[Rollingthunder]

Thief Guide v.1

Ok, first off, I'd like to say that I do not claim to be an all knowing Thief. Even at lvl 66 I am still learning new things about this wonderful job every time i go out. This guide is to help up and coming thiefs, as well as, other curious party members that would like to know exactly why it's so important not to move after first voke ><. Anyway, some of what I say may not be entirely correct for all races and opinions. As I said, I am still constantly learning new things about this job everyday, and keep in mind stat differences for all races, jobs, and gear combos.


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Levels 1-10: Like all other jobs, the first 10 lvls are really basic. Keep in mind that you are a theif, and as such you will have less hp and hit for less damage than most other jobs soloing. Hp regen food or drink would be good here to slow downtime while lvling. At level 5 you get both gilfinder and steal, pretty much useless this early in game, but you can level your low level crafts perhaps. As I would suggest to anyone leveling a job 1-10, level in South Gustaburg for crystal drops. Fire and wind can either serve as nice bank or for crafting purposes.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...els_1-10ish.jpg

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Gear for this level is very basic, leaping boots at 7 if you have them, also if your a lucky bastard that has a rabbit charm it's level 7, quest wing pendant if you don't have one. Compound eye circlet is a great head item at level 9, legionnaire's mittens or royal footman's gloves at level 10, use a blood stone for your belt from level 1, get rings that add hp (if from bastok use that ring). Other than that get the most defense that you can. Try to keep sword and dagger leveled to cap, but use sword primarily. Get a beestinger, it's the best low level knife in game, and you can use it till probably around level 20. For sword get whatever has the most damage and lowest delay.

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*Important Macro 1: Steal
line 1 - /ja "Steal"

*Important Macro 2: Equip Switch - Neck
line 1 - /equip Neck "Rabbit Charm"

Note: You can combine the steal and equip macro like this -
line 1 - /equip Neck "Rabbit Charm"
line 2 - /ja "Steal"

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Levels 10-15: Most peope opt to go to Valkurm Dunes at this level. I'm not going to tell you not to, but if you wanna solo a bit more, to avoid the Dunes as much as possible, you can solo the worms near the Sam Adv. Job nm in Konschtat Highlands till around 12ish.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_11-13ish.jpg

Hp regen food or drink still good if you choose to solo to 12ish, but once you start partying switch to Meat Mithkabobs or Chiefkabobs if you have the gil and the party is worth spending that much money on. Frankly, I've joined parties at lower levels before and purposely didn't use food until i deemed them food worthy. If at all possible level with people you know only; I know it's harsh but there is nothing more frustrating than a warrior that doesn't have a provoke macro setup. Fight lizards to 12-13 then try goblins till 14-15, though you could probably move to crabs at around 14.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_11-14ish.jpg

Best sub at this level is warrior, as you can serve as a possible tank in parties since you get provoke at level 10. Some might say that ranger is best sub for this level, however, only do this with people you know. You may deem the party worthy of food, but I would seriously doubt they are worth your ammo too. Also, a throwing weapon is, and always will be, your best pulling tool. I say this because you WILL miss a lot while pulling with crossbow, unless maybe you macro ranged acc rings for pulling. I'll go into /equip macros later.

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Gear for these levels are still very basic. At 15 you will get sneak atk, this will make seeking time drop a little since you'll become more of a damage dealer type job. Silver earrings for evasion are nice, balance rings at 14, traveler's mantle is at 12, warrior's belt at 15, you will most definitely want battle gloves at level 14 (some of the most useful gloves in game). Still focus a lot on defensive gear, since stat boost really won't noticably help this early in the game. Also, keep both sword and dagger leveled to cap. Keep your beestinger, and keep the highest damage lowest delay sword.

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*Important Macro 1: TP
line 1 - /p @2 Theif Fast Blade TP =

*Important Macro 2: Pulling
line 1 - /p Fishing Ready! TP =
line 2 - /ra

*Important Macro 3: Provoke
line 1 - /p Provoke now!
line 2 - /ja "Provoke"
line 3 - /wait 28
line 4 - /t Provoke Ready!

*Important Macro 4: Sneak Attack
line 1 - /p Sneak Attack TP =
line 2 - /ja "Sneak Attack"
line 3 - /wait 55
line 4 - /t Sneak Attack Ready!

*Important Macro 5: Sneak Attack + Fast Blade
line 1 - /p Sneak Attack Fast Blade on in 2 sec!
line 2 - /ja "Sneak Attack"
line 3 - /wait 1
line 4 - /ws "Fast Blade"

*Important Macro 6: Sneak Attack + Wasp Sting
line 1 - /p Sneak Attack Wasp Sting on in 2 sec!
line 2 - /ja "Sneak Attack"
line 3 - /wait 1
line 4 - /ws "Wasp Sting"

Note: Fast Blade and Wasp Sting are the ONLY two weapon skills you should be using that stack with sneak attack until you get Viper Bite at level 33.

