Overview

Stealing is where you obtain items from a dungeon shop without having to pay for the items,
or where you sell all of your items and steal them back to obtain lots of Gitan.

It's often a requirement when using equipment like Dirk of Debts and Pauper's Plank.

• Basics
  • Risk and Return
  • Location of Stairs
  • Position of Shopkeepers
  • Preparations
• Risk-Free
  • Zalokleft Pot
  • Coupon Scroll
  • Black Hole Pot / Pit Trap
  • Transient Staff + Reflection Pot + α
  • Floaty
  • Monster Spawn Limit
  • New Items
• Some Risk
  • Wall Clip Bracelet + α
  • Boring Staff / Rusty Pickaxe + α
  • Pinning Staff
  • Swap Staff
  • Staff of Sacrifice
• Dangerous
  • Clone Staff + α
  • Gambler's Scroll
  • Night Abilities

Basics

Risk and Return

There are some situations where there's no merit to stealing,
so consider what you'll be getting out of it before going through with it.

If you have enough Gitan to purchase only the items you want, it might be best to just purchase those items.
There's also significant risk when you don't have a Monster Detector, Monsterphobic, or Scout Bracelet.
That said, if you spot a key item that nearly promises clearing the dungeon early game, it's often worth the try.

Location of Stairs

Stealing is easier when there's less distance between the shop and stairs.
Creating shortcuts using pickaxes and Boring Staff can be very effective,
and if the stairs is along a wall, you can dig straight lines and use a Pinning Staff.

If there aren't many rooms, or you don't have anything on hand to help create a path,
you can attempt to warp to the stairs using Warp Grass or a Pinning Staff onto a water or air tile.
However, there's far too much luck involved with warping to be practical, so it's not recommended.

Position of Shopkeepers

Shopkeepers have incredible attack power, and you'll need roughly 170 HP (red, blue), 180 HP (green),
or 200 HP (gold) to survive even a single hit, so knowing where they're located is very important.

Use items like Monster Detector, Monsterphobic, Scout Bracelet, or Navigation Scroll to reveal their positions.
Be warned that all monsters on the current floor become Shopkeepers the moment you trigger Thief Mode,
and all Shopkeepers ignore Sanctuary Scrolls.

Enemies generally don't spawn in rooms where Shiren is present, so if you trigger Thief Mode
in the room where the stairs is located, you're more likely to be in the clear.

Preparations

Fort. Staff can be used to block off a hallway beforehand to ensure a safe path to the stairs room.

You can line up and paralyze an enemy so that a Swap Staff can be used from inside the shop,
but note that a different enemy can end up being between you and the paralyzed enemy.

Pickaxes and Boring Staff can be used to create diversions for Shopkeepers but remember that enemies
in Shiren 5 tend to walk straight in hallways until they bump into a wall or another enemy.

Always sell your inventory items right before stealing, but note that tagged equipment lose their tags when sold.

Risk-Free

Zalokleft Pot

Place the merchandise you want to steal so that it's lined up with the shop's entrance, step outside the shop,
and open the Zalokleft Pot while facing the items. (Note that you can't steal pots)

The game doesn't count this as stealing, so Shopkeepers won't become hostile.

Coupon Scroll

Read the scroll to transform all merchandise in shops into regular floor items.
Remember that you can write it on Blank Scrolls if you've read it once. (See Tanuki Passwords for obtaining one)

Don't forget to sell your inventory items before reading it.

Black Hole Pot / Pit Trap

The classic method where you create a Pit Trap inside a shop and step on it after picking up merchandise.
However, this only works in dungeons with descending stairs, so it won't work in main story dungeons.

Transient Staff + Reflection Pot + α

This method requires more items, but is also guaranteed.
Insert an item into a Reflection Pot, pick up merchandise, and swing a Transient Staff at the Shopkeeper.

Check to make sure an enemy isn't positioned on the stairs before swinging the Transient Staff,
and keep in mind that this method can't be used if you have the Magi-Twister shield rune.

