With the mini Crimewave event fast approaching in ESO, now is the perfect time to prepare a build that excels in stealth, pickpocketing, fleeing guards, and surviving Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood content. This thief build is crafted for one purpose—maximum gold and efficiency during all criminal activities. From gear to champion points, this guide will walk you through everything you need to become Tamriel’s most elusive outlaw.

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1. Thief Build Equipment Overview

This build combines four key sets to maximize sneak efficiency and escape potential: Darlock Braise, Queen’s Shadow Cowl, Mother’s Embrace, and Night Terror.

• Front Bar Weapons: Two Darlock Braise daggers. These not only look the part but also offer solid DPS while providing sneak-based passives.
• Back Bar Weapon: Bow of Night Terror – grants Major Expedition on dodge roll, ideal for quick escapes.
• Head: Queen’s Shadow Cowl – grants wall-vision for guards and NPCs. Also distracts guards when pickpocketed, making stealth missions far easier.
• Body: Mother’s Embrace (Chest, Waist, Hands, Legs, Feet) – reduces sneak detection radius and cost, ideal for extended stealth gameplay.
• Shoulders: Night Terror – adds further sneak radius reduction and cost savings.
• Necklace and Rings: Darlock Braise – completes the 5-piece bonus, granting sustain while crouched, including stamina, magicka, and health recovery, along with more sneak reductions.

Together, these pieces make you exceptionally hard to detect while sneaking and provide key sustain to stay crouched or escape when necessary.

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2. Skills and Abilities

Front Bar (Daggers):

• Concealed Weapon: DPS ability with passive Minor Expedition and bonus damage when leaving stealth.
• Arcelis Resolve: General damage skill for brawls or when stealth fails.
• Quick Cloak: Provides Major Evasion and Major Expedition for escaping AoE attacks and guards.
• Shadowy Disguise: Grants invisibility and buffs your next hit with guaranteed crit.
• Whirling Blades: AoE execute ability, great when surrounded or against weakened enemies.
• Ultimate – Soul Harvest: Deals damage, debuffs healing, and generates ultimate on kills.

Back Bar (Bow):

• Sap Essence: AoE heal and damage; grants Major Brutality and Sorcery.
• Endless Hail: Persistent AoE from the bow, great for controlling groups.
• Refreshing Path: AoE buff zone granting movement speed, magicka/stamina regen, and healing.
• Siphoning Attacks: Converts health into magicka/stamina, plus healing on damage.
• Shadow Image: Summons a shade you can teleport to, great for escapes and ambushes.
• Ultimate – Consuming Darkness: Crowd control field that reduces damage taken and grants invisibility synergy.

Optional Ultimate: SIC’s Recovery Ultimate – reverts your health, stam, and magicka to their state four seconds ago. A strong panic button when caught or low.

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3. Vampirism – Optional but Effective

Vampirism adds extra mobility and stealth tools, but it’s entirely optional. The build is fully viable without it. If you prefer to go full roleplay or enhance stealth with Vampiric skills and passives, go for it. Otherwise, you won’t be missing essential tools.

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4. Passive Skill Lines: Ledgerdomain & Thieves Guild

Leveling these skill lines is essential for long-term thief success.

Ledgerdomain Passives:

• Haggler – Reduces sneak cost.
• Light Fingers – Increases pickpocket success chance.
• Trafficker – Increases daily fence item cap.
• Locksmith – Improves lockpicking chances.
• Kickback – Reduces bounty cost at guards and fences.

Thieves Guild Passives:

• Finders Keepers – Unlocks thieves troves.
• Swiftly Forgotten – Reduces bounty decay time.
• Haggling – Increases sale value at fences.
• Clemency – Bribes guards once per day.
• Timely Escape – Summons footpads when chased, creating shortcuts to safety.
• Veil of Shadows – Reduces witness detection range.

These passives make you more efficient, profitable, and slippery. Together with gear, they push the build into a specialized role of undetected mobility and maximum fencing profit.

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5. Champion Points – Green Tree Focus

Prioritize the following for thieving efficiency:

• Gilded Fingers – More gold from all sources.
• Fortune’s Favor – Increases gold in treasure chests and safeboxes.
• Wanderer – Reduces cost of fast travel.
• Treasure Hunter – Improves item quality in treasure chests.
• Homemaker – Chance to find extra furnishing plans.
• Fade Away – Reduces heat after escaping guards.
• Cut Purse’s Art – Better loot from pickpocketing.
• Infamous – +25% value for fenced items.
• Friends in Low Places – Auto-removes 1000 gold bounty once per day.
• Out of Sight – Sneak detection radius reduced.
• Fleet Phantom – Sneak movement speed penalty reduced.
• Steed’s Blessing – Boosts out-of-combat movement speed.

Red Tree (Survivability):

• Solearity – Increases movement speed for quicker getaways.

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6. Mundus Stone, Food, and Potions

• Mundus Stone: The Steed – Boosts run speed by 12%.
• Alternative: The Atronach – If magicka recovery is a concern.

Food:

• Jewels of Misrule – Boosts max health and magicka/stamina recovery, ideal for sustain.

Potions:

• Tri-stat Potions – Restore health, magicka, and stamina.
• Speed Potions – Great for heists or escaping tight spots.
• Invisibility Potions – Ideal for stealth missions and pickpocketing tight areas.

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7. Thief Build in Action – A Quick Look

With this setup, you’ll be flying across cities, ducking behind guards, and emptying pockets before anyone knows you’re there. Queen’s Shadow Cowl gives you x-ray vision for enemies, showing you where to go and who to avoid. Dodging away with Major Expedition, rolling from shadows, and vanishing into safety zones makes this one of the most enjoyable builds for casual play and gold grinding.

This build isn’t just for roleplay or event use. It’s a fully operational thieving toolkit that will keep you entertained and profitable long after the Crimewave event ends. Whether you’re cracking safeboxes, assassinating targets, or looting imperial coffers, you’ll feel like a true master thief.

So get geared up, get sneaky, and get rich.