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At 15 you also get treasure hunter. If you want you can try camping leaping lizzy (level 10 mob) in South Gustaburg at this level, which drops the leaping boots. It will be hard, since your widescan is basically worthless and you don't have flee. The best strategy for camping lizzy at this level is to run around the pop area as thf/war. He pops 1-3 hours and rock lizards are his placeholder. Personally, I wouldn't suggest camping at this level since you'll probably be wasting your time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...eapingLizzy.jpg

I've personally killed leaping lizzy close to 50 times, guesstimate, maybe gotten the drop 6 times or so. Here is a picture of what he looks like.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...apingLizzy1.jpg

You could also try spook (level 11) in King Ranperre's Tomb, who drops the traveler's Mantle. He pops 1-3 times per hour, I think pop times are 21:00, 0:00, and 3:00 but don't quote me. Pops stop at 4:00. You would have much better luck with spook. Sub war or bst, careful though, he pops with 2 skeletons that will link if your the only camper.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/booglified/Spook.jpg

One more you could try at this level, but not recommended due to horrible drop rate, is jaggedy-earred jack in West Ronfaure. This nm drops the rabbit charm.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...y-EaredJack.png

This is me killing him, but not getting the drop...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...-EaredJack1.jpg

One more notorious monster to add to this list around this level is Stinging Sophie found in North Gustaburg. I've never actually camped this nm, I bought my beestinger.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ngingSophie.jpg

Below is a picture of what she looks like.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...gingSophie1.jpg

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Levels 15-20: Yay! Your almost out of the Dunes. Bet you can't wait huh? Really, not much to say here that I didn't say for levels 11-15. Fight crabs from 14/15 - 17ish, then move to pugils on the beach.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_14-16ish.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_16-20ish.jpg

Mind the banshee's though. If you get links or goblin aggro, take one for the team and provoke the damn thing. But don't just stand there after you provoke, start running to the zone. Try not to hit it though, cause it will then head back to the party and start killing them too. I say this because far too often i see entire parties having to zone because of links or goblin aggro, causing tons of downtime and frustrated party members. If you voke and zone it yourself, this not only makes the party member respect you more but it also helps keep moral from going in the red. Also, at level 20 you can opt the ninja sub for more evasion and faster weapon skill leveling. Don't forget your meat kabobs either, the +atk really helps.

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Gear for these levels, the new harness sets now have evasion +1 on the +1 versions, get these if you can. Bone +1 armor at level 16, royal footman's clogs at level 20 if you don't have leaping boots, if your extremely rich use an /equip macro to use stider boots when you pull, scentless armlets at level 16, macro bone +1 rings at 16 if you want to use crossbow for pulling, use bone earrings at 16 for +atk. again, keep both sword and daggers leveled to cap. At 20 switch knives to Decurion's or Mercenary's for the extra acc, decurion preferred for lower delay. go for the small sword at level 19 for more dex.

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*Important Macro: Equip Switch - Feet
line 1 - /equip Feet "Strider Boots"

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Preferred party setups in the Dunes:
war/mnk, pld/war, and nin/war are your obvious best choices for tank. Nin/war would be the best ONLY if they aren't cheap and use utsusemi: ichi at level 12. Don't automatically think they are cheap though, they may just not deem the party worthy of their precious ninjitsu tools, I say this from personal experience. If your subbing war, which you should, please be sure to provoke while the nin/war is casting. This helps a ton, and if your with random people you don't know, you will likely be the only one that does it.
thf/war, mnk/war, drg/war, sam/war, drk/war are all your basic support melee types at this level. really, none of these are any better than any of the others this early in the game. get whomever has the best gear, hopefully he has a higher job that helped pay for the gear and thus has more expirience than your average Dune exper.
rng/war and blm/whm act as damage dealer pretty much the entire game. blms are noticed less at higher levels though. really if you consider the delay on rng weapons their damage really isn't as great as many think. anyway, rngs are great at this level, but blms can also act as support healers.
smn/whm, rdm/whm, brd/whm, and blm/whm are all support healers. smn has most mp, but no cure 2. rdm is basically support melee this early, they opt the whm sub, however, to get parties. personally, i'd believe that a rdm should never sub anything other than blm, since they are debuffers, but at this level no matter. the brd/whm would be the preferred out of this group of support healers, for their status boosting songs, namely army's paeon 1 and 2 for hp regen, sword madrigal, knight's minne, and sheepfoe mambo if you have a nin/war tank.
whm/blm or whm/smn are basically your ONLY choices for main healer. obviously, the smn sub would be the preferred choice with more mp. do not think, however, that you absolutely must have a whm. 2 support healers can do the same job easily, especially if they are taru.
really, the best setup for a thf party build, if they can get it, would be 2 nin/wars, 2 blm/whms, 1 whm/smn. another good one would be 2 nin/wars, 1 brd/whm, 1 blm/whm, 1 whm/smn. blm/whm is a MUST when your party moves on to the crabs in the Dunes. 2 blink tanks are always great. 2 whm/blms are also great for less downtime and emergencies.

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On a side note, Buburimu Peninsula is basically the same as the Dunes, but much less crowded.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...muPeninsula.jpg

I personally never camped there so I couldn't mark good camping spots. What I can tell you though is that mighty rarabs are basically like the lizards in the Dunes. Level on them until 13 or so then try the goblins and zus in the area. These mobs can be found near the Tahrongi Canyon zone around the outpost.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ea_11-14ish.jpg

Now you can try to lvl on this areas snippers, as well as bull dhalmel and the harder goblins in this area:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ea_14-17ish.jpg

And finally you can move on to the shoal pugils in this area:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ea_17-20ish.jpg

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Something that most ppl won't tell you is that Korroloka Tunnel is the absolute BEST place to level from 15-20. If you can get a party willing to go here, this would be the preferred leveling area.

