Changes: Thief (Final Fantasy XI)

Revision as of 21:24, 9 January 2020

Template:Sideicon

Specializing in covert actions, thieves aim for the perfect opportunity to attack from behind.
Official description

Thief is one of six jobs available to all players when they create a character in Final Fantasy XI. Thieves excel at "spike damage" since they get abilities like Sneak Attack and Trick Attack which can be combined with a weapon skill for massive damage while their normal attacks are noticeably quicker but weaker than other damage dealers.

They have a high rating in the use of daggers and can use swords with moderate effectiveness. They also have an A+ rating in evasion and A- rating in parrying on top of a passive evasion bonus to make them difficult targets to hit and make up for their light armor.

Thieves, of course, gain abilities like Gilfinder, Treasure Hunter, Steal, and Mug and special abilities like Hide for stealth. Thieves are also the only job that have the job ability Flee.

Becoming a Thief

Thief is one of the six basic jobs, as such, players can choose to become a thief at any time. If they choose to start the game as a thief, they will be given an onion knife in addition to the adventurer certificate and national ring (if applicable).

Abilities

For a more in-depth description, see the Thief abilities page

Job abilities

Job Ability	Level	Recast	Duration	Description
Perfect Dodge	1	1:00:00	0:00:30	Allows you to dodge all melee attacks.
Steal	5	0:05:00	—	Steals items from an enemy.
Sneak Attack	15	0:01:00	0:01:00	Allows your next melee attack to deal extra damage when striking an enemy from behind.
Flee	25	0:05:00	0:00:30	Increases movement speed for the duration of the effect.
Trick Attack	30	0:01:00	0:01:00	Allows your next melee attack to deal extra damage when striking an enemy from behind a party member.
Mug	35	0:05:00	—	Steals gil from an enemy.
Hide	45	0:05:00	Varies	Allows you to evade enemies by hiding.
Accomplice	65	0:05:00	—	Steals 50% of the target party member's enmity and redirects it to the thief.
Collaborator	65	0:05:00	—	Steals 25% of the target party member's enmity and redirects it to the thief.
Assassin's Charge	75 (Only unlocked with Merit Points)	0:05:00	0:01:00	Will triple your next attack.
Feint	75 (Only unlocked with Merit Points)	0:02:00	0:01:00	Your next attack will greatly reduce an enemy's evasion.
Despoil	77	0:05:00	—	Steals items from an enemy while inflicting a status ailment upon it.
Conspirator	87	0:05:00	0:01:00	Enhances accuracy and "Subtle Blow" effect for party members within area of effect. Does not affect the party member being targeted by the enemy.
Bully	93	0:03:00	0:00:30	Intimidates target.
Larceny	96	1:00:00	—	Steals one beneficial effect from the target enemy.

Job traits

Job Trait	Levels	Tier	Description
Gilfinder	5	I	Multiplies amount of gil enemies drop.
Evasion Bonus	10 / 30 / 50 / 70 / 86 / 99	IV	Improves evasion against physical attacks.
Treasure Hunter	15 / 45 / 90	III	Increases chance of getting treasure.
Resist Gravity	20 / 40 / 60 / 75 / 81	V	Gives you a slight resistance against weight.
Triple Attack	55 / 96	II	May triple your attacks
Assassin	60	I	Improves the Trick Attack Ability
Ambush	75 (Only unlocked with Merit Points)	Varies	Grants an accuracy bonus to melee and ranged attacks from behind an enemy.
Aura Steal	75 (Only unlocked with Merit Points)	Varies	Add a Dispel effect to Steal. Occasionally absorbs dispelled effect
Crit. Atk. Bonus	78 / 84 / 91 / 98	IV	Improves power of critical hits.
Dual Wield	83 / 90 / 98	III	Allows you to equip two weapons.

Skill ratings

Combat Skill	Rank	Caps by Level
Combat Skill	Rank	49	99
Hand-to-Hand	E	124	300
Dagger	A+	150	424
Sword	D	124	334
Club	E	124	300
Archery	C-	139	368
Marksmanship	C+	139	378
Throwing	D	133	334
Evasion	A+	150	424
Parrying	A-	150	417
Shield	F	114	265

Gameplay

Thieves are uniquely useful, their abilities range from out of combat uses to utilizing their massive speed and agility to gain the upper hand in battle. Their utility with treasure hunter is used to increase the likelihood of getting a rare drop.

Strengths

Thieves create good spike damage with the use of Sneak Attack.
Thieves help control enmity among party members with Trick Attack.
Thieves have the best attack rating with daggers.
Thieves are sought after for a lot of special events where rare items may be found.
Thieves have the highest potential of Evasion in the whole game.

Weaknesses

Compared with other damage dealing jobs, Thieves, on average, deal less damage and are correspondingly not sought after for direct damage jobs.
Thieves have mediocre Defense and Vitality characteristics and moderate hit point totals, which sometimes hurts their survival.
Thieves have the lowest Charisma of all jobs. Ironically, they have the Weapon Skill Dancing Edge, which gets more powerful with the more charisma the character has.

Support Jobs

Ninja

Thieves, almost without exception, subjob Ninja from level 33 to the end of the game. Many even pick up the subjob at level 20 when they first get access to Dual Wield. Since thieves have a myriad of ranged attack options, they are often chosen as pullers for the party. Utsusemi will help negate attacks while bringing the enemy back to the party and the Dual Wield characteristic will allow them to build TP quicker.

Warrior

Prior to level 20, Warrior is often used as a subjob for Thief. This is due mostly to their physical attributes aiding to dealing physical damage. Other than statistical bonuses, the advantages offered by Warrior are relatively few because by the time it starts becoming more advantageous, most Thieves will have moved on to Ninja and for generally good reason.

Monk

Thieves have an acceptable hand to hand combat rating. Since Combo, a low level weapon skill can be combined with Sneak Attack, this is one of the highest damage subjobs to use up to level 33. The Monk's high HP as a subjob will also help some of the moderate Thief defense.

Ranger

Ranger is an uncommon subjob choice, but viable for a couple of different circumstances. The first of which would be for camping creatures with a wide spawn range, where the use of Wide Scan would be useful for tracking down the prey. Perhaps less commonly, some Thieves who take up a ranged capacity will want to use Ranger in order to take advantage of Rapid Shot, Barrage, and Accuracy Bonuses as well as capitalizing on the Ranger's ability to do ranged weapon skills.

Dancer

For melee-jobs, Dancers are a very reliable subjob, due to the fact they can heal themselves only with the use of TP, which build up after every hit. Thieves, with their fast attacking daggers, and high evasion can store TP in a very fast time. The battles against the monsters will take some more time, because of using the TP to heal, instead of using it for a Weapon Skill, but it's a very safe way to fight.

Other appearances

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game

The Thief appears with wind-elemental cards.

Triple Triad

Thief has a Triple Triad card in the version playable via Final Fantasy Portal App.