This page about thieves is specially made for the games of Baldur's Gate II, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition. See Thief (Baldur's Gate) for a version especially for Baldur's Gate
Thieves can open locks, steal items, hide in shadow and find and disarm traps, as this the only class with these abilities, they are essential for a good party. All races can become a thief as a profession and the only alignment which is not available is lawful good for obvious reason. A thief wears leather or studded leather armor and can only use bucklers as shields to protect themselves. The array of weapon for a thief consists of lightweight weapons such as daggers and throwing daggers, short bows, short swords and long swords, staffs, clubs, darts and slings. A thief can't wear any metal helmets.
Character abilities table
| Character Ability Score | Minimum Score | Shadowdancer^^ |
|---|---|---|
| Strength^^ | 3 | 10 |
| Dexterity* | 9 | 15 |
| Constitution | 3 | 3 |
| Intelligence | 3 | 3 |
| Wisdom | 3 | 3 |
| Charisma^^ | 3 | 12 |
During character creation, rolls below the minimum value for the class will be increased to that value. This table uses the values for Humans, other Races have modified ability scores.
*Prime Requisites for Dual-classing.
^^ The Shadowdancer class kit has a different set of minimum ability scores, and has Strength and Charisma as prime requisites for Dual-classing in addition to Dexterity.
Abilities of the thief.
A thief gains +25 thieving ability points upon level up. Starting stats in various thief skills are determined by race, with Halflings having the best overall thief skill bonuses. At no time may you put more than 250 skill points into a skill. Therefore the only way to raise the base skill higher is by raising dexterity AFTER 250 points have been invested into that skill. Different potions and items may be stacked up to a bonus cap of 30 to each skill.
Dexterity determines how many points are added to each skill during the game as well.
Find/Disarm traps
A thief can find traps if they activate their find traps mode. Any found traps can then be disarmed if the find/disarm trap percentage is high enough. Disarming a trap successfully grants the party experience in Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn and Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. There is no benefit to increasing this score higher than 100.
Hide in Shadow/Move Silently
All thieves can use their special ability hide-in-shadows to stealth, so long as they wear studded leather armor or less. The chance to successfully hide-in-shadows depends primarily on a thief's invested skill points into the skill (including thieving equipment that may provide bonuses such as Boots of Stealth), as well as time of day and whether the thief is standing in a shadow. Significant penalties occur when attempting to hide during daylight hours or while not in shadows. A stealthed thief- whether hiding-in-shadows or invisible due to a spell- can attempt a backstab when attacking from behind using a thief melee weapon (longsword, short sword, dagger, club, scimitar/wakizashi/ninja-to, katana or quarterstaff). Successful backstabs inflict multiplier damage, which increases as the thief gains levels. May reach a base of to 285 with skill points followed by raising dexterity bonuses, and up to 315 with potions and items. (250 has been observed to fail on some attempts when nearby npc/monsters have been facing the character.)
Pick Locks
A thief can lockpick locks from doors and containers to open them. The chance to open a door/container depends on the difficulty of the lock and works on a threshold system - if you're within 5 points of the target lock's difficulty you have a 50% chance of bashing it successfully, while if you're equal to or greater than the lock's difficulty, it's guaranteed. Picking a lock successfully rewards the party with experience in Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn and Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. Does not benefit from scores higher than 100.
Pick Pockets
A thief can steal items from characters. The chance to steal an item depends on the percentage and receives a penalty based on the weight/value of the item and the level of the target, so will often require a Pick Pockets skill well over a hundred points to steal more valuable items. May reach a base of to 295 with skill points followed by raising dexterity bonuses, and up to 325 with potions and items. (250 has been observed to have a slight chance of failure on some targets that can also be stolen from.)
Set Traps
Allows thief to lay a trap when outside an enemy's line of sight. Also required to use special traps gained by high level thief abilities. Failing to to lay a trap can cause the trap to be fired at the thief. Does not benefit from scores higher than 100.
Detect Illusion
Thieves may attempt to dispel non-friendly illusion spells within 30 ft whenever their Find Traps skill is active. Does not receive any modifier from a thief's dexterity score. Does not benefit from scores higher than 100.
Backstabbing
When thieves are invisible, a thief can try to execute a backstab upon an enemy with a thief melee weapon, which inflicts more damage than a normal hit, but makes the thief visible once again.
All melee attacks from concealment receive a +4 to-hit bonus. Attacks from behind using a thief melee weapon will also receive the thief's backstab modifier, providing the target is not immune to backstabs. Thieves may also backstab while under the effects of Invisibility, whether from a potion, an item or a spell, providing they attack from behind with a suitable weapon. Cleric/Thieves may not backstab while under the effects of the Sanctuary spell unless they also Hide in Shadows first.