However, due to not having much experience camping there, yeah it's that unknown, I'm unable to give camp locations. In fact, I haven't even been in the Tunnel since I first went to get my teleport-altep crystal, I'll show you how to do that later. Anyway, I've posted a map showing the locations of the only mobs I can remember in the area.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ea_15-20ish.jpg

Start on the land worms until 17ish, then try the seeker bats. Combats are a little harder and shouldn't be tried until closing in on 20.

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Sub-Jobs: This is something your really should get before you leave the Dunes or the Peninsula.Quest becomes available at level 18.

Selbina: talk to Isacio at G-10.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...bina_Subjob.jpg

You must bring him 3 items.
Crab Apron - dropped by snippers
Damselfly Worm - dropped by damselflys
Magicked Skull - dropped by ghouls

Generally, the skull is the hardest part to get since ghouls only spawn at night, and there are very few. The best way to get this skull, that I have found, is to get a 40+ thief or paladin to take you to Gusgen Mines. Which is found directly east of the teleport-dem crag.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...atHighlands.jpg

Mhaura: talk to Vera at G-10. It's said she only appears in the evening or at night.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...aura_Subjob.jpg

You must bring her 3 items, believe they have to be done 1 at a time.
Wild Rabbit's Tail - dropped by mighty rarabs
Dhalmel Saliva - dropped by bull dhalmels
Bloody Robe - dropped by bogies

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Levels 20-25: Ok so your out of the Dunes, FINALLY!!! Only to find yourself in Qufim Island...bah >< only for 5 levels though. Worms and crabs at/near the entrance and at the pond are good to level on from 19-22ish. Mind the banshees on the beach, and at the pond. A good tip for leveling at the pond safely is to move to the center of the pond as soon as night falls to avoid banshee aggro.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_19-22ish.jpg

Move on to Delkfutt's Tower entrance area, and fight gigas and pugils from 22-25ish.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_22-25ish.jpg

Also, there are a few good camps inside Delkfutt's Tower on the lower level. These gigas are good from 22-24ish. Mind the notorious monster in the main room!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_22-24ish.jpg


Anyway, war sub is still good, at 24, though, you'll wanna switch to nin sub if you can. One of thief's major shining points is their pulling abilities. With ninja sub you have utsusemi and more evasion, meaning you won't get hit while pulling.

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Gear for these levels start to get more status boosting oriented. Beetle gear +1 at 21, emperor hairpin at 24 if you have it (this is one of the BEST most useful items in the game you MUST get it eventually), nomad's mantle at 24 if you have it, battle slops at 23 or republic subligar at 25, winged boots at 24 if you can afford, kingdom clogs at 25, spike necklace is an extremely important peice of gear at 21, beetle earrings are also good at 21. the decurion's is still nice but corrosive dagger becomes available at 23, federation knives are also a very nice option at 25. may switch sword to flame sword if you wish. the dex is still important.

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*Important Macro 1: Utsusemi: Ichi
line 1 - /p Casting Spell Utsusemi Ichi now! TP =
line 2 - /ma "Utsusemi: Ichi"
line 3 - /wait 45
line 4 - /t Utsusemi Ichi Ready!

*Important Macro 2: Flee
line 1 - /ja "Flee"

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At 25 you'll get Flee. Now you can camp leaping lizzy more seriously. Your widescan should be a little bigger, probably big enough to cover entire pop area at least. Camp with thf/rng, and use either a ranged weapon or steal for the claim. Look above for more camping info.

Another notorious monster that you could possibly look into camping at this level would be Stray Mary in Konschtat Highlands. This is a drop we don't need, but it's worth a decent about of bank at the auction house.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...d/StrayMary.jpg

This is me killing her and not getting the drop. I think I'm 0/3 on her.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo.../StrayMary1.jpg

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Preferred party setups in Qufim Island:
war/mnk, war/nin, pld/war, nin/war are all still your obvious choices for tank. nin/war still preferred due to utsusemi. war/nin preferred after 24, however, due to utsusemi and more damage. war/nin and nin/war are now called "blink" tanks.
thf/war, thf/nin, drg/war, sam/war, drk/war are still basic support melee. drk/war is becoming damage dealer slowly. sam/war can backup tank.
rng/war, rng/nin, drk/war, blm/whm are damage dealers at this level. blms and rngs are preferred
smn/whm, rdm/whm, brd/whm, and blm/whm are still backup healers. rdms should start subbing blm around this level and become more of a debuffer rather than backup healer. brd/whm would still be preferred for army's paeon 1 and 2 for hp regen, knight's minne 2 for more def, foe lullaby for links or aggro, ice threnody for more blm damage, and valor minuet 2 for more atk.
smn/whm, whm/blm, and whm/smn are considered main healers at this level. smn/whm could be preferred at level 22 since they will have cure 2. Whm, however, still has perks such as regen and cure 3 at 21, cure 3 shouldn't be needed though. They also get raise at 25.
again, the best setup for a thf party build, if they can get it, would be 2 "blink" tanks, 2 blm/whms, 1 whm/smn. another good one would be 2 "blink" tanks, 1 brd/whm, 1 blm/whm, 1 whm/smn. blm/whm is a MUST when your party moves on to the crabs in this area, but not needed for worms or gigas, although they help speed things up. 2 blink tanks are always great. 2 whm/blms are also great for less downtime and emergencies.

