How To Level Up The Thieves Guild in ESO

Unlock the secrets of leveling up the Thieves Guild in the Elder Scrolls Online (ESO). Seasoned burglars and novice pickpockets alike will benefit from the knowledge and strategies revealed in this guide!

How to Level Up the Thieves Guild in ESO

Similar to the Fighters, Mages, and Undaunted Guild skill lines, progressing through the Thieves Guild skill line is achieved by gaining reputation. However, unlike those guilds, the Thieves Guild reputation gain is isolated to being earned by completing specific quests and jobs for the guild through the various quests in the Thieves guild questline, associated side quest NPC’s, and job boards and thus it is largely pigeon holed to the city of Abah’s Landing and the surrounding province of Hew’s Bane on the southern coast of Hammerfell.

The biggest heist missions reward up to 20 Thieves Guild Reputation, while most quests reward 10 Reputation, and the smallest Tip Board jobs reward only 5 Reputation. While this doesn’t sound like a lot of progression in comparison to other guilds, the total reputation required to reach the maximum rank in the Thieves guild is only 475, which is much lower than most of the other guilds.

Keep in mind that randomly pickpocketing or stealing goods in Tamriel will NOT reward you any Reputation and neither will opening any of the Thieves Troves scattered throughout Tamriel, so save yourself the hassle and just focus on completing the questline in Hew’s Bane if you want to progress the Thieves Guild quickly.  

How to Start the Thieves Guild Questline

You can only acquire the Thieves Guild Skill line either by owning the Thieves Guild DLC from the Crown Store or if you have an ESO Plus subscription. Once acquired all you have to do is find and open a Thieves Trove anywhere in the game. This will unlock the Legerdemain skill line as well as trigger the Thieves Guild quest line and grant you the first passive known as Finders Keepers. Next, head to the nearest Outlaws Refuge in any city – simply look for the symbol shown below on your map. 

As soon as you enter the refuge you will see the quest giver Quen hovering nearby with the quest marker above her head. Talk with her and you’ll begin the questline and journey to Abah’s Landing in Hew’s Bane. Once there, you need to speak to the Thieves Den Guildmaster, (see below) once you’ve done this you are now officially a member of the Thieves Guild.

How to Progress Thieves Guild Daily Quests

The nice thing about the Thieves Guild is that it is fairly fast to level due to the amount of quests and jobs you can take, especially since it has daily quests similar to the Fighter’s or Mages Guilds that reward you with a hefty amount of Reputation for completing.

There are two types of dailies for the Thieves Guild. The first can be obtained from the reacquisitions board in the Thieves Den in Hew’s Bane (see below).

This first set of dailies will send you to a delve into Hew’s Bane to retrieve a unique item. Upon retrieving it you will be rewarded with gold and 10 Thieves Guild Reputation. Completing four of these dailies will then unlock the second type of daily Thieves Guild quest, the heists.

There are only five heists in total, but they can be shared with friends, so it would be possible to complete all five in a single day with enough friends having the appropriate daily.

Rewards for completing the heists net you a satchel of Laundered Goods, however, if you complete the heist in under 8 minutes you will get the Professional Thief Satchel of Laundered Goods containing better items and instead of only 10 Rep you will get 20 Thieves Guild Rep.

The Laundered Goods containers yield random items, overland set pieces from Hew’s Bane, pages from the Thieves Guild style motif (very sought after), or the associated crafting style material. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest way to level up the Thieves Guild in ESO?

The fastest way to level up the Thieves Guild is by completing the main quest as quickly as possible, then going on to complete any side quests in the Thieves Den, followed by the Thieves Guild Dailies.

To do this in record time, have friends or guildmates share the appropriate requisition dailies (4 in total The Lost Pearls, Memories of Youth, The Sailor’s Pipe and Thrall Cove) to blast through those dailies and then acquire the 5 heist dailies using the same sharing method ( Heist: Deadhollow Halls,  Heist: Glittering Grotto, Heist: Secluded Sewers, Heist: The Hideaway, Heist: Underground Sepulcher)

Be sure to complete each of the heists in under 8 minutes to gain the maximum 20 Reputation for completing each one in under 8 minutes. Following this method is the fastest way to level up your Thieves Guild Skill Line in ESO. 

Is the Thieves Guild skill line any good?

Joining the Thieves Guild allows you to sell stolen goods for profit and earn some unique and valuable rewards especially at low levels via the Satchels and Thieves Troves. However, beyond this mechanic, the guild doesn’t offer any skills or passives that are honestly very useful.

This skill line ultimately can only be recommended for players looking to make as much money as possible from the start of the game and who are really committed to the theme and lore of the Thieves Guild.

What is the max rank for the Thieves Guild in ESO

Different than most other guilds in The Elder Scrolls Online, the Thieves Guild has 12 ranks in total. 

How long does it take to level up the Thieves Guild skill line?

If playing with the daily server reset in mind (to reset all your dailies so you could then complete the 5 heists right after finishing the four other requisition dailies), one would be able to completely level the Thieves Guild Skill line in roughly 5-6 hours. A more laid-back and casual approach would have this skill line completed in roughly 3-4 days, considering Daily Quest resets.

Below is a table outlining the required reputation to get to the maximum rank 12 in the Thieves Guild.

What DLC is needed for the Thieves Guild in ESO

ESO Players are required to have purchased the Thieves Guild DLC from the Crown Store or unlock it via an ESO Plus membership in order to obtain the Thieves Guild Skill Line. 

Where to go next in ESO

Ready to continue your journey learning everything there is to know about Guilds in The Elder Scrolls Online? Then check these additional helpful guides and resources!