The Guild - Thief Occupation Guide

This Guide describes how the Thief occupation works and how to become a Master Thief.

Introduction

I've been playing Europa 1400 The Guild on and off since it's release back in 2002 and the Thief has always been my favorite class. Out of all the starting occupations it is the one with the most readily avaliable actions and variety. Also, a little later on you can attack Guardhouses and Baron Fortresses; claiming them as your own and then selling them off for huge profits. Heh-heh...

So in this Guide I'll just explain a little bit about how to get started quickly, how to make the most of the class and how to maximize your profits. Okay let's go!

General Tips

Game Speed

The Thief class is one of the most involved classes in the game, as such it is highly recommended that you play the game at normal speed. To do this you'll need to go into the "Game Options" and move the "Game Speed" slider to 0%. While at 0% the game time will still progress, though at a significantly reduced speed.

Pausing

You'll also want to become more familiar with the "Pause Button" (space bar) and "Time Accleration" (clicking on the clock) as there will be times when you want to pause the game to consider actions, and other times when you will want to complete an action quickly.

Clock

At the end of a turn (day) when the clock strikes 11 (23:00) a loading screen will pop-up, however you can right click with your mouse and skip it to avoid needlessly standing by for no good reason.

Difficulty

Higher difficulty levels will increase the monetary cost of numerous actions in the game (like the hiring of new staff) and will slow your initial start by quite a bit.

Character Creation

During Character Creation it's best to have an occupation in mind before you get started. Doing so will allow you to choose the Talents best suited to your occupation. The primary Talent for the Thief is Stealth, and the secondary Talent is Combat. You should have three stars in both of those Talents after Character Creation.

Chapter 1 - Getting Started

The Thief is one of the most expensive and hectic classes to get up off the ground, but is the easiest to manage once the ball gets rolling, and is one of the most rewarding classes to play.

Recommended Suggestions

1. Hire two new Apprentices.

1.) Do this by by clicking on the Staff Registry in the Meeting Room.
2.) Set the wage bar to 150, this will keep your Thieves from stealing from you later on.
3.) Depending on the level of difficulty, this may cost you all your money, but is still worth doing.

2. Train the Stealth Talent of your Thieves.

1.) Select the Training Room.
2.) Then click the training dummy, and select the Thieves you want to train.
3.) Alternative method is to drag the cursor over already present Thieves, and set them directly.

3. Start building all interior improvements.

1.) You don't need to concern yourself with exterior security improvments.
2.) You should build a Storeroom. (via exterior building menu)
3.) Avoid improving your house at this point, you won't have the money for it.

4. Once the new Apprentices start arriving, send them to train alongside your first Apprentice.

1.) You can have a maximum of three people training at once, but there is no limit on how many can be healed at one time.

5. As improvements are completed, add additional improvements from the next level.

1.) Before long you'll run out of money, though you'll make more next turn.

6. Once your Thieves have finished their training, have them train their Stealth Talent again.

1.) Avoid training the fourth Thief until you've maximized the Stealth Talent of the first three.

7. Do all of the above until 9 (21:00) then select the Thieves in the Training Room and move them into the Meeting Room by clicking on the door with them selected.

8. Once you have all your Thieves gathered in the meeting room select them all and have them gather at the camp fire at the top of the room.

9. Wait until 10 (22:00) and then start selecting them all and sending them to "Pickpocket".

1.) Do this multiple times by repeatedly slecting them (click & drag works best here) and sending them out to pick pockets.
2.) They'll start to shuffle out one by one, but continue to select them and send them out.
3.) This will stack their missions so that once they've finishied one they'll start on the next one in the chain.

10. At the start of the second turn you should notice that your money is in the negatives from paying your Thieves wages.

1.) Don't be alarmed, very soon you'll start recieving news of your Thieves nightly exploits.

11. Depending on how well your Thieves performed, you should end up with several thousands in the bank.

1.) Your Thieves should already be back or close by, once they've returned start training their Stealth Talents again.

12. Now you can start upgrading your House. Build the "Back Room" and all the exterior improvements.

1.) You should start purchasing Items that give "Action Points" you're going to need a lot of those.
2.) The "Walking Stick" and "Endurance Potion" are the best options early on for getting "Action Points".
3.) Later on you'll be able to get "Action Points" by upgrading your residence and mastering occupations.

Chapter 2 - Moving Forward

Now that you know how to Pickpocket, and have a secure method of earning a steady income for yourself, if you're looking for a point to stop reading this Guide, to jump off and do your own thing, then now would be a good place to do so.

Still reading? Moving forward then.

Combat Training

Though only really useful later on for Kidnapping and Launching Attacks, you should start Training your Thieves Combat stat as soon as they complete their Stealth Training.

The reasoning for this, is that once you upgrade the Smugglers' Hole to a Hide-out, you will be able to hire three new Thieves who will need to jump straight into Stealth Training. So by maxing out Combat Training on your original three Thieves ahead of time, you'll be able to jump into Kidnapping a lot sooner.

Scout a Building

If you plan on dabbling in a bit of the old Burglary, then your going to need to do a bit of Scouting first. It's also necessary later on if you want to Launch Attacks against either the Guards, the Robber Barons, or other Thieves.

Commit a Burglary

Generally not worth the time or effort it takes to setup, as the monetary pales in comparison to Pickpocketing. That being said, once your Thieves have finished both their Stealth and Combat Training, it's a good way to pass the time until nightfall.

The best method of using it I've found, is to Burglar the Residences of other Dynasties. If done early enough, such as turn two or three, then it can seriously cripple their business plan by denying them the crucial funds needed to make important purchases and upgrades.

Building another Smugglers' Hole

Once you've secured the required funds, you should build a second Smugglers' Hole, as close to the Central Market as you can build it. This is partly to shorten any future Transport times, but mostly it's about area denial.

