For The Shinies! A Guide For Thief

I didn't read in this thread where anyone actually tried this, so yes you can indeed dual wield Tauret and Kaja Knife. Confirmed it personally. Makes a great combo for DNC too and ironically is better for soloing job points on RNG than their A+ weapons. (15k-25k on apex bats in Doh Gates with RNG/NIN and +2 mumuu set 2x ranged WS damage and much, MUCH faster TP gain - SE REALLY needs to fix RNG because this is just dumb)

I assume that for offhand with Tauret a fully divergence augmented Mandau would be slightly better than a fully divergence augmented Twastar due to the extra 4 DMG? I know not worth getting it just for that but if you already have one and don't have a Twastar then Mandau offhand is probably the better alternative to upgrading a Twastar and hoping they buff REMA again and/or nerf Tauret.

Not going to nerf tauret. They absolutely will buff all the rema again. (and again, and again, and again...)

Base damage on an offhand weapon is almost completely meaningless. You get nothing out of offhand mandau other than low delay. Twashtar still makes a good offhand. I wouldn't r15 it as an offhand though.

If you already went and got tauret/kaja you may as well run that. until you feel like getting the twashtar.

Yes but you get nothing out of Twastar other than low delay either, and I was thinking that if you already have a Mandau sitting around might as well just use that offhand with Tauret as they are both almost identical in that regard.

If offhand damage is almost meaningless then wouldn't that mean that Jugo +1 (DMG 82 Delay 142 ACC+21 Triple Attack +3%) is the best offhand though?

SE could easily fix the relics by just changing the relic WS so that they are TP = chance to crit and changing them from a single hit to the number of hits depicted in the WS animation with fTP replication. (of course the fTP would need to be lowered to keep things from being too crazy)

No, you get the dex from twash offhand.

Relics give nothing offhand. Empyreans still give stat offhand.

For you full time thiefers. How much weight does -dt set have against an evasion (eva/meva) build. For content like omen/dynamis farming.

For example. If the mobs casting an AoE spell; which set seems to mitigate the damage better?

AOE spell, MEVA set. Generally speaking PDT is superior to evasion because to get to truly good Evasion numbers you want to either path C gandring or have a mambo, neither of which you're going to have normally. I've tried to use an evasion set for my emergency PDT but when it comes to things like wave 2 monks in Dynamis gear alone doesn't cap me, and leaves me taking big hits. Occasionally my BRD will toss me a Mambo as a 5th song, and that means I can more safely utilize an evasion set, but need to plan around it a bit more.

Now in Omen...evasion set is FAR more powerful. A really good evasion set can evade midbosses without buffs, but I usually still utilize Gandring there (Twashtar is unsafe to use vs Thinker anyway) so I do have the evasion weapon there.

Thanks for the reply! Which of your sets do you TP in for omen farming?

That's a rough question to ask because it's basically finding something in between my idle set:

ItemSet 364192

My TP set:

ItemSet 344092

And finding something in between depending on evasion needs, so maybe this:

ItemSet 366396

Which pieces to swap in and out is going to vary by content, buffs, food, and most importantly how much you want to focus on killing and how much you want to favor safety. For example Turms harness+1 is slightly more evasion than Ashera Harness, and will help you gain TP slightly faster, but 7% DT is a solid amount to give up. Ashera with the higher HP/DT makes it a safer option, though I imagine most people will default to Turms+1 because of ease of acquisition. One of my greatest difficulties is finding a way to figure out just how much evasion I need for a situation and switch to it, without having a million set toggles. So I have an emergency evasion set, an idle evasion set, and two different TP sets that favor evasion, but I could probably make stuff like "1250 base", "1300 base" and tier up things, I just don't know how to organize that in a way that I would like, so I haven't done it.

Thanks, this is all good info.

I was unaware of that. That makes SE changing the 1H ilvl 119 relics to not give their +ATT stat offhand after they initially did give it even more bull****.

Anyway after finishing Shining One I'm starting to think it's overrated because it ain't nearly the jump that Tauret was for THF. I've actually come in a pretty close second with Tauret/Kaja THF/WAR on the normal intense ambuscade mole with a Caladbolg DRK.

It is pretty stupid. The attack gets negated but the 50 dex is totally ok.

