What's the benefit of pick pocket vs. just backstab

Dreepa · April 2017

So when you are into the darker arts, and you joined the Brotherhood and the Thieves.... there is something that is odd:

You sneak up to someone's back, and then you can either backstab or pick pocket. Why would you pick pocket, if it has only a % chance, where you can fail, making the victim turn around and a fuzz. When you can just backstab them with the insta kill, and then loot them. Backstab is 100% success.

Shouldn't pickpocketing be less risky than actually murdering an innocent?

cspinasdf · April 2017

You can pickpocket multiple times. Also the bounty for getting caught is significantly less.

uzbachchi · April 2017

Because if you have the pickpocketing passive maxed it's almost always 100% on the first go, slightly less on the next one. You get two items before they're "empty." After that you kill them and get a third item. I pick when I can, but when I'm rushed or there's people around I go for the kill fast. If you want more money, that's the way to go, if you don't really care, murder away.

Editing to add: I felt the same way until I maxed the pickpocketing passive out last week. This way's more lucrative and I got my first gold housing item from pickpocketing just yesterday. Yay, human skull!

Uriel_Nocturne · April 2017

Every NPC that you can pickpocket or backstab can be pickpocketed three times before their inventory is "empty".

So, to maximize my loot to sell at the local Outlaw's Refuge; I pickpocket my marks twice, backstab them with the BoW, then loot the last item off of their corpse.

When my Dunmer leave a city, there's a trail of poor, mugged corpses in their wake.

starlizard70ub17_ESO · April 2017

When you pick pockets you gain xp in the legerdemain skill, also you can try to pickpocket on the same npc 3 times. Backstab is %100 success but you only get 1/4 the xp, and you can only loot once. Oh and the bounty is higher for killing someone than pickpocketing them if you get caught.

Eocosa · April 2017

I thought you can pick pocket a 3rd time too.

But yeah, as has been stated backstab gets you a quick easy item nice and simple, however, picking pockets is more milking the marks for items so a higher profit per person overall.

Saoirse_Siobhan · April 2017

Uriel_Nocturne wrote: »

Every NPC that you can pickpocket or backstab can be pickpocketed three times before their inventory is "empty".

So, to maximize my loot to sell at the local Outlaw's Refuge; I pickpocket my marks twice, backstab them with the BoW, then loot the last item off of their corpse.

This. I pickpocket twice then BoW them so that I have a 100% succes (otherwise I would have to wait for the optimal moment to pickpocket the last object). Also it enables the NPC to respawn and their pockets to reset so someone who comes later can pickpocket too, (or me again if I'm doing several rotations of the same area). It's frustrating when you walk up behind an NPC and their pockets are already empty. When that happens I just BoW them anyway so they reset.

KeiruNicrom · April 2017

Picking pockets only gets you a minor bounty when seen or caught. Murder gets you a higher bounty and you become kill on sight to guards. The bounty is the risk of failure/ being seen. Also while pickpocketing you remain in stealth but the Blade of Woe animations pull you out of stealth making it easier to be seen and more likely to increase your bounty. Both of these points combined makes murder riskier than pickpocketing when multiple people around.

Pickpocketing is also more profitable as you can get up to 3 stolen items from the NPC but when you murder someone you only get one (although there may be a chance to get two, not 100% sure on that). The higher bounty of murder and the lower rewards makes pickpocketing more worth the risk. The best way to maximize profit and minimize risk is by pickpocketing twice and then murder them. Only 2 chances to getting caught while pickpocketing and more rewards than just straight up murdering

Tan9oSuccka · April 2017

I've found pickpocketing gives more housing items. Murdering them doesn't seem to drop much other than one stolen loot piece.

I've murdered hundreds of Altmer in Auridon to test.

Dreepa · April 2017

Okay, so it makes sense to steal 2 times, then kill. Good to know.

Though in regards to overall "feeling" of doing this: Isn't it a bit...well... too easy to just leave a trail of dead NPCs?

I feel like there should be more repercussions to those action. Like when you leave a trail of 10 dead bodies in a city, guards are actively starting to investigate. Or those areas are then spawning guards, and when there has been no kill in a longer period of times, guards despawn again.

Seems a bit too straight forward currently to be the maniac killer.

ValkynSketha · April 2017

Why not pickpocket then backstab and loot?

Uriel_Nocturne · April 2017

Dreepa wrote: »

Okay, so it makes sense to steal 2 times, then kill. Good to know.

Though in regards to overall "feeling" of doing this: Isn't it a bit...well... too easy to just leave a trail of dead NPCs?

