I changed my job....

[poppipo]

my starting job was theif. It took me sooooo long to lv to 15, i got sneak attack, but my friend was lv 21 and we started at the same time, cus theifs level so slow and was he comtantly waiting for me. I said screw it, theif isnt fun, i nevr get partys, im really weak, and i heard at high lvs they get peplaced by other melee jobs. So i changed to rdm, i love it. Its really fun, i get partys, i can solo really good. I HATE theif! please convince me why theif is a good job and how it can be fun....please?

[Roldarin]

I enjoyed thief early on, especially after I got Sneak Attack because of the extra damage that I did. When you do a Sneak Attack + Fast Blade (Sword) or Sneak Attack + Combo (H2H) you do a lot of damage (130-170 in your early 20s). When you make that second in your skillchain, the SC is a lot damage too.

But the real fun came for me when I got to realize my hate holding abilities. I could do even more damage than before and not pull hate.

Also I like Steal, Mug and Flee. Your two hour Perfect Dodge usually means you are the last to die. Kind of a dubious ability, but its nice to be the last standing.

Also you can pick coffers with thieves tools, living keys or skeleton keys. Combined with a WHM sub you can go dungeon crawling with sneak and invis at 50. No more hunting for coffer keys for your AF armor.

Early on you contribute decent damage. later on your contribute more, but you also help the tanks keep agro.

its a tough job actually. Especially when people don't know how to use a thief. Its frustrating. Usually in your 30s people start to get it, and you don't spend so much time explaining it. Then by your 40s you can experience a slow down in parties.

I don't think I'm really convincing you here. RDM gets parties much better. And once you get dispel (32) and refresh (41) you become much more desired. THF is sometimes desired for their hate holding abilities, even by paladins.

As for being replaced, that mostly happens after 65. DRK/THF players a similar role than a THF.

[guyincorporated]

Reasons I play as a thief:

1. You spend countless hours grinding in this game. For this game to hold interest for me, I need to be constantly active. Thieves usually end up pulling, you're constantly moving around and positioning yourself for sneak attacks, etc...

2. The damage you do on SANTA is second only to ancient magic bursts, which aren't even very mana-efficient. I just love the idea of doing 750+ damage with a single swing of a 20-damage dagger.

3. All that amazing damage is applied to the sucker in front of you, so if you're doing your job correctly, you should always be #6 on the monster's hate-list. That + Flee + Perfect Dodge means you really have to work hard to die in a party.

4. Part of my personal playstyle is that I love going to places I shouldn't be. I love sightseeing, finding huge monsters I have no right to see, and if I stumble across a coffer along the way, so be it. Thief helps me do all that.

The job isn't for everyone. If you can tough out redmage until level 41, you'll become arguably the most sought-after party member for groups. Good luck.

[EtRNaL168]

HAHAHA. Thieves get replaced later in the game? NEVER. LIE!

Thieves are great. They get to open coffers and steal gold beastcoins. They can also be one of the main damage dealers in parties.

Pre 67:

Skewer --> Dancing Edge = Distortion
250 damage --> 700 damage = 300 damage
Total damage = 1250 + 1000 from MB = 2250

Now, no other melees can deal 700 damage in a skillchain other than Rangers and Drks.

Post 67

Wheeling Thrust --> Shark Bite = Light Lvl 3 skillchain.
250 --> 800 = 800
Total damage = 1850 + 1000 from MB = Nearing 3000 from one single skillchain!

Trust me, thieves will never get replaced.

[Narru]

Here's something that'll get you back in THF shoes

After 41, all you'll do as a RDM is go on a Refresh cycle. Refresh PLD, debuff a little, Refresh WHM, heal a little, Refresh BLM, magic burst on renkei, Refresh yourself, etc...

Heard a lot of RDM's get burned out being bored going on the Refresh cycle.

Also you'll be richer with THF.