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Levels 25-30: Now things start to get ugly. You thought Valkurm Dunes was bad, wait till you get to Kazham. Fight in Yuhtunga Jungle until 27, mandies from 25 - 27 goblins around 27. follow my advise: STAY EITHER TO THE SIDES OF THE ZONE ENTRANCE OR LEVEL BEHIND THE WALL AT THE SIGNET FLAG. Do that and you will die from goblin trains a lot less.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_24-27ish.jpg

Move to Yhoator Jungle at 27, mandies 27-30, goblins 30 - 33.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_27-33ish.jpg

Here is are some connection maps to help some of the newer people find their way to and from Yhoator Jungle. The one coming back from Yhoator I'm not 100% sure about, so I will check that later.

Going to: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...hoatorRoute.jpg

Coming from:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/booglified/YhoatorToYuhtungaRoute.jpg

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Hopefully, you have some good gear by now. I've always tried to keep the best of the best gear for my thief, been slacking a bit lately though since 20+ mil is a little hard to raise. anyway, mercenary captain's headgear or noct beret at 30, mercenary captain's doublet at 30, mercenary captain's belt at 30, keep battle gloves, noct brais or keep republic subligar, noct gaiters or leaping/winged boots if you have them, genin earring also become available at 30. federation knives are still extremely nice, as well as the corrosive dagger, but choose royal squire's dagger or mercenary captain's kukri if you need more acc. switch sword to mithran scimitar at 28 or centurion's sword at 30.

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*Important Macro 1: Sneak Attack + Trick Attack
line 1 - /p Sneak Attack Trick Attack TP =
line 2 - /ja "Sneak Attack"
line 3 - /wait 1
line 4 - /ja "Trick Attack
line 5 - wait 55
line 6 - /t Sneak Attack Trick Attack Ready!

*Important Macro 2: Sneak Attack + Trick Attack + Fast Blade
line 1 - /p Sneak Attack Trick Attack Fast Blade on in 3 sec!
line 2 - /ja "Sneak Attack"
line 3 - /wait 1
line 4 - /ja "Trick Attack
line 5 - /wait 1
line 6 - /ws "Fast Blade"

*Important Macro 3: Sneak Attack + Trick Attack + Wasp Sting
line 1 - /p Sneak Attack Trick Attack Wasp Sting on in 3 sec!
line 2 - /ja "Sneak Attack"
line 3 - /wait 1
line 4 - /ja "Trick Attack
line 5 - /wait 1
line 6 - /ws "Wasp Sting"

Note: Fast Blade and Wasp Sting are the ONLY two weapon skills you should be using that stack with sneak attack until you get Viper Bite at level 33.

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At level 30 you get the trick attack ability. This is extremely handy for the tanks at this level, since they all have trouble holding aggro. To do an initial sata properly follow this party stance setup:

Mages Voker 1 Tank Thief

The mages don't have to be in line with the mob, but they do need to be some distance away. All melee, rng included, need to be in a as STRAIGHT a line as possible. A good thief can time his sata to do at least 2 per fight. 1 at the start to put hate on the tank, 1 for the skillchain. It's important to get your timing down as thiefs. Remember there is a 1 min timer in between sata's. Use good judgement and you should be fine. Personally, I like to sata either before the pull if it's a short pull, or a few seconds after pull if it's a long pull. Generally, this is why the thief in the party should ALWAYS be the puller, because the rng or other puller doesn't know your sata timer.

To do the sata skillchain properly follow this party stance setup:

Mages Thief Voker 1 Tank

This is, of course, only if the tank can hold prober aggro. If he can't try to set it up so that you sata+ws the tank. Having a nuke happy blm or rng in the party is a good sign that you would stay behind the tank, then when skillchain time comes around tell the rng to try to get aggro. If it's a nuke happy blm, tell them to slow down or your going to kick them...there is no excuse for overnuking.

It's also possible to solo the Golden Bat in Valkurm Dunes around this level range.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...d/GoldenBat.jpg

And a picture of his mug.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo.../GoldenBat1.jpg

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Levels 30-35: You've just learned probably THE MOST important thief job ability in the game. Master this skill and your timing, and you will go far as thief. Stay in Yhoator Jungle until level 33, I know your dying to leave (haha get it...dying, I made a funny) but exp is too hard in other areas. Fight goblins, yes goblins, from 30-33.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_27-33ish.jpg

At 30 you can get advanced jobs, so if you don't have ninja yet go get it, since it will be the preferred sub from now on. An important thing happens at level 33, YOU GET VIPER BITE!!! Yes! your first Real weapon skill. Now get ready to use it for the next 27 levels straight, lol. Once you get viper bite the invites will be constant, because it does crazy damage for this level and closes one of the best skillchains in the game...Distortion.

