[LyonheartLakshmi]

I was at about lvl 35 as THF a while ago, with around 1k exp left until 36. I just wanted to cap it at 37 and be done with it, due to the huge amount of frustration I've had trying to get party members to cooperate on SATA.

I had capped marksmanship skill at the time (only because I skilled it up as 60+ WAR), and grabbed a bunch of bloody and sleep bolts. I went as /NIN into Rolanberry, and took on Gobs, Quadavs, Crawlers and Goobbues. My plan was to melee for TP, disengage and use sleep bolts to set myself up for SA + Viper Bite.

On EP mobs, this seemed to work ok. I could keep myself healed up with just the bloody bolts. Even with Utsusemi and a crap load of +evasion gear, I was still getting hit enough that the bloody bolts were necessary to try and avoid down time. When sleep bolts would land, I would generally have enough time to set up SA, as long as the mobs were EP. But on DC mobs, they would wake up almost immediately after the sleep effect kicked in.

My recommendation: if you don't have marksmanship capped, and don't have NIN sub leveled, don't bother with soloing. If you're not far along enough in the game to have unlocked NIN and quested Utsusemi, I'm guessing you probably don't have the funds for the necessary +MP gear that you would need to make THF/WHM even somewhat effective for soloing.

Originally Posted by sirina

I quit leveling it and decided to go mage cause I hated that one place (I cant seem to think of the name, Has lots of bats that link)

Learning the art of pulling requires a lot of trial and error. One of the best pieces of advice I've read on pulling is learning to use your mob radar (that compass circle thingy on the screen where mobs show up as red dots, PCs as blue dots, NPCs as green dots). With time, you'll get a feel for how close those dots have to be before they'll link. Using the radar provides a much better way of judging those distances than eyeing them on the screen.

[Tigralia]

Ice pretty much sums it up.. u can solo but when ppl say they can solo as a thf/nin they usually mean NMs and such... exp soloing is pointless... unless u use the method i stated... im now 4k into 61 due to besieged alone.. but otherwise just learn what partys u fit in really well... if u get a good 1 ull be up to 55 in no time... then dont matter the set up lol.. lesser colibris drop in seconds an u get 300+ exp per kill :D

[711rocks]

I've been soloing DC crabs trying to break latent for evis lately. Evasion is 251 (Cap from level 70, haven't raised it at all @71, im like 1500 into the level ><) Any have like +17eva with the acc gear I have on, and am not using food or blinding the mobs, and it's easy as hell, especially with utsusemi. With an evasion setup, every kind of status bolt, and food, I could definatly fight some pretty tough monsters. It does take a long ass time though, I get like 3-4 DEs off per fight.

[Kitalrez]

Originally Posted by Mhurron

Meet your new friend http://www.ffxi-atlas.com/
Specifically Bastok mines > Zerhun Mines > Korroloka Tunnel > Eastern Altepa Desert
Sneak and Invisible through Korroloka, just Sneak through Altepa since if you come across a gob you're way off course.

Actually, you don't even need Sneak or Invisible in Korroloka if you're paying attention. Just take the very first left as you enter the main tunnel and follow that path along til you reach a bridge on your right. Cross that bridge, take the next right through some worms, pass through some crabs and pugs. (Pugs aggro, but usually there's a BST there, and really only one possible spawn point is going to put you close enough to get aggro). From the pugs you want to take the next bridge to the left across the main tunnel, and continue R after you finish to pass up into the main tunnel again. Shazzam, you're through. There are only two aggro hazards on that path is gigas or jellies as you cross the bridges, and you can wait those out behind a stalagmite if you need to. The other one is the pug spawn directly in the middle of the path at G-8 if someone spawned it and then left. For that one, just backtrack to the overlook of the main tunnel, and drop down. You have *some* aggro down there, but you're over halfway through the tunnel by then.

I've levelled SMN, BLM, BLU, BST, and WHM down here and in those 5 jobs I've only managed to catch aggro and die twice. Both of those were from gigas or jellies that I wasn't watching for when I crossed a bridge. If you're paying attention for these sorts of things, you're probably not going to get yourself killed if you skimp on the oils/powders. To get to the TP crystal in Altepa, though, you will need oils. The ants and scorpions near the crystal cut off every avenue around themselves.

[Tigralia]

or if ur lucky ur on Asura (server) and ill take u thru :D

[Celeal]

When THF solo, he is unable to use Trick Attack and Sneak Attack as efficiently as he normally does in exp parties. This is a major cut of damage output. Thus, expect the fight last long time.
I would just THF/NIN, gear up evasion, eat Jack-o'Lantern, and go target easy preys.

[Eauijhkuu]

Soloing THF with the help of marksmanship IS a painfully slow process (If you whore NIN like every other person).
But you will save many agonizing moments as well as a ton of gil if you just party your way to higher levels.