[TaruSGonEWilD]

I just started a THF today after I got a feel for there capabilities when I was going through khazam to get to lvl 30. I have to say SANTA is quite a bit of fun once you get to 30. Does great dmg even without a WS or skillchain. The other major reason to play thf is to make money too. Dear god man, if you need money, which you will if you plan on taking any class to a high lvl, then invest the time and effort to get a thf to atleast 45. Treasure hunter 2 pops in at 45 and that will help alot with NM hunting and rare drops of all kinds. Thats the reason I started my THF was cause my ranger is gonna need someone to financially back him. Anyways, THF has alot to bring to the table, and people who know what they are doing, IE the really good pts that you want to get into, will know what you are capable of and will want you in grp. They don't call it level grind because it is quick and easy my friend.

[Omena]

Funny, I'm thief and I never feel weak.
It's all about knowing what to do and doing it well (plus equipment). Nothing can outdamage my SATA (or santa) at my level and I level like a machine. Just today for example I went from L42 to L45.

[Aka Manah]

With thief, (Subbed War and MNK on and off) its only taken me 3 days or so to get to 24. Your sneak attack might seem gaudy when you first get it, but use food (Meat Mithkabob) and use a sword, or monk fists and sub monk. If your a war, save tp then use sneak attack + fast blade, i was easily doing around 170ish with food to IT stuff in dunes when i was there. Also be sure to keep up with your normal hitting capability (sardonyx rings, fang/spike necklace) because most of a thiefs problems at your levels comes from hitting for 0, and on 0 hits you dont get tp so you can fast blade sneak attack for huge damage. When subbing monk, have someone else pull, and boost (it stacks) every 15 sec until mob gets there, and you can get some really evil damage from boosted fast blade or combo.. when I was doing my last level in dunes I hit a 280+ boosted fast blade on an it mob. Was really nice Also skillchains backed by thief sneak attacks really do a load of damage, which goes back to first part of this post buy str stuff to not hit for 0 damage so you can get tp to get in skillchains. When I was leveling in qufim i was hitting stuff for 15 or so with a small sword (level 19, 13 attack +2 dex, i sold it now so i dont remember exactly its stats but meh). Im still having a dilema between monk or war sub though (pre 30 of course going for /nin when i hit 30.) If you sub monk boosted sa's can do a load of damage.. but if you sub war its alot easier to land your sneaks since you can get in combat first then position ect. Its hard to land boosted sneaks good when you got like 6 pts around you like in qufim (lakshmi is really packed lately, 4,200 people on today omg!) To the original poster, im kind of like the opposite of you btw, I started rdm, then seen the power of thief like wow holy crap =p. I think your prob might be that you dont have a sub maybe.. get whatever class is highest of yours right now to 18 then do subjob and sub thief/mnk or war and you will see a nice increase... anyhow good luck whatever you decide to do.

[Macht]

If you read the old posts on here about THF, the one thing they mention over and over is never to start off using daggers. They suggest getting a dagger and skilling up as you go, but stick to another weapon for damage until you get Viper Bite with the dagger. At that point using Viper Bite with SANTA is suppose to be very good damage for that level range.

[Jaggywaggy]

If you hate a job because you're not gaining invites as much as quite a bit of other jobs, thief is not for you.

Debatable but thief without static is maybe the hardest job to get to 75. Most parties have no idea how to 100% out of their thief.

The week or 2 ago I got TH2, all I can say is this thing is amazing.

Granted leveling thief there will be times with invites at an extermely slow pace, I suggest crafting to pass time. Thief is damn good at getting its own materials too with TH2 for anything dropped by mobs.


Everything everyone else said is also true. If you want to quit thf then quit, you said it yourself, you weren't happy.

[LockeCole]

Originally posted by EtRNaL168

Pre 67:

Skewer --> Dancing Edge = Distortion
250 damage --> 700 damage = 300 damage
Total damage = 1250 + 1000 from MB = 2250

Post 67

Wheeling Thrust --> Shark Bite = Light Lvl 3 skillchain.
250 --> 800 = 800
Total damage = 1850 + 1000 from MB = Nearing 3000 from one single skillchain!

