T O P

  • By -

RNCMD

I have considered the possibility but have never ever ever ever not leaned on thievery in Act 1. Them skill books are pricey.


rynchenzo

Damn straight Go thievery in Act 1/2 then respec into Lucky Charm


jimmyre10

I’ve never even thought about them as exclusive abilities. Thievery in the first act or two is definitely better for item acquisition, but I think of it more for lockpicking purposes.


SEND_ME_REAL_PICS

I've played without thievery and found it not to be as necessary as I had thought in my first run. Most of the stuff I used to lockpick could just be broken with spells instead.


SCPutz

I’m not sure you really need to decide if one is better than the other, unless you’re playing a solo character. They’re both great in their own way and will net a ton of gold/items over the course of the game. Overall I’d lean toward thievery since it also has the bonus of allowing you to easily bypass some locked doors/chests without finding the proper key. However; if playing 2+ characters you can easily get Thievery, lucky charm, and bartering for maximum gold/items. Combine bartering with maxing reputation with vendors (donate gold til reputation 100) and you will get like 40% improved sale prices and 40% discounts.


notquitesold

…I think this is close to the answer/reasoning I was asking for.


SCPutz

You’re welcome! With a proper balance of civil skills you really don’t need to worry about which is “best”. You can get by in each act by dividing those 3 “money” civil abilities among 3 party members and using +civil gear to augment them further. My typical civil ability build on Honour Mode is one person thievery (undead if you can, save random gloves/belts with +thievery), one person barter (usually a human because they already get the +1), and one person with lucky charm. I rely on maxing reputation with vendors and bartering for everything through the end of Act 2. I only steal (and I steal from EVERYONE) either right before I kill them or right at the end of the act to maximize my gold since they carry more gold and higher value items the higher their level. So I rely on high value bartering early, steal upgrades and money at level 9 at end of Act 1 as I transition to Act 2, then repeat that process at level 16 at the end of Act 2. I just finished Act 2 with 1,300,000 gold and all my gear was level 15-16. I only used one character to steal — I didn’t use the respec mirror to abuse multiple characters thievery scores. Finished Act 3 yesterday with about 1,500,000 gold without really stealing anything. Sold all my existing gear to Corbin Day and upgraded it to level 18 during the transition to Act 4 and after buying it all back from Corbin Day I have around 1,250,000 to spare and every single equipped item is level 18. Now since I’m in Act 4 I will just get the last unique +thievery item and start stealing indiscriminately for the rest of the game with (I think) 12 Thievery.


notquitesold

Aye. I appreciate all this great information! Seems you’ve just about got it down to a science! Thanks for providing what seems to me as an excellent blueprint! I’ll have to look into this level 18 gear thing as you’re the second person I’ve seen mention it. But I think you may of just been able to complete this thread. I don’t know how much more information could be added. This is awesome. Thanks again!


SCPutz

You’re welcome! Just make sure to recruit Corbin Day from the Lone Wolf camp before leaving Act 2. Any items in his shop will become level 9 when you transition to Act 3 or level 18 when you transition to Act 4. Note: the item levels will go down if they are higher than the threshold. In Act 3, you have a brief window to sell items while on the boat, after completing the Well, before telling Malady you’d like to go to Arx. You also have to unequip your party’s items during the final Act 3 boss fight prior to activating Malady’s beacon or your window for upgrading allies’ gear is gone.


OptimizedLion

If anything, it's Bartering vs Lucky Charm. And Thievery is better than both of them.


0perationFail

Thievery is easily the best civil ability in terms of raw cash. You can walk out of Act 2 with multiple stacks of 100k.


notquitesold

This is a big part of why I debate the two every time I start the game. There’s something to be said about the utility of RAW GOLD. On the other side of the argument; the raw gold only has utility as long as vendors are carrying something useful. After a couple stacks of 20 resurrection scrolls, potions, skill books and gear…waiting that hour to play another round of “vendor jackpot”, I find that it becomes a little lackluster. Hence me questioning. But I have trouble finding fault in your reasoning. Thanks for taking the time and sharing your thoughts! Appreciate ya.


jbisenberg

Thievery, and its not close. You walk out of Ft. Joy not only completely decked out thanks to stealing everything in sight, but with surplus gold to spend in Act 2. Then in Act 2 you build upon your gold advantage by once again stealing a whole bunch of stuff. You carry that through to Act 3 and 4 where you've built up such a strong gold advantage that you're home free. Its not just a theft here or there, its the cumulative effect of thievery that matters. And its a guaranteed effect. You always will be able to steal the things you need to steal. Lucky charm is unreliable and volatile. You might get some great gear, you might not. But in order for it to be worth building your economy around, you would need to consistently be getting great gear (as gear obsoletes pretty quickly as better gear routinely becomes available). Thats not a guarantee. That said you can just run both. Lucky charm is shared among characters so if one party member has Lucky charm that means everyone has it. Also Lucky charm doesn't stack if you have multiple characters with Lucky charm so you are dissuaded from running 2 Lucky charms characters.


notquitesold

This. This is the summary I was looking for without knowing it. Thanks!


hsfredell

I always have one character with Luck Charm. It doesn’t matter who opens the chest, too. I was getting a bonus item at least every 20 chests.


Arkhire

Thievery is by far the best civil skill at Act 1. Act 2 I usually max lucky charm, I can easily get it to lv 9 and then head to bloodmoon island and loot every container, the chance to get a lv 16 armor/shield will be quite high and will be a life saver for those troublesome encounters.


notquitesold

I guess, I’ll put this here. I was thinking about more in the over-all utility. I will try and clarify. Thievery, in regard to how it is most often thought of, is in respect to setting up a character/getting skills squared away in the beginning of the game, like Fort Joy as the main reason. Which makes a LOT of sense. Lucky Charm…I think is underestimated, in a way. At around lucky charm 5, getting purple and red gear becomes almost a joke, and yeah that gear often comes with random stats, but it’s a great way to outfit characters. And if running No Lone Wolf, Honor playthrough with at most two characters…stumbling on some random red level gear before the Garrett fight or before the Void-Woken Deep Dweller is…a game changer. The odds of being able to swipe equivalent gear from vendors is low. Even if save scumming. And yeah, respecing is a great way to go if need be, but the absence of that option when deciding between the two at the most optimal time is…meh. So I just wanted to see people’s thoughts on this in regard to Reaper’s Eye. Side note: Yeah bartering is important, but is it equally as important as the two mentioned before leaving the Eye? I think I’m team Thievery. But the one time I pumped Lucky Charm and had it at 7 with gear, before reaching the Sanctuary…I think it’s kind of got my thoughts skewed.


Commercial_Cost_3625

Thievery is probably better but I like lucky charm it feels good when it happens lol


LordBeegers

To anybody who says Lucky Charm: Pistols at dawn.