How much Sneak does it take...

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

....to pick a pocket? I've got 65 Sneak skill right now, and I'm still
completely unable to pick pockets without being detected. I've got a
combined 130 points of Chameleon going on from the Amulet of Shadows and the
Cloak of the Whitewalker (or whatever it's called), but apparently Chameleon
has no benefit when it comes to picking pockets. I'd heard that maybe there
was a bug and that picking pockets was affected by Security instead of
Sneak, but my Security is pretty high as well, somewhere in the mid-60s. (I
can pick a lvl 100 lock with an Apprentice Pick after a few attempts, so I
figure that's relatively high for that skill...) Is there some other way to
make pocket picking easier? I've got several Thieve's Guild quests right
now which all depend on it. Or should I just go find the Sneak Master
Trainer and max out the skill? I can certainly afford it, but it feels like
cheating to do it that way...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 14:04:18 -0500, "Darrel Hoffman" <i.dont@think.so>
wrote:

>...to pick a pocket? I've got 65 Sneak skill right now, and I'm still
>completely unable to pick pockets without being detected. I've got a
>combined 130 points of Chameleon going on from the Amulet of Shadows and the
>Cloak of the Whitewalker (or whatever it's called), but apparently Chameleon
>has no benefit when it comes to picking pockets. I'd heard that maybe there
>was a bug and that picking pockets was affected by Security instead of
>Sneak, but my Security is pretty high as well, somewhere in the mid-60s. (I
>can pick a lvl 100 lock with an Apprentice Pick after a few attempts, so I
>figure that's relatively high for that skill...) Is there some other way to
>make pocket picking easier? I've got several Thieve's Guild quests right
>now which all depend on it. Or should I just go find the Sneak Master
>Trainer and max out the skill? I can certainly afford it, but it feels like
>cheating to do it that way...
>
I have succeded in picking a pocket or two. Here are some things to
look out for. Is your Sneak Icon on at the time that you make the
attempt? You can be in Sneak mode, but not really be sneaking because
someone has spotted you. Always approach your target from the back.
You may be able to sneak right up to a person facing you and be
unnoticed, but if you try to pick his pocket, he *will* notice you. I
have tried approaching from the side, but that hasn't worked for me,
either; it has to be from the back. Good luck.
--
Nyctolops

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

> I have succeded in picking a pocket or two. Here are some things to
> look out for. Is your Sneak Icon on at the time that you make the
> attempt? You can be in Sneak mode, but not really be sneaking because
> someone has spotted you. Always approach your target from the back.
> You may be able to sneak right up to a person facing you and be
> unnoticed, but if you try to pick his pocket, he *will* notice you. I
> have tried approaching from the side, but that hasn't worked for me,
> either; it has to be from the back. Good luck.

Yeah, sneak icon is on. (With 130 Chameleon, it better be.) I just tried
it again, using Caius's Black Shirt for another 20 Sneak, and Boots of
Sanguine Stalking for another 5, giving me a total of *90* Sneak, and I
still couldn't pick the guy's pocket without him seeing me. At least this
way the other people in the room don't see me, and I am able to get the item
this way, but still, I'm supposed to pull off this robbery undetected, I
think. (Plus I don't like having a criminal record or some guy who will
attack me every time I enter his cell from now till eternity if I can avoid
it.) I definitely approached from the back, though I'm still in front of a
couple other people. (In this room, there's pretty much no way to not be in
front of SOMEbody...) Seriously, what are your odds of pulling off a
successful pick-pocket even at 100 Sneak if I can't do it at 90? I can't
think of any other skill that you have to pump this high in order to be able
to even slightly use it...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

Darrel Hoffman wrote:

