Thief Guide By Kaius
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Introduction
Thief is a versatile DD job capable of producing extremely high burst damage and bringing enmity control abilities, party wide accuracy boosts, and the much renowned treasure hunter for increased item drop rate. For the equipment portion of this guide I will focus on end-game ready options. For Odyssey gear this means I will show Rank 25 options in the sets. It's obviously safe to assume R30 is even better, and usually R20 is almost as good (although there are a few places where R20 is noticeably worse than R25 - such as Gleti's Breeches). Furthermore, I will try to explain what you're looking for in a set and provide some alternatives so that you can have the confidence to mix-and-match as needed, or even experiment on your own.
Support Jobs
- Berserk, Aggressor, Warcry, Attack Bonus I, Double Attack I, Max HP Boost I, Double Attack II, Max HP Boost II
- Arcane Circle, Last Resort/ Souleater, Attack Bonus II, Damage Limit+ II, Consume Mana, Attack Bonus III, Damage Limit+ III
- Ancient Circle, High Jump, Accuracy Bonus I, Conserve TP I, WS Damage Boost I, Super Jump, Conserve TP II, WS Damage Boost II
- Spectral Jig, Curing Waltz, Healing Waltz, Quickstep, Box Step, Haste Samba, Accuracy Bonus I, Skillchain Bonus I, Subtle Blow II, Contradance, Skillchain Bonus II
- Runes, Vallation, Pflug, Tenacity, Auto Regen I, Magic Defense Bonus II, Inquartata II, Valiance, Accuracy Bonus I, Magic Defense Bonus III
Merits
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Weapons
Mandau (Level 119 III) Widely considered obsolete and not worth investing in for Thief. Could be fun to lockstyle a golden aura.
Twashtar (Level 119 III) The top-tier main-hand outside of a stage 4+ prime. Unlocks the full potential of Rudra's Storm, especially when used with a Centovente for the massive TP bonus. Highly effective whether you are solo skillchaining with Evis->Rudra->Rudra, or fully buffed simply spamming Rudras.
Vajra (Level 119 III) An interesting weapon that still fills some niche applications nicely. At rank 15, Mandalic Stab becomes a decent weapon skill, especially in lower buff situations. The unique weapon skill properties also enable Fusion/Light based skillchains. The mythic aftermath, paired with the proper gear) will allow you to generate TP quite quickly, making this a great choice if you have a need to execute a long, many step skillchain sequence (eg Omen objective). There are certainly many mythic weapons which are more important for their respective jobs than Vajra is for Thief, however.
Aeneas If you can easily get an Aeonic clear and don't want to spend the time and/or gil on the Twashtar, this is a decent option for the same playstyle. It comes with a nifty 500 TP bonus in the main-hand, and with the Store TP bonus will yield rapid fire weapon skills and skillchains. As an Aeonic, it of course also allows ultimate skillchains.
File:Mpu Gandring (Level 119 III) icon.png Mpu Gandring (Level 119 III) A top tier option, but it comes with a very large (3,500,000+ gallimaufry) barrier to entry. If this is your chosen Prime and you do do enough Sortie to support the grind to stage 4 and beyond, then you will be rewarded with an incredible dagger.
Gleti's Knife A very potent off-hand, especially at high ranks. Sports an incredible array of useful stats including very high attack, triple attack, subtle blow II, and even 2% haste. With the lack of haste on the Reiki Yotai this 2% haste is actually quite useful in reaching the gear haste cap on many TP sets. Even with all of those benefits, it is often hard for me to justify using this weapon over the powerful Centovente -- unless the accuracy demands of the fight require it.
Crepuscular Knife A hard to obtain, potentially fun toy to play with, but it is hard to find the use-case for this when comparing it to other off-hand options such as Centovente and Gleti's Knife.
File:Centovente icon.png Centovente The 1000 TP Bonus, when paired with a Twashtar and all of the powerful post Odyssey/Sortie gear make this an absolute monster. The default off-hand option unless the non-item level accuracy becomes a hinderance to gaining TP.
Tauret Far easier to obtain than the REMAP options, and packs a significant punch. Obviously, Evisceration becomes your primary weapon skill - and with the proper (crit-focused) gear it can really shine in low-buff situations.
File:Gandring icon.png Gandring This (Path C) is an investment in fun, pure and simple. Being able to pull a pack (or more) of Omen fodder, and watch them all swing and miss you while giving you massive TP for Aeolian Edge is pure joy. Not really useful for single target dps, not really useful for TH - but it's a blast to use in the right situations.
Naegling Use it if you find a need for slashing damage, or need something other than piercing.
Karambit Use it if, for some reason, you are fighting something that only takes blunt damage while on thief!
