Thieves

[Athcar]

You know a double bs might do the trick....right now I believe in the pvp relm there is not one thief....in non pvp I have the only thief.  Its just kinda sad that there is one class so awful that no one will touch it.  Double bs would be awsome.  The ability to set traps would be a neat twist.  That would kinda add more to them.  I think battle 3 would help.  Ohh well.. life is good.  Hope to see some changes with them someday to make them a viable option as a class.
                Athcar

[Grim]

So I had a crazy idea to make thieves better.... simply make them combat-3. There is no reason that they are not combat-3 in the first place. What? We get thievery? Well if that is the reason then it is a stupid reason and it should be fixed. This is especially a great idea for GMUD specifically, considering the lack of the ability of thievery. No theivery = no reason they are not combat-3. Wouldn't it be easier to just make them combat-3 then to add all these little perks to them?

[DeathCow]

I could list the reasons that metro and wcc gave for not upgrading thieves.  I always saw their point, but didnt really ever agree with them.  I have to say that making thieves combat-3 just won't fix them. It very well might be included in the over-all fixing of the class.  I'd also like to see them wearing chain.

I have a few other ideas for them, I'm not going to post them in the forums for debate however.  I'd prefer to add them to the game in a test realm and see how I like them in game play.

[Grim]

I think that leather is fine.. it makes sense considering (in reality) chainmail would clang around when moving. What should be done is that a better leather set (or a few) should be added, maybe even thief-only leather items. Combat-3 would certanly help them. I mean at best, a delf thief would be the most powerful (unless you wanted to sneak after 30+) but that's if they are combat-2, as they currently are. Just seems like if they were instead combat-3 they would not suck as much. AC is irrelevant if you land enough swings before you even get hit. Even if you half-rounded a monster (meaning it takes 2 rounds. 1 round you would take them to about 50% hp and the second round you would finish them off) and they hit you once, AC is still not that important. AC is just a bonus. You could survive with 0/0 AC but it would be difficult.

[The Crazy Animal]

I would consider maybe giving them some dodge powers something that would go along with their description better then chainmail. Thieves are supposed to be fairly agile while not being exactly a great combatant.

[Lazarus]

I had a really long thread on mudcentral a while back on thieves ... there were some good ideas on there.   I always thought setting traps was an awesome one.  Maybe another is a possibility of a deathblow.. (not necessarily killing someone, but incapacitating them)...  I even liked the idea of giving them a higher magic resistance from hurtful spells.    (reasoning behind it was that they stole some secrets from witchhunters) ..   Combat 3 wont fix the problem.. only delay it.  Autodetecting and autodisarming traps.. 

[Lazarus]

Other ideas I remember were something designed for a thief to escape a situation easily..   smoke screen or something.. disappear into the darkness... like a last chance get away..  since thieves are stealthy by design, and not so much designed for head to head combat.

[Zetetic]

Give thieves the ability to hide/sneak while in combat after a certain level?

Another thought, what about giving them the ability to dodge traps, no disarming them? Add the set trap ability, and you have an interesting pvp class.

[kalus]

Could always borrow ideas from.... http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Burglar

Lots of good stuff in there

[tab]

How about a 'circle' ability to let them have a chance to backstab in combat?

Or, keeping with the concept of a support class like in D&D, they could knock enemies prone (remove combat rounds).

[kalus]

Some ideas:

Add a kai like energy systems to thieves and give them abilities they can use like...

- Enter stealth mode - movement speed reduced 50%, auto-hidden, harder to be found with search
- Vanish - enter stealth mode while in combat
- Tracking on items
- Cunning attack - next round weapon damage +50%
- Sand in eyes - Blind
- Startle - while sneaking, sneak up on an emeny and stun/confuse them
- Diversion - distracts a see hidden monster (or gaunt player) so the thief isn't seen

[DeathCow]

I've planned a few options for thieves to choose from, under my plan... Regardless of what changes we might make to their exp charts or combat level, thieves will have the ability to join one of several guilds located around the realm giving them unique abilities.

Raven Guild
The Raven Guild specializes in scouting and stealth.  A thief in the raven guild learns how to be hidden anytime they use the sneak command.  Stealth from one room to the next will no longer require use of the hide command.  Also many monsters who would normally be able to sense a hidden players will not be able to and the thief will be able to improve on his abilities to ignore seehidden as he becomes more stealthy.

Horned Owl Guild
The Horned Owl Guild specializes in surprise attack.  A thief in this guild will learn to enhance their ability to backstab as well as learn to use combat distractions to allow him to sink back into the shadows for another surprise attack.

Guild of the Fallen Hart
Members of this guild specialize in setting complicated traps.  The traps increase in power and abilities as the thief progresses.

Harlequin's Retreat
Members of this guild learn to use the items made for other classes.  At the highest levels they may even be able to use magic scrolls to evoke the spells within.

[Gardner Denver]

Guild of the Fallen Hart
Members of this guild specialize in setting complicated traps.  The traps increase in power and abilities as the thief progresses.

oooo so I can lay traps at all exits from newhaven and town square!  Rock!

[DeathCow]

oooo so I can lay traps at all exits from newhaven and town square!  Rock!

There was a fairly extensive post on how traps should work..it included abuse prevention and balancing.

That and we'll make the mud op patrol for traps.

[Gardner Denver]

we'll make the mud op patrol for traps.

That sounds like, ya know, effort.