Meh. I suppose GameFAQ's advice is okay if you're trying to power through the game as quickly as possible. But I isn't on a time limit - I don't think anything in I besides one optional quest is on a time limit, and you are advised of the time limit as soon as it begins.
A critical thing to note is that in QFG, as long as a skill is above 0, you can improve it up to the max (which is 100 x the game number, so 100 in QFG1) simply by using it. So fight things and your Weapon Use will rise. Do things requiring strength (fighting mostly, but some other things too like climbing) and your strength rises.
Vitality is actually one of the easiest to max out because it affects your max health and stamina, and most skills use up stamina -> increase Vitality; so, while starting with low Vitality will disadvantage you to start, I'd actually advise putting no points in it at all because it's just so darn easy to train up. Same with Weapon Use, you can always just go fight goblins. Dodging, just go find a single Goblin or Brigand out in the woods to fight and dodge like mad until you're low on stamina, then finish your enemy off and go rest. Just about every skill is pretty easily "practice"-able in QFG1 if you know how. Climbing is the only one that's tough: you can't get it past 80 or so, and definitely not to the full 100, unless you use a very specific practice spot that's in an area you can only go to once. (Not that you really need to get it past 80.)
-------
Anyhow, that's a lot of information without much actual good advice. So, advice:
-For any class, the first thing to determine is what skills, if any, you want to add to your character. Thieves already start with most skills, the only thing they're missing is Magic. It can be a popular one for people wanting to make a hybrid, since it's just one additional skill. You won't have access to everything magical: throughout the series, some spells and quests are accessible to anyone with Magic skill while others only to people playing as the Magic User class specifically. Ditto being actual Thief class vs. merely having Thief skills. But you will get to see nearly all the spells and overall a good chunk of the magic side of the game and have another option in combat. (Note: It's true you don't have Parry either. Don't change that. Even if you add the skill, you can't buy the shield you'd need to use it, you have to start with it. Only the Fighter starts with a shield.)
If you think you'll play through the series again as a Magic User, I'd recommend keeping your Thief "pure" so that you're forced to play through the games in true Thief style. However, if you prefer the idea of playing through the series once with as many options open to you as possible, doing a Thief with magic is probably one of the best ways to do that. (Magic User with Stealth and Lock Picking works too, and gives you the Magic Class-specific quests as opposed to the Thief Class-specific quests. But since adding entirely new skills is so costly, Thief with Magic is easier.)
If you do take Magic, Spend an extra 5 points to take it to 10 so that your Mana pool won't be too pitiful starting off.
-If you're worried about game difficulty, some Strength, Vitality, and/or Agility will give you extra HP and Stamina to start with, which will help. That said, those are all pretty easily trained, Vitality and Agility in particular. If you're willing to rough it starting out, ignoring these skills - again, Vitality and Agility in particular - will help you become well-rounded faster in the long run.
-After considering the possibility of going for Magic and/or those three basic stats, dump the rest into a stat or two that are otherwise going to be hard and/or just plain annoying to raise. Lock picking can be slow to build up until you can safely pick your nose, as you have to go around picking actual doors, and you have to move on frequently or risk getting caught. Stealth can be slow to build up in general, so it and lockpicking would be my recommendation for dumping some starting points into as a Thief. Intelligence is pretty much impossible to max if you don't have magic and don't dump all your starting points there, but it's also not very useful if you don't have magic, so unless you're aiming for all 100s don't worry about it - maybe 5 points there if you took magic, otherwise ignore it.
Post edited May 11, 2012 by Kloreep