At level 33 you also get to leave Kazham (/cry), and head to the even better Garlaige Citadel. Haha you thought it was going to get better didn't you? I think SE wanted to make us feel at home in all the exp zones.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_32-36ish.jpg

Anyway, fight siege bats and borer beetles here till 37, and DON'T fall into any holes or you WILL die.

Note: About pulling; I haven't really mentioned it yet, and plan to go into more detail later, but it's VERY IMPORTANT to know 3 things while pulling in the citadel.
1) never pull a mob from over a hole or near a doorway.
2) never pull wingrats or citadel bats.
3) when someone trains the zone with bats, and they will...often, only pull beetles.

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Gear for these levels doesn't change much. Federation headgear is good at 34 emperor hairpin is still the best, federation doublet as good as mercenary captain's i'd keep merc's, battle gloves still the best hand gear, federation subligar still the best, noct or mercenary captain's gaiters but leaping/winged boots still the best, drone earrings at 35. long boomerang at 33 is good with agi +2, corrosive knive are at 31 but the kukri is at 34, federation knives still the best until federation kukris at 34. basically, you'll stop using swords in parties after you get viper bite.

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*Important Macro 1: Sneak Attack + Trick Attack + Viper Bite
line 1 - /p Sneak Attack Trick Attack Viper Bite on in 3 sec!
line 2 - /ja "Sneak Attack"
line 3 - /wait 1
line 4 - /ja "Trick Attack
line 5 - /wait 1
line 6 - /ws "Viper Bite"

* Not So Important Macro 2: Mug
line 1 - /ja "Mug"

*Important Macro 3: Equip Switch - Earrings
line 1 - /equip Ear1 "Beetle Earring +1"
line 2 - /equip Ear2 "Beetle Earring +1"

*Important Macro 4: Equip Switch - Earrings
line 1 - /equip Ear1 "Drone Earring"
line 2 - /equip Ear2 "Drone Earring"

Note: It's important to learn your equip macros early. Any truely good theif at my level (66) carries at least 2 possibly 3 sets of gear, and you need to be able to change these on the fly. Also, you may be thinking that you will lose tp if you change gear. That's ONLY if you change a weapon. You can change all gear other than weapons with no tp loss.

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Another not-so-common place to level is the Eastern Altepa Desert. With the right party members, and some smart pulling, you can theoretically level from 26-37 entirely in East Altepa. Enough good things have been said about this area to make it worth a look at least. Plus, you'll need the altepa crystal for later levels.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ltepaDesert.jpg

Level on giant spiders near the zone until 30ish, then hit up the antican auxiliarius, faber, and funditor. Sand beetles aren't bad at around 31, but desert dhalmels can be hard until 34ish. STAY TO THE EASTERN SIDE OF THIS AREA!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ea_26-37ish.jpg

I've posted 2 very important connection maps if your planning to level here, or decide to explore.

The first is a connection map showing how to get from Bastok Mines to Eastern Altepa Desert *on foot*, which you will have to do the first time anyway. Be extremely careful of aggro if you try this solo, or even in a party getting close to the crystal.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...epaCrystal1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...epaCrystal2.jpg

The next map shows how to get from the tele-altepa crystal to the Rabao zone. Use even more caution here since the mobs gaurding the Rabao zone are a tad more dangerous than most of the mobs in Eastern Altepa.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...stalToRabao.jpg

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Around this level, 30ish, you can probably safely solo Huu Mjuu the Torrent, in Giddeus, who drops the monster signa. Sure, this isn't an item that we really need as thiefs, but who doesn't like an extra 300k or so in the bank?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...utheTorrent.jpg

This is me killing him solo. Judging from the gear, I can be much over 30 at this point. My record on him is around 2/44, so the drop rate isn't the greatest.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...theTorrent1.jpg

At 35 you get the new ability mug. it's not extremely useful...ever. Just remember you can only mug beastman type mobs to get anything.

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Levels 35-40: This job is only getting better and better huh? As I said before stay in Garlaige Citadel until 37, then head to Crawler's Nest in Rolanberry Fields. Exp on workers till about 38-39ish, then move on to nest beetles and doom scorpions from 39-42ish.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_37-42ish.png

Note: Know your escape routes, just incase the blm isn't fast enough with escape spell. Workers are non-aggro linking mobs, meaning they won't aggro you but will link with other workers like mad. Same goes for nest beetles. One more thing, if anyone hits or pulls a caveberry, run your ass off.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...d/CN_Escape.png

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At this point you should know what to look for in your gear. Strive for the best...always. Dex and agi boost gear are extremely important. If you don't have an emperor hairpin you need mercenary captain's headgear. You need a mercenary captain's doublet. You need battle gloves. If you don't have repulic or bastokian subligar you need either noct brias or republic or bastokian cuisses. If you don't have leaping/winged boots you need noct gaiters or mercenary captain's gaiters. You need a spike necklace. You need either wing or drone earrings and either beetle or beetle +1 earrings. You need either balance or deft (level 36) rings. You need a mercenary captain's belt, but a sarashi would be preferred if you can afford it. You need a nomad's mantle. Corrosive baselard becomes available at 40.

