Thieving*

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Thieving is a skill which can earn you items and money. You can thieve in many ways, from pickpocketing people, picking locks on chests, to stealing from stalls, and disarming traps to get to different areas. Pickpocketing can be used on many non-player characters (NPCs), from a Man all the way to a Hero. You cannot pickpocket other players. Lockpicking doors can help you get into secret rooms with treasure, though getting to the treasure may not be as easy as you thought. You may have to disarm traps in places like a staircase, chests, or other things to get to the treasure. Beginning Thieves at level one must pickpocket Men and Women to increase their level high enough to access other targets.

Picking Pockets
To pickpocket someone, all you have to do is right click on the non-player character (NPC) and choose the "Pickpocket" option. There is a chance that the NPC you are trying to pickpocket will catch you and attack you, thereby stunning you. The higher your Thieving level, the better your chance of successfully pickpocketing.

Stealing From Stalls
To steal from market stalls go to Ardougne, Rellekka, Miscellania, Etceteria, or the Ape Atoll (note that the Fremennik Trials quest is required to access Rellekka, Miscellania, and Etceteria, and the Monkey Madness quest is required to access the Ape Atoll). Click on a stall to steal from it, or right click on a stall and use the "Steal from" option. If when stealing from a stall you fail, the stall owner may just yell at you, or a Guard, Knight, Paladin or Watchman (Random Event) will attack you. The more valuable the products on the stall are, the more people who watch it. You are better off waiting until they are either dead or distracted with somebody else (if you can not kill them yourself), when you are not in their line of sight. In Ardougne, Knights can be lured into nearby buildings and shut in, cutting down on the battles (since they aren't dead, they don't respawn this way).

* Note that thieving in Etceteria or Miscellania reduces your popularity in the kingdom; also you must have completed the Fremennik Trials Quest in order to get there.
** To access Ape Atoll, do Monkey Madness Quest .

---Stall Profits---
Okay, so you're a pretty good thief, but pick-pocketing people just isn't your style. You want money fast. Well, thats what thieving is, right? But I have a solution to your problem: Stall Profits. What exactly do I mean by this? I mean by stealing by stalls from other cities, and going to other cities and re-selling them. This might seem like it wouldn't add up much, but believe me, in about 10 minutes, you could have over 6k. Items/Skills needed/recommended:
-Level 35 Thieving
-Ring of Dueling or Ardounge Teleport runes highly recommended
-Teleport Runes to Varrock highly recommended
-About 2k gp (This is needed to start out, but in the long run, you will still be making a profit. You can also bring more if you want for more loads of silk.)

-Al-Kharid Silk (buy): 3 gp per silk, 84 gp for a full load
-Ardounge Silk(sell): 60 gp per silk, 1680 for a full load
-Ardounge G. Wolf Furs(steal): Free!
-Varrock G. Wolf Furs(sell): 120 gp per G. Wolf Fur, 3360 gp


Though this strategy doesn't involve a lot of walking, it won't earn you as much profit. First, buy a LOT of loads of silk from Al-Kharid. Now go to Ardounge and sell them all to the silk merchant.

Disarming Traps
Certain objects such as chests, stairs, and occasional trapdoors have traps on them. To find a trap, all you need to do is right click on the object and see if there's an option to "search for traps." If you choose not to disarm a trap then you receive damage to your hit points. If you have a high enough thieving level then you will be able to disarm it. Traps will reset after a certain amount of time.

Thieving From Chests
Within the world of thieving, you will find many chests that you can disarm and retrieve treasure. These chests vary in treasure ranging from Coins, Steel arrowheads, Nature runes, Blood runes, and even Adamantite ore.In the Al kharid desert, at the bandit camps bar, you can buy the Bandits brew, which temporarily raises your thieving by 1, which could be good for opening chests or doors that you have the level to open yet. But, be careful about this, because the drink costs 650 gp

Picking Locks
For some doors in Runescape, you may have to pick their locks to open them. To pick a door's lock, simply right click on it and then select the picklock option. As your level increases in thieving, you will be able to access places you couldn't have gone before. The doors will eventually re-lock so you can pick them again. To get the Lockpick you have to pickpocket Rogues in the Wilderness until you get one, or you can get them from the Rogues Den for 24gp. You can use this Lockpick for areas in the Wilderness or other places that require it. A Lockpick will also make opening locked doors an easier task.

