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Fallout: New Vegas Hints
Stealing Tips
1 of 11: As in Fallout 3, people don't get all upset when you pick up an owned item with the Grab key. So if you want to steal a loose item, but can't do so unseen, pick it up in Grab mode and carry it off somewhere where no one can see you. Go into Sneak mode to make sure you're hidden, then take the item. (You'll still lose karma, but no one will turn hostile or try to reclaim the item.)
2 of 11: Pickpocketing also works the same as in Fallout 3, so always quicksave right before you try it and quickrestore if you're caught (and quicksave again when successful).
3 of 11: Remember that there's no penalty for just looking. You can crouch down and check someone's pickpocket-able inventory in full sight of everyone without getting in trouble as long as you exit the pickpocketing screen without trying to take anything. You can use this to quickly determine who you want to go to the trouble of pickpocketing items from. (Note that Caesar is an exception to this rule. Trying to pickpocket him will always turn him hostile without letting you even view his inventory.)
4 of 11: You can often successfully pickpocket an item without anyone turning hostile even if your stealth indicator reads "[DETECTED]." If you can't move to where it reads "[HIDDEN]" while staying within pickpocketing range of someone, quicksave and try the pickpocketing anyway.
6 of 11: One thing you can do to aid in stealing is to move up against nearby people to push them along. They'll sometimes walk right back to where they were, but usually not. You can use this fact to push someone away from an owned container that you want to loot. (Note that it's not really useful to do when you want to pickpocket the person.)
7 of 11: Another thing you can do is wait until well after dark, when most people are in bed. It can be a lot easier to rob their stores and homes then, unless their doors are too tightly locked for you to pick open. Also note that the uncanny ability that sleeping people had to detect you in Fallout 3 is still firmly present in this game.
8 of 11: Using a stealth boy can greatly aid you in stealing and pickpocketing unseen, but it's usually not worth using up one of those rare and valuable items for that -- they should mostly be saved for sneaking through dangerous areas (like, say, a deathclaw breeding ground) to retrieve valuable items without having to do any fighting. Check the Stealth Boy List to see where all you can find them.
9 of 11: It is possible to kill and loot people without gaining faction infamy or turning anyone else hostile. While your stealth indicator reads "[HIDDEN]," shoot your target in the head with a silenced gun, hit him with an unarmed or melee weapon, or pickpocket a grenade or mine into his inventory. The problem with the silent weapon way is that it'll have to be a one-shot kill, and many silent weapons are too weak to manage that against tougher targets. The problem with the explosives way is that it's hard to successfully pickpocket an explosive in without being caught by your victim or seen by someone (you have to remain hidden until after the explosive goes off). Stealth boys can make both ways much easier, but are (as mentioned above) very rare.
10 of 11: You'll get a whole lot of items from the various towns if you Grab-steal and pickpocket all that you can, especially since new items will appear in people's inventories every now and then. (The same goes for some item containers, too.)
11 of 11: Most merchants won't buy items that you stole from them or their faction. You can attempt to "clear" the items by putting them into a container and taking them back out, but the most reliable way to sell them is to go to a merchant in a different town.
