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Pickpocket in BG2

jahes64jahes64 Member Posts: 177
in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
Hi everyone

i have a problem.
My PC has 120 points in Pickpocket, but still always i fail to steal anything from Gaelan Bayle. He just says that i am a fool and goes away!!! I have the same problem with the merchant at upper level except he just goes hostile when i fail (like normal people).

My question is: How many points do i need in pickpocket to be able to pick every NPC's pocket in BG2EE?

Comments

  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,268
    Well, Gaelan Bayle is a rouge type character, and as such he applies a sizable penalty to anyone who attempts to pick his pocket. I am not sure exactly what this penalty is or how it gets applied but you need a fair amount of pick pockets to succeed every time against rogues. Just don't raise your pick pocket skill above 255 because there is a bug that causes the skill to reset to 0 and start counting up again if you do.
  • nosecretnosecret Member Posts: 92
    edited September 2014
    Gaelan, IIRC, is supposed to do that - he (like Aran Linvail and Renal) are so central to the story progression that Bioware/Black Isle had to dissuade the player from stealing from and aggroing them (requiring you to kill them). Gaelan leaves (for the time being) to prevent you killing him. Renal and Aran will result in some "backup" that's more than deific to offer some "behavioral modification". Kill either of those too early in SOA (EDIT: while non-evil), and you will not do it on purpose a second time :D

    Renal is possible to kill (because boots!) after chapter 6, but prevents you from ever speaking to Aran again (whole place aggros).
  • nosecretnosecret Member Posts: 92
    edited September 2014
    I just realized i didn't answer the final question... SOME NPC's cannot be pickpocketed at all without massive repurcurssions (as above). but keep in mind yours is a trick question... regardless of skill, there's always a 1% chance to fail. i get to 100 as soon as possible, and for pickable NPC's, I find 2 (usually sufficient) to 3 thief juices on top of that are more than enough.

    You should be able to steal from Arledrian with 150-ish total (quick save on successes, though.
  • jahes64jahes64 Member Posts: 177
    Thanks for replies.
    But, no one knows how many points do i need in pickpocket to be able to pick every NPC's pocket in BG2EE? (i don't want to waste my points)
  • James_MJames_M Member Posts: 145
    edited September 2014
    225 pts. I do a major PP round in Athkatla with Jan at PP 85 natural skill level + 20 for his gloves + 3 potions of master thievery (3x40=120), for a total of 225 points. With 225 he can PP the toughest targets (Aran Linvail, Mae'Var, Gaelan, Arledrian, Lehtinan and Roger the Fence. I've tried 185 but he often gets caught by these targets, so he drinks 3 potions rather than 2.

    At PP 125 I find he can PP all targets in BG2 outside of Athkatla. Not sure about ToB, nor do I know of any worthwhile targets in ToB.
  • nosecretnosecret Member Posts: 92
    jahes64 said:

    Thanks for replies.
    But, no one knows how many points do i need in pickpocket to be able to pick every NPC's pocket in BG2EE? (i don't want to waste my points)

    But I did answer you (lest you think I was dismissive):

    100 + 2 thief juices (80) = 180 for most that are pickable
    100 + 3 thief Juices (120) = 220 for the rest that are pickable

    and I wouldn't argue if you went 225 per James_m's recommendation :D

    You will still have 1% chance to fail, regardless.
    I wouldn't be too concerned about wasting points - by the end of chapter 5, you will likely realize you get way more points per level up than you will need.

    Where _I_ have typically messed up is not assigning the points in the right ORDER... i.e. assigning points unevenly to hide/move silently, respectively - which kind of is a waste of points. Or accidentally overallocating to H/MS _instead_ of getting pick pockets up first.

    Allocate your points in the order of your priorities.
  • jahes64jahes64 Member Posts: 177
    Hey, Having very high Pickpocket has negative effect or something?????
    I am trying to steal some items from a merchant with 285 points in Pick Pocket but always i am getting caught!
  • SceptenarSceptenar Member Posts: 606
    jahes64 said:

    Hey, Having very high Pickpocket has negative effect or something?????
    I am trying to steal some items from a merchant with 285 points in Pick Pocket but always i am getting caught!

    If you go over 255 the skill resets and starts over from 0.
  • jahes64jahes64 Member Posts: 177
    Sceptenar said:

    jahes64 said:

    Hey, Having very high Pickpocket has negative effect or something?????
    I am trying to steal some items from a merchant with 285 points in Pick Pocket but always i am getting caught!

    If you go over 255 the skill resets and starts over from 0.
    But it is not reseted for me! "Record" screen says "Pick pockets: 285"!
  • SceptenarSceptenar Member Posts: 606
    edited November 2014
    jahes64 said:

    Sceptenar said:

    jahes64 said:

    Hey, Having very high Pickpocket has negative effect or something?????
    I am trying to steal some items from a merchant with 285 points in Pick Pocket but always i am getting caught!

    If you go over 255 the skill resets and starts over from 0.
    But it is not reseted for me! "Record" screen says "Pick pockets: 285"!
    It is reset, if you go over then the 255 doesn't count, so only 30 points actually work for your pickpocketing.

    It is a bug, and isn't entirely obvious. I assume it has something to do with the fact that 256 is a binary integer.
  • TJ_HookerTJ_Hooker Member Posts: 2,438
    edited November 2014
    I'm actually pretty sure that skill/ability wrap-around has been fixed for the EEs. However, I'm pretty sure 255 is still the max for thief skills, so going over that won't actually help anything. As to why you're failing, I'm not sure. There are some merchants with huge penalties to your chance to pick pockets (copper coronet guy comes to mind). Also, some armours give penalties to thief skills which I don't think show up in the Record screen.

    Edit: Ah yes, here we go:
    AndreaColombo said:

    Here is a list of ToBEx fixes and features that have been implemented in BG:EE and BGII:EE.
    [...]
    37. Pickpocket modifier values capped so that out-of-bounds values no longer wrap up or down.

    http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/514768/#Comment_514768
  • jahes64jahes64 Member Posts: 177
    Thanks for responses.
    I did unequipped my pick pocket boosting items (which dropped my pick pocket score under 255) and now i am fine.
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,317
    edited November 2014
    TJ_Hooker said:

    I'm actually pretty sure that skill/ability wrap-around has been fixed for the EEs

    This.

    If having above 255 still causes an issue (which based on the fact that you had to remove items in order to get it to work I assume it still is) it may be that the release version of BG2EE still has the issue. It hasn't been patched in almost a year so its going to be behind BGEE and IWDEE :(
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