Thieves are an RPG staple. They should not be niche. IMO stealing isn't all that fun and I only use it if it's tactical (stealing a boat, return potion) for the most part. Also, it's why thieves are so hated and why if you die as a thief, you are likely to be heavily looted w/o remorse. So, there's a big downside. Also, with many thief paths, stealing can mean risking your life. Failed WBBJ, BJ, garotte can mean you die.

I'd rather lose steal all together (or make deft touch/warning skill higher up on the pickpocket path) to make the thief class more viable in 1 on 1 melee. In fact, support classes in general are getting much more niche as there are fewer opportunities to find like-minded chars to travel with.

Quick fix to make thieves less niche and group dependent and less despised w/o too much work:
- Push deft touch/warning skill up the pickpocket path
- Have regular steal always make you step out of shadows
- Make cheapshot only fire if your tanking
- Replace WBBJ with BJ in the thug path (BJ no longer a general skill)
- Give shield block to all thieves
- Make guild chests require advanced lockpick and give it to all thieves. There's no reason an assassin should pick as well as any thief or be able to raid thief built guild chests. And while Advanced Lockpick was worth 8 pts. when you could pick defiance chest and everything else, it no longer is. And remove the lock on the battlement crossbow. Was this ever a problem? You know what I'm talking about!

Just fun things for thieves:
- Have additional weapon skills at 3 pts. each
- Give the basic weapon skills (pugil, lash, etc.)
- Get rid of weapontrip (can buy whip and lash instead)
- Give them staff (Robin Hood anyone?)
- Thieves should ALWAYS be able to see an assassin (assassin hide should be offensive, not defensive in nature)
- Remove IMMXP requirement for 1xDV (1000, 3000? Really?)
- Failing that, just get rid of DV because people will just be disappointed.
- Raise limits on limited daggers since assassins and warrior dagger specs are so popular
- Announce when you nerf/improve a thief skill
- Replace rogue awareness with retreat (warriors should not be more adept to getting out of trouble than thieves)
- Allow backstab/gouge/gut with any piercing weapon