One of the many things they chose poorly.

I have a slightly different approach to my -DT set than LadyofHonor. While what LoH said about magic evasion is correct, if I'm going to be wearing a -dt set I prefer to build my hybrid set around nullifying as much damage as possible while still maintaining high offensive stats. The most important thing to me is hitting the -25% magic damage taken cap, since nukes are the most lethal thing I'm going to eat and with capped -MDT gear I've found that nothing can ever nuke me hard enough to kill me outright if my HP is topped off going into the blast. Then I focus on adding as much -PDT as possible. I like to swap into this set when I'm anticipating a ninja's Mijin Gakure in dynamis as well, but it's my go to hybrid for omen and dynamis bosses... and more or less anything else that qualifies as "dangerous high tier mob" content.

This is my hybrid set
ItemSet 366419

The toutoutis's cape has -5% DT, so between the cape, the harness, the rings and the ammo I've satisfied the -25% magic damage requirement I'm looking for. Meanwhile I've also got 40% Physical damage reduction to protect me from AoE effects. It's worth noting that I could add the Loricate Torque +1 (Sovereign Behemoth Unity NM) and meghanada jambeaux +2 to hit -49% PdT, but nothing I've encountered up to this point has compelled me to feel like I would want to make that swap. The amount of -PdT I do have feels really good in many tougher fights though, and I've been glad to have had it on more than a few occasions when a nasty AoE went off or a mob looked my way when it used one of its stronger attacks.

The thing about my set is it has a really high level of offensive stats while still maintaining solid protection. Apart from the ammo and rings my accessories are the same as my standard tp set, and the moonlight rings feel really good to equip from a dps standpoint. The three Meghanada +2 pieces I'm using also have a ton of good DD stats so wearing them on harder content feels good. And in addition to the physical damage reduction they and the relic feet +3 also come with magic defense bonus, which is separate from -mDT and even further reduces the amount of damage I suffer when potent nukes go off. I don't get one shotted with this set and it affords me a high level of sustained damage output. A subsequent cure from the healer is enough to get me patched up whenever something big goes off. I'm satisfied with that.

I dont really like gearing toward mdt unless its inyanga set. Jobs with access to Turms and Kendatsuba sets should take advantage of it. Meva is so much better than mdt in most cases. Not only it drops magic damage to laughable amount (200-300 damage Interference from Omen bosses for edqmple) but it also let you resist debuffs, which is a bless. I tanked Gin on THF with meva hybrid set and I could probably main heal myself with war/whm with refresh XD

Yeah, it's a different approach but I don't think either is necessarily right or wrong. I've used my hybrid version on tougher content for a while now and it always held up for me. Physical attacks are still a thing though and that's why I opted to go the rout I did. If it serves its purpose and allows you to clear harder content I don't see anything wrong with either approach. Just so long as you DO have a -dt set in some form. Not having one is just a liability.

MDT is pretty easy to gear for though considering you only need ~21%. -- Dring/Moonlight and a DT cape will get you all but 1% of the way there. So it should be easy for someone to gear for both especially for jobs on Turms/Kenda

Personally I think one of the most important things to consider in a hybrid set is what Lady said right here


All end game fights follow the basic principle that "the longer the fight drags on, the more likely you are to encounter problems and/or wipe". Boss mobs with dangerous tp moves are manageable up to the point that they're allowed to use their attacks often enough to cause problems. Killing fast and efficiently is one of the best ways to counter that. A Catuare that's killed slowly is, on the whole, going to be far more problematic than the one that's killed quickly because it may get twice and many tp moves and spells off, and the more often it's allowed to use "XYZ super attack" the more of a strain it's going to put on your group's resources. This holds true of any fight. That's why I didn't go all in on any one direction with my hybrid build and opted to gear as I did rather than follow the turms path. I wanted something practical that would keep me up and hitting hard and often. I haven't been disappointed with the results yet. *shrug*

The power of MEVA is not only about reducing damage but resisting debuffs. When you fight Gin and you resist curse, paralyze, bio and partially or fully amnesia, not only you are much further from danger, but also your DPS is not blocked by bad statuses. That being said, if I wouldn't tribox, I would probably just switch to meva gear when needed.

