User:Bd3k/Sandbox

Introduction
Hello! This guide is currently under construction, as my Thief is only level 64, but would like to add to it as I go along, towards 75, hopefuly making this my 2nd level 75 job.

There are a few Thief guides floating around, but alot of them either cover one subject, or are just simply incomplete, this guide aims to populate several areas, whilst being detailed in each.

Equipment comes first, then onto partying and leveling.

Weapons of Interest
Even if Thief is not your first job, leveling 1-10, and even up until 15 is very difficult, if not slow and boring. The main reason behind this is you have low strength as a Theif, your main weapon is a dagger which is weaksauce, and you have defense comparable to that of a fish bone. between 1-10, I recommend you take both a dagger and a sword with you to solo. as -soon- as you cap your dagger skill, swap over the sword and continue until you gain the next job level, then retrun to dagger, and repeat.

Hand-to-Hand
Suggest you sub Monk if you intend to use this method, if you are yet to gain subjob -- avoid this.
 * lvl 15 Bastokan Knuckles or Republic Knuckles

That's it. At 15 you will be able to use Sneak Attack, Boost, and Combo, if you make it into one big macro, you may get some hate from this, I've never actually used H2H as a Thief. Before level 15, the damage on Thief-equipable H2H weapons is too low, and your low natural strength doesn't help matters. I'd rather use a Sword, which brings us to...

Sword
Swords should really be used through the early solo'ing levels, though you should also take a Dagger with you, as mentioned above, to keep your skills upto-date. At level 20, it is a common sight to see Thieves Dual Wielding a Sword in the main slot, and a Dagger off-hand, as to keep both capped, reduce attack timer (as the intial Dual Wield trait is nasty, and daggers tend to have a lower delay than sword).


 * lvl 1 Wax Sword
 * lvl 7 Sapara
 * lvl 10 Royal Archer's Sword
 * lvl 12 Brass Xiphos (May be worth just skipping this one)
 * lvl 13 Scimitar
 * lvl 18 Fire Sword, Flame Sword, Iron Sword, or Iron Sword +1
 * lvl 19 Small Sword (Has DEX+ 2, used for Sneak Attack. Best bet would be dualing this with another Small Sword, or dagger at 20.)
 * lvl 24 Nadrs (Rare/Ex, dropped by Cargo Crab Colin. Nice weapon but not essential)
 * lvl 27 Gladius (Again, skip this.)
 * lvl 28 Mithran Scimitar (Note: Often expensive, consider it as a Small Sword+1, as it has DEX +3)
 * lvl 30 Centurion's Sword (Trick Attack becomes available at 30, DEX becomes more essential. If you can't afford the M. Scimitar, get one of these).

At level 33, you will gain access to Viper Bite. Dual daggers from this level onwards at -all- times in parties, as VB can close many, many skillchains, and deliever a tastey Distortion. Coincidently, the most sought out skill chain, even up until level 65.

Dagger
Although I don't really recommend the use of daggers at early levels, I'm only guiding you, if you wish to use daggers full time, then I shall list them for you.


 * lvl 1 Bronze Knife or Onion Knife (If Thief is your first job, keep the O. Knife for now)
 * lvl 7 Beestinger or Blind Dagger
 * lvl 9 Brass Dagger
 * lvl 12 Dagger, Silence Dagger, or Spark Dagger
 * lvl 20 Decurion's Dagger and/or Mercenary's Knife
 * lvl 23 Corrosive Dagger (optional)
 * lvl 25 Any 2 of - Federation Knife, Windurstian Knife, Bastokan Dagger, Republic Dagger
 * lvl 28 Archer's Knife (If you want to pretend you're RNG use these, if not, stick with the above listed lvl 25 weapons)
 * lvl 30 2x Mercenary Captain's Kukri or Royal Squire's Dagger.
 * lvl 34 2x Windurstian Kukri/Federation Kukri or San d'Orian Dagger/Kingdom Dagger.
 * lvl 40 Marauder's Knife (AF1), Corrosive Baselard.
 * Marauder's Knife has lower DPS than Federation Kukri or Corrosive Baselard, but has nice DEX/AGI bonuses.
 * lvl 42 Calveley's Dagger. Again, lower DPS than earlier daggers, but has DEX+3.
 * lvl 46 2x Bone Knife Plus 1 (I liked these and used them for long time, +10 Accuracy and +10 Attack helps land more hits to aid in spamming Viper Bite.)
 * lvl 48 Hornetneedle (Hornetneedle + Beestinger Dual Wield is fun and fast, and faster still @ lvl 50 subbing Nin. BK+1 & Hornetneedle if you wish)
 * lvl 50 Corsair's Knife x2 if you don't have Hornetneedle.
 * lvl 59 Darksteel Kukri or it's plus one, not too pricy. You can replace Hornetneedle if you want now.
 * lvl 62 Cermet Kukri or plus one, same as darksteel, not pricy. Duel wield these.
 * lvl 65 Garuda's Dagger (The extra AGI helps with TA, as you'll have Assassin by this point. Garuda can be soloed by a 74 /nin really easy)
 * lvl 68 Hoplites Harpe and Harpe, if you can't afford Harpe, offhand Cermet or Garuda's.
 * lvl 70 Magnet Knife, switch out the Hopilite's or the Garuda's/Kukri. Now, you should have Magnet/Harpe or Hopilite's/Magnet.
 * lvl 70 Behemoth Knife Not required, lvl 68 weapons are just as effective.
 * lvl 70 Thief's Knife (For farming, don't use it in parties)
 * lvl 71 Dagger of Trials (If you must, use this as main hand in exp parties to quickly break latent and unlock Evisceration)
 * lvl 71 Matron's Knife (Might be difficult to obtain, so leave it if you're not interested).
 * lvl 71 Misericorde +1 (An alternative to the above, DEX boosts, and low delay)
 * lvl 73 Jambiya (Decent DPS)
 * lvl 73 Heart Snatcher (If you manage to break the latent, with all the DEX gear you will be wear, you'll be a Critical hit machine. Use it.)
 * lvl 75 Mandau (Only for the dedicated. Highest Dagger DPS in the game, and damage comparable to that of a Sword)