Ability

Abilities are game play mechanisms that the player can use to navigate and traverse the game. Some of them are available at the start of the game but others are gathers by Garrett along the way.

Some abilities are extremely necessary such as the Keeper Door Glyph to open hidden doors. Others are only useful if desired such as the Hammer Blessing and Pagan Blessing to kill Rust Mites and enchant Pagan Cornerstones in order to gain Faction Status (Thief: Deadly Shadows only) which is not required.

General Abilities[]

Movement[]

Garrett has basic movement abilities like walking and running. Below are the movement abilities explained.

Crouching[]

Press the Crouch key to lower Garrett. Movement will decrease, thus Garrett's footsteps will get quieter. In Thief: Deadly Shadows, creeping and crouching will make Garrett completely silent regardless of floor type. This will create a smaller profile as well, making Garrett more invisible.

Leaning[]

Press the left and right lean keys to lean out. Use this to peek around corners. In Thief Gold and Thief II: The Metal Age, it does not matter if Garrett leans into the light. But in Thief: Deadly Shadows, the opposite is true.

Climbing/Mantling[]

Climbing ladders is a simple matter of moving into them. Thief II: The Metal Age gives the option to choose if Garrett wants to climb ladders by jumping on it, or by touching it. Movement is as simple as the up and down keys.

Mantling means to mount on top of a low barrier in front of Garrett. Jump into the barrier and continue to hold the jump key and push forward to scale it.

Swimming[]

In Thief Gold and Thief II: The Metal Age, Garrett can swim, and drown if he is not careful. Swimming is slower than running. Splashing around can alert hostiles to Garrett. While underwater, Garrett cannot use any attacks, but still can frob objects and use inventory items. Hostiles avoid water, but can fall in. If they do, they will immediately take damage, but they will be able to run at speed and attack normally. Because the hit box is the center of mass, they can drown at chest height water.

In Thief: Deadly Shadows, Garrett cannot swim, and contact results in death.

Other[]

Wall Flattening[]

Press the Flatten key when standing and adjacent to a wall to press against it. Garrett will become significantly less visible, and in complete pitch black, hostiles can walk right into Garrett and not notice him.

Interaction[]

In Thief Gold and Thief II: The Metal Age, Garrett can interact with objects that light up. In Thief: Deadly Shadows, interactions are highlighted in blue.

In all of the games, junk objects will appear in the middle of the screen. Garrett will slow down, and not be able to use other objects. It can either be thrown or dropped.

Unique to Thief: Deadly Shadows[]

In Thief: Deadly Shadows Garrett gains new magical abilities, giving him powers to do otherwise impossible things.

Magical Abilities[]

• Keeper Door Glyph - opening and walking through hidden doors in walls
• Pagan Blessing - enchant Pagan Cornerstones
• Hammer Blessing - killing Rust Mites
• Glyph of Unbinding - destroying Glyph Statues
• Telepathy (Garrett can only read the mind of the enforcers)

Running/Walking/Creeping[]

Use the movement keys to move Garrett. The game is set on "auto-run", so if only using the movement keys, Garrett will run at top, noisy speed. Holding the Walk modifier key will slow Garrett down to a leisurely walk, sort of a halfway, and holding down the Creep modifier key will slow Garrett down even further, making his footfalls silent.

Viewpoint[]

The only view for the first two games is first person. Only Thief: Deadly Shadows has the option to switch between a first person view and a third person view.

Trivia[]

• The thief community has nicknamed the "interaction" action as "frobbing".

See Also[]

• Weapons

Navigation
Games	Original	Thief: The Dark Project · Thief Gold ·  Thief II: The Metal Age ·  Thief: Deadly Shadows
	Demo	Thief: The Dark Project · Thief Gold · Thief II: The Metal Age · Thief: Deadly Shadows
	Reboot	Thief (reboot)
	Mobile	Thief: Deadly Shadows Mobile
Game Design	Game Play	Lighting · Sound · Abilities · Maps · Weapons · Loot · Knockout · Backstab · Approach
	Other	Storyline · Timeline · Briefings and Cutscenes · Architecture · Easter Eggs · Trivia
Guides	Official	Thief: The Dark Project · Thief II: The Metal Age · Thief: Deadly Shadows (PC and XBOX) · Thief: The Dark Project - Prima's Official Strategy Guide
	Fan Made	Keepers Chapel (FAQ · Beginner · Thief Gold Walkthrough · The Metal Age Walkthrough)