Thief Endgame Gear Guide

CAUTION!

This article is only a guide. Information expressed in a guide is usually more opinion than fact and should be taken as such. Guides are written by players, based upon their experiences, successes and mistakes, and are meant to aid other players. However, there may be differing opinions than those expressed in a guide. Strategies and information in guides may not work for everyone.

All credit goes to Malizia for their Endgame Thief Gear Guide's Level 75 version which this is directly based off of, to be edited for HorizonXI. Please contribute to this guide as needed.

What kind of equipment sets do THFs carry? For each set I'll include a baseline (maximum effectiveness for minimal time/effort/gil) and a higher quality set. Often times it's not really feasible to determine the "best" item for any set, so you'll have to find out what you like yourself! Prices are based on HorizonXI server at the time of writing. Finally, two notes:

• Make sure you can swap in your TH4 pieces at any time with any of these sets. I tend to full-time these with monsters that die quickly.
• Skill > Equipment. Make sure you complete your roles as a THF!
  
  

Daggers

DD Daggers:

• Mandau: Sure, it's really nice. It's the best DD dagger hands down. Oh, and then there's the price...
• Blau Dolch: Excellent mainhand, excellent offhand. If you have the gil for this, you won't be disappointed. Many THFs mainhand this and offhand Thief's Knife, and that's a fine choice.
• X's Knife: Very hard to get - it's a low drop rate from a post-CoP quest that's a lot like an ENM. But increased critical hit damage! Start spamming Evisceration instead of Dancing Edge, but make sure you have the gear to get those crits! Works offhand as well.
• Perseus's Harpe: High base damage - second only to Mandau.
• Martial Knife: The premium mainhand dagger for those starting endgame. Makes your weaponskills work as if you were at 2000TP instead of 1000TP - very good with Shark Bite. Cheap and strong. Can even surpass the Blau Dolch in situations where you are only Weaponskilling (building TP on other mobs or using /SAM for Meditate).
• Thief's Knife: NM drop, occasionally attacks twice, making it the best offhand dagger for building TP. Debatably the best offhand overall, along with...
• Sirocco Kukri: NM drop, and lowest delay possible on a dagger. Very nice offhand.
• Magnet Knife / Misericorde: low on gil? This is a super-cheap starting combo for DD.
• Vajra: Expensive and hard to get! Gives a 10% bonus to SA/TA.
• Azoth / Harpe-style daggers: An okay stop-gap if you can get them cheap.
  
  

Specialty Daggers:

• Bartholomew's Knife: For the +steal, not too hard to get either. Not a DD dagger.

TP Set

There's plenty of debate about how to fine tune this one. Rest assured, you want lots of accuracy, and lots of haste, or haste-like bonuses. You might notice the Homam Corazza Set makes a strong showing here, and getting excellent gear here is challenging because you're competing with so many other jobs.

Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost	Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost
Main Hand	Martial Knife	130K	X's Knife	Requiem of Sin	Body	Rapparee Harness	Brygid the Stylist Returns	Rapparee Harness	Brygid the Stylist Returns
Off Hand	Thief's Knife	Sozu Rogberry (200K)	Thief's Knife	Sozu Rogberry (200K)	Hands	War Gloves +1	90K	Homam Manopolas	Limbus
Ranged	Velocity Bow	?	Ziska's Crossbow	?	Ring 1	Sniper's Ring	300K	Toreador's Ring	600K
Ammo	Acid Bolt	?	Acid Bolt	?	Ring 2	Sniper's Ring	300K	Rajas Ring	Chains of Promathia Missions
Head	Panther Mask	10K	Homam Zucchetto	Limbus	Back	Amemet Mantle	5K	Forager's Mantle	1M
Neck	Nanaa's Lucky Charm	Fill In	Love Torque	Jailer of Love	Waist	Swift Belt	Fomor Codex NM	Speed Belt	King Arthro NM
Ear 1	Spike Earring	35K	Brutal Earring	75 Ancient Beastcoins	Legs	Republic Subligar	15K	Homam Cosciales	Limbus
Ear 2	Spike Earring	35K	Stealth Earring	75 Ancient Beastcoins	Feet	Dragon Leggings	55K	Homam Gambieras	Limbus

Evasion Set

A very important set. This keeps you alive and allows you to pull! You'll often find you don't actually have to use it, but you'll be glad it's there when you need it. The emphasis here is evasion, evasion skill, and AGI, where 2 AGI is one evasion, and evasion and evasion skill are about the same.

Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost	Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost
Main Hand	DD dagger	N/A	DD dagger	N/A	Body	Crow Jupon	25K	Scorpion Harness +1	1M
Off Hand	anything	N/A	anything	N/A	Hands	War Gloves	10K	War Gloves +1	90K
Ranged	Power Crossbow	25K	Ungur Boomerang	Ungur	Ring 1	Emerald Ring	40K	Alert Ring	Farruca Fly
Ammo	anything	N/A	anything	N/A	Ring 2	Emerald Ring	40K	?	N/A
Head	Rainbow Headband	10K	Emperor Hairpin	400K	Back	Bat Cape	90K	Boxer's Mantle	75 Ancient Beastcoins
Neck	Evasion Torque	3K	Evasion Torque	3K	Waist	Mithran Stone	50K	Scouter's Rope	125K
Ear 1	Dodge Earring	45K	Novia Earring	Jailer of Love	Legs	Crow Hose	20K	Raven Hose	200K
Ear 2	Dodge Earring	45K	Suppanomimi	Divine Might	Feet	Dance Shoes	10K	Dance Shoes +1	200K

!!! The below is a work in-progess and may still contain out-of-era equipment !!!

