The game mentions that pickpocketing is a quick way to get Gold, but this is not always the case as sometimes you may get caught.
Pickpocketing is however one of the best ways to get items from NPCs without having to kill them and you can even take back items you sold to merchants.
To pickpocket targets, you will need to get sneaky and close enough to them if you want to steal items from their inventory.
How To Sneak (Hide)?
Sneak can be activated for the whole group or the character that you are currently controlling, which can be done by pressing the following:
- C for single character or Shift+C for group sneak (PC)
- D-Pad Down to make all party members sneak (PS5)
- D-Pad Down to make all members of your party sneak (Xbox)
How To Pickpocket?
To pickpocket, the character that you are controlling will need to be hidden and you will need to sneak up on a target.
Make sure to avoid their vision (represented by a red cone that spreads out) or else your character will be revealed. (They will remain hidden if they pass a Stealth Check)
Approach the target you want to pickpocket from and interact with them to open their menu, where you will be able to select an item you want to steal.
The item that you steal will have a certain difficulty, giving you a chance to successfully steal the item or you may get caught.
If your target has been knocked out using a Non-Lethal Attack, you can loot their body without any trouble, but you should be careful as others may notice you stealing.
Non-Lethal Attacks
Non-lethal attacks can be done to knock out a target, which mainly prevents you from reducing their health below 1 Hit Point.
This must however be done with melee or unarmed attacks or the results may end up with the target being killed.
Verdict
Pickpocketing NPCs can be an easy way for you to get items, especially if you don’t want to end up killing a certain character.
If you are caught, you may be let off with a warning but sometimes going too far can make targets hostile towards you.
It is possible to pickpocket items that a merchant sells and even steal rare items from specific NPCs without getting caught.