DeadDreams
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Yes, the Thief is the first cheater in the game. I always level him up first, even at the expense of the "main" character. I always leave chests for the Thief, and the most important thing is to level up his Stealth skill, even just a little. And then... the Thief will start bringing in such benefits that you wouldn't even dream of. In general, I do it this way: the main army moves forward, and 1-2 Thieves scout the surroundings, secretly looting everything. It's like a reconnaissance mission. And since their logistics are much better than the main hero's army, they also manage to give the best artifacts to the main army. And Thieves level up remarkably well without fighting... they're cheaters, basically. Of course, there aren't always things to steal, but if there are 20-30% of items/mines/etc. on the map that can be stolen/captured/etc., that's already a huge advantage.