Pickpocketing for dummies

[Dyxx]

Good morning !

Can someone explain me how pickpocketing works in this game ?

I know I have to sneak but I can almost never pickpocket anyone. The game always says not possible while seen.

Am I doing something wrong ?

Or is it just broken on console ?

I play on PS4.

 

Greetings Dyxx 

[Boeroer]

If your stealth value is not high enough you will be detected before you can reach them (circle completely fills red).

Some people have better detection skills than others.

Also they can use their hearing (circle indicator) and vision (cone). So better sneak up from behind.  Start sneaking when your dotted circle is not filled at all (yellow or even red). Then take the shortest route to the target. Don't run zigzag or something. If you have Bounding Boots you might be able to jump right besides the target (out of combat, but pause right after jumping) and pickpocket. It worked in the past but maybe that got fixed.

Usually it's not hard to do if you have a decent stealth skill. Unless you try to pickpocket overleveled or very perceptive people. Only use one guy to sneak up, not the whole party. Park them somewhere.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Boeroer

[Dyxx]

So if I understood it correctly:

I need to sneak to pickpocket - clear

Only use one guy not whole party - clear

Sneak up to the target - clear

I can only pickpocket as long the circle isn't red or isn't completely red ?

Does it matter if anyone else/NPC is around/hearing range ?

Edited April 26, 2020 by Dyxx

[Boeroer]

Well technically you can use the whole party to sneak up onto the victim, but you'll never know which party member will attempt to pickpocket then (presumably the dude with the highest pickpocket skill) - maybe it's that one party member who already screwed the stealth. Also the pathfinding is difficult with all party members. You want to take the shortest route to the victim and that's often impossible if the party is trampling on each other's feet. Way easier to mange if you are only steering one party member during the attempt. 

You can pickpocket as long as the circle isn't completely red. Generally speaking: if the circle is fully red you are screwed. If there's even a fraction of the circle not red you are good to go. If it's yellow: easy peasy. Hostile victims will already start looking for you and move towards the noise you make as soon as the cicle turns from yellow to red - so I guess pickpocketing them would be a real challenge (never tried I have to say). Neutral victims don't care if the circle becomes red - as long as it's not fully red.

I think if bystanders detect you you are also "detected" and can't pickpocket. 

You can use spells on the ground to lure hostile npcs and guarding npcs (shield + eye symbol over their heads) towards a place and sneak up behind them. This doesn't work for most neutral npcs like merchants. You need Sparkcrackers for those. They will run towards the source of noice you can sneak up behind them.

Running victims have a much smaller hearing circle than victims that stand still. So it's easier to pickpocket moving targets - if you can predict theor movement. 

Also read here: 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by Boeroer

[Dyxx]

8 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

I think if bystanders detect you you are also "detected" and can't pickpocket. 

First at all thank you very much !

Do you mean by detected that the circle turns fully red or the bystanders only see my character without the circle been fully red ?

I'm trying it out but I get the feeling that pickpocketing is screwed up on PS4

[AeonsLegend]

Telling if you can pickpocket is actually quite easy. As long as you can pickpocket it works. If you're detected it simply won't allow you to pickpocket. Detected is when the circle is fully red. If it is still filling up you can pickpocket. You will need a certain amount of pickpocket skill to allow pickpocketing of certain items. There's equipment and potions you can use on your character to increase pickpocket skill.

[xzar_monty]

Does anybody in the game actually have anything worthwhile to pickpocket? I'm genuinely curious about this. I never pickpocketed in Deadfire, so I don't know. In BG2, pickpocketing is worth it, whereas in the original NWN campaign, it is not.

[AeonsLegend]

It's rare, but If you get the loaded pockets perk then yes. Even got some Adra Ban. Without the perk, it's just for the money I think. Some NPC's have fixed loot, so you could go for that. But Loaded Pockets is what makes it worth it.

Edited April 26, 2020 by AeonsLegend

[Boeroer]

You can often pickpocket keys from merchants which spares you the lockpicking. Also you can reverse-pickpocket explosives and poison.

[Dyxx]

Actually it feels like its broken, most of the time I start sneaking and my circle is immediately red. 

I'll try more later but its definitely not fun !

[thelee]

On 4/26/2020 at 7:45 AM, AeonsLegend said:

It's rare, but If you get the loaded pockets perk then yes. Even got some Adra Ban. Without the perk, it's just for the money I think. Some NPC's have fixed loot, so you could go for that. But Loaded Pockets is what makes it worth it.

I had a post a long time ago where I judiciously pick-pocketed every single non-hostile NPC.

TL;DR - in base game, it's not worth the skill investment. It's useful only for a few thousand gold over the course of all the pickpocketing--nothing really special otherwise (might be useful early on, but doing a few mid-game quests quickly trivializes those returns). You don't even need a high sleight of hand for that due to how much of that is in the form of money and the game undervalues money for pickpocketing difficulty. You actually need stealth more than pickpocket. This is true even for reverse pickpocketing bombs. I basically wrote a manifesto calling sleight of hand a trap choice (especially since it's in the same group as much more relevant combat skills like alchemy or arcana) - and it was utterly nonsensical... sometimes you need like a sleight of hand of 7 to pick pocket a piece of hardtack, but then on another NPC you can get a fine-enchanted weapon with a sleight of hand of 1 (someone much later did some deep-diving and it turns out sleight of hand difficulty is based in part on the enemy level; which makes no sense from a player's perspective).

Like @AeonsLegend says, with Loaded Pockets it's more interesting, it's low chance of getting some moderately good magical gear [and potentially some useful crafting mats] and it's randomized, but that means now I actually want to judiciously pick pocket again (in my most recent game I got some good magical gear in Port Maje, which was a nice boost). You still don't really need a high sleight of hand, though. Just moderate stealth and in a pinch some spark crackers to distract NPCs.

Edited April 27, 2020 by thelee

[xzar_monty]

1 hour ago, thelee said:

TL;DR - in base game, it's not worth the skill investment. It's useful only for a few thousand gold over the course of all the pickpocketing--nothing really special otherwise (might be useful early on, but doing a few mid-game quests quickly trivializes those returns). You don't even need a high sleight of hand for that due to how much of that is in the form of money and the game undervalues money for pickpocketing difficulty. You actually need stealth more than pickpocket.

This raises the question of which skills are the most and the least useful in terms of the opportunities they open for you. There is probably no definite and objective answer to this, because many situations can be solved in many ways (meaning if you don't have skill A you can use skill B), but I think we might at least get a general idea.

In my two playthroughs (on Hard or Veteran or whatever it is), the skills that I have essentially never used were Explosives, Sleight of Hand and Stealth. There was a situation in Fort Deadlight where I could have used some Stealth (I'm sure you know what I mean), but the other two I never missed once.

The passive skills I never put points in were Bluff and Intimidate. Bluff I could have used at least a few times, that's for sure, but I'm not sure if there was ever a situation where I would have liked to be able to intimidate somebody. Streetwise seemed to be a passive skill that doesn't get much use even if you have it, but I could be wrong.

[Dyxx]

Stealth and pickpocketing is broken on PS4. It works different as described here. It's almost impossible to pickpocket and even more to steal from crates.

The detected indicator is almost always active but not accurate, means I can steal while the game shows me I'm detected but I don't get any penalties while stealing.

Oh gosh, it's a long way to go !