Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - General Question About Thievery..

So I've tried the DE very excited, expeting a change like the EE from DOS1. Of course I was extremely disappointed, like pretty much any other player would since every problem I previously noticed is still there, but that's not the point of this thread.

My question is: can the game be completed without using Thievery to rip off traders? Because in my second run it's getting nearly impossible to beat fights the same level than me because, as we all know, every time you level up you actually become weaker because your gear is instantly useless. I'm not sure what were they thinking when they came up with this.
The problem is, I can barely find enough gold to buy for the skill books, let alone to get new gear for my whole party every damn level. In my first playthrough I abused Thievery constantly to buy my stuff, and while it was extremely tedious, it did the trick. Now I'm poorer than the guy torturing his dog to ask for money in Driftwood.

So, anyone completed the game in Tactical mode without stealing every merchant?

I hope your question permits to use thievery to unlock doors and chests.
and yes. I think it's possible.
first: there are plenty of stuff to craft your own gear. also Lucky charm to 6+ will help a lot. we've made more then 100k just with it during act3. and I have no idea how much we've gained through the whole game.
second: trader reset to buy more runes\pots\etc will not go away. also I hope you don't see "selling as much stuff you could then killing the npc to get it back as stealing'. I always though it's common sense.
third: you don't really need to have a gear always up to date all the time. for us it were lvl4(weapon), lvl9(preferably armor and weapon), lvl13(weapon), lvl16(armor and weapon) and lvl20 - go crazy and optimize all your gear with saved money.
forth: some classes, especially casters doesn't need optimized gear. my necromage wore teleportation gloves for the whole game. mainly cuz of teleport-corpse explosion combo. and the only things I cared about were items with sockets and the best shield I could afford. I even used Radeka's wand cuz it gave me 5%crit chance til arks.
fifth: there is a way to cheese some encounters which makes gear less relevant. iirc even the last fight can be cheesed by letting the Lucian do the job for you. you'll just need to keep him alive. though it all depends on your choices.

oh, btw... unless you want to learn a physical skills(like warfare or huntsman) you don't really need to buy every book. some can be obtained as a drop or reward. and others can be easily crafted. and to get ingredients you can always use Han.
same with the runes. there is plenty of stardust and bones to craft almost every runes you'll need up to giant. and then you'll need only to spend money on frames.
for example phys party will probably need Masterwork runes. so save up all the wine you can get.
rogues will probably need some dodge(and finesse\dualwield) so getting all those gold spoons and forsks will be priority.

ps: imho the only real use of thievery for stealing is to get an Idol from the spider-girly in driftwood.

Yes you definitely can beat Tactician playing legitly, without abusing pickpocket or any other exploit. I'm not stealing from anyone and I'm doing just fine on Tactician. Except one or two keys or notes here and there. In my first playthrough I did steal a bit, mostly to know what it's like, and now that I know what it's like, I don't want to bother with it cause as you said, it gets tedious fast.

Finance can be a bit tight, that's true, especially during Act 2 when you're around level 9-13-ish. I never had more than 10k gold. Now that I'm level 15 it's a bit easier to breathe.

Just try to keep weapons and chest pieces within 2 or 3 levels of your character. Other pieces can be a bit outdated and you'd still be fine. What's important is try to have an effective team and effective skillsets. Also yeah, magic users are not as gear-dependent as weapon users.

Have everyone get one or two low-tier crowd-control skills, like Chloroform, Chicken Claw, Teleport, Dominate Mind. Also have everyone take at least a teleport-like skill. If you have an archer, use Charm Arrows and Knockout Arrows often. These help a lot in surviving combat in general. Having a Summoner helps a lot too. They don't even have to be a dedicated summoner; just the ability to summon a minion can help a lot.