Gloves used by thieves.
Description
The Thief Gloves is a mid game arm guard in Final Fantasy IX for Zidane and Amarant. It teaches Master Thief, which improves Zidane's steal success rate. The gloves provide a bonus to the wearer's Speed when they level up with it equipped.
Obtain[]
Thief Gloves won in the auction.
The Thief Gloves is bought from Treno Auction House after the party has access to the Blue Narciss for ~19,900 gil. After getting the boat, it is worthwhile making a detour to Treno to get the gloves so Zidane can have Master Thief when in Oeilvert for the boss there.
After the party has a flying transport, the gloves can be synthesized in Daguerreo for 50,000 gil, a Mythril Armlet, and a Sargatanas. If the player already got the gloves from the auction house, there is little point in making another pair, as it is so much more expensive, but synthesis is the only way to get two pairs of the gloves. The player can buy a Mythril Armlet while in Daguerreo, and Sargatanas is also synthesized here, but requires the limited item Zorlin Shape to make.
Mechanics[]
The Thief Gloves provides 26 physical Evasion and 13 Magic Evasion, improving the wearer's chance to avoid damage. The gloves give a +1 bonus to the wearer's Speed when they level up with it equipped. When enough "bonuses" upon level up from gear have been accrued, the character gains a permanent stat increase. Speed is a fairly irrelevant stat as it barely has an effect on ATB fill rate and even less on determining turn order in battle, however, it is used for Thievery's damage calculation.
Use[]
The Thief Gloves is a good arm guard for world map exploration on the Blue Narciss and the Hilda Garde III, though the party can also have Egoist's Armlet and the Chimera Armlet, also good options. The player can prioritize gear based on what abilities they need to master from them. The ability Master Thief is good to get at the earliest, so Zidane can equip for the boss in Oeilvert. The level up bonus from the gloves is not worth prioritizing if the player decides to level-grind, and level grinding and min-maxing are unnecessary in a normal playthrough even when preparing for superbosses.
Though the guests from Tantalus can also equip the gloves, the player cannot see this in a normal playthrough.