I've been playing this game for about 10 hours now and every time when I play and urge to throw my controller, my cousin has been laughing at me. One day, I came home and he started playing the game and I thought "let's see how well you do, you little @#$%^&!!!!" He picked Thief class and I have to say, as a Warrior player, thief looked pretty interesting. Attack really fast and looks pretty cool too. After about 2 hours, my cousin gave up lol

But anyway, I was wondering how the thief class was? I don't wanna start a new game until I finished the game with my Warrior class, which would take forever. So I'm asking you guys!! How is the thief class? How is it different? I see a lot of people taking about the Knight class and the Pyromancer class(seems like that is the go-to class) and I rarely see people talking about the Thief class. Enlighten me!!

I personally think the stats are too spread out. The included master key is really the only thing going for it and even then, there are no other gifts worth picking besides the master key...so yeah. Too many people put a lot of stock into starting classes; remember guys, after two hours or so your starting class is irrelevant.

I haven't played as a thief (I play a cleric with a build I consider kind of like a Paladin) but I have heard if you play one it's fairly difficult but doable if you prefer evasion/speed/backstabs as they don't take hits well. But bare in mind the starting classes are just templates, you can spec anything however you want, how they are from the beginning is just how you will start the game. You could technically make your Warrior a Thief if you wanted to.

I picked the thief because it just fits my playstyle. You can kill almost all the basic enemies in just one combo with the dagger. It just takes most of your stamina. Backstabs are pretty easy as well, because you aren't hampered by encumbrance at all. In the end, it doesn't really matter since you can make your character however you like. The classes turn out to be just words next to your name in the 'load character' screen. My thief has some pretty huge weapons and can wear heavy armor.

I started my faith build out as a thief. Backstabbing is fun and extremely satisfying. Plus their armor looks awesome. Free master key is nice too. Their stats are a bit too spread out though, and they start at level 5. So that's a bit of a downside.

@Chop:

@CornBREDX:

@huntad:

So if the class is not really a big deal, which I totally agree, wouldn't the Deprived Class be the best character to start with? You know... the one that has 11 for every single stat??

I've trained a Thief up to level 18. As has been said, the starting dagger is nice for backstabs but then what isn't? I find grouped enemies to be the most challenging. Even if you play the Thief true to character, it's hard not to want to give him a decent shield and therefore dilute the experience.

In the end, it's not too much of a change from any of the other classes, but attacking those massive demons with a pocket knife takes some balls (and a lot of situational awareness).

@nohthink: Nah

The depraved will end up having a lot of wasted soul levels since very few players will play with balanced stats. The only reason to pick the depraved is if you're planning on using Sif's sword.

I started out as a thief and got him to level 50 before i accidentally corrupted the save file lol. It is extremely fun, frustrating, and rewarding. 1v1 hes really good, but I had a hard time with multiples (i stayed with the starting dagger the whole time).

I had to re roll so I picked a warrior, was just tired of seeing all this heavy armor and strength weapons that my guy couldn't use. Only ran into like one other light leather armor set and no other damn dagger, my save was corrupted in anor londo

@Chop: lol I have no idea what Sif's sword is lol But I understand what you're saying

I started as a thief and I've been enjoying it immensely. I'm sl30 and inside sens fortress, so I can give a few tips for anyone thinking about starting a thief. Keep in mind these only apply if you actually intend to play as a thief, ie: dexterity based, fast weapons, light armor.

As a thief you rely heavily on backstabs and parries. You start with the bandit's knife, which has the highest critical of any weapon I've seen so far and is excellent early on. You'll need to learn the positioning of backstabs, the timing of parries, and what enemies you can actually execute these moves on. Some enemies, particularly bosses & mini-bosses cannot be parried or backstabbed. Eventually you'll want to pick up a dexterity-based sword like a scimitar (available from the first vender in the parish) or an estoc (also available early on). Otherwise you'll have to use normal attacks with the bandit's knife against any enemy which cant be backstabbed, and that's just tedious.

Getting a bow and a few arrows as early as possible is a great idea. Bows scale with your dex, but I mainly use it to pull individuals from a group. As a thief you're much more effective against a single enemy than you are 3 or more. 2 is easily manageable because you are invincible during the backstab and parry animations.

As far as stat distribution goes, your main attributes are dex, endurance and vitality. Personally I only take as much endurance as I need to have enough equip load for a full set of equipment(main weapon, bow, shield, talisman, and a full set of light armor). A single point in faith early on can be worth it to get the heal miracle, which can be very useful.

Dual wielding seems like a fun idea, right? Well unless you're a salty old demons souls veteran or a total crazy man, forget it. You are gonna want that shield, because when you have light armor it's the only thing between you and a swift death sometimes.

Theres a few more do's and dont's but you'll figure those out on your own as you get used to the playstyle. Other than that, have fun with it. Oh, and dont try to parry anything with a weapon that's bigger than you are.