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It's possible you may be able to camp valkurm emperor at this lvl, though it may be tough to solo. Try at your own risk. He pops over the entire whitebone sands area of Valkurm Dunes. There will be many campers...competition over this nm is extremely fierce.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...kurmEmperor.jpg

Here is a picture of me fighting him at 45ish. I think I got my first drop in this picture, if I remember correctly.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...urmEmperor1.jpg

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Levels 40-45: These levels are some of the most important for most other jobs, particularly rdms. Stay on nest beetles till 42 then head down to the soldier crawlers in the lower area. Many people party in the secret room along the left wall. Everything aggro's down here except the hornflys. Be forewarned: PULLING HERE IS A BITCH. This is where you will get most of you pulling skills, by pulling skills I mean avoiding aggro and links on the pull. Fight soldiers till 44-45, possibly move to blazer beetles at 45.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_43-48ish.png

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A neat trick is learned at level 45 that most people think is a useless ability until they've seen it used in a party situation. Hide ability is learned at 45. I'm going to let you in on a little secret on how to use hide that some of the other thiefs won't tell you. well, have you noticed that sometimes when doing the skillchain the mob turns away from the tank and toward you and your sata+ws buddy, causing your sata+ws to suck balls? Hide solves this problem...only on sight aggro mobs that don't pursue by sent DAMN YOU SE >
*Important Macro 1: Sneak Attack + Trick Attack + Hide
line 1 - /p Sneak Attack Trick Attack Hide TP =
line 2 - /ja "Sneak Attack"
line 3 - /wait 1
line 4 - /ja "Trick Attack"
line 5 - /wait 1
line 6 - /ja "Hide"

*Important Macro 2: Viper Bite
line 1 - /p Viper Bite on Now!
line 2 - /ws "Viper Bite"

If you hadn't noticed by now lag can mess up your macros. This happens to me all the time, and there is nothing that you can do about it. Just make sure to say something when it happens or people will think your a bad thief. Really, they need to make it to where you can put .5s or something into your waits to help fix this problem, but until then you need to make separate sata and ws macros for when this happens. Since you just got hide, why not make them now?

Note: When doing this trick it's important to hit your ws macro as soon as your hide is up. If you wait too long you will just do a regular sata, and then your ws will hit by itself sucking very badly too. Best way to time this is to hit your ws macro while your character is still in the hide animation.

*Important Macro 3: Hide
line 1 - /ja "Hide"

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The absolute BEST alternate area for these levels that comes to mind is Gustav Tunnel from Valkurm Dunes secret beach. Exp and levels here are so fast, you'll never want to leave...but you'll have to around level 44. Bats near the zone till 42, goblins and flies till 44.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo..._Area_40-44.png

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Levels 45-50: Hopefully, you've already started your af which is some crappy knife at level 40. Also, if you happen to get aggro'd by an exoray go ahead and try to kill it. They are extremely hard, and i woudln't recommend pulling them but they drop an item that you will need for the level 50 cap quest. You should be fighting blazer beetles by now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_43-48ish.png

Mushussus are good to level on, but you could move to rumble crawlers if you would preferred. However, they are at a new camp that's pretty hard to get to. These mobs should be good to 47-48ish, then move to helm beetles right near the rumblers.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ls_48-50ish.png

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A good alternate camp for these levels would definitely be Quicksand Caves. However, each entrance, while having the same mobs, contain progressively harder mobs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ltepaDesert.jpg

Levels 46-48ish enter the northeast entrance at J-7 on the map, or dot 1, and kill spiders, beetles, and finally anticans.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo..._Area_46-48.jpg

From 48-50 your going to want to head down to the southern entrance at H-10 on the map, or dot 3, and kill anticans and beetles. I don't recall seeing any spiders.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v610/boo...ea_48-50ish.jpg

Really there isn't much more to tell you about the job at the moment. By this point you should know enough about the job to have a good idea of what you need in gear, and what to do in parties. If your still confused, you should probably give up and try another job. Below is more random tidbits of useful information.

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When to Pull: Ok some mages like to be real bossy about telling the puller when they can pull. Well guess what, who knows more about pulling you or them? That's right you do. Why? Because you read my guide, right? ... Yeah, anyway, when is a good time to pull? Well, before I was a thief, I was both a blm and a whm...galka at that. I learned when to pull from my personal experience as a mage. These numbers apply to exp parties levels 30+. Also keep in mind, pulling times change mob to mob, party to party. What I mean is pull time changes when pulling T-IT mobs, and depending on how fast your party can kill those mobs. Another factor that must be considered is the mob high def or high evasion? Generally, def and evaison aside, it's safe to pull a T or VT mob when the main healer is at 100 mp and/or the backup healer is at 50-75 mp. Hell that's probably overcompensating. On an IT mob, def and evasion aside, safe when main is 125+ backup 100ish. Again, probably overcompensating. This is in a standard party. If your in an above avg party that is pulling off chain 4 easy, drop those mps by 25 each. I never consider blm mp, because a good blm should have at least 100 mp at end of fight anyway, if they don't that means either their gear sucks or they over nuke. Really, those same numbers should apply to high def and high evasion mobs, however, when pulling these mobs use caution. Be a smart theif and you should know when to pull.