>>I have succeded in picking a pocket or two. Here are some things to
>>look out for. Is your Sneak Icon on at the time that you make the
>>attempt? You can be in Sneak mode, but not really be sneaking because
>>someone has spotted you. Always approach your target from the back.
>>You may be able to sneak right up to a person facing you and be
>>unnoticed, but if you try to pick his pocket, he *will* notice you. I
>>have tried approaching from the side, but that hasn't worked for me,
>>either; it has to be from the back. Good luck.
>
>
> Yeah, sneak icon is on. (With 130 Chameleon, it better be.) I just tried
> it again, using Caius's Black Shirt for another 20 Sneak, and Boots of
> Sanguine Stalking for another 5, giving me a total of *90* Sneak, and I
> still couldn't pick the guy's pocket without him seeing me. At least this
> way the other people in the room don't see me, and I am able to get the item
> this way, but still, I'm supposed to pull off this robbery undetected, I
> think. (Plus I don't like having a criminal record or some guy who will
> attack me every time I enter his cell from now till eternity if I can avoid
> it.) I definitely approached from the back, though I'm still in front of a
> couple other people. (In this room, there's pretty much no way to not be in
> front of SOMEbody...) Seriously, what are your odds of pulling off a
> successful pick-pocket even at 100 Sneak if I can't do it at 90? I can't
> think of any other skill that you have to pump this high in order to be able
> to even slightly use it...
>
>
You must be doing something wrong as I was able to walk up to the person
in the guild with the code book and take that from her without her
noticing. I often use the pick pocket ability to test if a character is
an enemy or not. If they are an enemy you will get a message saying
that they are in combat (even though they are just standing there) and
you can not pick pocket them. Otherwise it should work with the levels
you have. One thing to try is to back off on the chameleon. Try only
with the amulet. This is all I ever needed.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

"Darrel Hoffman" <i.dont@think.so> wrote:

>...to pick a pocket? I've got 65 Sneak skill right now, and I'm still
>completely unable to pick pockets without being detected. I've got a
>combined 130 points of Chameleon going on from the Amulet of Shadows and the
>Cloak of the Whitewalker (or whatever it's called), but apparently Chameleon
>has no benefit when it comes to picking pockets. I'd heard that maybe there
>was a bug and that picking pockets was affected by Security instead of
>Sneak, but my Security is pretty high as well, somewhere in the mid-60s. (I
>can pick a lvl 100 lock with an Apprentice Pick after a few attempts, so I
>figure that's relatively high for that skill...) Is there some other way to
>make pocket picking easier? I've got several Thieve's Guild quests right
>now which all depend on it. Or should I just go find the Sneak Master
>Trainer and max out the skill? I can certainly afford it, but it feels like
>cheating to do it that way...
>


Luck greatly affects your success as a pickpocket or a lockpick. Almost
more I would guess than sneak or security do.

The weight of your boots affects your sneaking ability too, but by how much,
I really don't know. Heavy knights, should play Mr.Rogers I guess, and
change shoes when they want optimum stealthyness.

 

[legolas]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

Balmora Thief quest? You can get the key if you bribe him. No need for pick
pocket skill here

"Darrel Hoffman" <i.dont@think.so> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:FaCdnclU9pvpP5LfRVn-qw@giganews.com...
> ...to pick a pocket? I've got 65 Sneak skill right now, and I'm still
> completely unable to pick pockets without being detected. I've got a
> combined 130 points of Chameleon going on from the Amulet of Shadows and
> the
> Cloak of the Whitewalker (or whatever it's called), but apparently
> Chameleon
> has no benefit when it comes to picking pockets. I'd heard that maybe
> there
> was a bug and that picking pockets was affected by Security instead of
> Sneak, but my Security is pretty high as well, somewhere in the mid-60s.
> (I
> can pick a lvl 100 lock with an Apprentice Pick after a few attempts, so I
> figure that's relatively high for that skill...) Is there some other way
> to
> make pocket picking easier? I've got several Thieve's Guild quests right
> now which all depend on it. Or should I just go find the Sneak Master
> Trainer and max out the skill? I can certainly afford it, but it feels
> like
> cheating to do it that way...
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

> You must be doing something wrong as I was able to walk up to the person
> in the guild with the code book and take that from her without her
> noticing. I often use the pick pocket ability to test if a character is
> an enemy or not. If they are an enemy you will get a message saying
> that they are in combat (even though they are just standing there) and
> you can not pick pocket them. Otherwise it should work with the levels
> you have. One thing to try is to back off on the chameleon. Try only
> with the amulet. This is all I ever needed.

Actually, I prefer to use just the robe most of the time now. It's only
50%, but it's CE, so I don't have to think about it. (Yeah, it constantly
damages you, but you can avoid that the same way you avoid the blinding on
the BoBS.) For stealthy combat, it's all I need. I can get Critical's all
the time now, even attacking from the front. But Chameleon has no effect on
pocket-picking as far as I can tell, other than that it makes it easier to
get into sneak-mode.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

> Luck greatly affects your success as a pickpocket or a lockpick. Almost
> more I would guess than sneak or security do.

Could be, my Luck is only about 50 now. (There's no way to get Luck
multipliers when you level, which is a pain. Basically means there's no way
to max it at anything below level 70, and by then there's almost no point in
playing anymore, because there's nothing in the game that offers even a
vague challenge after about 30...)

