The best way to get your hands on Ore and valuable items in the first hours of the remake? Pickpocketing unsuspecting NPCs. It may not sound heroic, but it works flawlessly. Not only will you get extra loot, but you’ll also snag keys typically found on guards or merchants. For example, without the Aleph key, you can’t open Ulbert’s barn—which is a whole quest. Plus, you can sneak into private rooms, steal unique armor, and avoid fights where it’s unnecessary. Basically, it’s a lot of fun.
The problem is that the game explains the mechanics of pickpocketing very vaguely. At first, the skill seems complex and risky. So let’s figure out where to learn it, how it works, and whether it’s worth spending those precious training points (LP).
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Where to find thievery teachers in Gothic 1 Remake?
There are two trainers, and both are located in different camps. Choose based on your convenience:
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Finger – Old Camp
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Wedge – New Camp
Both offer the same training. You’ll initially receive the “Pickpocketing (Trained)” rank for 10 LP and 80 Ore. This is enough to start pickpocketing from common NPCs. You can then level up to “Master” for 20 LP and 100 Ore. Mastery unlocks access to more challenging targets, which we’ll discuss below.
How to steal from NPCs and guards in the remake?
After training, you’ll only be able to steal by sneaking up on an NPC from behind (or while they’re sleeping). Important: the target must be facing away. A prompt with the (R) key will then appear, and the interface will show the success rate. It depends on three things:
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your dexterity
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the difficulty of the specific NPC
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your current pickpocketing skill level
At a basic level, you can easily pickpocket guards, ordinary workers (diggers, miners, scrappers, acolytes), and some minor characters with names like Sly, Bloodwyn, or Fisk.
More serious targets like Diego, Torres, or Gomez himself from the Old Camp fortress require mastery of the skill. And even then, there are exceptions: stealing from ore barons or the gurus from the Swamp Camp is impossible, regardless of your dexterity level. The system simply won’t let you.
By the way, if you’re unsure whether to invest LP in pickpocketing, I’ll give you a hint. For stealth and collecting all the loot without unnecessary fights, this skill is practically mandatory. For a warrior in heavy armor… well, you can get by without it. But it won’t be as enjoyable.
Where is the best place to spend LP in the game?
Let’s compare it to other useful skills. Hunting, Gathering, Alchemy, or Writing—they allow you to earn endless amounts of money throughout the game. Pickpocketing, unfortunately, is much more limited. Yes, you’ll steal a few keys and some Ore, but it won’t give you an endless supply.
Lockpicking is another matter. Even the Master version really saves you some nerves. You combine plates and pins faster before all the lockpicks break (or before your patience runs out). The profit is obvious.
However, pickpocketing has one undeniable advantage. Remember Aleph’s key for Ulbert’s barn? Instead of hacking NPCs in front of a crowd and then dealing with angry witnesses, you simply reach into their pocket and there you go. Silence, cleanliness, no unnecessary corpses.
The reality is this: if you’re playing a Rogue or a hybrid (Dexterity plus Strength), lockpicking is a must. It’s practically a baseline. But pickpocketing… well, it’s more of a situational perk. Because in the later stages, some NPCs’ Dexterity threshold for pickpocketing becomes so high that without special leveling, you simply won’t be able to steal anything. Even with a Mastery skill. So, you’ve invested LP, but it’s of little use. It’s not the most obvious choice, in short.
How much dexterity does it take to pickpocket?
There’s simply no universal answer to the question of the ideal leveling for pickpocketing. The game engine doesn’t look at the raw stat number at all—it uses a relative calculation. Your base Dexterity is summed up with the skill rank, and then this sum is combined with the difficulty rating of the specific NPC. In practice, this means that the same Dex pool is more than enough to clear out an ordinary acolyte, but for an elite named fighter, this will be critically insufficient.
From this, three clear thresholds emerge for different target categories:
Underleveled? That’s not a death sentence. Sleeping victims and a clever approach from a blind spot work as a significant discount on system requirements. If you sneak up on a resting NPC from behind, the chances of success skyrocket even for the weakest hero in Dexterity. The main thing is to keep an eye on the interface: if the green eye lights up, you’re in the shadows, and aggro isn’t expected. Focus not on the character sheet, but on the specific percentage over the poor guy’s wallet. If the indicator is red even in the dead of night, retreat. There’s no point in wasting an attempt (unless, of course, you want to draw the entire local guard onto you with a single shout).
And here’s the main bonus for those still hesitant: invested points won’t be wasted: in the remake, leveling up your agility directly boosts damage from bows and crossbows, simultaneously closing the requirement thresholds for top-tier ranged weapons. For a pure agility player or hybrid, this is an ideal two-for-one investment. However, for dedicated tanks, squandering precious stat points for a few other players’ wallets is, frankly, a dubious idea.
