RS3 Thieving Guide: How to Train Thieving from 1 to 120
- Update (October 2026): Thieving in RuneScape 3 now goes up to level 120, with two heists at the top end since Jagex's November 2025 update.
- Thieving is a support skill in RuneScape 3.
- As your level rises, you can steal from better targets for more experience, and you fail less often.
Update (October 2026): Thieving in RuneScape 3 now goes up to level 120, with two heists at the top end since Jagex’s November 2025 update. In February 2026, Jagex also reworked pickpocketing success and stuns, which changed some gear effects. This guide follows the current route on the RuneScape Wiki and explains what changed.
Thieving is a support skill in RuneScape 3. You use pickpocketing, coshing and lock picking to steal items and reach restricted areas. If you also play WoW Classic, see our Lockpicking leveling guide for levels 1 to 300.
As your level rises, you can steal from better targets for more experience, and you fail less often.
The quick route from 1 to 120
| Thieving level | Recommended method |
|---|---|
| 1–62 | Pickpocketing, moving to higher-level targets as you unlock them |
| 62–76 | Safecracking in Misthalin |
| 76–83 | Safecracking in Asgarnia |
| 83–90 | Safecracking in Kandarin |
| 90–95 | Safecracking, adding hidden safes such as those in the Rogues’ Castle |
| 95–108 | Vault of Hereditas heists |
| 108–120 | Asuran Arsenal heists |
Levels 1–62: pickpocket your way up
Pickpocketing is a low-effort way to start. Your character keeps pickpocketing automatically until you are caught, your inventory fills or you stop.
Success depends on your Thieving level compared with the target’s level. You also get a boosted success rate for the first few pickpockets.
After that, the chance slowly drops until you are caught, so switching targets resets the chain. Move to higher-level targets as you unlock them.
Levels 62–95: crack safes
You can start safecracking at level 62, once you have completed the Thieves’ Guild capers (the guild’s missions) that begin with Buyers and Cellars.
Speak to the safe-cracking trainer in the Thieves’ Guild. You will get a stethoscope and a small loot bag.
Click a safe when it briefly flashes blue to unlock a dial instantly. This speeds things up a lot. Fill your loot bag, then fence (sell) the loot at the Thieves’ Guild for extra Thieving experience.
The wiki puts safecracking at around 300,000 experience an hour at level 62.
Move from Misthalin safes to Asgarnia at level 76, then Kandarin at 83. From level 90, add hidden safes such as those in the Rogues’ Castle in the Wilderness to your route.
With the hard Wilderness achievements done, the wiki estimates up to around 950,000 experience an hour at this stage.
Levels 95–120: run heists
At level 95 you can start heists. These are active, route-based activities where you collect loot while avoiding guards and traps.
| Heist | Thieving level | What to know | Base experience per run, according to the wiki |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vault of Hereditas | 95 | Access through the Breaking the Seal mystery | Roughly 180,000 at level 95 |
| Asuran Arsenal | 108 | On Anachronia, with hazards that can damage you and cost you loot | Roughly 230,000 at level 108 |
Neither level requirement can be boosted. Before you go in, keep these rules in mind:
- Your stolen goods bag holds up to 500 loot points. Each heist has more loot than that, so a few mistakes are survivable.
- Logging out inside a heist resets your progress and deletes your loot.
- Deaths in the Asuran Arsenal are unsafe, so go in prepared.
How the 2025–26 updates changed Thieving
Jagex’s Heists update went live on November 24, 2025. It raised the Thieving cap to 120 and added the two heists, along with new pickpocketing targets, stalls and a reworked chest system.
A hotfix the next day raised heist experience to 400 per loot in the Vault and 450 per loot in the Arsenal.
The early-game rebalance on February 16, 2026 changed how pickpocketing works at every level. Here is what is different now:
- Success rate: you start at 75% success on a target at its unlock level, rising by 1% for each level above it.
- Opening boost: most targets give a temporary level boost for your first pickpockets. After that, your success rate drops with each attempt until you fail or switch targets.
- Stuns: stun time was cut from 7 ticks to 5.
- Gear: the Trahaearn exoskeleton’s stun-avoidance chance was cut from 25% to 10%.
Smaller fixes since February
- February 19: pickpocketing became more AFK-friendly (easier to leave running while away from the keyboard). Jagex said it should stretch a typical AFK session from 2–3 minutes to around 4–6 minutes. Recasting Crystal Mask now also resets your pickpocketing target, so you get the opening boost again without moving.
- February 19: the same fix cut experience from the pickpocketing targets added with 120 Thieving by about 30%.
- February 23: common loot from those targets was reduced by about 30%. Rare items were unaffected.
- March 16: gloves of silence now correctly degrade on failed pickpockets.
Gear and boosts worth using
- Black ibis outfit: up to 5% bonus Thieving experience with the full set.
- Trahaearn exoskeleton set: a 10% chance to avoid being stunned and damaged after a failed pickpocket. Requires Plague’s End.
- Camouflage outfits: a chance to double pickpocket and to avoid stuns, with the master outfit improving both.
- Ardougne achievements: a flat +10% pickpocketing success chance. The medium tier applies only inside Ardougne, while the hard and elite tiers apply anywhere.
- Crystal Mask: a +15% pickpocketing success boost for five minutes, raised to +30% with the Light Form prayer. Recasting it resets your target.
- Magpie and Abyssal lurker familiars: temporary Thieving level boosts.
To work out your exact success rate with your own boosts, try the RuneScape Wiki’s Thieving success chance calculator.
