Thief (Tactics)

Warriors who can steal anything from anyone. Their skill is legendary.

Description

Thief is a job from Final Fantasy Tactics. It is one of the fastest jobs, second to Ninja, with the ability to move further than other jobs on their turn and has a high Evasion rate. It is the only regular class capable of stealing, ranging from gil to pieces of equipment and even experience. It can also unlock the ability to poach monsters, converting them into items found in the Poacher's Den. The job takes 4,520 JP to master.

Leveling Thief to Level 4 will unlock the Dragoon in the War of the Lions, while leveling it to level 5 along with separate level requirements for Archer and Geomancer will unlock Ninja. The level requirements are a little lower in the original PlayStation release.

Stats[]

Prerequisite	Weapons	Helmet	Armor	Equip Shields?
WotL(War of the Lions): Lv. 3 Archer PlayStation: Lv. 2 Archer	Knives	Hats	Clothes	No

Move Rate	Jump Rate	Speed	Physical Evasion Rate	Base Attack	Base Magic	Base HP	Base MP
4	4	9	25%	Medium	Low	Medium	Low

Abilities[]

Steal[]

Thief job command. Allows a unit to steal gil, items, and even non-material things.

Description

Name	Range	Effect	Speed	JP Needed
Steal Gil (Gil Taking)	1	1	Now	10
Steal Gil (Gil Taking)	Pilfer gil from the target. Amount: Level x Speed Success Rate: 200 + Speed
Steal Heart	3	1	Now	150
Steal Heart	Capture the target's heart, enthralling them. Effect: Charm. Success Rate: 50 + Magic Attack
Steal Helmet	1	1	Now	350
Steal Helmet	Purloin the target's equipped helmet. Success Rate: 40 + Speed
Steal Armor	1	1	Now	450
Steal Armor	Purloin the target's equipped armor. Success Rate: 35 + Speed
Steal Shield	1	1	Now	350
Steal Shield	Purloin the target's equipped shield. Success Rate: 35 + Speed
Steal Weapon	1	1	Now	600
Steal Weapon	Purloin the target's equipped weapon. Success Rate: 30 + Speed
Steal Accessory	1	1	Now	500
Steal Accessory	Purloin the target's equipped accessory. Success Rate: 40 + Speed
Steal EXP (Steal Exp)	1	1	Now	250
Steal EXP (Steal Exp)	Filch experience points from the target. Amount: 5 + Speed Success Rate: 70 + Speed

Reaction abilities[]

Name	Description	Trigger	JP Needed
Vigilance (Caution)	Assume a defensive stance. Effect: Defending	HP Loss	200
Gil Snapper (Gilgame Heart)	Receive gil equal to the amount of damage taken.	HP Loss	200
Sticky Fingers (Catch)	Catch thrown items and add them to the party inventory.	Throw	200

Support abilities[]

Name	Description	JP Needed
Poach (Secret Hunt)	Deliver slain monsters' remains to a poachers' den.	200

Movement abilities[]

Name	Description	JP Needed
Move +2	Increase Move by 2.	520/560
Jump +2	Increase Jump by 2.	480/500

Gameplay[]

The Thief's key role is to steal rare equipment from enemies, though this can be blocked by the support ability Safeguard learned from the Chemist.

To increase the success rate of stealing, the player can boost the Thief's Speed, as well equipping abilities such as Concentration or Brawler, which a high Bravery Monk can have while guaranteeing high damage. It is also recommended to prioritize stealing weapons due to rarity and the amount it reduces the now-unarmed enemy's attack.

For the Steal Heart ability, one needs higher Magick Power to ensure the target will fall for them (the target must be of the opposite sex or a monster); the player may increase the success rate via magick attack-boosting equipment or through the Black Mage's Arcane Strength support ability. This strategy can also be used with the Time Mage's Slow, Stop, or Immobilize spells to allow more chances to steal (as well as Teleport for better positioning for steal's accuracy/height limitations).

The Thief is the only job, bar Luso's Game Hunter, capable of converting slain monsters into items to be redeemed at the Poacher's Den. Many rare equipment pieces are exclusive to poaching certain monsters. The Thief's Sticky Fingers can be used to pick items thrown at them and add to the inventory; this allows Thieves to counter Ninja's Throw.

While the Thief is not very useful on its own as a main job (weak reaction abilities and knives are tough to use), it is, nevertheless, key to unlocking better jobs and obtaining certain pieces of unique equipment through stealing. These include the Blood Sword from Goffard Gaffgarion that can drain life, Genji equipment (although in War of the Lions Messam Elmdore has the Safeguard ability), or via poaching monsters, which the Poachers' Den is available for these items in chapter 3.

The Squire's JP Boost will also help for reaching job level 5 faster as part of a prerequisite for Ninja, which will improve steal rates due to superior Speed (and do an extra attack with Dual Wield, either with the Knight's rend for two attempts, or have more damage/versatility with Equip Swords) and elemental ranged Throw with job level 4, unlocking Dragoon (from War of the Lions), which has power/range between Jump and Equip Polearms (Thief could be faster with both Jump & Equip Polearms abilities, as Jump does not work with Dual Wield nor Doublehand).

Unlocking the Thief is useful for any unit thanks to its 4 movement tile ability and evasion, which can be enhanced by its Move +2 or the Knight's inexpensive Equip Shield and Parry abilities, which Aegis Shield (magick evasion) and Main Gauche vastly improves in Chapter 3. Steal Gil is immediately available for only 10 JP and can be reused to continuously make money off enemies and farm for more JP.