> The weight of your boots affects your sneaking ability too, but by how
much,
> I really don't know. Heavy knights, should play Mr.Rogers I guess, and
> change shoes when they want optimum stealthyness.

Wearing BoBS. Technically, they're Netch Boots in terms of weight. But
even when I switched to Shoes of Sanguine Stalking I had trouble with it. I
eventually got it after about 8 tries (which on this system takes about an
hour, just in the clearing data and reloading), using both the SoSS and
Caius's Black Shirt to get my Sneak up to 90. Apparently, the allowed angle
that counts as "Back" is a very small range. You practically need a
protractor to get exactly 180 degrees behind the guy, and since he was
standing still with his back to a table, it was almost impossible to find a
place to stand that was close enough to the right angle to qualify as
"behind" him.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

> Balmora Thief quest? You can get the key if you bribe him. No need for
pick
> pocket skill here

That one was a problem, but it turns out that there's another quest for the
guy at Moonmoth where you have to kill 4 Camonna Tong agents, and one of
them has the key. The problem I was having was with a mission for the Bal
Molagmer guy behind the bookstore in Vivec. I had to steal a ring from this
slaver guy in a bar in Sadrith Mora. It really doesn't help that he's
inside a cramped Telvanni mushroom-building with a table right behind him
that makes it nearly impossible to approach him from the back at exactly the
right angle...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

Darrel Hoffman wrote:

>>Luck greatly affects your success as a pickpocket or a lockpick. Almost
>>more I would guess than sneak or security do.
>
>
> Could be, my Luck is only about 50 now. (There's no way to get Luck
> multipliers when you level, which is a pain. Basically means there's no way
> to max it at anything below level 70, and by then there's almost no point in
> playing anymore, because there's nothing in the game that offers even a
> vague challenge after about 30...)
>
>
>>The weight of your boots affects your sneaking ability too, but by how
>
> much,
>
>>I really don't know. Heavy knights, should play Mr.Rogers I guess, and
>>change shoes when they want optimum stealthyness.
>
>
> Wearing BoBS. Technically, they're Netch Boots in terms of weight. But
> even when I switched to Shoes of Sanguine Stalking I had trouble with it. I
> eventually got it after about 8 tries (which on this system takes about an
> hour, just in the clearing data and reloading), using both the SoSS and
> Caius's Black Shirt to get my Sneak up to 90. Apparently, the allowed angle
> that counts as "Back" is a very small range. You practically need a
> protractor to get exactly 180 degrees behind the guy, and since he was
> standing still with his back to a table, it was almost impossible to find a
> place to stand that was close enough to the right angle to qualify as
> "behind" him.
>
>
I have never needed to get behind someone to pick pocket them. I can
stand in front of them and pick their pockets clean. I often use this
in a cave to see if someone is a bandit or hostage waiting for rescue.
I just wish the game allowed me to pick pocket "enemies". This would
allow one to clean out a smuggler's den without anyone ever knowing you
were there. I would prefer this option as it would offer a new
challenge instead of the normal enter cave, kill everyone, take what you
want and leave routine.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

I always thought that the security skill was the one actually used for
picking the pocket, in combination with being hidden using the sneak skill.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

> I always thought that the security skill was the one actually used for
> picking the pocket, in combination with being hidden using the sneak
skill.

According to the manual, it's Sneak for both, and Security is just for
picking locks and disarming traps. Anyhow, my Security skill is in the
mid-60's as well, so it surprises me that even being that high I still can't
pick pockets most of the time. It must be the Luck thing, I guess. Maybe I
should make myself a charged Fortify Luck item just for this purpose, since
at 1 point per level, there's no way I'll ever get it much higher
naturally...

 

[legolas]

Archived from groups: alt.games.morrowind (More info?)

I use fortify luck for many things. Enchanting too. With fortify luck,
intelligence and enchant for some seconds, i can enchant as good as
enchanter service. Not enough money to pay for.

"Darrel Hoffman" <i.dont@think.so> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:II-dnVfZZ8T154_fRVn-pg@giganews.com...
>> I always thought that the security skill was the one actually used for
>> picking the pocket, in combination with being hidden using the sneak
> skill.
>
> According to the manual, it's Sneak for both, and Security is just for
> picking locks and disarming traps. Anyhow, my Security skill is in the
> mid-60's as well, so it surprises me that even being that high I still
> can't
> pick pockets most of the time. It must be the Luck thing, I guess. Maybe
> I
> should make myself a charged Fortify Luck item just for this purpose,
> since
> at 1 point per level, there's no way I'll ever get it much higher
> naturally...
>
>