Well.. i usally stick to a fighter or mage.. but never tried thief.. what so good about those ?

Well, they have good abilities, but I cant think of anything else.

Thieves have a couple of useful skills, the main ones being Detect/Disarm Traps and also open locked chests/cabinets/doors. They can also pickpocket though that's not that useful (except to get the Ring of Regeneration off Ribald at theAdventurer's Mart....give that and the Ring of Gaxx to Keldorn and you have an indestructible fighting machine!).
They're restricted to studded leather armour at most I think and in their choice of weapons...but you can dual them too so that's useful. Thing is, between Jan, Yoshimo, Nalia and Imoen, you really don't need to make your PC a thief. Oh and they can backstab easily too, and set their own traps at higher levels.

well.. To be honest i never use traps, or something like that.

I've never understood why so many people don't like thieves. Thieves are the best, and the most fun to play. My first time through BG2 I played a mage-thief. He was awesome - the combination of backstabbing, hiding in shadows, invisibility, contingency's and spell triggers made him phenomenal in combat (at higher levels, he would backstab for between 60 and 114 pts of damage), and his straight thieving skills meant he was invaluable throughout the game. Now I'm playing a fighter-thief, and he's working out just as well, but in slightly different ways. His backstabbing comes into play more often - but he's lower level at the moment, so the numbers don't really compare. It's also nice to be able to sneak into a room to avoid ambushes and then be able to take out the bad-guys on his own - he's a bit of a tank too ;)

One of the main advantages of having a thief or thief-combo as your main character is that instead of taking Yoshimo or Jan you can load up on more fighter-types - or, on the other hand, keep Jan for his mage abilities.

I guess if you're going for a straight 'hack-and-slash' game, a thief isn't your style. But, I think they're great - and from a role-playing perspective, they are always more fun :) IMHO

Indeed, hide in shadows and the backstabbing ar the best, trap setting, detecting and disarming, opening locks are also great. A thief can move without making noise and also move in shadows, so he cannot be seen or be heard. That's why he can reach an enemy very close without the knowledge of the enemy, and the first strike, when hit is many times deadly.

Without thieves, you couldn't find traps or open locks without wasting priest and mage spells :mad:. Even if you did that, which is a no-no :nono:, you'd have to disarm the traps, which has to be done by only a thief.

Combat-wise, thieves should backstab if there are shadows and he/she has a good Hide in Shadows rating.
The Swashbuckler, who can't backstab, should simply attack.

Hi,

Well I am staggered. TriLleX The Wise(?), unless you have only played solo you must have played a thief, indirectly.
Didn't you use Yoshimo or Imoen or Jan to open all of those doors and chests for you?

Didn't you make any use of their stealth ability to backstab or trap setting ability.

Or did you just wonder what all of those little icons on their control bar did?

Oops, sorry I am having a pissy day. :D

A slightly more specific inquiry might have been more useful though :)

:) :) :)

Cheers,

WittyNewt.