Besides. Garlaige Citadel (AKA - The bad place) Is your chance to completely shine as a THF; I believe it is most crucial that you learn to pull things without linking. I also believe that it is important to understand your role in a party and how to successfully create and SATA WS skillchain.

Garlaige was intimidating when I first took it (I pulled and fell down a hole ) but I think it's not so bad once you understand how things work. My friend was pulling off 500+ Damage with SATA VB on bats, not including SC damage.

[Kaickul]

Originally Posted by Icemage

There's a big difference between a level 75 fully merited THF/NIN soloing VT+ and a lower level thief who doesn't have the ridiculously good gear that is required for screenshots like that, though.

For all intents and purposes, soloing for XP as THF is pretty hopeless as a means of advancement towards 75.


Icemage

I must have missed the part about 'soloing for exp to level' from the OP. But anyway, I doubt Pii was fully meritted for this at the time and they are hardly using top notch gear for this. Strider boots, Dragon Harness, Subligar with O-hat and Tarrasque mitts? Thats not what I would call soloing gear even back then...


But I agree... if they meant soloing for exp to level with that is hopeless with any job.

[sirina]

Originally Posted by Eauijhkuu

Soloing THF with the help of marksmanship IS a painfully slow process (If you whore NIN like every other person).
But you will save many agonizing moments as well as a ton of gil if you just party your way to higher levels.

Besides. Garlaige Citadel (AKA - The bad place) Is your chance to completely shine as a THF; I believe it is most crucial that you learn to pull things without linking. I also believe that it is important to understand your role in a party and how to successfully create and SATA WS skillchain.

Garlaige was intimidating when I first took it (I pulled and fell down a hole ) but I think it's not so bad once you understand how things work. My friend was pulling off 500+ Damage with SATA VB on bats, not including SC damage.

lol try falling down a hole , linking 4 bats and killing off your party making them zone, targeting thw wrong mob and killing your party , and seeing a pop and stricking without warning because your so nervious and killing your party , haha i didnt know about the radair thing and I always used my screen to judge distances which is impossible with (the bad place) because not only is it dark , but bats arent exacly glow in the dark , the many corners were full of links i couldnt see and the holes everywhere lead me to a panic that I would fall again with an agro and die. LOL But yes all the advice really helps me , though I really want a practice party sort of (maybe with my LS) I need to set up my macro's again , memorise them learn about skill chains and timing , learn how to pull with out linking and all that fun stuff ! But thanks everyone you have no idea how help full u all are , even though some of this is just common sense ....Its one of the things i think I lack lol. >.<;

[tdh]

I've done a lot of "Pull Monkey" duty over the years. I pulled as DRK from Lv.10 to Lv.51, then WAR from Lv.25 to Lv.52. The Shitadel was proving grounds. You learn to pull there, you can pull anywhere! Now my static sends me out if the THF is worried about a link. lol I've yet to find a place I can't pull in.

But I won't deny once hating the Shitadel!

[Tigralia]

shityhell is a nasty place and tbh completely avoidable.. 1-61 thf i NEVER exp'd there. most common complaint about thf i hear is "i cant get a prty ; ; boo hoo"... my advice know what jobs bring out the best in u and then make ur own :D... im nearly always party leader an hardly EVER get a bad party, get to know a few good ppl and then ur sorted, any link u get they can understand ur getting to know ur job. If u cant deal they dont mind a /p telling them to flee like feck to the zone, and if u got a blm to sleep links, u can use the link to ur advantage and chain. Later on with thf.. even tho ppl say ur useless solo, ive often found myself tanking Castle Oz yagudo's or Castle Zav Mobs while the rest of the coffer/skill up group muller what they have, and believe me when i say, although it is hard .. its VERY do'able. As friday/sat morn was testiment lol, 2x 73 plds 1 75 war/nin a 69 drk and me 61 thf did RoZ mission 4.. temple of ugli pie, the recommend set up requires a sleep'aga and 1 by 1 killing, but we did it with me kiting the thf till the blm was down, then sleeping the smn/ele till the thf was down.. and had i not been there with my SA dancing edge.. b4 astral flow ifrit happed we'd all been dead lol.. so dont let any 1 knock u as a thf... they are invaluable and u can do almost anything if u put ur mind to it enuff... as we are the only job with enfeebling/shadows and drain without mp and the need to rest ^.^... ok essay over.. any more thf'y type questions feel free to ask away an ill help all i can :D

[Icemage]

Originally Posted by Tigralia

ok essay over.. any more thf'y type questions feel free to ask away an ill help all i can :D

(1) Ugh... wall of text. The Enter key is your friend.

(2) You can't Sleep bats during XP. They're highly resistant to dark magic. Only Lullaby works on them in an XP party (and even Lullaby isn't very accurate when they're too high level).