A thief able to wear armor heavier than studded leather, either through multiclassing or the Use Any Item high level ability, may not attempt to Hide in Shadows, but may still backstab if under the effects of Invisibility and all other backstab conditions are met.
Non-thief weapons gained through multiclassing or the Use Any Item high level ability, such as bastard swords and warhammers, are unsuitable for backstabbing and do not receive any damage bonus. All summoned melee weapons (Shillelagh, Flame Blade, Black Blade of Disaster, etc.) can also be used to backstab.
If the character receives a damage bonus due to having a high Strength, this bonus is applied AFTER the backstab multiplier.
| Level | Thief Backstab | Assassin Backstab | Stalker Backstab | Shadowdancer Backstab (BG:EE) | Shadowdancer Backstab (BG2:EE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | x2 | x2 | x2 | - | - |
| 5-8 | x3 | x3 | x2 | x2 | x2 |
| 9-12 | x4 | x4 | x3 | x2* | x3 |
| 13-16 | x5 | x5 | x3 | x2 | x4 |
| 17 | x5 | x6 | x4 | x2 | x4 |
| 18-20 | x5 | x6 | x4 | x3 | x4 |
| 21 | x5 | x7 | x4 | x3 | x4 |
| 17-24 | x5 | x7 | x4 | x3 | x4 |
| 25+ | x5 | x7 | x4 | x4 | x4 |
* BG:EE has a 161,000 XP cap, thus allowing only level 10 and the associated x2 backstab multiplier.
Class kits
Assassin
Assassins are trained in discreet and efficient murder, relying on anonymity and surprise to perform their tasks.
Advantages:
- +1 bonus to THAC0 and damage
- Backstab multiplier increases to x6 at level 17
- Backstab multiplier increases to x7 at leavel 21
- May use the Poison Weapon ability. Gains one use at level 1 and an additional use every 4 levels thereafter.
Disadvantage:
- May only distribute 15 skill points per level among thieving skills
Bounty Hunter
This is a hunter and men, skilled in tracking quarry and bringing them back alive-whether for lawful authorities or underworld masters. Bounty Hunters are specially trained at their task and make fearsome opponents. They have honed their trap-making abilities well beyond that of the average Thief.
Advantages:
- +15% bonus to Set Traps
- May use the Set Special Snare ability once per day in addition to the normal Thief's Set Snare. Gains one use at level 1 and an additional use every 5 levels thereafter. Set a trap in the chosen location when no hostile creatures are in sight. Traps grow more powerful with the Bounty Hunter's level and can only be triggered by enemies
1st level: Deals 3d8+5 missile damage and slows target for 5 rounds if a Save vs. Spell with a -4 penalty is failed
11th level: Deals 4d8+5 missile damage and holds target for 5 rounds if a Save vs. Spell with a -1 penalty is failed
16th level: Erects an Otiluke's Resilient Sphere around the target for 7 rounds if a Save vs. Spell is failed
21st level: Mazes the target
Disadvantage:
- May only distribute 20 skill points per level among thieving skills
Swashbuckler
Swashbucklers are part acrobat, part swordman, and part wit, all rolled into a single class. They can specialise in all melee weapons a thief may use and they can become even more skilled in wielding two weapons at the same time. Charm and grace are the most notable features of the swashbuckler's personality.
Advantages:
- +1 bonus to armor class at the start and +1 bonus every five levels
- +1 bonus to THAC0 and damage every five levels.
- May become specialised (+1 to hit, +2 damage, but does not gain extra 1/2 attack) in all melee weapons a thief may use
- Can invest up to 3 points in Two-Weapon style
- Gains the Whirlwind Attack HLA from the Fighter pool in place of Assassination
Disadvantage:
- No Backstab multiplier for attacks from back when invisible. Still receives +4 to-hit bonus for attacking from hiding.
Shadowdancer (Enhanced Edition Only)
Shadowdancers can harness the power of magic to increase their stealth abilities. Enigmatic and dangerous, these uniquely skilled Thieves are able to blend seamlessly into the shadows in ways that a normal Thief cannot, striking without warning—sometimes with supernatural speed.
Advantages:
- +10% bonus to Hide In Shadows and Move Silently
- Hide in Plain Sight: A Shadowdancer may Hide in Shadows even while being observed. Can be used once per round.
- May cast Shadowstep once per day. Gains one use at level 5 and an additional use every 5 levels thereafter. Step into the Shadow Plane and move for 7 seconds while others are frozen in time. The Shadowdancer cannot attack or cast spells while in the Shadow Plane and cannot use thief skills except find traps/detect illusion. Items stolen from chests while shadowstepping will not raise any alarms.
