How am I supposed to complete a heist within the time frame?

TheAngelofDeath99

Especially when those lamp guards block BOTH sides of a passageway. It's just stupid.

Also, can I quit a heist and retry it for the max reward?

I am can spam Shadowy Disguise being a magblade, and move fast with concealed weapon on my bar and being a rank 10 stage 4 vampire. In addition, I have ALL of the legerdemain passives maxed out so I can easily force a lock. Yet I still struggle.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

Easy when grouped with a friend. Guards can also be easily killed.

Tryxus

TheAngelofDeath99 wrote: »

Especially when those lamp guards block BOTH sides of a passageway. It's just stupid.

Also, can I quit a heist and retry it for the max reward?

For heists, I usually wear 5x Night Mother's Embrace (for stealth and stamina cost) and 5x Shadow Dancer (for Sneak speed) while having those Rogueish Stealth Draughts equipped.

That alone should help you get whereever you want to go in no time.

Lamp Guards are annoying, and there's nothing else you can do against them except trying to find another path, finding a basket or waiting to sneak past them.

PlagueSD

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

Easy when grouped with a friend. Guards can also be easily killed.

And bounty will be gained.

Yeah, that's an issue with heists. It's all timing. Dark brotherhood was MUCH easier to complete within the time limit. You just need a friend. Timer for those don't start until your first kill, so both of you find your target, kill them at the same time, and book it out of there.

Thief heists should follow the same pattern. Timer doesn't start until you STEAL the item. Currently, the timer starts as soon as you open the door. At least having the timer start once you steal the item, you can plan your escape...Which is how it's supposed to be. Also helps to have 5pc Night's Silence set (or the Mag equivalent).

SFDB

Things that will help you:
-Max out the force lock passive so that you can move in and force locks rather than wasting time picking them
-Bring some invisibility potions. They won't help against lanterns, but they can make a difference
-Also, consider getting a set of 3 Night Terror and 5 Nightmother's Embrace to substantially reduce your detection radius. It won't help against lanterns, but again, it can make the difference
-Patience, timing, and knowing the location are the key. You may fail a few times, but once you get used to wear the hiding places are and the motion of the guards, you'll know your cues better. If you already have failed, you can take the time to get a better lay of the land for a future heist here

TheAngelofDeath99

Tryxus wrote: »

TheAngelofDeath99 wrote: »

Especially when those lamp guards block BOTH sides of a passageway. It's just stupid.

Also, can I quit a heist and retry it for the max reward?

For heists, I usually wear 5x Night Mother's Embrace (for stealth and stamina cost) and 5x Shadow Dancer (for Sneak speed) while having those Rogueish Stealth Draughts equipped.

That alone should help you get whereever you want to go in no time.

Lamp Guards are annoying, and there's nothing else you can do against them except trying to find another path, finding a basket or waiting to sneak past them.

I'm a magblade, spam cloak, have concealed weapon on my bar, and a rank 10 stage 4 vampire, my movement isn't the issue. It's the guards that block the entire passage way, forcing me to wait 20-30 seconds.

Tryxus

TheAngelofDeath99 wrote: »

Tryxus wrote: »

TheAngelofDeath99 wrote: »

Especially when those lamp guards block BOTH sides of a passageway. It's just stupid.

Also, can I quit a heist and retry it for the max reward?

For heists, I usually wear 5x Night Mother's Embrace (for stealth and stamina cost) and 5x Shadow Dancer (for Sneak speed) while having those Rogueish Stealth Draughts equipped.

That alone should help you get whereever you want to go in no time.

Lamp Guards are annoying, and there's nothing else you can do against them except trying to find another path, finding a basket or waiting to sneak past them.

I'm a magblade, spam cloak, have concealed weapon on my bar, and a rank 10 stage 4 vampire, my movement isn't the issue. It's the guards that block the entire passage way, forcing me to wait 20-30 seconds.

Oh, well in that case you should be fine sneaking around the area

Also, I forgot, you can drop the Heist quest. It'll put you back at the Thieves Den entrance and you can pick it up again to start anew.

Eddyble

I did these on my Nightblade using 5xNight Mothers Embrace, 3xNight Terror, stage 4 vampire...mix in any other random gear (though, I used 4xNights Silence for a "Night Theme") I was pretty much able to do it all without detection. I used this setup for both Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood.

WoodenHeart

PlagueSD wrote: »

Dark brotherhood was MUCH easier to complete within the time limit. You just need a friend. Timer for those don't start until your first kill, so both of you find your target, kill them at the same time, and book it out of there.

The timer starts when you kill the main person. As long as you kill the optional person (or destroy the object) first, you'll be able to take your time getting to the other one.

saxgooner

I used to complete these on my stam dk using rapids, nm and invisible potions.
Takes a lot of practice to know all the routines and shortcuts

zaria

Night silence crafted medium armor let you sneak at running speed. Medium with some perks to reduce detection radius. Armor can be cp150 and has a two traits requirement.
You might want night mother on top for reduced detection range but never needed.

you need to get to objective, the 5 caches reset often so you can go in, get target and get more caches on the way back.

Avoid the lamp guards, you can abandon quest to reset if you mess up, this reset it and you can try again.
Note that at least one of the locations should not be done in an circle.
Some times since I did heists but had 80% success rate, that was on magsorc and magplar.

Tornaad

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

Easy when grouped with a friend. Guards can also be easily killed.

PlagueSD wrote: »

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

Easy when grouped with a friend. Guards can also be easily killed.

And bounty will be gained.

