Just a few bits of perhaps unorthodox thinking I've picked up doing odd jobs for the thieves guild...
Some of these will seem obvious. Others might not. Let us just leave it at that.
And anyone can feel free to add to this as they see fit.

~ Some houses have multiple doors. If one door has a more difficult lock, it probably gives you easier access to the valuables in the house.

~ NPCs zone with you if close enough and you zone while they're talking to you. You can remove them from their own buildings in order to better burgle this way.

~ Attempting to pick a lock isn't a crime if you cancel out of it.

~ Since time stops while you're in lock-pick / inventory menus, you only need a brief moment of being unseen to access them... That "Shadow" perk from the Sneak tree can provide just that, if timed perfectly.

~ The old bucket-on-the-head trick? Well, it works, but only if they stay totally still and you're really good at getting the bucket on their head. I wouldn't rely on it, personally.

~ A better option for stealing loose items in shops is to knock them to somewhere the shopkeeper cannot see... using another item as a hockey-stick if necessary. An awkward process, but occasionally useful.

~ For upgrading the Thieves Guild, the Burglary / Numbers jobs are easiest... which is convenient as they're the first on their respective lists.

~ If you're caught stealing or in any other crime, while it might seem clever to drop all your stolen gear before the guard gets to you, it might just be easier to serve time in jail and then steal it all back from the evidence chest... Depends how fussy you are about your skill progress.

~ Normarily, the highest pickpocketing chance you can have is 90%, and many things will be 0%. However, if you have a Paralysis poison and the "Poisoned" perk, then by planting the Paralysis poison on your mark, you can clear out everything in their inventory with 100% success while they're getting up (it will still show normal success rates, but everything will succeed). You won't get any pickpocket training for this, but it is perfect for stealing huge amounts of cash (e.g. if you've just paid a Master skill trainer to go up 5 ranks) or very expensive items (especially with the "Misdirection" and "Perfect Touch" skills).



I'm all out of helpful tips for now... but I'm sure I'll discover more later.

Thanks. Those were helpful.

Whether you're stealing stuff from a building, or pickpocketing, easiest method is just to wait until after 2:00am or so and they'll mostly all be asleep and the shops empty of people. Awake people, anyway. Makes most of the above tips about how to do stuff without being seen a moot point.

Additional note: Not as helpful in shops, too. They tend to chase you around if you wander beyond the actual stall they trade around. As in, stores where the merchant actually -lives-.

Overall, would be a better guide if it was better arranged. And perhaps more information. (Akin to the extra tip I just mentioned).

Tons of houses and shops have TG markings on them. Look for small etchings and circular drawings near the windows or doors. The shadowmark book can decipher their meaning.

Houses/shops marked loot heavy are quick quick money.

Oh- to add. Invisibility doesn't "expire" till after you pick a lock, change a ledger, steal an item.. ect ect. So if you have access to that spell, you can rob with impunity. You are only visible again after you already did the action.

This is a few tips... not some sort of exhaustive guide.
I'm not any sort of thieving super-specialist or anything... I just figured I'd share what I'd learnt.


Interesting. I'd wondered what those scratchings I'd seen about the place meant...
Know where I can get a copy of that book in-game?



p.s. I added a big tip about pickpocketing to my little collection above.

They are sitting around the TG HQ, book is named shadowmarks.

Personally, I take the Fishing Jobs. Forces me to level the pickpocket skill to get the 100 carry weight perk. My tip, save before you pickpocket, so you can just reload and not worry about failing. Also, equipment that fortifies pickpocket actually lowers your chance to steal, not raises it. A known bug, and not fixed yet.

Don't get caught.

Sure, if you're doing pickpocketing, you might as well get the fishing jobs... BUT the Numbers jobs are technically easier.
Oh... and it isn't quite that simple with pickpocket fortification. It seems to make the easy things easier and the hard things harder... but I'm not sure exactly where the cutoff is...
As it happens, I've been doing that Fortify Restoration potion thing... so my Pickpocketing is fortified quite a silly amount at the moment. Most things are 90% automatically, but the few things that aren't default automatically to 0% ... Of course since I have plenty of paralysis potions, this isn't an issue.

It's always darkest before the dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

Thank you, their are a couple tip's in their that I needed.

* my tip, don't move just because you see someone, they may not see you.

I say this because I was doing a sweep job and wasn't in sneak mode and a person walked out of a room across one of those open gallery's. I had 2 out of 3 of the item's, so I just stood their, and he sat down, I waited him out, he got back up and walked into another room. I got the 3rd item and left.

I have a very hard time getting some Item's while in sneak, so I usually try to pick up the item out of sneak mode then go back into it.

A great disturbance in the language.... It was like a million English teachers crying out in unison, then suddenly silenced.

Please excuse my dislexic self. When I'm tired I forget which word is used properly. My spelling is alway's crappy.

There are programs to compensate for that.

yes, but sometime's it's just easier to go to bed... G'nite.

if you are sneaking around in a hostile area use arrows as distraction. ex. shoot one at a wall and an enemy will go investigate the sound.

There is a Thu'um for that.

Thievery is the easiest thing in the game. Seriously. It's ridiculous. They don't store their merchants chests nowhere, their gold is nowhere, there's no nightwatchmen, lockpicking is useless, there aren't any banks to heist, the Jarls don't have vaults, etc.

Hitting things (e.g. dragons) with weapons (e.g. swords) is easier. Just saying.

I can walk in a store at daylight, sprint in to their rooms, pick the lock and steal their [censored]. Easy.