Misc. Thieving
You can distract the eyes within the abyss to get thieving exp.You get 25 exp each time you successfully distract the eyes and get through to the inner circle.The Monk of Zamorak at Edgeville mini-quest must be completed to give access to the Abyssal area.

Lure and K.O.
With the Pollnivneach area and The Feud quest comes a whole new (and vicious) way to pickpocket. Obtain a Blackjack (either an Oak blackjack during the quest, or a Willow blackjack afterwards for 600 gp from the Market trader located outside the Kebab shop.) Wield the Blackjack. Right click on any innocent Villager (level 3), Bandit (level 41), Bandit (level 56), or Menaphite Thug (level 55) and choose "Lure". A dialog will ensue, asking the victim to follow you. If they agree, lead them to a place out of anyone's sight (such as behind buildings). Then right click on them and click "Knock out". If it works, quickly pickpocket them before they come back to their senses. If you fail, you will immediately get into a battle, so be prepared (you may want to switch weapons, but remember to switch back for your next victim). You may be able to halt the battle by pickpocketing them again (unconfirmed). You earn approximately 8 xp for knocking out a Villager, 10 xp for either level Bandit, and 20 xp for a Menaphite Thug. A successful pickpocket immediately following a K.O. earns the usual amount of xp and loot (for Villagers it's 8xp and 5 gp).

Strategy

Skill:
The best bet on pickpocketing an enemy is to pace yourself and not pick an enemy quickly but in a peaceful way. This will help you, and you'll get caught even less. Pressing "Pick Pocket" on a character twice in quick succession will almost always result in getting caught. As you gain levels, you'll be able to have more consecutive successes. Also, if you thieve from behind, they are not looking at you and so you may have a better chance of success.
Equipment:
So you're fully equipped in full Rune with a Dragon Battle Axe and Rune Plate?
It's best you do not Thieve with plate and a weapon until you reach Paladins who are combat lvl 53. Some people have different strategies on thieving. One is, if you're 40 defence, wear gloves, Rune Chain or even an Ammy and no weapon. Others are no armor but for gloves, boots and an ammy, and some prefer some armor to help protect them. Also, bringing a good amount of food with you will help. If you are caught, you will be stunned and have damage dealt to you.
Lockpicks:
It's best to get a Lockpick before you start picking door locks. Head to lvl 54 Wild and pickpocket a Rogue (Lvl 21 ). You'll need lvl 32 Thieving for this (you'll get 35.5 XP, and a possibility of different rewards per attempt). So you might need to pick from them a few times before getting a Lockpick. Or you can ask players to sell you a Lockpick. They usually sell for 1k from Players; not bad.

Training

~For the Best and Quickest Results, Take Route A.

Lvl 1 - 5. Route A - Getting Started:
To get started in Thieving you need to thieve Man (Lvl 3) or Woman only, which will give 8 experience with each pick and 3 coins. The best thing to do is to thieve until Lvl 5. Best location - Man in the middle of Falador. Edgeville has a house with several men inside.

Lvl 5 - 25. Route A - Baker's Stall:
Once you hit Level 5 Thieving its time to ditch Men and head to Ardougne. Cakes give 16 XP (Experience) and a cake of course, can be eaten. Cakes are pretty much an easy food source, and once you get to lvl 25 Thieving, you'll have a lot of Cakes to live off of (as well as Meat Pies, Chocolate cake slice and Bread). How this stall (and the others) work is you must hide to the side where the Stall owner and the Guards can't see you easily. Then quickly steal a cake before it's too late. Do this till Lvl 25 Thieving or take Route B...

Lvl 10 - 25. Route B - Farmers:
After picking Men till you are lvl 10, it's time to pickpocket Farmers. They are located all over RS near fields and animals. One place to go is Ardougne. Head north toward the Fishing Competition and once in Hemenster, there should be some small buildings located along the road. One of the buildings has an upstairs. When you get there, you'll find two Farmers (Lvl 15 ) and a bed. Farmers might be harder and it will be slower to achieve lvl 25 than thieving cakes. Farmers give 14.5 XP and 9 Coins a pick (cakes are 16xp) and you must be lvl 10 Thieving to pick 'em. Best location - Fishing Competion Building Upstairs.