Weaponskill Set

What? A separate weaponskill, sneak attack, and trick attack set?? Sure! If you want to maximize your damage, having three different sets allows you to maximize the potential for each ability, use them separately from each other, and even separate them entirely from your weaponskills. If you're really up for it, you can even have different sets for each of the three weaponskills you'll use: Dancing Edge, Shark Bite, and Evisceration.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of weaponskills, let's talk about how to use them without SATA:

• Dancing Edge is your bread and butter. Five hits, uses DEX and CHR as stats. You'll want to focus on DEX and accuracy here.
• Shark Bite makes light skillchains. Two hits, uses DEX. I'd focus on DEX and attack here, but make sure you have enough accuracy to hit twice!
• Evisceration makes dark skillchains. Five hits, uses DEX, and interestingly enough can score critical hits on each hit! This is extra snazzy if you have, say, an X's Knife (good luck!). Otherwise this is pretty much the same build as Dancing Edge. If you don't have enough DEX to reliably critical hit (at least 120 with gear) you might want to stick to Dancing Edge.
• Mercy Stroke makes fun of the other weaponskills because they don't require a Mandau. If you're special enough to have the relic weapon, you probably don't need this guide! :p But for everyone else who's dreaming about it, you'll want plenty of STR for this build, and of course plenty of gil to spend.
  
  

Let's just do the DE/Evisceration set here; it's decent enough for SB as well and you can always make modifications as you have more gear to play with! The Hecatomb Harness Set does quite nicely here once you get access to Sky and Einherjar / HNM, and the Dragon Harness Set does quite nicely until then. Also, if you thought the TP set was hard to get... wait until you try this one :)

Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost	Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost
Main Hand	DD dagger	N/A	DD dagger	N/A	Body	Dragon Harness	80K	Skadi's Cuirie	Salvage + 13.5M
Off Hand	DD dagger	N/A	DD dagger	N/A	Hands	Rogue's Armlets	AF	Hecatomb Mittens	550K + N. Hands
Ranged	none	N/A	none	N/A	Ring 1	Spinel Ring	80K	Zilant Ring	Yilbegan
Ammo	Bomb Core	50K	Fire Bomblet	1M	Ring 2	Spinel Ring	80K	Rajas Ring	Chains of Promathia Missions
Head	War Beret	24K	Hecatomb Cap	400K + N. Head	Back	Amemet Mantle	5K	Cuchulain's Mantle	5.5M
Neck	Spike Necklace	10K	Love Torque	Jailer of Love	Waist	Warwolf Belt	60K	Cuchulain's Belt	2.5M
Ear 1	Coral Earring	8K	Brutal Earring	75 Ancient Beastcoins	Legs	Dragon Subligar	30K	Hecatomb Subligar	300K + N. Legs
Ear 2	Coral Earring	8K	Pixie Earring	King Behemoth	Feet	Rogue's Poulaines	AF	Hecatomb Leggings	550K + N. Feet

TOTAL:
Baseline: DEX +32, Accuracy +7, Attack +42, STR +9, costs 435K
HQ: DEX +57, Accuracy +24, Dagger Skill +7, Double Attack +5%, Attack +41, STR +33, costs 24M+

Sneak Attack Set

Take your WS set, and get rid of Accuracy for more DEX, STR and Attack! There's also a lively debate on the usefulness of -delay/haste items (such as Suppanomimi and Skadi's Visor) and +Movement Speed items here. They aren't as potent as the Hecatomb Harness Set, but they potentially increase the number of attacks you get in general (for -delay/haste items) and increase the likelihood that you can actually land your sneak attack (movement speed items). Remember how I said no one's going to line up your sneak attack for you anymore? And that mobs are likely to turn when you least want them to? Well with +movement speed you can turn around (to avoid missing your sneak attack), run around to their new backside, and actually hit them for your spike damage much faster than if you, say, wore pieces from the Dusk Jerkin Set. At least that's the theory anyways... you'll have to decide what's best for you :p

Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost	Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost
Main Hand	DD dagger	N/A	DD dagger	N/A	Body	Dragon Harness	80K	Dragon Harness +1	3.5M
Off Hand	DD dagger	N/A	DD dagger	N/A	Hands	Rogue's Armlets	AF	Skadi's Bazubands	Salvage + 1M
Ranged	none	N/A	none	N/A	Ring 1	Spinel Ring	80K	Zilant Ring	Yilbegan
Ammo	Bomb Core	50K	Bomb Core	50K	Ring 2	Spinel Ring	80K	Rajas Ring	Chains of Promathia Missions
Head	Walkure Mask	5K	Skadi's Visor	Salvage + 3.5M	Back	Amemet Mantle	5K	Cerberus Mantle +1	8M
Neck	Spike Necklace	10K	Love Torque	Jailer of Love	Waist	Warwolf Belt	60K	Cuchulain's Belt	2.5M
Ear 1	Coral Earring	8K	Pixie Earring	King Behemoth	Legs	Dragon Subligar	30K	Enkidu's Subligar	ZNM Tier 3
Ear 2	Coral Earring	8K	Suppanomimi	Divine Might	Feet	Rogue's Poulaines	AF	Skadi's Jambeaux	Salvage + 220K

