How to pickpocket in Baldur’s Gate 3

There are plenty of ways to attack different situations in Baldur’s Gate 3, but sometimes you want to see what an enemy or NPC has in their back pockets before or after speaking with them. If you’ve ever wondered this, then you will likely be interested in how to pickpocket another character.

Pickpocketing is a staple of the CRPG genre, and just about every character in Baldur’s Gate 3 can be pickpocketed. Of course, you need to perform some specific actions for the option to pickpocket a character to appear. To learn the ins and outs of this mechanic, read on.

How to pickpocket characters in Baldur’s Gate 3

The first thing you want to remember before even attempting to pickpocket is always quicksave before trying to do it unless you’re someone who doesn’t like reloading saves in an RPG. Quicksaving lets you to go back if something goes awry, like the character you’re pickpocketing discovers you and chooses to fight. I can’t tell you how many times I wished I’d saved before pickpocketing; it would have kept several key NPCs in Baldur’s Gate 3 alive instead of me being forced to kill them.

With that out of the way, let’s go into the actual mechanic of pickpocketing. To start, you usually want your Rogue-type character to do most of your pickpocketing in Baldur’s Gate 3. At the very least, you want a character with proficiency in Stealth and Sleight of Hand, as these increase your odds of successfully staying hidden and pulling off the pickpocket.

Related: How to multiclass in Baldur’s Gate 3

Once you’ve selected your character, press the “Hidden” action on your hotbar and sneak up behind the character you want to steal from. You need to stay out of the red areas on the map, as these are where other characters will see you and force you to come out of your hidden position.

If you manage to successfully sneak up behind a character while staying hidden, then all you need to do is right-click on them and press the “Pickpocket” option. This will bring up the entire inventory of the character you’re stealing from. You can only steal a certain number of objects, so pick wisely. After confirming your haul, a dice roll will occur to determine if you get caught or not. The more you steal, the better dice roll you need to succeed.

One way to ensure you have the best odds is to have another character in your party start a dialogue with the character you’re trying to steal from. This will distract them and give you a better chance of staying hidden.

After you have pickpocketed a character and added their loot to your inventory, you will notice their items are outlined in red. This indicates the items are stolen, and you want to avoid trying to sell these items. Most reputable vendors either won’t accept these items or will try to alert authorities that you have stolen items.

And that’s everything you need to know about pickpocketing in Baldur’s Gate 3. I hope you have plenty of success with your acts of thievery.