Lvl 25 - 40. Route A - Warriors:
Warriors come in two versions: male (in Al-Kharid) and female (Ardougne).
The best path to take, if you're higher than lvl 40 Combat, would be the females, which can be found in and around Ardougne Market. If you're low lvl combat, then I'd suggest thieving the male versions in Al-Kharid. Both will give you 26 XP per pick and 18 coins each time. Do this until you are Lvl 40 Thieving, then its time to head to a very important point in Thieving.
The males are in Al-Kharid's palace and the bank isn't too far away. You can get a few in a room and close the door (that way they won't walk too far away).

Lvl 40 - 65/70. Route A - Guards:
Guards are very important to becoming a Lvl 70 Thief. You may not think so but I recommend you Thieve until lvl 70 on Guards only. Why? Because after a while it'll get easier and easier to thieve Guards. Guards give 30 coins and 46.5 XP a pick. After a while of Thieving 30 Coins a pick will become rewarding and you will make over 300 - 400K off Guards until you reach Lvl 70.
The best place to Thieve Guards would be either Falador Exits or outside Varrock Castle. It'd be wise to thieve Guards outside Varrock Castle in the early mornings as it's rare to see a soul walk past.

Lvl 65 - 70. Route B - Yanille Watchman:
When you hit Lvl 65 Thieving and you have 42 agility, then it's recommended to Thieve Yanille Watchman until Lvl 70 Thieving. To find the Watchmen you must head to the tower post at the northern wall of Yanille to the west. When you're Lvl 42 Agility, climb up the handholds (unless you've completed the Watchtower quest). Yanille Watchman give an impressive 138 XP per pick, 60 Coins and a loaf of Bread (you can still thieve them with a full pack; the Bread will fall to the ground). The xp will also help you gain levels more quickly than on guards alone.

Lvl 70 - Beyond. Route A/B - Paladins/ Paladin Chest:
A: Your best bet for Lvl 99 Thieving is Paladins, a very profitable and easy-earning XP opponent. Head to the castle in Ardougne. You can either thieve them on the Castle grounds or head upstairs to the Paladin Tower. Once upstairs, use your Lockpick to open the door; inside will be over 5 Paladins (Lvl 53 ). These guys give a impressive 151.75 XP per swipe, 80 Coins and 2 Chaos runes.
It's recommended you use your weapon and Plate on these guys, even if you're Lvl 70 to 78 or so on. Bring lots of food with you (preferably Swordfish as the 3 or 4 hit points damage every time you are caught adds up quickly).
B: Once you reach Lvl 72 Thieving, thieve from the chest that is in the same tower as the Paladins. You will be magically transported out of Ardougne to the East, just outside of the wall. You will take with you however, 500 XP, an Uncut Sapphire, 1000 gold coins, an Adamantite ore, and an Raw shark.

The Rogues Den

The Rogues Den has a lot of usefulness for a good thief.
Please take note that to enter the maze inside, you need 50 Agility as well as 50 Thieving (If you are level 80 Thieving, you can take a few shortcuts in the maze). If you wish to crack the Wall Safes outside the Maze, then you only need the 50 Thieving.
The first way to gain Thieving experience in the Den is to simply try the Maze.
Although you lose a Thieving point with each trap you disarm, you get back all the points you lost when you exit the Maze, and upon exiting you also recieve the collective experience from all the traps you disarmed. A successful run brings in around 450 Thieving experience (more if you disable more traps than you need to), and if you know your route and can do it quickly, then this experience builds quickly (please take a look at actualism's Rogue's Den Maze Guide or the Rogues Den Map for the proper path).
But if you don't want to run through the Maze, you can simply crack the Wall Safes outside the Maze.
These require level 50 Thieving to open.
Wall Safes give 70 experience for opening, and the possible rewards are coins (10, 20, or 40 at a time), and gems up to Diamonds. Failure to crack the safe will cause anywhere from 2 to 6 damage. To increase your chances of successfully cracking Wall Safes, you can purchase a Stethoscope from Martin Thwait down in the Den. Having it in your inventory or using it on the Wall Safe will increase your likelihood of succeeding. With a Stethoscope and a decent Thieving level, Wall Safes can be opened very swiftly, enabling you to accrue a large amount of experience quickly. Not to mention that all the gems you'll recieve can be a nice help for crafters. Lastly, it should be noted that Martin Thwait also sells Lockpicks for 20 coins each, providing an alternative to those who don't want to risk entering the Wilderness to steal them from Rogues.