TOTAL:
Baseline: DEX +32, Attack +48, STR +9, costs 416K
HQ: DEX +40, Dagger Skill +7, Haste +3%, Dual Wield -5% delay, Attack +65, STR +21, 12% Movement Speed, costs 20M+

Trick Attack Set

Unlike with the other sets, this is going to require completely different equipment. Might want to take your time with this one.

Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost	Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost
Main Hand	DD dagger	N/A	DD dagger	N/A	Body	Dragon Harness	80K	Denali Jacket	Nyzul Isle
Off Hand	DD dagger	N/A	DD dagger	N/A	Hands	Dragon Mittens	10K	Rogue's Armlets +1	Limbus
Ranged	none	N/A	none	N/A	Ring 1	Emerald Ring	30K	Blobnag Ring	Blobdingnag
Ammo	Bomb Core	50K	Bomb Core	50K	Ring 2	Emerald Ring	30K	Breeze Ring	500K
Head	Walkure Mask	5K	Skadi's Visor	Salvage + 3.5M	Back	Amemet Mantle	5K	Cerberus Mantle +1	8M
Neck	Spike Necklace	10K	Hope Torque	Jailer of Hope	Waist	Warwolf Belt	60K	Grenadier Belt	700K
Ear 1	Drone Earring	10K	Genin Earring	200K	Legs	Rogue's Culottes	AF	War Brais +1	80K
Ear 2	Drone Earring	10K	Suppanomimi	Divine Might	Feet	Dragon Leggings	8K	Strider Boots	5M or Simurgh

TOTAL:
Baseline: AGI +31, Attack +42, STR +9, costs 308K
HQ: AGI +46, Trick Attack adds extra 15% of AGI, Dagger Skill +7, Haste +3%, Dual Wield -5% delay, Attack +45, STR +7, 12% Movement Speed, costs 18M+

Ranged Set

Some might say you actually get two ranged sets, one for accuracy (landing status bolts) and one for DD (THF/RNG). I'd say the accuracy one is going to be used much much more; if you need a THF/RNG DD build you can take this build and add some +Ranged Attack (free malihint! change the Jaeger Mantle for an Amemet Mantle +1!), and switch to guns. Guns!

Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost	Slot	Baseline	Cost	HQ	Cost
Main Hand	DD dagger	N/A	DD dagger	N/A	Body	Jaridah Peti	60K	Skadi's Cuirie	Salvage + 13.5M
Off Hand	DD dagger	N/A	DD dagger	N/A	Hands	Dragon Mittens	10K	Deadeye Gloves	400K
Ranged	Thug's Zamburak	5K	Ziska's Crossbow	1.5M	Ring 1	Behemoth Ring	14K	Behemoth Ring +1	240K
Ammo	none	N/A	none	N/A	Ring 2	Behemoth Ring	14K	Behemoth Ring +1	240K
Head	War Beret	24K	Optical Hat	Hakutaku	Back	Lynx Mantle	3K	Jaeger Mantle	150 Ancient Beastcoins
Neck	Wivre Gorget	7K	Peacock Charm	2M	Waist	Royal Knight's Belt +1	17K	Precise Belt	200K
Ear 1	Drone Earring	10K	Genin Earring	200K	Legs	Jaridah Salvars	18K	Dusk Trousers	430K
Ear 2	Drone Earring	10K	Vision Earring	40K	Feet	Jaridah Nails	23K	Homam Gambieras	Limbus

TOTAL:
Baseline: AGI +13, Ranged Accuracy +49, Ranged Attack +3, STR +2, costs 215K
HQ: AGI +12, Ranged Accuracy +111, Ranged Attack -5, STR +0, costs 19M+

Steal Set

There's no HQ here, there can be only one steal set!

Slot	Baseline	Cost	Slot	Baseline	Cost
Main Hand	none	N/A	Body	none	N/A
Off Hand	Bartholomew's Knife	Brigandish Blade ???	Hands	Thief's Kote	20K
Ranged	none	N/A	Ring 1	Rogue's Ring	10K
Ammo	none	N/A	Ring 2	none	N/A
Head	Rogue's Bonnet	AF	Back	none	N/A
Neck	Rabbit Charm	700K	Waist	Key Ring Belt	Bait and Switch (Unavaliable on HorizonXI)
Ear 1	none	N/A	Legs	Assassin's Culottes	Dynamis - Beaucedine
Ear 2	none	N/A	Feet	Rogue's Poulaines	AF

TOTAL:
Steal +15, Steal +18 when HP ≤ 75% and TP ≤ 100%, costs 730K