MDT is good, but it only works for damage.


I know, I use d ring, Loricate torque and 5%DT on TP cape atm, tho I ideally I would probably use +2 JSE neck and 10%PDT on cape at some point, but I'm currently spending gils elsewhere. MNK on which I use Kenda is even easier. Moonbow belt +1 (This item is pure OP and totally carry the torch of Black belt in 75lv era) and D ring alone is -16%DT. That being said, my point was that MEVA is imo far better than MDT and if I would want my hybrid set to be more offensive, I would start dropping MDT before MEVA. Ofc it also depends on buffs. If you have meva covered by buffs and you are still worried about damage taken, then MDT is better choice, tho at that point I would probably focus more on PDT on slots like cape etc.

I didn't post my DT set above. I posted evasion sets and TP sets.

Here's my emergency PDT set:

ItemSet 366445

Herc boot augment:

PDTfeet={ name="Herculean Boots", augments={'Accuracy+24','Phys. dmg. taken -5%','DEX+8','Attack+9',}}

Adhemar Bonnet+1 is Path D.

Tout cape is:

VITback={ name="Toutatis's Cape", augments={'VIT+20','Accuracy+20 Attack+20','VIT+10','Enmity-10','DEF+50',}}

Which actually results in only 49% PDT. But it gives me a load more VIT and defense than any light armor job would normally have, as well as a load more HP.

Now my max MEVA set doesn't even cap MDT, I use a purity ring and defending ring, which nets me 14% to go with a full Shellra V for close-ish to cap, and I ride the massive MEVA from

ItemSet 347024

to resist basically everything, as that's roughly RUN levels of Meva since I also /RUN for runes and such.

Have a question I was trying to make the pulse weapon CO so I can make the ambu weapon. I went to Ardrick and traded the 5 cells and he says the weapon picks me not the other way around. I have beaten qilin many times before. I did make a different pulse weapon a couple weeks ago. Is it 1 per month or do I have to fight qilin again?

If the message you get from Ardrik is


That means he wants you to fight and kill the boss that drops the pulse item in question. I thought that message went off of just aquiring the title for killing the mob, but it sounds like they have a flag associated with it as well. It's highly likely when you built your first coruscanti a few weeks ago you deflagged yourself in the process. Killing Qilin again and reaquiring his title anew should fix that.

This is also true. I may have misinterpreted you when you said you made a different pulse weapon two week ago. I thought you were talking about the finished ambuscade weapon itself, not the original pulse panoplia weapon used to create it. If the pulse cells you traded last time weren't coruscanti cells that could also be the reason. In order to trade Ardrik coruscanti pulse cells you have to be able to pop Qilin yourself. That requires you to have cleared voidwatch to the point you own the Ashen Stratum Abyssite key item. Without it Ardrik won't allow you to trade even if you do kill him when someone else initiates the fight.

What is the purpose of thf in END GAME now a days? i mean the node about it is from 2013 so i'm pretty sure thing have changed a little bit since then.

I know most of the time TH is loved to be use but i mean does thf have a good spot in end game content? Omen , Delve ,legion , etc. Since a lot of new gear have apppear!

Ps : I don't have any gear 119 but that the goal of gearring him to have fun with so the more info i have to what to tackle first and do is a plus.

Hope you have all a nice days!

Thief's role in end game events is usually to just be a DD. But we can also tank very well, we're one of the best soloers, we get high drop rates with treasure hunter, and we can pull if needed. We're also fantastic at making every kind of skillchain, and when we close them we also produce some of the highest damage numbers as well.

Thief takes a lot of gear to optimize, but that's true of any job. Right now thief is actually one of the strongest DD's in the game. Rudra's storm is an incredibly powerful weaponskill (it's actually kind of broken), we can hit over 50% triple attack rate in our TP sets while still piling on plenty of accuracy/attack/sTP, Rank 15 Twashter is one of the highest performing REMAs, Aeneas is fantastic, and so is Tauret with an evisceration build. We can also be built as incredible evasion tanks, and with a proper -dt set, evasion set, and magic evasion set we're extremely hard to take down.

