So you want to be a thief.

[marge]

The primary function of the thief class is dishing out death. In solo play or in a group, backstab and circlestab are a thief's best friend. Thieves are nice for running small group xp or solo xp or coins. Thieves are also welcome in groups as a good stab will open the mob up to greatly enhanced damage for several rounds. So a big group can drop a very large mob fairly quickly if the thief lands an exceptional stab. It's a fun class to play if you don't mind dying a lot and like a fast pace.

Thief primes stab much better than non-primes. They have more special equipment available related to stabbing and also have the ability to poison their blade for much increased damage. Non prime stabbing is still good, but really doesn't compare to a prime stabber.

Also thieves generally spend more time trying to reroll their stats because they desire a very high str to maximize their hit and damage bonuses. This can be frustrating because all thieves have Strength as the 3rd stat in their stat order, except for Thief/Warriors, who have strength as their 2nd stat.

Supplementing thief class:

Cleric -As with most other classes, cleric helps a lot. The protective spells and healing of cleric helps greatly.

Mage - Mage is a classic pick for Thieves. Stabbing and blasting is a great strategy for running experience or coins. The idea is to kill the mob before it can even attack back.

Monk- Monk is great for toughening up a thief class order as well as adding another opening attack that can be used aginst Non-stabbable mobs (deathgrip-deathtouch). Also the monks focus skill works with backstab, enhancing damage.

Warrior- Warrior has become a more popular addition to thief since the addition of frenzy skill, which stacks damage onto the stab. Warrior also allows for -11 AC, but few thief primes use much armor, except when they need to solo a thick mob for a book or some equipment. Disengage and 2nd wind work fabulously with stabbing also. Defy pain is great for emergency situations.

Bard- Very complimentary for thieves. Certain songs increase stab success rate and stab damage. Also songs help to manage combat. Very useful skill set.

Necromancer- Necropets add some solo power for running spellbooks/eq. Wraithform is good for stabbing.

Druid- Weak substitute for cleric and no blasting. Increases mana regen when put as 2nd class. Adds some solo power for running spellbooks/eq at high levels. But keep in mind non prime shifting is mediocre at best.

hope this helps