Once it's built, just follow the steps in Chapter 1. However, instead of waiting until 10 (22:00) to send the them out, wait until 9 (21:00) to start sending them out to Pickpocket, then switch to your first Smugglers' Hole at 10 (22:00).

The fastest way to switch between two seperate businesses is to use the F Keys. The F4 Key should already be preset to your first Smugglers' Hole. To set this new one to the F5 Key, go to the main room where you send your Thieves out to Pickpockets, hold Left Shift and press the F5 Key. A message will appear at the bottom of the screen to confirm the key binding.

Upgrading the Smugglers' Hole

Though you'll have to wait until you've gained the third level of Thief Mastery, this should be at the top of your to-do list. You should already have built a second Smugglers' Hole at this point, in which case upgrading both of them is highly recommended.

Once they're upgraded you'll have the much coveted Hide-out with 50% increase in staff power. Hire the two new Thieves in each of you Hide-outs and Train their Stealth as soon as they arrive at the Hide-out.

Also remember to purchase all the new upgrades, and most importantly of all, to create the new Jail room that will allow you to Kidnap other Characters.

Kidnap someone

Much like "Commit a Burglary" the monetary gain of Kidnapping someone pales in comparison to Pickpocketing, and unlike Burglary, Kidnapping is a huge Action Points sink.

So what's the main use of Kidnaping someone then?

The best method I've found for it, is to kidnap someone I want removed from office, or Kidnap one of the two middle Office Holdiers in the second and third tier Political Branches. In either case it denies a vote that would otherwise be working against you, and allows you to curry favour with fewer people to gain their vote.

Another, not as good, but still okay method is to kidnap the leaders of the other Dynasties, taking them away from managing their businesses for a time before ransoming them off for a modest sum.

The most money I've ever gained from Kinapping someone was just over 9000, and even then, it had taken me a few minutes of repeated left clicking and right clicking. This is because the amount you get is rolled every time you click to Ransom, so you can keep going until you get something you're happy with. Though expect to see it stuck on 6000 something a lot of the time, and this is only for you're super rich marks with hundreds of thousands in Assets.

Holding a Political Office

You really don't need the money, but ideally, you'll want to strive for the Judge position in order to legalize Bribery if it isn't already Legal. Though if you're a huge fan of Kidnapping then the Inquisitor position will allow you to legalize that. You should also keep your eye open on the Colonel position in State Authority, which controls the law on Theft.

Bribery

This will probably be your most used action in the game, possibly even outcompeting with Pickpocketing in the long run. It's the best way to make friends, and keep your enemies limited to whichever other Dynasties are currently within your line of fire.

You've probably already realized this, but I'll say it anyway. Never Bribe the other Dynasties, all of whom will be actively working against you.

Gaining Noble Ranks

As your assets increase, so to does the recognition of your supposed value to the town. You'll very likely be one of the last Dynasties to be offered Citizenship due to your heavy spending in the first couple of turns, and depending on how taken you are with Bribery, you'll probably be somewhere in the middle on obtaining the Patrician Rank. After that you'll most assuredly be the first one to obtain all future Ranks of Nobility.

Keeping away from actions that cost a lot of money, but that don't actually increase your assets, such as Bribery, will help expedite the Noble Rank Gaining process.

Updates

Update 1 (20/11/2016) - Corrected some grammatical errors, and a lot of spelling mistakes.
Update 2 (15/03/2017) - Small minor changes to Chapter 1.
Update 3 (29/12/2017) - Added some more changes to Chapter 1.
Update 4 (29/12/2017) - Removed "General Tips" as a Chapter and added the long awaited third Chapter, which is now Chapter 2 in the new structure.
Update 5 (27/06/2018) - Corrected some grammatical errors, and added some highlights.

Epilogue

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If you found my Guide useful or simply enjoyed reading it, then why not join my Guide Makers Club? It's a group dedicated to helping would-be Guide makers, but if you liked my Guide and want to see me make a Guide for a specific game, then you can make a request there.

Cheers!

[kinngrimm]

k,thx

[Farsight]

So long as they've been assigned to the task before the loading screen hits, then it's counted.

[kinngrimm]

Concerning the 11th hour and the following budget screen.
Is there a difference between giving a job to your thiefs if they were able to leave the building or you move on to the next day while they are still in the thiefs building?

[Farsight]

If you max out their Stealth talent you can get even more, that's what I always do.

[dokunemon]

Update: Just send everyone present, regardless their mission info. In short: pause - select everyone selectable on the right panel - hit unpause and click pickpoketing in a quick succession - rinse and repeat. Made around 400 k in one patrol.

[dokunemon]

Thanks to your stack pickpocketing trick I made 200k in a single turn. First I stop the time completely with space. Then I use right panel for selecting all my henchmen, synchronize my clicks on "pickpocket buttons" with "space-pause" while leaving guys with patrol sign on their PP. It seems if you send a worker with patrol sign on his picture to picpocketing, you get lower money. Maybe it resets his previous stacked missions, IDK. Anyway, with pause-clicking I can send 8 guys to pickpocketing 5-6 times in a single go, same for 7, 6, 5... till 0. Just stop selecting a guy when his patrol sign appears on his picture.

[Deku]

How do I move them? I select them and klick on the ground. They dont move. Also no matter how much I try to requeue them for pickpocketing, they still do it only once.

Not sure, did anything happen so that it does not work anymore? Playing in german.

[Porkinchaps]

so basically you recruit some kroot hounds and get money

[mynd_90]

first i thought its a guide about how to record the guild with obs because of that icon XD now i steal some money interesting _:D

[Witch Hunter Siegfried]

Love the Icon being the Tau symbol lol