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Expert bandits who espy secret passages and foil back attacks.

Description

The Thief is a job in Final Fantasy V, obtained after the Wind Crystal shatters. The job focuses on speed in combat, with use of light armor as well as knives and boomerangs for equipment, and learns several abilities that provide utility to the party, both in battle and on the field. For both its speed and abilities, it is useful to master.

Upon mastering the job, the Freelancer and Mime will gain the Thief's base Agility modifier, affecting the speed at which the ATB bar fills, as this is the highest of any job. They all also gain a few of the Thief's support abilities that provide utility on the field. Thief's signature ability, Steal, can also be useful throughout the game for obtaining rare items from enemies.

Mastering the Thief job on all characters in the mobile and Steam versions earns the player the achievement "Band of Thieves".

Characteristics[]

Thieves dress in green, and each character wears a bandanna or a headscarf. Bartz and Lenna mostly resemble the Thief class from the original Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy III. Faris's costume is the only one that is a different color: yellow instead of green. Galuf's headscarf is tied under his nose, typical of an old-style thief in Japanese culture. Krile's bandanna has polka dots, and is of different color in the mobile/Steam version; pink instead of green.

Gameplay[]

Stats[]

Stat Modifier
Strength +1
Agility +16
Stamina +2
Magic -6

Thieves have the highest Agility modifier, meaning they are the fastest of any job in combat. Though the rest of their stat modifiers are lackluster, and they have a small penalty to their Magic stat, their strong Agility stat can allow them to outpace other party members and deal damage quickly in combat.

Mastering Thief will provide the Agility modifier to Freelancer and Mimes (as well as the small modifiers to Strength and Stamina if no other job has been mastered that exceeds them). Because Agility can serve physical attackers and spellcasters alike so well, this makes it worth mastering Thief for every character to take advantage of this bonus.

Mastering Thief unlocks the Artful Dodger ability, providing the +16 Agility modifier to any job that equips it (matching the speed of their Freelancer). Though the ability slot is sometimes better served elsewhere, Artful Dodger can be useful in a wide variety of situations where speed is needed.

Equipment[]

Thieves have minimal equipment, making use of light armor, knives, and boomerangs. Though they are incapable of equipping some more powerful weapons, early on, their speed can somewhat make up for their lower damage output in comparison to other jobs. Their main drawback will be in their survivability, making it worthwhile to use Thieves in parties where they are well-protected (such as with a Knight or White Mage to cover them).

Their best boomerang is Twin Lance, bought from Phantom Village and stolen from Objet d'Art, which hits twice per thrown lance and has the best hit rate, and unusually uses spears' damage formula. Boomerangs deal damage based on Strength and Agility, but due to a bug, Agility will only add 0 or 1 to the damage modifier.

Knives deal damage based on Strength and Agility, but due to a bug, Agility will only add 0 or 1 to the damage modifier. Knives only take 50% of the target's Evade into calculations. The best knife depends on preference, as the late game knives are all good with different strengths. Thief Knife, found in Phantom Village, befits the Thief as it automatically attempts to steal when attacked with. Assassin Dagger is a sealed weapon and may instantly defeat enemies not immune to Instant Death. Gladius is the new ultimate knife added in the Game Boy Advance version, found in the new bonus dungeon, Sealed Temple. Chicken Knife, found in Moore, can become incredibly powerful if the player grinds its damage potential by fleeing from battles.

Their best headgear is Black Cowl, bought from Phantom Village and Great Sea Trench. Their best armor piece in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, PlayStation, and Pixel Remaster versions is Black Garb, also bought from Phantom Village and Great Sea Trench. Vishnu Vest is the new ultimate light armor in versions that have Sealed Temple optional dungeon. The Bone Mail has the best stats for a light armor, but also makes the user undead, meaning it is situationally useful for elemental resistance to Ice and many status protections with the added durability.

Notably, Thief is one of three jobs capable of equipping the powerful Thief's Gloves accessory. This doubles the poor success rate of Steal from 40% to 80%, making it vital for stealing one-of-a-kind pieces of equipment only obtainable through stealing.

Abilities[]

Ability Job level AP required Type Innate Description
Find Passages 1 10 Support Yes Detect hidden passageways.
Scram
(Flee)[note 1]
2 20 Command No Quickly escape from battle. You may be unable to escape from some enemies.
Sprint 3 30 Support Yes Hold down the B button while pressing the Control Pad to move twice as fast.
Steal 4 50 Command Yes Steal treasures from an enemy.
Vigilance 5 75 Support Yes Prevent back attacks.
Mug 6 150 Command No Attack and steal from an enemy.
Artful Dodger 7 300 Support Yes Gain the same speed and agility as a Thief.
Steal from FFV Pixel Remaster
Scram from FFV Pixel Remaster

Faris as a Thief using the Steal (top) and Scram (bottom) commands in battle.

The Thief's job command is Steal, which has a 40% base chance to steal items from enemies. As many items in the game can only be obtained by stealing, this makes the ability useful to possess in several circumstances, but its low success rate makes it unreliable without the use of Thief's Gloves. Thief can later learn Mug, an upgrade to Steal that will also deal a normal physical attack when performed. This makes Mug more turn efficient than Steal, but a character using Mug cannot activate any special abilities or spells their weapon may be able to use in a normal attack.

Thief has many innate support abilities that provide great field utility. Find Passages allows the player to locate any hidden passage or invisible walkway; the ability can be useful to learn and equip in some circumstances. Vigilance prevents back attacks, which can be otherwise devastating to a party low on HP. Sprint allows the players to run twice as fast on the field,[note 2] making exploration quicker. It can be useful to assign someone as a Thief in towns or other safe areas when combat abilities are not needed, anyway, to make use of the faster movement speed and ability to see hidden passages.

The final support ability for Thief is Artful Dodger, which gives characters the +16 Agility boost that Thief normally provides unless their Agility is otherwise at a higher value. Freelancer and Mimes gain Thief's Agility modifier without needing to equip this ability, but for some jobs, the extra speed in combat may be helpful.

Notes[]

  1. Name in PlayStation, GBA, and defunct mobile and Steam releases.
  2. In early versions of the game, Sprint worked in both dungeons and towns by holding down a button to run twice as fast. In the original Steam and mobile port, activating Sprint could work anywhere, including the world map. The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster version simply passively doubles the characters' speed on the field when Sprint is equipped.
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