(3) There's nothing wrong with Thieves in XP parties.

Besides, this discussion isn't about thieves in groups/missions. It's about solo thieves.


Icemage

[Meepus]

Wow, I'm really glad I read this thread :D I just lvled THF to 30 last night.. so tomorrow I'm going to be working on perfecting SATA and the like. Guess I should start Woodworking then for those bolts, eh? Oh and I never even thought to use the Radar, doh! That would certainly help to prevent unwanted links. Garliage Shitadel? Lol.. I can tell I'm gonna have some fun with this D: -note sarcasm-

[IfritnoItazura]

The short answer is you shouldn't try to solo on THF unless you know what you're doing and have the resources for it.

However, if I have to guess, I'd say THF's can solo for exp in 30's. Theoretically.

Method THF/NIN:
Requires:
A. Capped or near capped marksmanship.
B. Capped or near capped evasion.
C. Great R.acc and evasion gear; and good daggers.
D. Plenty of Sleep, Acid, and Bloody bolts.
E. Ninja as support job.
How:
A. Acid bolt to start; melee until Utsusemi is nearly gone, then Sleep bolt.
B. Use Bloody bolts to regain HP (after recasting Utsusemi) if needed.
C. While monster is asleep, run around the back, Sneak Attack, and hit it hard.
D. Pick Easy Preys.
Notes:
- It's lousy exp; probably hard to kill Decent Challenge and higher until Lv.74. It's also dangerous and expensive.

Method THF/BST:
Requires:
A. Capped or near capped marksmanship.
B. Great R.acc and a good dagger.
C. CHR gear to swap in.
D. Plenty of Sleep, Acid, and Bloody bolts.
E. Beastmaster as support job.
How:
A. Charm pets, get them to do most of the dmg.
B. Acid Bolt to lower defense, Bloody Bolts to regain HP.
C. Sleep bolts for emergency, like when pet died before you found a new pet.
D. Melee for TP; use Sneak Attack to finish off the monster.
Notes:
- While not cheap, it's not as expensive as solo'ing on THF/NIN, and probably decent exp/hour (on par with BST) killing up to Tough monsters.
- The catch is your BST has to be same level as your THF, or higher.
- This is played like a handicaped BST (no jug pets), but with a very sharp spiked damage from native Sneak Attack.
- It's also safer in some ways than normal BST thanks to sleep bolts and flee.

Method THF/BLU:
THF/BLU and just straight up beat up stuff? I don't know if it can work or not, but Cocoon is amazing.

[Tigralia]

Originally Posted by IfritnoItazura

The short answer is you shouldn't try to solo on THF unless you know what you're doing and have the resources for it.

However, if I have to guess, I'd say THF's can solo for exp in 30's. Theoretically.

Method THF/NIN:
Requires:
A. Capped or near capped marksmanship.
B. Capped or near capped evasion.
C. Great R.acc and evasion gear; and good daggers.
D. Plenty of Sleep, Acid, and Bloody bolts.
E. Ninja as support job.
How:
A. Acid bolt to start; melee until Utsusemi is nearly gone, then Sleep bolt.
B. Use Bloody bolts to regain HP (after recasting Utsusemi) if needed.
C. While monster is asleep, run around the back, Sneak Attack, and hit it hard.
D. Pick Easy Preys.
Notes:
- It's lousy exp; probably hard to kill Decent Challenge and higher until Lv.74. It's also dangerous and expensive.

Method THF/BST:
Requires:
A. Capped or near capped marksmanship.
B. Great R.acc and a good dagger.
C. CHR gear to swap in.
D. Plenty of Sleep, Acid, and Bloody bolts.
E. Beastmaster as support job.
How:
A. Charm pets, get them to do most of the dmg.
B. Acid Bolt to lower defense, Bloody Bolts to regain HP.
C. Sleep bolts for emergency, like when pet died before you found a new pet.
D. Melee for TP; use Sneak Attack to finish off the monster.
Notes:
- While not cheap, it's not as expensive as solo'ing on THF/NIN, and probably decent exp/hour (on par with BST) killing up to Tough monsters.
- The catch is your BST has to be same level as your THF, or higher.
- This is played like a handicaped BST (no jug pets), but with a very sharp spiked damage from native Sneak Attack.
- It's also safer in some ways than normal BST thanks to sleep bolts and flee.

Method THF/BLU:
THF/BLU and just straight up beat up stuff? I don't know if it can work or not, but Cocoon is amazing.

this is some excellent advice, and could very well work, wen ur geared out, u can easily solo EP's i get 30-60 exp solo at 62, so i farm off EP's ^^ but the bst option is gr8
ALso ive not tried /blu but i can see its merits, just thf/nin = no resting... whereas with blu, ull be resting all the time ; ;