Thief: Endgame Gear Guide

Thief is a job known for its high evasion skill, use of daggers, and handiness when it comes to farming and NM drops. This guide is simply an opinion and reflection on the equipment available for an endgame Thief. There are obviously more options than what I have listed here, but these are the main things I recommend.

Weapons
Blau Dolch

Though the price isn't very welcoming, this is probably the best dagger you can get off the auction house. The latent effect is activated while under 100% TP, and gives Attack +16 and Accuracy +5, which is what separates this dagger from the rest.

Thief's Knife

For anything you are trying to get a drop off of, farming coffer keys, etc.. This is a must have for all thief's when the situation comes at hand.

Sirocco Kukri

The best off-hand dagger if you're looking for a low-delay combo. Its delay of 150 is the, if not one of the lowest in game, and has a 100% Wind damage proc rate. Dropped off Kreutzet in Cape Terrigan. A decent drop rate, so the only difficulty with getting this is having competition at the NM camp.

Stylet

A nice dagger to main/offhand if you don't have a Blau Dolch. DEX+4 and AGI+2 along with the small enmity boost for Trick Attack are overall nice stats.

Harpe

Quite expensive, though cheaper than a Blau Dolch, this dagger is strictly to main hand because of the high base damage. Whether you feel the extra 2 base damage is better than attack +16 and accuracy +5, is your opinion. Possibly better for Shark Bite due to the less amount of hits compared to the 5-hit Dancing Edge and Evisceration. Unless you are off-handing Blau Dolch, then this is fine to main-hand. Hoplites Harpe is the cheaper, not-as-good alternative.

Perseus's Harpe

The rare drop of the NM Xolotl, the base damage of 37 is second only to the relic dagger, Mandau. If you have this, main-hand it. Good luck getting it though.

Mandau

The relic dagger is in a class of its own. Low delay of 176, along with the highest base damage of all daggers with 39, an additional +20 Attack, and like all relic weapons, an attack can do 3 times the regular damage, including on weapon skills, which when considering how fast a thief hits, is very nice. Also has a 100% proc rate on Poison, which is even more DoT, but bad if you need to pop a sleep bolt in tight situations. A thief's dream weapon regardless.

Head
Walahra Turban

Strictly a piece for a haste build. The most haste you can get on one piece on your head.

Optical Hat

What would a thief be without his/her O-Hat! A must-have for an evasion setup, if your missing alot with melee hits or ranged attacks, or to macro in for a multi-hit weapon skill like Dancing Edge if you don't feel safe about your accuracy.

Dragon Cap

Not a very useful piece. If you don't have anything in this list, then I guess you can use it. Otherwise don't.

Skadi's Visor

For the serious endgame thief's, Skadi's Visor is a nice mix of Haste, Attack, DEX and AGI. You can use this full time if you have it, but always keep that O-Hat handy when you need to evade. All piece's of the Skadi set, are obtained via Salvage.

Hecatomb Cap

Another rare piece of gear since most must be in an HNM shell to get one. Probably the best item to weapon skill in with the STR +11 and DEX +5, though some would debate Skadi's Visor is better because of the 6 Attack. Your choice.

Empress Hairpin

If you have one, whether its the rare/ex version, or the sellable one, you can use it for WS's, or even an evasion build if you don't have an O-Hat.

Hands
Homam Manopolas

Good for everything except weapon skills. +Enmity for trick attack, 3% haste, some HP and accuracy. Very popular among thief's.

Dusk Gloves

Nice for Haste build until you get Homam hands. Dusk Gloves +1 for more Haste which makes them better or just as good.

Hecatomb Mittens

Another piece from the Neptunal Abjuration set. Used strictly for weapon skills or to show off while afk. Dropped off Byakko.