Job-Specific Armor
| Job Specific Equipment | ||
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| Item | Upgrade? | Notes |
| File:Pill. Bonnet +3 icon.png Pill. Bonnet +3366px link= |
Maybe | Seems like this is still a viable option with certain SA/TA weapon skills, possibly depending on the situation and buffs at hand. |
| File:Pillager's Vest +3 icon.png Pillager's Vest +3 
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Yes | Very high triple attack, but weak defensively. Nice to have around when you just want to shred weak content. |
| File:Pill. Armlets +3 icon.png Pill. Armlets +3366px link= |
No | Not much use for these. |
| File:Pill. Culottes +3 icon.png Pill. Culottes +3366px link= |
No | Largely obsoleted by the Skulk. Culottes +3 pants and/or Gleti's Breeches for the evisceration specific use-case. |
| File:Pill. Poulaines +3 icon.png Pill. Poulaines +3 
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Yes | Maybe not so much if you rock a Shneddick Ring for your +18 movement - otherwise having that yellow border and maximum defensive stats is nice. Also, Steal +15 is helpful when you want to grab an Impish Box. |
 Plun. Bonnet +3366px link=  {{#replace:Allows two effects to be dispelled or stolen by Aura Steal, additional 20% chance per merit level.|,| }} |
No | Only used in niche JA sets. 119 is sufficient. |
 Plunderer's Vest +3366px link= {{#replace:Enhances Ambush effect by adding 1% Triple Attack per merit level when Ambush is active.|,| }} |
Yes | The critical hit chance and critical hit damage make this a fine piece for Evisceration. |
 Plun. Armlets +3366px link= {{#replace:Increases Perfect Dodge duration by 10 seconds. Does not need to remain equipped after usage.|,| }} |
No | Get the Skulk. Poulaines +3 and don't worry about TH ever again. (119 is worth having for the PD duration) |
 Plun. Culottes +3366px link= {{#replace:Enhances Feint effect to give another -10 Evasion per merit level.|,| }} |
No | 119 will suffice to use with Feint. |
 Plun. Poulaines +3366px link= {{#replace:Enhances Assassin's Charge effect by giving it +1% Critical Hit Rate per merit level.|,| }} |
Yes | Like the AF body, this is a nice TP item with high triple attack. Also weak defensively. |
| File:Skulker's Bonnet +3 icon.png Skulker's Bonnet +3366px link= |
Yes | Top tier TP piece, will rarely take it off except to weapon skill! |
| File:Skulker's Vest +3 icon.png Skulker's Vest +3366px link= |
Yes | Beats out Nyame 25 for the majority of your weapon skill needs. (40 STR / 51 DEX / 64 ATK here vs. 35 STR / 24 DEX / 60 ATK on Nyame-B-25) |
| File:Skulk. Armlets +3 icon.png Skulk. Armlets +3366px link= |
Maybe | Perhaps a nice piece to have some flexibility in high DT / Meva sets depending on the fight. These come with a large haste value for hand slot. Not worth using for the SA bonus, however. |
| File:Skulk. Culottes +3 icon.png Skulk. Culottes +3366px link= |
Maybe | A nice piece for Evisceration but you could be quite happy saving 70k muffins here, as hopefully Evisceration use is primarily limited to opening your multi-step Rudra's Storm skillchains. |
| File:Skulk. Poulaines +3 icon.png Skulk. Poulaines +3366px link= |
Yes | TH+5 (read: cap) on a single item. Get these, use 'em when you want TH. Oh, not to mention they are incredibly useful for constructing a full or nearly full DT TP set. |
TP Sets
WS Sets
Sets based on the "All Jobs Damage Simulator and Gear Sets" by Izanami. Some may have been modified slightly based on my own experience. Also, always remember there is generally no single best set for all situations (or even 2 best sets (standard / high attack). Every fight is unique.
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Job Ability Sets
No set provided for Conspirator as Skulker's Vest +3 must remain equipped to gain the Conspirator bonuses and that requires a large sacrifice for a little gain.
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Idle and Misc. Sets
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Skillchains
- Light
- Shark Bite → Mandalic Stab = Light
- Evisceration → Shark Bite = (Fragmentation) → Mandalic Stab = Light
- Evisceration → Exenterator = (Fragmentation) → Mandalic Stab = Light →
Exenterator = Radiance - Rudra's Storm → Mandalic Stab = (Fusion) → Exenterator = Light → Exenterator = Radiance
- Mandalic Stab → Evisceration = (Gravitation) → Shark Bite = (Fragmentation) → Mandalic Stab = Light
- Ruthless Stroke → Ruthless Stroke = (Fusion) → Ruthless Stroke = Light
- Darkness Skillchains
- Rudra's Storm → Rudra's Storm = Darkness
- Evisceration ↔ Rudra's Storm = Darkness → Rudra's Storm = Darkness
- Evisceration → Dancing Edge = (Distortion) → Evisceration = Darkness → Rudra's Storm = Darkness
- Mandalic Stab → Evisceration = (Gravitation) → Rudra's Storm = Darkness → Rudra's Storm = Darkness
- Exenterator → Rudra's Storm = (Distortion) → Evisceration = Darkness → Rudra's Storm = Darkness/Umbra
- Evisceration → Shark Bite = (Fragmentation) → Rudra's Storm = (Distortion) → Evisceration = Darkness → Rudra's Storm = Darkness
- Rudra's Storm → Mandalic Stab = (Fusion) → Evisceration = (Gravitation) → Rudra's Storm = Darkness → Rudra's Storm = Darkness