The +α is something that can block or cancel Paralyzed status on the spot, and includes:

1. Immunity Scroll, blessed Peach, Chakra Cleanse (ability)
   The safest options. Nullifies or immediately cures Paralyzed status.
2. Monsterphobic
   You'll take damage if an enemy is present in the stairs room, cancelling the paralysis.
   However, there's the possibility of getting attacked by an enemy who is adjacent to the stairs.
3. Starving status
   You'll take 1 damage per turn while starving, which can be used to cancel the paralysis.
4. Revival Grass or Undo Grass
   Cancel the paralysis by collapsing and being revived. Very wasteful, so not recommended.
5. Juicy Peach
   Eat it beforehand, and cancel the paralysis by getting hit by an attack.
   (Blessed Juicy Peaches let you survive 2 fatal hits)
6. Invincible Grass
   Use it right before swinging the Transient Staff, and then cancel the paralysis by getting attacked.
   It doesn't last the entire duration of paralysis, so it might fail if enemies aren't present in the stairs room.

※ MC Mage can be used instead of Transient Staff + Reflection Pot.

Floaty

Lure 3 Floaty family monsters into a shop, and get launched to a different floor after picking up merchandise.

Floaty monsters were buffed in Shiren 5 (higher attack, swift action speed) so it's tricker than in Shiren 4,
but items like Slow Talisman + Inacc. Talisman can increase the success rate.

Monster Spawn Limit

There can be a maximum of 20 creatures on a floor, including Shiren and the Shopkeeper.
So if you trap 18 monsters in a room using a Fort. Staff, new Shopkeepers won't spawn even in Thief Mode.
Paralysis Staff can be used in place of Fort. Staff, but enemies will flow out of the room when Thief Mode begins.

Floaty, Naptapir, and Moseal monsters won't move unless Shiren interacts with them,
so they're easy to use for this method.

You can generate monsters without waiting for natural spawns by using items like:
Monster Pot, Zalokleft Pot, Pot Dog Scroll, Monster Trap, Summon Trap.

New Items

New items can make stealing completely trivial.
For example, you can simply swing a Transient + Swap effect staff to safely warp to the stairs.
If you're worried, check for enemies using a Monster Detector, eat Swift Grass beforehand, etc.

Some Risk

Wall Clip Bracelet + α

Effective when the stairs is along the wall and close to the shop, but watch your HP. (10 damage per turn in walls)
You might need to cover exiting the wall with a different item, such as a Swap Staff from inside the wall.

Boring Staff / Rusty Pickaxe + α

Create a straight path to the stairs if the shop is lined up with the stairs,
and then travel through the path using different items to take shortcuts if possible.
Can be helpful to paralyze the pursuing Shopkeeper using a Paralysis Staff.

Pinning Staff

Leap to the stairs using a Pinning Staff. You might need to use a Fort. Staff if the stairs isn't along the wall.
Use a Monster Detector to make sure there are no enemies in the stairs room to avoid Shopkeepers.
Equip a Can. Arm Bracelet and use arrows from inside the shop to clear out enemies if needed.

Swap Staff

Position an enemy on the stairs using a Paralysis or Transient staff, and switch places with them using Swap Staff.
If the stairs is lined up but a wall is in the way, equip a Can. Arm Bracelet and throw the Swap Staff instead.
Monster Detector helps ensure you don't accidentally switch places with an unintended enemy.

Staff of Sacrifice

The log deals 10 tiles of knockback, so use that to quickly make your way to the stairs.
Same issue as Swap Staff, where an enemy could get in the way in a hallway.

Dangerous

Clone Staff + α

Swing a Clone Staff at Shopkeepers you encounter in hopes of distracting them long enough to gain distance.
Success rate is pretty low, since you often get sandwiched inside a hallway.
It helps to use items like Paralysis Staff, Swap Staff, Slumber Scroll, etc.

Gambler's Scroll

Read Gambler's Scrolls and hope for the floor warp effect.
Might be better as a last-ditch effort when you're about to get caught with no escape.

Night Abilities

Shut down Shopkeepers using Sticky Shot and Pot Party.
Generally successful if you make it to the stairs room, but it's common to get sandwiched in hallways.
Unlike Shiren 4, Three Screams, Transmogrification, and Last Stand are ineffective against Shopkeepers.

If you have Invincible or Revival grass, you can use Crawling Confusion + Pot Party to almost guarantee success.
If you don't have such items, you could try Swift Grass + Hilarious Pot, or Fort. Staff to block paths.
However, keep in mind that Laughing status from a Hilarious Pot will cancel Hiding status from Pot Party,
so wait until all Shopkeepers are laughing before using Pot Party.

If you get sandwiched in a hallway, use Whack and Warp or Warp Grass to escape the situation.
Whatever you end up using, don't step on a Monster Cure Trap or Rage Trap in the same room.