What makes a good thief?

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What do you need to be a good thief,
which kit is the best,
i never play with one but i would like to know which one to take, which race, kit, etc...

and can you go solo with a thief
how to you acquired your thief guild
etc...

thx everyone
Chris

 

See here: http://www.sorcerers.net/ubb/Forum2/HTML/002129.html

 

thx for the link ragusa but i have another question about the backstab...

can you have two weapon and backstab??

 

2 weapons is a bad idea. 50-50 you back stab with the wrong hand and you get the bad Thac0. So you need to always have just the one best weapon.

 

Theives are a great class to have, they are one of the most useful classes IMHO, they can also hold thier own in a fight, works out good.
Don't know about solo though, they have a little too low Hp for that

 

Here's my breakdown on the Thief kits, what their roles generally are in a group and how I would play them.

Swashbuckler: ...a "tank" thief
Normal (non-kit) thieves don't have much to look forward to past level 10; all they get are more thieving abilities (and by level 10 they should have already mastered the essentials, lockpicking and trap disarming). Swashbucklers, on the other hand, enjoy a +1 bonus to AC, THAC0, and Damage with every 5 levels. The AC boost is significant -- with a good dexterity and the right equipment, the Swashbuckler's very low AC can make him one of the most effective tanks in the game (yes, he has low HPs, but his AC is so good that he rarely gets hit). Defense is his forte and he should be spending the majority of the time up on the front line, engaging the enemies in melee. Offensively, however, the Swash struggles. He does benefit from ** specialization and some nice +dmg and +thaco bonuses, making him in that sense tougher-than-your-average thief. However, the Swash still follows the standard (poor) rogue base-thaco progression and is forever locked at 1 attack per round, making his overall damage output meager at best (nowhere close to what fighters, rangers, or paladins are capable of). In a large group where you have plenty of ranged fighters & casters backing up your Swash, you'd probably want your Swash to use the single weapon style to improve his AC even further and increase his effectiveness as a tank. However you could also make a good argument for forgoing the AC bonus and using the two weapon style, which would make your Swash's offense a little more respectable (after all, as long as he's spending all his time up front and engaged in melee he may as well do some extra damage). It's really a tossup.
As far as thieving goes, the Swashbuckler is an excellenet thief who suffers no penalties to his abilities and could easily master several of the "more exotic" thieving skills (pick pockets, detect illusions, set traps).

Bounty Hunter ...trap setting is fun!
For the most part, the Bounty Hunter uses traditional "strike & fade" thief tactics -- his AC is not good enough for him to tank very long, so he should do his backstabbing and then back off and provide support with ranged weapons (shortbow). However, the ability to set special traps (many per day, too) is what makes bounty hunters unique. Traps should be used often, not just on the rare dragon encounter. The exact tactics take some practice and getting used to, but two preferred methods include: (1) have your bounty hunter scout ahead, setting up traps in areas that your group expects to do battle in, or (2) set a few traps in an area and then lure the enemies back to them. Using these unorthodox tactics makes the Bounty Hunter truly a fun, unqiue, and mischevious character, perfect for his roleplaying persona. The Bounty Hunter only gets 80% the thieving abilities of a normal thief (or swash), so under the level cap in BG2 he is really limited to only mastering 5 thief skills, which should probably be: Open Locks, Find Traps, Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, and (of course) Set Traps.

Assassin: ...the ultimate 'strike & fade'
Unlike normal thieves, an Assassin's backstab multiplier continues to improve beyond level 13. It eventually reaches 7x damage, which is quite fun to watch. Because he is so good at backstabbing, most tactics involving the Assassin should involve a lot of 'strike and fading', where he backstabs, jumps behind a corner to re-hide, and then comes back for more. Because of this role, the Assassin is more equipment dependant than most thieves, and should be looking for a high damage weapon, some strength enhancing gear (to improve his damage and THAC0), and some boots of speed. He should definately use the single weapon style for the increased chance of critical hits. Also, needless to say, invisibility potions and limited-charge invisibility items are this characters best friend -- don't leave home without em .
The poison dagger ability is mostly useful for disabling enemy spellcasters and should primarily be saved for those occasions. Assassin's suffer a pretty sizable thief ability penalty (-40%), so they are realistically only able to concentrate on 4 skill areas. Those 4 skills should be: Find traps, open locks, hide in shadows, and move silently.
Overall, the Assassin goes about his business in a very non-traditional, 'covert' style and can be a very fun class to roleplay if that sort of thing appeals to you. You haven't lived until you've landed a critical hit, 7x backstab with 21 strength =)

Pure Thief: ...pick a kit or dualclass
The problem with ordinary thieves is that they just don't improve enough from levels 10 to 23 to make them very appealing. The swash continues to gain AC, Thac0, and Damage; the Bounty Hunter continues to get more and deadlier traps; the Assassin's backstabs continue to get better and better. Meanwhile, the normal thief just gets more thief points, which most people agree are "nice" but not overly useful. By level 10, a plain thief will have all the lockpicking and trap disarming skill he'd ever need (in BG2), and he is better off dualclassing over to a fighter or a mage and reaching the cap in those levels rather than continuing along as a thief.

IMO, the thief kits are some of the most interesting and unique characters available in BG2 because of the fun tactics you use with them. True, they are not overly powerful and for all their sneaking around and covert methods they don't get the job done any better than a more traditional fighter & caster team would -- but that's exactly what makes them so fun. Instead of just firing a few fireballs and then sending in the ol' Half Orc Kensai killing machine to finish up the job, a well-played bounty hunter or assassin can introduce a lot of new tactics and play-styles that makes BG2 a lot of fun. That's my $.02.