View source for Gaining Thief Mastery VERY slooooooowly - ID: 1476

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'''This topic was started by Visstar on 04/05/2017, 18:42:30'''

<div class="postinfo">Post by Visstar on 04/05/2017, 18:42:30</div>

OK, my thief, Flambeau, made it to 10%, slowly, but now it's slower than ever. One of the main ways she gains practice points is to hide in shadows, but now that she does it automatically, she gets no credit for it! (I tested this in actual combat; she started hidden, killed all the enemies from the shadows, and had the same number of practice points as she had at the beginning.) And there aren't nearly enough chests lying around to get her the almost 8900 points she needs for full (99%) mastery. Any tips on gaining thief points that don't involve hiding in shadows? E.g., go to the Rogue Retirement Home where they have hundreds of chests to practice on?  8-)

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<div class="postinfo">Post by Utopian on 06/05/2017, 11:50:05</div>

Keep moving your rogue in the shadows until theyre at 90ft

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<div class="postinfo">Post by Visstar on 08/05/2017, 20:11:09</div>

Could you clarify, please? If she is in the shadows, she can move further away, is that what you're saying?

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<div class="postinfo">Post by Visstar on 12/05/2017, 16:28:52</div>

Flambeau has slowly worked her way from 10% to 14% using this strategy. We spent some time in Horon's Sanctuary and the Old Bone House smashing our way through enemies and opening chests. When we got rid of the more dangerous enemies and faced only a group of lesser foes, like Brain Eaters or Haunted Souls, she used a safety wand to push them away, then shot arrows at them until she was no longer hidden, then pushed them further away again and hid in shadows for practice points. Wow, was that tedious. I'm still doing the normal thief things to get her practice, since she still needs help opening 10-button chests, but not really going out of my way to get her practice, because it's too tedious and there are more important things to do, like blowing that ship to hell.<br/>
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Suggestions for improving the rogue:<br/>
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1. It's harder to hide from a foe that's close by than a foe 90' away, so award practice points in the reverse order, giving more points when hiding from foes at 10'.<br/>
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2. Award practice points for hiding automatically at the beginning of combat.<br/>
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3. Award practice points for striking an enemy from the shadows (or, if you prefer, award points when striking and remaining hidden).

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<div class="postinfo">Post by Wascalwywabbit on 15/05/2017, 11:00:11</div>

Every time you hide you move further. If auto hide put you at 10' then  choosing to hide again will move you up to 20' and so on every round that you hide up to 90'. Add this to lock picking. Way easier than falling out of combat generally.<br/>
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I personally don't mind the suggestions, but Mario seems to like repetition, not as much as wizardz mind given hus crazy playing, but still.

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<div class="postinfo">Post by Professor1028 on 11/12/2017, 23:31:40</div>

@Visstar - I was just thinking about this EXACT thing, lol.<br/>
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I recently acquired the "Thief Mastery" skill and have been doing my best to hide as much as possible in combat (going as far back as I can on the battleground), but that skill still climbs SOOOO slowly.  I have loved this game to this point and will always admire Mario's efforts and the final product, but I don't think I have the time or energy that it takes to get my rogue(s) up to 99% mastery.  I'm not sure how others have found the patience to do so... :)

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<div class="postinfo">Post by Visstar on 12/12/2017, 15:46:51</div>

Glad to see I'm not the only one, prof.! i finally gave up and finished the expansion with my thief at just 15%. I guess she'll never become a DC .... unless there is another expansion, of course .....  :)

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<div class="postinfo">Post by Professor1028 on 15/12/2017, 17:27:13</div>

I hear you... lol.  I did find a trick though.  I came back to one of the lower levels (abandoned tower), go in with my thief who can always successfully hide in combat there, and repetitively do so on one of the “fixed” encounters.  Once I get to 90’, I run from the battle then go back to it again.  Not the most elegant solution but it does work if you have patience!  :D

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<div class="postinfo">Post by Visstar on 17/12/2017, 19:56:07</div>

Interesting, I had not thought of this. What do you mean by "get to 90' "?

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<div class="postinfo">Post by rakenan on 07/03/2018, 23:41:53</div>

<div class="quote"><b>Quote from Author: Visstar</b><br>Interesting, I had not thought of this. What do you mean by "get to 90' "?</div>

Continue choosing "Hide in Shadows" every round of combat until your Thief can attack enemies at 90' range. This generates a good amount of Thief Mastery training. I just finished Horon's with 16% Thief Mastery complete by doing this. Considering the reports of finishing the entire expansion with just barely that much, and I think it's plain that you do need to grind a fair bit to train up Thief Mastery. But not all that much, considering the many other grinds already found in the game.

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<div class="postinfo">Post by Visstar on 09/03/2018, 17:16:22</div>

<div class="quote"><b>Quote from Author: rakenan</b><br>Continue choosing "Hide in Shadows" every round of combat until your Thief can attack enemies at 90' range.</div>

OMG I can't believe I never knew this! Thanks for explaining. You're right, I'm making faster progress now.<br/>
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I'd love to hear an explanation for this, as it doesn't really make sense. You start hidden, then hide again and again until you can attack from 90' away with a melee weapon? Huh?

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<div class="postinfo">Post by rakenan on 15/03/2018, 22:54:21</div>

As you continue sneaking, you infiltrate past the enemy front lines until you've reached enemies in the back lines. The further back they are, the longer you must spend sneaking to reach them.<br/>
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The real oddity is that if you get caught as you try to sneak from 80' to 90', you just magically appear back in your party's ranks, and don't get murdered, or even attacked by the monsters who caught you. I mean, I know the mechanics of why it works that way, but it's still weird conceptually.<br/>
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My Rogue just got capped Thief Mastery while grinding levels in Horon Sanctuary. Starts every round at 90', ready to sneak attack any enemy in combat. Thankfully for my OCD, once she reached 99% Thief Mastery, the game no longer displayed her training points. Word of advice: stop training Thief Mastery at 69% (or so), until you have the full amount of points required to train up to 99%. Being able to sneak 3x per combat and gain training points is quite a bit faster than being only once. The early ranks, from 10' to 50', don't give much training. Starting at 60' and sneaking to 90' is 24 training points, starting in party ranks and sneaking all the way to 90' is only 45, less than twice the benefit for 3x the time spent.

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<div class="postinfo">Post by Visstar on 16/03/2018, 01:15:20</div>

<div class="quote"><b>Quote from Author: rakenan</b><br>Word of advice: stop training Thief Mastery at 69% (or so), until you have the full amount of points required to train up to 99%. Being able to sneak 3x per combat and gain training points is quite a bit faster than being only once.</div>

Wow! Good advice, and well timed, as I'm nearing 50%. Thanks!

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