The Thieves Codex is a tool crafted using the Inscription skill, allowing members of the Thieves Guild to enhance their pilfering and mugging attempts against creatures. These bonuses do not apply towards players.
To utilize a Thieves Codex, players must have at least 80 Stealing and at least 80 in one of Snooping, Hiding, or Stealth. Additionally, to perform a pilfering or mugging attempt, players must have at least 80 Stealing and Snooping, unless they have the Shadow Hands trait enabled, which allows pilfering and mugging with only Stealing.
Thieves Codex Upgrades
 Thieves Codex | ||
|---|---|---|
| Name | Points Per Tier | Description |
| Camouflage | 1 / 2 / 3 | Player has a (33% / 66% / 99%) chance to not be revealed after making successful Pilfer attempts while hidden |
| Distraction | 1 / 2 / 3 | Player receives (7% / 14% / 21%) Damage Resistance for 10 seconds towards any creatures they making stealing attempts against (including Retaliation damage) |
| Extortion | 1 / 2 / 3 | Player has a (7% / 14% / 21%) chance to increase Gold stolen by 100% and receive an additional Black Goods when stealing one |
| Overlooked | 1 / 2 / 3 | Reduce initial combat Aggro range of creatures towards you by (1 / 2 / 3) tiles and increase Gold stolen by (4% / 8% / 12%) |
| Ransack | 1 / 2 / 3 | Gain a Damage Bonus of (1% / 2% / 3%) for each unused Stealth Step the player has remaining (to a max of 10 steps) when making Mugging attempts |
| Ruffian | 1 / 2 / 3 | Player can use up to (33 / 66 / 100) points of Stealth skill in place of Tactics skill when making Mugging attempts and for 10 seconds afterwards |
| Shadow Hands | 1 / 2 / 3 | Player can use up to (33 / 66 / 100) points of Hiding skill in place of Snooping skill when Pilfering or Mugging creatures |
| Without a Trace | 1 / 2 / 3 | Reduce the cooldown on Smoke Bombs by (20 / 40 / 60) seconds and adds (2 / 4 / 6) bonus Stealth Steps when using them |
Experience and Upgrades
Players earn Thieves Codex Experience based on the raw gold (before bonuses) acquired through successful pilfering and mugging attempts against creatures. Once enough experience is gained, players receive a Thieves Codex Point to spend on upgrades.
Upgrade points can be reset once every five minutes.
Pilfering and Mugging
When a player successfully executes a Pilfering or Mugging action, they will receive gold and may also obtain a Black Goods item in their backpack. Any Thieves Codex upgrades that enhance pilfering or mugging will still apply even if the target creature no longer has gold remaining.
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| Examples of Pilfering and Mugging Success | |
Ruffian Upgrade
The Ruffian upgrade allows players to use their printed Stealth skill in place of Tactics when performing a mugging attempt (Backstab + Stealing) and for 10 seconds afterward. This provides an opportunity for thieves to optimize their template by reducing or eliminating the need for Tactics skill.
This upgrade does not allow players to combine Stealth and Tactics to exceed 100 effective Tactics; instead, they can substitute some or all of their Stealth skill for Tactics.
| Ruffian Tier 1: 67 printed Tactics + 33 Stealth = 100 effective Tactics for Mugging and 10 seconds after. |
| Ruffian Tier 2: 33 printed Tactics + 67 Stealth = 100 effective Tactics for Mugging and 10 seconds after. |
| Ruffian Tier 3: 0 printed Tactics + 100 Stealth = 100 effective Tactics for Mugging and 10 seconds after. |
Shadow Hands Upgrade
The Shadow Hands upgrade allows players to use their printed Hiding skill in place of Snooping when pilfering or mugging creatures. This enables thieves to reduce or remove Snooping from their build by substituting their Hiding skill for required Snooping checks.
This upgrade does not allow players to combine Snooping and Hiding to exceed 100 effective Snooping; rather, it enables them to substitute some or all of their Hiding skill for Snooping.
| Shadow Hands Tier 1: 67 printed Snooping + 33 Hiding = 100 effective Snooping for Pilfering/Mugging. |
| Shadow Hands Tier 2: 33 printed Snooping + 67 Hiding = 100 effective Snooping for Pilfering/Mugging. |
| Shadow Hands Tier 3: 0 printed Snooping + 100 Hiding = 100 effective Snooping for Pilfering/Mugging. |