What would be the best race for a thief?

[Vibhor]

As far as I have discovered its drakeling as its acid can kill mass but I really want to know what is really the best?

[moomoo]

I'd say gnome - somewhat sturdy and able to get heir gift most the time. Not gonna argue if its the best one though. I just like gnomes alot.

[JellySlayer]

Here's my thoughts on thieves:

Human: Well, there's generally no reason to ever play human anyway. Thieves are pretty much no exception.

Troll: My general rule for trolls is: if you like playing trolls, the class you play them as doesn't really matter; if you don't like playing trolls, the class you play them as doesn't matter either. That said, trolls make half decent thieves. You get standard trollish gear, which, actually is among the best that you can roll as a thief, great St and To. Thieves actually have pretty good class powers though, so as a troll you're unlikely to receive substantial benefits from your class. Troll skillset complements thief pretty well though.

HE/GE: Probably worst picks. No skills added except dodge (most thieves end up literate anyway...), which is basically a junk skill anyway. Starting gear is poor for an elf (no elven chain or bow). To will be paltry. You might have a high enough Ma score to get an extra talent, which sets you up for maybe getting heir... but gnome or hurthling will guarantee the extra talent and are better picks. Many people would argue that Ge/He thieves are the most difficult R/C combo in the game.

DE: Given that you start with alertness already, there's little reason to take a DE over an orc unless you're paranoid about aging. You get pretty much all the same disadvantages as the other elves, without most of the normal benefits to a DE. Find weakness on thieves is very nice, but again, given the choice, I'd say play an orc.

Dwarf: Pretty solid pick. Dwarves (as usual) get well above-average starting gear (still not that great) and To. If you care a lot about your skillset, dwarves don't really add anything useful. But then, if you care about skillset, you wouldn't be playing a dwarf--or a thief--anyway.

Hurthling: My favourite choice. High Dx and To (dubious St, as usual), free talent, archery and food preservation, plus a few marks in thrown rocks. The extra talent opens up an easy heir option, and playing a thief as an archer-type is probably not a bad way to go. Gear is pretty terrible though, so you need to play carefully until you find some rocks or something.

Gnome: Good chance of getting 3-4 talents due to free + high Ma, which allows Heir + TH combo. Skillset doesn't add much unless you love ventriloquism. Equipment is comparable to hurthlings and dwarves, but stats are a bit worse.

Orc: Nice choice. Orcs get the highest PV starting gear, good St and To, and find weakness, which is awesome for thieves (FW + level 25 class power is godly). Dx will be low, but that's not the end of the world.

Drake: Similar to orcs in terms of stats, with decent St and To, but worse gear. Adds the important food preservation skill and acid spit. Solid choice.

There's no clear-cut decision on this one. It depends a lot on your playing style. Overall I'd say it's a toss-up between orcs, drakes, and hurthlings (and trolls if you like them). If you play a melee thief, orc (or troll) is probably best. Ranged goes to hurthling. Middle ground is drake.

[moomoo]

Gnome: Good chance of getting 3-4 talents due to free + high Ma, which allows Heir + TH combo. Skillset doesn't add much unless you love ventriloquism. Equipment is comparable to hurthlings and dwarves, but stats are a bit worse.

You forgot about gnomish boots!

[Grey]

Troll: My general rule for trolls is: if you like playing trolls, the class you play them as doesn't really matter; if you don't like playing trolls, the class you play them as doesn't matter either. That said, trolls make half decent thieves. You get standard trollish gear, which, actually is among the best that you can roll as a thief, great St and To. Thieves actually have pretty good class powers though, so as a troll you're unlikely to receive substantial benefits from your class. Troll skillset complements thief pretty well though.

Troll thieves have a hard time getting skill increases with their abysmal Le. I actually think the Thief skillset is is quite nice if you can get them raised quickly - Cup or Book can be a good sign for them. Auto-search + 80 detect traps is fantastic, and lock-picking has saved my life many a time.

I would rank drakelings best myself, mostly for the acid spit which makes the early game much more survivable (and can even take down late game bosses if you're persistent).

[Molach]

Added to what said about trolls, they heal fast. So you are not a cripple till you get the healing skill.
Best starsign is of course candle. So to be sure of an easy opening game, scum for candle sign, then take a gnome of hurthling (hurthling I would call better because of early rocks) and get the heir gift. Fast healing and irresistible attack is good.

[gut]

only way to minimize a thief's crapiness is to minimize his thiefiness.

that means troll

To show the difference, a troll starts with average 6 PV. By contrast, the
stupid drake starts with an average of 0 PV. If one doesn't care to roll a
few PC's to get a good one (I certainly don't mind), then the troll averages
8 PV, the stupid drake is still stuck at 1 (if he's lucky). Add proper talent
choices (tough, hardy, tough-skin, iron-skin) and the troll hits 11PV by
exp. level 3 with no additional gear. Add the highest HP's and to-damage
of any race, and even I would have trouble killing that thief.

[Grey]

Who needs PV when you can spit?

[gut]

the guy fighting ochre jellies

EDIT: also, stupid acid spit starts out as something like 1d6+1, whereas
a true berserking troll (have to give up 2 PV for that) deals 1d10+23

[pblack]

Jellyslayer made good observations there. I used to play lots of DE thieves for the roleplaying and fun factor, and FW isn't a bad skill to go with it, but my win was with a hurthling.

Playing thieves as ranged fighters in the beginning is IMO, the best strategy for thief survival, so hurthlings make a great choice along with drakelings and their acid spit.

A lucky hurthling might get 3 talents being born in raven, wich is the ideal starting thief for me. Gnomes are almost sure to get those 3 talents though.

Other races i just don't find as much fun, so i won't comment =P