The route most players should follow
| Levels | Method | XP/hr | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-24 | Quests: Biohazard, Hazeel Cult, Fight Arena, Tower of Life, Tribal Totem | Quest XP | 7,200 XP |
| 24-25 | Bakery stall, East Ardougne | 19,200 | Cakes double as food |
| 25-45 | Fruit stalls, Hosidius | 42,750 | Two stalls side by side |
| 45-49 | Blackjacking bandits, Pollnivneach | 99,000 | Partial The Feud |
| 49-65 | Stealing artefacts, Port Piscarilius | 150,000 | Far fewer clicks than blackjacking |
| 65-91 | Stealing artefacts, or blackjacking Menaphite thugs | 186,000 | Thugs are faster but very click-heavy |
| 91-99 | Pyramid Plunder | 270,000 | Fastest outside the Wilderness |
Rates are at the start of each band and rise as you level. Stealing artefacts is the backbone here because it is quick and asks much less of your hands than blackjacking. If you would rather click hard for speed, blackjacking from 45 to 91 is faster. Enter your current XP in the method table to see pickpockets or steals left to any target.
Levels 1-45: quests, stalls and a raid room
The quickest start is quests. Biohazard, Hazeel Cult, Fight Arena, Tower of Life and Tribal Totem give 7,200 XP, which is level 24. The Queen of Thieves, The Giant Dwarf, Death to the Dorgeshuun, The Golem, Creature of Fenkenstrain, Twilight's Promise, Ethically Acquired Antiquities, The Feud and Death on the Isle add 41,500 more and take you to 42. Most of these are worth doing anyway.
Without quests, pickpocket men and women to 5, steal from the bakery stall in East Ardougne to 25, then switch to the two fruit stalls in the easternmost Hosidius house. The Chambers of Xeric thieving room is an odd but fast alternative: about an hour of raid time takes you from 1 to around 40. At 36, the Aldarin villa chests give 200 XP per unlock and 40,000-50,000 XP/hr for most people.
Cut your failures first
Every failed pickpocket stuns you and costs hitpoints, so the cheapest way to train faster is to fail less. These stack:
- Ardougne diary: the medium tier gives 10% better pickpocket success in Ardougne, and the hard tier extends it everywhere. This is the single biggest Thieving upgrade.
- Dodgy necklace: 25% chance to avoid the stun and damage on a failed pickpocket. Ten charges, cheap to replace.
- Shadow Veil: an Arceuus spell with a 15% chance to avoid the stun. With the necklace, about 36% of failures are avoided.
- Gloves of silence: +5% success, need 54 Hunter. Redundant inside Ardougne once you have the diary.
- Rogue equipment: from the Rogues' Den (50 Thieving and Agility). Each piece adds a chance of double loot, and the full set guarantees it. It does not change XP.
Bring food for anything above stalls. Cheap, high-healing fish is fine; see the best food list for what heals cheaply today.
Fastest: blackjacking and Pyramid Plunder
Blackjacking in Pollnivneach needs part of The Feud. You knock out a target, pickpocket twice, and repeat. At 45 it gives about 99,000 XP/hr; at 99 about 265,000. It is the fastest route through the middle levels, but it is relentless clicking and you will be fighting lag and timing the whole way.
Pyramid Plunder in Sophanem takes over at 91 at about 270,000 XP/hr. It opens much earlier (rates are about 125,000 at 71-80 and 190,000 at 81-90), but rooms and urns unlock with level, so it is far stronger near the top. Expect around 335 games from 91 to 99. Each game also gives a small chance at the pharaoh's sceptre from the golden chests and sarcophagi, a teleport item that trades well; the pharaoh's sceptre price shows what one is worth right now.
Rogues' Castle chests at 84 are faster still, 260,000-300,000 XP/hr, but they sit in deep multi-combat Wilderness, so players with high-value items should look elsewhere.
Lower effort: knights, citizens and chests
Ardougne knights (55+): the old favourite. About 86,000 XP/hr at 55, 159,000 at 80 and 240,000 at 95. With the medium Ardougne diary you stop failing entirely at 95, and tick-perfect play reaches about 252,900 XP/hr. Coin pouches stack up to 84 with the hard diary, so you open them far less often.
Wealthy citizens in Varlamore (50+): needs Children of the Sun. About 72,000 XP/hr at 50, 105,000 at 99. Citizens get distracted and give you 20 to 25 seconds of downtime, which makes this the most AFK Thieving there is.
Dorgesh-Kaan rich chests (78+): after Death to the Dorgeshuun, about 190,000 XP/hr with banking and up to 210,000-230,000 without. Steady and relaxed.
Sorceress's Garden (65+): the summer garden gives 3,000 XP per sq'irk juice, up to about 150,000 XP/hr if you learn the routes. A good break from pickpocketing.
Picking your mid-game method
From 50 to 90 you have four real choices, and they trade XP against effort and gold in different ways. Stealing artefacts is the best all-rounder: high XP, a click every few seconds, and you can glance away while walking between houses. Blackjacking is faster but needs constant, precise clicks, and one bad knock-out wastes the next few seconds. Ardougne knights are slower at first and get much better from 80, with steady coins on top. Varlamore citizens are the slowest of the four but by far the most relaxed.
A common plan is artefacts to the mid 70s, then knights once your diary and dodgy necklaces make failures rare, with citizens saved for days when you want to half watch something else. If you want the money as well as the XP, the thieving calculator lets you compare what each pickpocket is worth per action and per XP at your level.
Thieving for money
| Level | Method | XP/hr | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | Master farmers (seeds) | Low | Nothing; no failures at 94 with the hard Ardougne diary |
| 82 | Vyres | 120,000-180,000 | Sins of the Father |
| 84 | Rogues' Castle chests | 260,000-300,000 | Wilderness, multi-combat |
| 85 | Elves, Prifddinas | about 150,000 | Song of the Elves |
Vyres and elves are the classic money pickpockets and among the best gold in the skill once you have the dodgy necklace and rogue set. Master farmers are the low-level option: seeds sell well, and with the hard Ardougne diary you stop failing at 94. Compare earners on the money making list, since seed and coin pouch values move with the market.
Sailing added stalls at Port Roberts from 50 Sailing, a timing-heavy method that trains Thieving from as low as 20. It is mainly worth it if you are already working in that area for Sailing training.
Where Thieving pays off elsewhere
Hallowed Sepulchre's grand coffin needs 84 Thieving with 87 Agility, so Thieving and Agility training are worth planning together. Several quest chains also have Thieving requirements, and the Rocky pet can come from pickpocketing, stalls and most other Thieving activities.