Now, no other melees can deal 700 damage in a skillchain other than Rangers and Drks.

btw Monks can deal as much damage in a single WS with sneak and some luck. I've seen 1000 damage Dragon Kick on bones before, and hate is controlled. Warriors deal less but more make up with their consistant damage(well they can't end light/dark renkeis well. . .), as will monks. So that's 4/6 of the melee jobs that are better than thief. What's left? Dragoon... ? orz. Don't get me wrong, thieves can make very effective parties, it's just you don't feel as unique as you did before D;.

Now pre-60:

Thief is arguably the best melee job at this point. Distortion is good vs nearly everything you fight, and thief is the best distortion ender. At 55 you can do Sidewinder > Viper Bite, great damage with controlled hate.

Reasons to play thief:

Most active job. You will be pulling, positioning, calling renkeis, timing your sneak/trick etc. The effectiveness of a thief party depends a lot on the thief and his ability to time sneak/tricks and pulling, and of course your party having half a brain.

Nice farming capabilities. Hunting Astral Rings is very profitable. Stealing as mentioned can rake in easy money.

[Aka Manah]

After goign to Kazham i've changed my mind about this job. I just spent like 40k gil on equipment today to go to Kazham with, expecting to be able to do good, and it was the total opposite. Sitting there hitting gobs for only like 66 with sa (using a sword, a fire sword to be exact) and monks in my pt punch twice for like 20, so thats 40, but they dont have to wait a minute to do that. Blms always do more than me, the only thing i can outdamage is like, a normal non sub warrior, and thats pathetic... as of right now i think this class isnt worth it. I can see thief being worth it.. maybe if i had money to get leaping boots and other +dex items other than balance rings. but other than that the damage is just too low, i constantly felt like i was about to get kicked out of pt, i cant decide wether to give it up now (5 levels till adv job quests open) or change back to rdm and get it to 30 , rdm is 11 levels away.. thief is 4, but im not really pleased with my performance at all, hmm ill list my eq here and maybe someone can tell me wtf is wrong?

Food - Meat Mithkabobs
Main - Fire Sword (could switch to small sword for 2 more dex before sneak but i dont know if that will overlay fire swords 2 more weapon damage)

Sub - Fish Scale Shield
Helm - Cotton Headgear
Body - Cotton Doublet
Legs - Brais (level 23 kind forgot name )
Feet - Cotton Gaiters
Rings - 2 balance rings, switch with 2 sardonyx rings after SA.
Neck - Spike necklace
Ammo - Boomerang
Cloak - Dhalmel Mantle
Hands - Battle gloves
Waist - Warriors belt

anyhow with that eq, nothing really uber, but i should still be able to sa it goblin smithy for more than 60-66.. or is that about right? it just seems so low compared to what everyone else is doing...

**EDIT**
my sub is slightly underleveled now, war is only up to 11. but i think if it was 12 i would still hit gaudy.

[Roldarin]

You didn't mention your Sneak Attack damage or your Sneak Attack + Fast Blade damage. Those will pull you ahead of monk at that level.

And if you are really smart about your Sneak Attack (like activating it 30 seconds before the fight starts) you can get in 2 or 3 of them during a fight adding quite a bit of damage.

[Aka Manah]

well sa and fastblade is sometimes 90, high 90's to mid 80's. i just wanted to know basically if this is "normal" at this level, to hit like this with thief, because if its not im going to do everyone that i pt with a favor and just change classes, i don't want to be slowing down anyones group if my thf isnt any good. and that is something i haven't been doing, activating sa first. I will try that

[Ungerpurr]

It's probably normal. Gobs at level 24!?!? That's like IT+++. I'm sure your damage on mandragoras was much better.

I just finished equipping my thf for the run from 25-37, and I'm really looking forward to dropping some jaws. Thf/mnk at 25, I have 38+16 dex. ^^ That's gonna be some hurt, right there. I'm hoping I'll be able to break 200 damage with combo (don't see why I wouldn't) vs. mandragoras.

I enjoy leveling thf, I like being the PT member with the biggest damage number for any given attack.