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Equip Macros:
/equip Head "name of gear"
/equip Neck "name of gear" not confirmed
/equip Ear1 "name of gear"
/equip Ear2 "name of gear"
/equip Body "name of gear"
/equip Hands "name of gear"
/equip Ring1 "name of gear" not confirmed
/equip Ring2 "name of gear" not confirmed
/equip Back "name of gear"
/equip Waist "name of gear"
/equip Legs "name of gear"
/equip Feet "name of gear"
/equip Main "name of gear" not confirmed
/equip Sub "name of gear" corrected
/equip Range "name of gear"
/equip Ammo "name of gear"

Note: When putting in the name of the gear, be sure to use exact spelling and capitalization.

This is the end of my theif's guide v.1 I may update and add more info later.

[Shenya]

Rollingthunder :
*Important Macro: Equip Switch - Feet
line 1 - /equip Feet "Strider Boots"

*Important Macro 2: Sneak Attack + Trick Attack + Fast Blade
line 1 - /p Sneak Attack Trick Attack Fast Blade on in 3 sec!
line 2 - /ja "Sneak Attack"
line 3 - /wait 1
line 4 - /ja "Trick Attack
line 5 - /wait 1
line 6 - /ws "Fast Blade"

*Important Macro 1: Sneak Attack + Trick Attack + Viper Bite
line 1 - /p Sneak Attack Trick Attack Viper Bite on in 3 sec!
line 2 - /ja "Sneak Attack"
line 3 - /wait 1
line 4 - /ja "Trick Attack
line 5 - /wait 1
line 6 - /ws "Viper Bite"

First off anyone who has strider boots can afford to get PLed to level40...
Secondly the wait times between SA-TA, SA-WS and TA-WS don't work with 1second for most people. I for one have /wait 1.5 for my waits, but i sometimes can get away with having a 1second wait before WSs. It all depends on how fast a connection you have, if you have a slow connection /wait 1.5 maynot work and you might need /wait 1.75, or if you have a fast connection you might be able to pull off /wait 1 between all those nice abilities. To comment again, if you have a slow connection and need to have a /wait 1.75 it is wise to make sure your timing is correct, which takes practice, so that your character doesn't attack after you use SA-TA and before you use your WS which takes away from skill chain damage. This is one example that skill comes from your experience and that no one can teach you how exactly to do it correctly.

Other then those i'd say you did an A+ job, nice work.
/cheer

[Rollingthunder]

wait how do you do .5 and .75 sec waits? i didn't even know that was possible. if so, my macros lag up occasionally and that could fix the problem, but i'm using 1 sec waits atm.

also, i don't believe in or support pwr lvling. sorry i didn't take cheaters like these into consideration. personally, if i found out a person was pwr lvled to 40, i would strongly doubt his abilities at that job. that being said, if he made even the slightest slipup at his job, i would not tolerate it and kick him from the pt most likely never to pt with him again...yes i take pwr lvlers that serious. my entire career in ffxi, around 121 days, i've been pwr lvled an entire 3 lvls total, and i didn't ask for it then. hell, i didn't even want it. as far as pwr lvling other ppl, i've only done that 2 times. one was my roomate, the other was someone who kinda forced me after helping with a cap item.

sorry for the rant, pwr lvling is one of my pet peeves. i used the strider boots as an example, nothing more.

[Andy]

am i the only one who prefers to have their sa/ta/ws macros seperate? lol

oh, and its "sub" not "off" for the equip macros.

it says the name inthe box in light grey in the equiptment menu of each slot

[Rollingthunder]

awesome thanks. i knew i had some wrong. thus the edit thing at the bottom.

[Answer]

One thing i noticed was you said only Fast Blade and Wasp Sting till Viper Bite which i disagree Combo is just as good if not better than those 2. Anyway great job on the guide.

[Plaguekitty]

am i the only one who prefers to have their sa/ta/ws macros seperate? lol

Im a bit tired, so do you mean like
ALT+1
/ja "Sneak Attack"
/wait 58
/echo [Sneak Attack Ready!]

Alt+2
/ja "Trick Attack"
/wait 58
/echo [Trick Attack Ready!]

Alt+3
/p Using Generic WS here on , 3 Seconds later!
/wait 3
/ws "Generic WS here"

thats what i do, becuase i find my macros lag up a bit, and ill hit my SAnTA ones and only SA will go off, or TA. I also have a
/recast Sneak Attack
/recast Trick Attack
incase i needed to through them off in a pinch, but i love doing it that way.. damn macro lag. Good Guide, other then what others pointed out. (P.S. Putting the equip macro for strider boots sets a standard for thiefs most thiefs cant obtain! /cry)

[Lokiii]

::two tumbs up:: i read the whole thing and thought it kicked ass.... ^^ GJ

[Nejii]

Shadowstitch also stacks with SA TA, I was hitting it for 425-450 on Mandragoras in Yhoater @lvl 30.

Also, it is best that you make your macro for SA TA and then a seperate macro for your weapon skill. That way if you get any lag from a cure or song, you still manage to hit off your weapon skill.

