Best pickpocketing tips and tricks for Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)

If you’re a sneaky Rogue, or you just like to steal things from NPCs, you may want to know the best pickpocketing tips and tricks for Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3).

It’s never fun when someone catches you in the act, which forces you to reload the last save or make a new enemy. So here are some ways to pickpocket without all the mess.

Baldur’s Gate 3: Best ways to pickpocket (BG3)

There are right and wrong ways to pickpocket people in BG3. Of course, you always want to use the character with the highest Dexterity or Sleight of Hand score (probably Astarion), but there are other things to remember. Here are the best pickpocketing tips and tricks for Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3).

Conversation distraction

This is something a lot of players don’t know you can do in BG3. While controlling one party member, have them get into conversation with the NPC you want to steal from. Then, click the icon in the bottom left corner depicting a person. This allows you to switch who you’re controlling, even in conversations.

Now, while one of your party members is talking to someone, switch to control your most dexterous character to stealth successfully and crouch behind the NPC. Right-click and pickpocket them. They’ll be so distracted by the conversation that they shouldn’t notice that you’re emptying their pockets.

Use turn-based mode

I find pickpocketing to be a lot more stressful when in real-time. You can actually switch on turn-based mode at any point by pressing the large button on the right side of your hotbar with the hourglass icon. Now you’ll be in turn-based mode, and you can take your time with pickpocketing.

This makes it easier to sneak behind the NPC without them moving around in real-time. I honestly believe every time you pickpocket someone you should be in turn-based mode. Then just press the same button again to go back to live mode.

Give the thief luck

There are many ways in Baldur’s Gate 3 to increase your chances of winning a dice roll. I recommend either casting Guidance (an easy cantrip) for an extra 1d4, or Enhance Ability (Cat’s Grace) for Advantage on your Dexterity roll.

Not only are there spells, but you may find potions that aid you in this situation. There are even Feats like Lucky that can give you Advantage on these kinds of ability checks.

Related: Should you evolve in Baldur’s Gate 3?

Avoid enemy line-of-sight

As you can expect, you don’t want the enemy to spot you when you’re in a thieving mood. There are a few ways to remain unseen. First off, you should hold the “Shift” key to see the enemy’s line of sight, which will be represented as a red cone that encompasses everything the character can see. Avoid standing in the red cone.

Another good tip is to turn off any lights in the room you’re in. The darker it is, the harder it will be for enemies to see (unless they have Darkvision). You can also try casting Invisibility on yourself to not be seen at all.

Cast Disguise Self

You don’t want to ruin your party’s reputation when stealing, right? Well, if you have a character who knows the Disguise Self spell, you should make use of it. This way, if you do get caught, the NPC won’t know it was truly you who tried to pickpocket them.

There are a ton of disguises you can transform into. You can choose from any race and gender in BG3. Also, it’s a Ritual spell, which means it won’t expend a spell slot!

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Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on Steam and the PlayStation 5.