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Elder Scrolls

Independent Thievery is a quest in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Description[]

Independent Thievery is a simple, long-term and open ended quest. The goal is to steal equipment and items, and sell them to Thieves Guild fences. Each faction rank requires that a special job be completed, and a specific amount of gold be fenced, before advancement is offered.

Advice[]

  • If the Hero cannot find a place to sell stolen goods, speak to Armand Christophe and ask him for information.
  • If far enough in the Thieves Guild story, it may be possible to come across a very unique and spacious wine cellar. The Hero can get a substantial sum of gold for all the wine.
  • A good place to steal from is The Copious Coinpurse in the Market District of Imperial City. There are some easily opened locks upstairs, and leading down to the basement. Once down in the basement, one should be able to find a few weapons laying on the floor that will push the fenced amount over the initial 50 Gold fairly easily.
  • More good places to steal, ironically, are the Imperial Legion watch towers. Go into one around 2am (it is not breaking in because the first few floors are open to the public) and go upstairs. In the barracks there will be several sleeping guards and a lot of well-priced armor and weapons lying around. Be aware, however, that the equipment is heavy and that it is advisable to have a few Feather potions at hand to carry it all in one load.
  • If the Hero is not a member of the Mages Guild, pickpocket the key from a member during the day and come back at night while they are all asleep. There are a lot of soul gems and alchemists tools lying around regularly. If they are a member of the Mages Guild, however, this is generally not stealing and will not help.
  • Once the Sneak skill is fairly high, or obtain some constant enchantment (Chameleon equipment), castle interiors can be lucrative. Of particular interest are jewellery boxes, which, though almost always "very hard" level locks, contain valuable, light loot.
  • Also try and steal from patrons of inns after they go to sleep.
  • Or, if proficient enough at stealth skills, whether or not the Hero has done the quest to find the Draconian Madstone for the Countess of Bruma, they can raid her Akaviri collection at night, there are no guards in that area, so they are free to steal without consequence. Also, every display box is locked at a very hard level, so having either the Skeleton Key, a proper spell, or many lockpicks and a high Security skill. It is best to wait until getting the Madstone, to steal it back, selling off the entire collection will net nearly over 1,000 Gold.
  • Other good places to steal are from the homes of characters who died in previous quests. Since they're dead, there's no risk of getting caught.
  • Another place to go is the armory near the Imperial City Prison, or the Bloodworks in the Arena, both have high priced loot.
  • Yet another good location to steal is Anvil Castle near Orrin, the blacksmith. Feel free to rummage through the barracks, and cellar. Do not steal from the smith, as he is a member of the Thieves Guild as well. Make sure to sneak though, as the guards will hear the sounds of stealing.
  • Castle Chorrol has a Varla Stone in an unlocked display case just up the stairs from the main room, which can easily be sold for 500+ depending on the mercantile skill.
  • Drakelowe's basement has a number of high-selling potions. The lady who owns Drakelowe will not follow the Hero down, with no chance of getting caught. Selling every potion can net about 1,200 Gold.
  • Chorrol, Skingrad and Cheydinhal all have rich citizens. Robbing their houses while they sleep is very profitable. Books are usually worth around 20 Gold and are lightweight, it is a good way to start off.
  • A good way to steal from shops or homes is to use a Telekinesis spell to take items around the corner of a building. If the owner does not see the Hero, they will not alert anyone.
  • One of the all-time best places to rob would be Red Diamond Jewelry in the Market District mostly everything is below 5 lbs. and are in the hundred septim range it is very easy to gain about 1500 Gold from this store at one time. There are quite a few very hard locks and "Needs a key" locks so simply sneak upstairs and take the owner's key.
  • Or pickpocket a shopkeepers "key" to his store, then come back at night and rob the place. It takes a good security skill, or loads of reloading.
  • A good place to steal from is the weapon shop in Bruma, the lock to get in his store is average and there's tons of valuable weapons lying around on the main floor. He returns home to go to sleep at 12:30 a.m. and there is nothing valuable in his bedroom (upstairs). A fence for the Thieves Guild is a few houses down so its a convenient place to steal from as well. The cupboard off to the left near the dummies, has some clothing, potions, and scrolls in netting an easy 90–100 Gold.
  • Get a high value weapon, such as an ebony or Daedric one, find a quest essential character (one that will only go unconscious), preferably the sparring character in Battlehorn Castle, drop the weapon in front of them, and attack them. They will pick up the weapon. Now, knock them unconscious, and just as they awaken, pickpocket the weapon off of them. It will count as stolen and can easily surpass the 1000 Gold needed to start the final quest.
  • An item that has been fenced can be bought from the fence and resold to the fence. The amount fenced will go up each time even though the item is no longer marked as stolen after being fenced the first time.

Appearances[]


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