably bring 10 units of food until you steal from a few Yanille Watchmen or are a higher level.
Should you have done the The Feud quest, you can thieve Menaphites, provided you have access to the Menaphos desert city, using a blackjack at level 65. This can get you up to 150k xp an hour, depending on your thieving level.

Level 72-99

You can now thieve Paladins at 70 thieving, but you have two options here:

1. If you want to make a lot of money, you should thieve paladins to whatever level you wish.
2. If you want to make less money and get the best experience then you should go find a knight and begin thieving.

Whatever you choose it only gets easier from here to thieve things with every level.
The best and also the fastest way to train your thieving at this level is to use Pyramid Plunder. You can get up to 150,000 experience per hour at level 71 and the experience gets better by every new room you can access.

Other Information

Random Events

There are only three random events for thieving. These are watchmen, poison gas clouds and the pillory.

Poison Gas Cloud: This random event only appears while thieving chests. Any time you thieve a chest you have a chance of getting a poison cloud. This deals a small amount of damage, but will not poison you.; much like the Undead Ones in Shilo Village.

Pillory: This random event gets you sent to the pillory where the game locks you in a cage and you have to unlock it to get out. While you are in the cage, a NPC will throw tomatoes at you, also other players can throw at you while you are caged.

Watchmen: While no longer in the game, these could have appeared while doing any type of thieving activity. They would attack you and your current combat level determines their combat level.

Tips and Tricks

When pick pocketing NPCs always try to corner them into a building. Thus, they will stand still while you thieve from so you are not chasing them.
You should make sure that you let them wander around every few minutes, or they reset to their spawning point. In addition, if you attack your NPC by mistake just go up some near by stairs and come back down and it will stop attacking you. Another method to use that will ensure that you don't attack your NPC is by equipping any type of bow, without equipping arrows. This will prevent you from accidentally attacking them.
When thieving, click to theive someone as fast as possible to get the best experience. If you get stunned, start clicking pickpocket again a second before the stun wears off due to the fact it takes a second to register the command in game.
If you are thieving in Ardougne Center, do not bother to bring your own food. Just buy cakes from the baker on the server with the most cakes or just thieve.
If you are thieving from a stall try and lock the shop owner or nearby guards into a building so they catch you less often. However, it does not always help, most of the time it does.

Blackjacks

Jagex introduced items called blackjacks during The Feud quest. These are very handy in pick pocketing, because depending on the type of blackjack, it can stun your opponent for a certain period, allowing you to pickpocket them successfully, without them stunning you. Though you can only use them on the NPC's in the quest city of Pollnivneach.

Rogues' Den

You have to work your way around a challenging maze, working steadily to not step into traps or you can be sent back to the beginning! Check out the guide on Rogues' Den.

Sorceress's Garden

Osman from the Sorceress's Garden minigame gives very generous thieving experience in exchange for Sq'irk juice.

Pyramid Plunder

Pryamid plunder is currently the best way to train your thieving. The fast experience appeals to a wide range of master thieves. For more information on this mini game check out our guide.

Other clothing

Those who wish to be a little more effective hunting, will be able to get Dark Kebbit fur from the Falconry Hunting Area. The dark kebbits can be caught if you have 57 hunting. The fur can be made into Gloves of Silence which increase your success rate of thieving, but they require a hunting level of 54. The gloves degrade after time though and will need to be replaced.