I suspect the original creator of this thread no longer plays so the OP is outdated, but you can find a lot of current information pertainig to gear sets and roles in the last dozen or so pages of our discussions. When it's fully geared thief is a versatile job that can fill a lot of roles and put out some of the best damage in the game. Many things have changed over the years, and we've long ago gotten past the point where we were considered a weak or utility only class. Read the most recent 10-12 pages or so of backlog in this thread. That's all you should really need to get any of the current information.


Like I said, it does have a pretty high gear threshold to perform really well. But once you get to that point the answer is yes. Absolutely YES!!!


I would recommend building a Tauret and pairing it with either a shijo (Path D) or kaja knife offhand, and unlocking Rudra's Storm if you haven't already done so via Walk of Echoes. Start with getting a solid tp set since that's the base for which everything else is built upon, and work on improving your weaponskill sets from there. Your most frequently used weaponskills will be Rudra's Storm and Evisceration (by far), so try and work on making them hit hard. One of the biggest early improvements for a new thief is a pair of JSE ambuscade capes. Your tp cape should have accuracy/attack, dex, and sTP + 10. Your rudra's storm cape should be 30 dex, 10% weaponskill damage, and 20 accuracy/attack. If you want to build a third cape for evisceration it's the same as the rudra's cape, but 10% crit rate instead of weaponskill damage (HIGHLY recommended with a Tauret). We also get some really good bonuses from mastering the job, so try to rack up job points when you get a chance. Any other gear pieces or sets you may be interested in will already have been posted multiple times in the last 10-12 pages. You can find what your looking for pretty easily.

Funny hearing people talk so highly of thief. Usually hear the following from people in Asura:

1) "No Thanks"

2) Sorry we need a DD job

3) Also the usual don't buff the thief in parties and put it in the off party without buffs where it doesn't matter and people wonder why damage output is so crap on thief.

4) Sit back and just be the treasure hunter *** and don't fight at all.

Just makes me laugh at the stupidity/ignorance of people on Asura that think Thief is still a low tier job. The previous stigmatism from long ago that follows this job apparently still carries into now.

Most thieves are hotgarbage. What do you expect.

I did say thief has a high level of gear required to perform well. The difference between a newly started thief and one with mastered job points and most of the equipment is black and white. And a lot of people on this form are dedicated to the job and understand its ins and outs and optimize accordingly. I've seen people still stack SATA at lvl 99, and come across JSE capes with double attack, dual wield, and even once saw one with haste. There are a lot of decisions that can degrade the jobs performance, and a lot of peple only take thier thief up to the point it can solo adeqately and stop there. To actually reach the jobs full potential you do need to put in a lot of effort, and at the very least understand how to gear. I've have people come to me for gear advice and had to explain that shadow gorget and belt are actually BAD to use in rudra's storm because it doesn't work the way they think it does (yes, a lot of people still think they give 10% increase and don't understand it's just +0.1 fTP ... or even know what fTP IS in the first place).


So that's not necessarily untrue. Reputation does go a long way on the job. Being geared well, knowing the job, and SHOWING it time and again, and then finding a circle of people who recognize that is still important.

I play on Asura too and I got most of my gear in PUG environments before joining my current linkshell last December. I've also seen my fair share of those comments you speak of. But most of the time all I had to do was explain that I knew the event, knew and geared my job well, and if I said for example... "I have 1250+ accuracy and full rudra's set" it would be enough to get me in. There will always be a few people who are ignorant or aren't willing to cooperate. Some people demand REMA or they won't invite you period (on ANY job) even if their PUG is for ambuscade normal (Welcome to Asura!). It's not worth your time to try and argue with them. Just move on. That doesn't change the fact that the job has the potential to do broken things. It just means people are people and some are prone to acting childish. That's been a part of FFXI since day one and it's never going to change.

Wait where on earth did you encounter this??? I’m on Asura too and most people I run into know a good THF is broken. This sounds so 75-era lol. I almost want to ask who said this lol

I exclusively do shout ambuscade, and in the entire 3 years its been around I've done at most maybe 5 groups with a thf. (except the frog month)

Asurans just don't count anything that isnt WAR DRK or SAM as a "DD"

Half the time they won't even take a second cor if it's offered. Even the month where you SPECIFICALLY ws the back of the orcs, no thf were invited.

That is crazy considering how strong a Naegling COR is.