Yeah, that's an issue with heists. It's all timing. Dark brotherhood was MUCH easier to complete within the time limit. You just need a friend. Timer for those don't start until your first kill, so both of you find your target, kill them at the same time, and book it out of there.

Thief heists should follow the same pattern. Timer doesn't start until you STEAL the item. Currently, the timer starts as soon as you open the door. At least having the timer start once you steal the item, you can plan your escape...Which is how it's supposed to be. Also helps to have 5pc Night's Silence set (or the Mag equivalent).

You can run Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood quests with a friend?!?!?!?! ... COOL!

Drakkdjinn

That entire DLC is a hot mess in terms of stealth mechanics and the blade of woe: it's broken and poorly designed and there's no hope it will ever be addressed. Just take the 1/3rd exp. for completion on these things and move on. ZoS doesn't care.

s7732425ub17_ESO

Takes practice. You will learn shortcuts and routines of the guards. You will also learn where all the spawns are so you can pick up stuff super quick.

Katahdin

WoodenHeart wrote: »

PlagueSD wrote: »

Dark brotherhood was MUCH easier to complete within the time limit. You just need a friend. Timer for those don't start until your first kill, so both of you find your target, kill them at the same time, and book it out of there.

The timer starts when you kill the main person. As long as you kill the optional person (or destroy the object) first, you'll be able to take your time getting to the other one.

This.
Kill the optional one first then the main target

emily3989

There are multiple maps you can get ported into, some are easier than others. As a magNB I found some to be excruciatingly difficult, while others I finished in about 2 minutes flawlessly. RNG is everywhere my friend, don't get too discouraged.

scipionumatia

Your better off taking your time and not rushing it. Wait for the guard to move and go on about your business. Wear night silence to negate the cost of sneak. I do em on stablade

firedrgn

Stealth gear , and no sneak peneltay and the skill from alliances so u can run really fast. Oh and a wood elf. And nightblade.
Sippity do da.

Elsonso

I tend to ignore the timers, except where it causes a hard fail.

Jhalin

I have never struggled with timers on my NB. Take more care to not get spotted by non-lanterns and just LoS lanterns behind terrain. Also, know your route before you start the heist. A little planning goes a long way, same with patience. Spending 30s to carefully slip by a lantern is nothing compared to the minutes you lose to complete it by being spotted while rushing.

And realize that if one of the smaller troves is in an area where you can't avoid being spotted, go to a different one. The only one that you're required to visit is the main treasure chest. There are multiple options for the smaller ones.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

PlagueSD wrote: »

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

Easy when grouped with a friend. Guards can also be easily killed.

And bounty will be gained.

My Nightblade can one-shot those lantern guards, so, no bounty.

Kartalin

Thieves Guild Heist - Perfect Run With No Cloak
(Trigger warning: I used to play in first person)

There are a lot of passives and effects that aid you in running heists. I highlighted useful ones at the end of the video I linked, but to spell them out here:

Medium armor: at least 5 if not 7 pieces for best results. 2 points into the Improved Sneak reduces sneak cost and detection radius per piece of medium armor equipped.

Legerdemain: 4 points into Improved Hiding - reduces sneak cost. Can use CP for this also.

Vampire: Dark Stalker - removes movement penalty for sneak. IF you don't want to be a vampire, you can wear 5 pieces of Night's Silence (crafted set) for the same result.

Other useful bonuses: Khajiit and Wood Elves have passives that reduce detection radius. Wearing 3 pieces of Night Terror reduces detection radius and the cost of sneak also (drops from bosses and chests in Stormhaven, likely super cheap in guild traders).

Gear Suggestions: for Vampires -- 5 pieces of Darkstride (reduces sneak cost, from Rivenspire), 3 pieces of Night Terror
for non-Vampires - 5 pieces of Night Silence, 3 pieces of Night Terror

victoriana-blue

Take at least ten minutes to explore a map before trying the heist (so abandon & restart). There are a lot of shortcuts in some of the maps, and if you learn the guard movements (and hiding places!) you can yolo your way through most of the areas with cloak. Go up and down, look behind plants and furnishings, all that stuff.

If you're on PC, using harvest map to record the trove locations is a great time saver, but simply knowing where to look will help.. as will knowing what troves/routes to avoid.

Are you using rapids? If all else fails, the rogueish potions are helpful. And remember that if you're behind a guard you can actually go into their lantern circle a little way and not be detected: line of sight and all that.

agingerinohio

I use Nights Silence (2 trait craftable set) for sneak speed, cloak (nb skill...if you are another class invisibility potions but that can be expensive), seducer for magic recovery (due to cloaking) and 3 piece Night Terror jewelry. It's been working like a charm for me.

Enemy-of-Coldharbour

Night Mothers Embrace + Night Terror
Cloak or invisibility potions

It's wise to have a set of gear just for this.

Taleof2Cities

My characters do fine with invisibility pots only ... no fancy gear and no passives invested in forcing locks.

You'll have to do the heists on a semi-regular basis to learn the guard mechanics and what their tendencies are.

ArchMikem

I feel like I've managed to take out those Sentry Guards without raising any alerts or bounty if I was quick enough in the gank. Either intended or not I feel like if you can somehow burst them down instantly you won't be detected.

zaria

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

My characters do fine with invisibility pots only ... no fancy gear and no passives invested in forcing locks.

You'll have to do the heists on a semi-regular basis to learn the guard mechanics and what their tendencies are.

This, however the night silence set make it way easier, as your speed is way higher, you can make it cp150 or even lower if you want.
Worst case you would kill normal mobs this is no issue even on an magical build.