- Slippery Mind: +1 bonus to Saving Throws.
- SHADOW FORM(High Level Ability): This ability temporarily transposes some of the Shadowdancer’s tissue with shadow-material, making the subject partially incorporeal. For the next 5 rounds, all physical attacks directed against the Shadowdancer deal only 50% of their normal damage. During this time the Shadowdancer is also under the effects of Improved Invisibility and cannot be directly targeted by spells.
- SHADOW MAZE(High Level Ability): This ability opens a temporary gateway to a small pocket within the Plane of Shadow. All enemies within 10 feet of the Shadowdancer must make a saving throw vs. spells at a -4 penalty or become trapped inside a shadowy labyrinth, as per the Maze spell.
- SHADOW TWIN(High Level Ability): This ability creates an almost exact duplicate of the Shadowdancer for 2 turns. The duplicate is created at 60% of the level at which the Shadowdancer is currently on. It has all the abilities that the Shadowdancer would have at that level. It also has 60% of the hit points of the Shadowdancer. The duplicate is fully under the control of the Shadowdancer.
Disadvantages:
- May not be of Lawful alignment
- Backstab multiplier is one less than a regular thief, cannot backstab until level 5 (lv1-4: x1, lv 5-8: x2, lv 9-12: x3, lv13+: x4)
- May only distribute 20 skill points per level (30 at level 1) among thieving skills.
- May not use Set Snare ability.
- Has three Prime Requisites For Dual-Classing: Strength, Dexterity (already has a min. requirement of 15), Charisma.
High-level class abilities
Starting at level 24 and each level after, thieves get one HLA. Single class thieves will have 17 in total at level 40.
- Alchemy
- Assassination (Except Swashbuckler)
- Avoid Death
- Evasion
- Greater Evasion, requires evasion already selected.
- Scribe Scrolls, use any item is a requirement.
- Set Spike Trap
- Set Exploding Trap
- Set Time Trap
- Use Any Item
- Whirlwind, (Swashbuckler only)
- Shadow Form (Shadowdancer only)
- Shadow Maze (Shadowdancer only)
- Shadow Twin (Shadowdancer only)
Stronghold
In Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, thieves can gain a stronghold during Find Proof of Mae'Var's Treachery.
Table for experience, hit dice and weapon proficiency
| Level | Experience needed | Hit Dice (d6) | Weapon proficiency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 1,250 | 2 | |
| 3 | 2,500 | 3 | |
| 4 | 5,000 | 4 | 1 |
| 5 | 10,000 | 5 | |
| 6 | 20,000 | 6 | |
| 7 | 40,000 | 7 | |
| 8 | 70,000 | 8 | 1 |
| 9 | 110,000 | 9 | |
| 10 | 160,000 | 10 | |
| 11 | 220,000 | 10 + 2 | |
| 12 | 440,000 | 10 + 4 | 1 |
| 13 | 666,000 | 10 + 6 | |
| 14 | 880,000 | 10 + 8 | |
| 15 | 1,100,000 | 10 + 10 | |
| 16 | 1,320,000 | 10 + 12 | 1 |
| 17 | 1,540,000 | 10 + 14 | |
| 18 | 1,760,000 | 10 + 16 | |
| 19 | 1,980,000 | 10 + 18 | |
| 20 | 2,200,000 | 10 + 20 | 1 |
| 21 | 2,420,000 | 10 + 22 | |
| 22 | 2,640,000 | 10 + 24 | |
| 23 | 2,860,000 | 10 + 26 | |
| 24 | 3,080,000 | 10 + 28 | 1 |
| 25 | 3,300,000 | 10 + 30 | |
| 26 | 3,520,000 | 10 + 32 | |
| 27 | 3,740,000 | 10 + 34 | |
| 28 | 3,960,000 | 10 + 36 | 1 |
| 29 | 4,180,000 | 10 + 38 | |
| 30 | 4,400,000 | 10 + 40 | |
| 31 | 4,620,000 | 10 + 42 | |
| 32 | 4,840,000 | 10 + 44 | 1 |
| 33 | 5,060,000 | 10 + 46 | |
| 34 | 5,280,000 | 10 + 48 | |
| 35 | 5,500,000 | 10 + 50 | |
| 36 | 5,720,000 | 10 + 52 | 1 |
| 37 | 5,940,000 | 10 + 54 | |
| 38 | 6,160,000 | 10 + 56 | |
| 39 | 6,380,000 | 10 + 58 | |
| 40 | 8,000,000 | 10 + 60 | 1 |
| Total | 12 points. |
Thieves gain -1 THAC0 every two levels after level 1, to a max of 10 THAC0 base at level 21.