How to Start Pickpocketing in Star Ocean The Second Story R

Pickpocketing with a Thief’s Glove is one of the Star Ocean The Second Story R IC Specialty abilities. However, after earning it, it still requires a bit of effort to use.

How do I learn the Pickpocketing Specialty in Star Ocean The Second Story R

Well, first you need to advance through the story until Rena and Claude arrive in Krosse. After meeting with the king and Celine for the first time, a tutorial will automatically open up introducing these crafting abilities and special skills. You’ll then be able to improve certain IC and Specialty skills with SP you earn through battles and adventuring. When certain abilities are learned and advanced, the character picks up that larger skill tied to them to potentially use.

The first step to stealing from everyone involves picking up the Courage and Pokerface skills. If a single character knows both of them, then they will be able to use it.

However, there’s one more element. Nimble Fingers is a talent characters can either when they’re first recruited (this is random) or pick up if someone ends up Crafting. It’s critical to odds of Pickpocketing succeeding, and ideally you want your avatar (Rena or Claude) to know it. Someone can use the Specialty without it, but your odds go down.

How do I start Pickpocketing with a Thief’s Glove in Star Ocean The Second Story R

While you can learn it, you can’t use the ability right away. This is because you need the Thief’s Glove or the Magician’s Glove someone with the Machinist can make at level 9 with a Mechanic’s Toolbox to start stealing. The Thief’s Glove is an item you can get pretty early in Star Ocean The Second Story R, though it is expensive. 

The Thief’s Glove is sold at the Harley item shop called The Sunken Vessel. You can head to Harley immediately after taking care of the events in Krosse, before going to Kurik. It’s the eastern port town past Marze. It will cost you 40,000 fol. 

That’s… a lot at this point in the game! However, there are ways to earn some cash to get it. There’s a series or Private Actions in Rena’s route involving a young man named Yoole. You get 5,000 fol for going through that storyline and beating the boss. If you happen to see huge fish shadows in the waters around Harley and learned the Fishing Specialty, I found that’s an easy way to make cash. Each Harley Marlin is 3,136 fol. (You can fish if someone picked up the  biology and item knowledge skills.)

Once you have a Thief’s Glove, head into the IC/Specialties menu. You need to actually turn Pickpocketing on in the menu in Star Ocean The Second Story R. After you do, approaching an NPC in town will let you press the trigger button to start trying to rob them. It’s best to do this when you’re in Private Action mode and nobody is with Rena or Claude, otherwise their allies will think less of them. If you have some of the Relax Perfume support item, the odds of success will also go up.

You basically get one shot to steal from someone. There are also certain NPCs who might only appear at certain times, like a specific person in a Kurik Private Action, so it’s wise to learn Pickpocketing as soon as possible

Star Ocean The Second Story R is on the Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC. The game can also immediately be found on the PlayStation and PSP worldwide and the PS3, PS4, and Vita in Japan.