I feel like there should be more repercussions to those action. Like when you leave a trail of 10 dead bodies in a city, guards are actively starting to investigate. Or those areas are then spawning guards, and when there has been no kill in a longer period of times, guards despawn again.

Seems a bit too straight forward currently to be the maniac killer.

Ummm... no.

While there's a very, very minuscule minority of players who want the game to be a constant knuckle-grinding, slog-fest of difficulty, the vast majority of PvE players in MMORPG's are casual players who are just looking for time to escape in the game.

Adding a level of difficulty like that, would only lead to turning people away from the game.

The justice system, bounties, and the way it is all currently set up does not need to change. If you want it more difficult, then don't use the passives that assist in PP/BoW success. Or, don't use stealth. Or don't attempt to escape the guards if they catch you.

But adding in that type of higher difficulty will only chase away the casual players in droves, and that would be hugely detrimental to ESO as a whole.

Fodore · April 2017

Pickpocket then backstab

Dreepa · April 2017

Uriel_Nocturne wrote: »

Dreepa wrote: »

Okay, so it makes sense to steal 2 times, then kill. Good to know.

Though in regards to overall "feeling" of doing this: Isn't it a bit...well... too easy to just leave a trail of dead NPCs?

I feel like there should be more repercussions to those action. Like when you leave a trail of 10 dead bodies in a city, guards are actively starting to investigate. Or those areas are then spawning guards, and when there has been no kill in a longer period of times, guards despawn again.

Seems a bit too straight forward currently to be the maniac killer.

Ummm... no.

While there's a very, very minuscule minority of players who want the game to be a constant knuckle-grinding, slog-fest of difficulty, the vast majority of PvE players in MMORPG's are casual players who are just looking for time to escape in the game.

Adding a level of difficulty like that, would only lead to turning people away from the game.

The justice system, bounties, and the way it is all currently set up does not need to change. If you want it more difficult, then don't use the passives that assist in PP/BoW success. Or, don't use stealth. Or don't attempt to escape the guards if they catch you.

But adding in that type of higher difficulty will only chase away the casual players in droves, and that would be hugely detrimental to ESO as a whole.

Neither did I say "all player want this" but "I feel"... not "we feel" or "everyone thinks".... and also is your world so black&white in all regards to live? Because man, you sure are overshooting the target with such a blatant statement.
Nowhere did I ever imply the justice system should become a criminal simulator... jeez...

Talk about over generalization. Sure. ESO will be DEAD if we change anything about it at this state. TOTALLY DOOMED. ALL PLAYERS WILL LEAVE!!! ZOMFG!!!!!1111

/sarcasm

coop500 · April 2017

I don't kill NPCs, I just don't like the idea of it, it's a shame to see how easy killing is resorted to due to lazy people but oh well, I can't change how people play the game.

Pickpocketing and stealing from houses is a real challange and it's fun on my 'evil' toon while also not murderously evil.

Edit: I kinda agree with Dreepa, murder should have a bigger drawback, it is just too easy to be a murderer and it punishes us that don't want to be. I miss the games that at least attempted to reward you for being good.

OR, to make the murderers happy and leave their killing gold earning spree alone, give people that don't murder some sort of benefit, nothing big or OP but just something to encourage it. Not to mess with the DB, but something that doesn't effect other players. Like perhaps a Good Will small EXP buff from doing PVE stuff, or a gold earning increase from other sources other then killing and stealing.

Because right now there is literally no reason to be good besides our own personal feelings and it feels to me that the game wants you to be evil, which leaves a slight bitter taste in my mouth every so often. Just from a RPG point of view,, if you want to roleplay as a good toon it actually hurts your game to be good because you earn gold at a much slower rate. Or at least it takes a lot more effort.

My 'evil' toon who steals junk from barrels and boxes scattered around town and the docks, she earns a lot of gold way faster and easier then any other of my toons doing nearly anything else. I can't imagine how much money the DB crowd earn with the blue items they often sell.

*Sits back and waits for the DB crowd to get upset at me*

zaria · April 2017

cspinasdf wrote: »

You can pickpocket multiple times. Also the bounty for getting caught is significantly less.

Other can also pickpocket rater than wait for re spawn.
Hated then people killed the sitting lady outside of the thief guild in Hew's bane. Pickpocket 3 times or until caught, run inside thief guild go out and repeat.

Acrolas · April 2017

If you pickpocket an NPC once, and then wait for somebody else to kill him/her, you can then loot the corpse of the other items. So basically 'mark' your targets when they're all 100% success and then bypass the riskier attempts completely.

QuebraRegra · April 2017

you can pickpocket then immediately assassinate and get double drops

Marktoneth3 · April 2017

pickpocket give you leadermain exp