Burglar

The Burglar can be a fun class to play. The single weapon skill and armor restrictions are very limiting at the early stages of the game and wearing Plate armor will interfere with the high stealth skills required at higher levels. Since there is little combat outside of the dungeons, especially with Thieves Guild quests, this proves to be more of an inconvenience than an obstacle. With no starting spells and only 0.5xINT in spell points, the Burglar will be forced to rely mainly on potions and items. Purchasing a "Buoyancy" spell and practicing with it early in the game (in order to be able to join the Mages Guild and get access to a spell-maker) can at least get the Burglar a "Levitate" and a "Water Breathing" spell for dungeon movement, but magic will always be a tertiary skill at best. The inclusion of Lockpicking as a primary skill will present problems, but fortunately (or unfortunately, depending) the game tends to throw more locked doors your way at higher levels. The best advice is to spend time in walled towns and pick the locks on the doors around the walls. Once around the walls in every town should provide ample opportunity to develop this skill.

On the positive side, since there are no class advantages, but a couple of serious class disadvantage, training a Burglar’s skills should be relatively easy.

BURGLAR
PRIMARY SKILLS: Lockpicking, Stealth, Climbing		ADVANTAGES: none DISADVANTATES: Plate only, no shields
MAJOR SKILLS: Mercantile, Dodging, Short Blade
MINOR SKILLS: Jumping, Running, Critical Strike, Pickpocket, Streetwise, Backstabbing
HP/LEVEL: 8	Increased: AGI, SPD Decreased: STR, INT, END	STARTING SPELLS: none

Rogue

The Rogue probably has the best survivability of any of the Thief classes. The armor restriction is a slight obstacle, but a little work on the Lockpicking skill will qualify the Rogue to join the Julianos temples and create any items that he needs. The extra hit points are handy and lessen the need to build END as quickly as some of the other classes. The Rogue gains levels quickly and should easily reach 3rd level by the time he gets out of Privateers Hold provided he pickpockets everything in sight and rests frequently. The decreased INT looks bad, but since the class wasn't designed to be a spellcaster it is more than offset by the increased STR and AGI. The unfortunate trade-off is the decreased LUC, which influences almost everything the Rogue does. The only skill that will be difficult to develop is Dodging. Best advice on Dodging is to find a crypt somewhere with a bat or rat in it and let them munch on you for a while (make sure you're near a temple so you can get your diseases cured). Because of the high Stealth and armor restrictions, the Backstabbing comes much easier as the game progresses.

The Rogue will be offered the Ebony Dagger as a choice in background development, but with his Short Blade skill somewhere around 3% - 5%, it will probably be a wasted choice, at least initially. Because of this, the Rogue will need to hustle to get suitable weapons or resort to Hand-to-Hand in Privateers Hood (remember, Imps require Steel or better to hit them).

ROGUE
PRIMARY SKILLS: Long Blade, Stealth, Dodging		ADVANTAGES: None DISADVANTATES: No Plate, No Tower Shield
MAJOR SKILLS: Pickpocket, Backstabbing, Streetwise
MINOR SKILLS: Critical Strike, Blunt Weapon, Lockpicking, Hand-to-Hand, Running, Swimming
HP/LEVEL: 12	Increased: STR, AGI Decreased: INT, PER, LUC	STARTING SPELLS: None

Thief

It is often claimed that the Thief is the hardest class to play. Certainly the armor restrictions will hamper combat ability, but no more so than any other of the thief-type classes. The Lockpicking and Backstabbing in the Major skills will make it difficult to reach the highest levels, but are not an overwhelming obstacle. The high Short Blade skill, coupled with the Ebony Dagger and a reasonably good Critical Strike skill make combat more survivable. At higher skill levels the Thief is capable of inflicting serious damage through Backstabbing and the high SPD and Running skill means he can “hit and git” with good chances of surviving to do it again. The Thief should join a temple early in the game in order to gain access to potions and/or items.

THIEF
PRIMARY SKILLS: Pickpocket, Stealth, Short Blade		ADVANTAGES: None DISADVANTATES: No Blunt weapons, Leather only, Buckler only
MAJOR SKILLS: Backstabbing, Climbing, Lockpicking
MINOR SKILLS: Critical Strike, Jumping, Running, Dodging, Streetwise, Mercantile
HP/LEVEL: 10	Increased: AGI, SPD Decreased: STR, INT, WIL, PER	STARTING SPELLS: None