Great guide though ^^.

also, i would like to suggest, from lvl 1-6 Thf to sub Mnk and use Hand to hand. After level 6 or I found it best to use Sword and sub Warrior.

Also best to remember, Highest damaging dagger in main hand, stat boosting dagger in offhand for better SA TA results.

[Andy]

Plaguekitty :

am i the only one who prefers to have their sa/ta/ws macros seperate? lol

Im a bit tired, so do you mean like
ALT+1
/ja "Sneak Attack"
/wait 58
/echo [Sneak Attack Ready!]

Alt+2
/ja "Trick Attack"
/wait 58
/echo [Trick Attack Ready!]

Alt+3
/p Using Generic WS here on , 3 Seconds later!
/wait 3
/ws "Generic WS here"

thats what i do, becuase i find my macros lag up a bit, and ill hit my SAnTA ones and only SA will go off, or TA. I also have a
/recast Sneak Attack
/recast Trick Attack
incase i needed to through them off in a pinch, but i love doing it that way.. damn macro lag. Good Guide, other then what others pointed out. (P.S. Putting the equip macro for strider boots sets a standard for thiefs most thiefs cant obtain! /cry)

exactly! except without the /echo's, and no /wat on the ws.
i just have a macro i call "timer", which i would suggest, since it works real nice :x

/recast "Steal"
/recast "Hide"
/recast "Sneak Attack"
/recast "Sneak Attack"
/recast "Trick Attack"
/recast "Trick Attack"

the first 2 lines are optional, really. i like to have SA and TA take 2 lines each, for emphasis, and it makes it easier to read imo.

also, the /recast command is about 5 seconds slow, so keep that in mind.

[Rollingthunder]

most of what's in that guide are things that i personally did. the mnk sub is something i never tried, but yeah i've heard that it's pretty good.

what i did, was emphasize the lvling or certain weapons that you will use later in the game. thf/mnk isn't very common at high lvls, neither is using h2h weapons.

actually, i kinda lied. i tried the swords vs. knives pre-viper, and my knives always did about the same damage but had less delay. so now my sword is horridly underlvled and i have no option of using it in an exp party. that's not cool.

note that i did show how to make the sata and ws macros separate. i actually never had a problem with macro lag until post 55ish. now i get it all the time, and getting used to all separate macros may be hard. i will try this, though, when i get my lazy ass around to changing my macros.

shadowstitch is definitely an option that i should have probably listed, but didn't because this isn't something that i personally used. so i have no train of reference, and can't vouch for it being used. if your in a more experience party, i could see using it to make detonation scs, but the avg pts in kazham can't sc. in fact, i don't think scing is even practical till the citadel or the nest.

btw lokii, nice sig.

[Shenya]

Rollingthunder :
shadowstitch is definitely an option that i should have probably listed, but didn't because this isn't something that i personally used. so i have no train of reference, and can't vouch for it being used. if your in a more experience party, i could see using it to make detonation scs, but the avg pts in kazham can't sc. in fact, i don't think scing is even practical till the citadel or the nest.

That and the fact that if your soloing WS and useing shadowstitch your a moron because it doesn't add any additional damage... if you don't believe me try useing it by itself. 0 damage right? Therefore don't use it, not even for SCs.

[Tibora]

Your guide sucks I hate you You smell bad I want to go home

oh wait.. i mean its good. typo.

[Plaguekitty]

if you don't believe me try useing it by itself. 0 damage right? Therefore don't use it, not even for SCs.

Wow, you must suck, i accidently sent off a Shadowstitch (non SAnTA) and did 135 Damage to an IT Mob.Thf/Nin, only kabob, so yea.. oh and was 150~% TP

[Rollingthunder]

lol tib, this is what i've been doing while not playing ffxi. haha, driving me nutz. anyway, i've added more junk, maps and such, and have more updates coming. likely a suggested skillchain list along with possible sc partners, and other things of that nature.

[Shenya]

wow then i must be very bad lol I've done shadowstitch and hit 0 when I tryed using it in khazam (sp) ; ; sorry for the incorrect info my bad. Also sorry for calling anyone who used it a moron, I really thought it didn't do any damage.


Ps. Make this a sticky!! thf doesn't have a sticky for it yet!!

[Plaguekitty]

wow then i must be very bad lol I've done shadowstitch and hit 0 when I tryed using it in khazam (sp) ; ; sorry for the incorrect info my bad. Also sorry for calling anyone who used it a moron, I really thought it didn't do any damage

Dont let it get to ya eh, it seemed kinda random, thats the MOST ive done, ive done 0 before, usualy i hit around 50~60, but its atleast better then a normal hit lol >.>

[Shenya]

ya i went out and tryed it on some tigers that are tw------- at lvl56thf and i hit them for 78dmg non sa/ta at 150%tp so for you to hit an IT non sa/ta for 130dmg with 150%tp is a lil weird <.<

[Rollingthunder]

added a bunch of nm info, and a tp macro <.< god i'm retarded. how do you forget the tp macro? oh, and since no one has mentioned it yet, yeah i mispelled thief...as i said i'm retarded. keep reading!

[Shenya]

damn this really needs to become a sticky... <.< where are those people who do that when you need them?