Getting Started as a Thief

Born amongst the shadows of alleyways you may find it natural to become a talented thief. Thieves are scrupulous and cunning and light on their feet. They are the results of years of learning to survive the rough streets--doing whatever it takes. They are very much at home lurking in the shadows of the streets, and some thieves are even driven to become cold calculated assassins.

You have decided to join the field of rogues in the dark streets of Vagabond's Quest. Thieves quickly backstab victims causing silent deaths. While being a thief is mainly intuitive, you must learn from experience on the streets. There are some things to know and be aware of in order to steer you in the right direction.

Once you have created your character it is important to equip yourself with the proper attire. In order to be effective and quickly maneuver through the streets, a thief usually only likes wearing light armor, such as items made of leather. It is also common to see thieves wearing daggers or shurikens, small swords and sometimes bows. You will find suitable equipment in either the thieves hall or in the armor and weapon shop--all found on the welcome page after you have logged in with your newly created character. Two things to think about when buying equipment are trying for good balance and/or offsetting balance.

Balanced Equipment:

This consists of buying more moderate strength equipment, but having an item in each slot that you have room for--a melee weapon, a missile weapon, armor and a shield. If you do this, your starting equipment won't be that strong, but it will be well-rounded since you start with only 250 gold. You have to think carefully about what you choose to buy. This strategy is good for confusing your opponent. It is harder to decide what to do when your opponent has a full ensemble of equipment.

Offset Equipment:

This is the practice of neglecting to buy a particular type of equipment. In most cases it is simply just not buying a missile, and sometimes both a missile and armor are left out. Doing this gives you the ability to buy stronger equipment in the other slots because you don't have to leave some of the gold to buy other types of equipment. This reduces your options in combat, but will also reduce your maintenance costs. After all, it does cost money to repair your armor and shields and to reload a missile weapon.

Once you have equipped yourself, it is time to enter the arena. Go back to the main welcome page and click on the picture play vq+ and go ahead and challenge someone whom you think you can beat. At this time the best option is to try to find a willing wizard because they are the easiest to kill in the early stages since their spells are not that strong and they can't cast too many of them. This may be hard if the wizards realize they are easy targets, so your next best bet might be to fight a priest or tracer. Fighters in the early stages are pretty much equal to thieves, so be prepared to have a close match if you decide to fight one.

When you reach the required experience points for levelling you will be granted 2 hit points(hp) to your stats. Thieves will require less experience to level than other classes. This gives them the advantage of more hp than others at the same experience level. However, they are worse in other stats such as "to hit" which determines how often you hit. A thief is the next best warrior in vq and is a force to be reckoned with. Don't forget to try your hand at the Dungeon of Despair. The dungeon will help boost your level and you may find some interesting items that will help you on your way. Good luck and watch your back!