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  • What do you really think about THF?

    Let me just preface this by saying that I did *not* post this in the thief forum because:

    A) I want to hear the opinion of the non-thief community.

    B) Almost no non-thieves come to the thief forum.

    That being said, I was just wondering what other jobs, whether tank, DD, refresher, or healer think about thief in an experience points party? Lately, it seems that the thief community is very down on themselves, and in my opinion, justfiably so. S-E slapped us in the face with the recent TP patch, and made a naturally weak, struggling class a whole lot worse.

    Now I understand that thief has a certain role to play in settings outside of exping that does not appeal to all of us, whether it is death-pulling in dynamis, or waiting on the sidelines until the end of an HNM fight to finally get in on the action (just for the effect of treasure hunter). However, I am more than willing to deal with this, because I understand in those sittuations that these are the ways that thief are best utilized. But when it comes to experience points partying, or even dammage dealing in general, that our reputation is extremely bad for a lot of reasons that I'm not going to get into.

    While I have learned that the role of a thief in a party isn't simply to dammage deal, but keep hate on a tank and to pull as well, it seems that these aspects when compared with the DOT of other jobs is nearly moot. Especially when other DDs start to sub thief 60+, and often act as more effective hate controllers themselves. I've read about thieves who have spent close to 9 days with their seek party flag up before they got an invite. I don't think that this is because of an abundance of thieves, or even that because these people have gimped gear or skills, but rather that because when the party leader says there is a thief, available at least 2-3 members pipe up and say, "Hellz no!"

    Now, if this is true and this is your opinion it is more than understandable, but I'm just wondering if this is really the case? Am I just being paranoid? Is the thief class *really* that hated? If you were building a party tonight, and checked for the DD jobs available, would you invite a THF over another job? Why or why not? And as sort of a follow up question (most impotant in my opinion), if you think that thief really is sub-par, how would you go about fixing it?

    Now, I do appologize for the barrage of questions, and even if you just want to answer one of them thats cool with me. I'm just wondering at this point, whether its time to leave my inadequacies contained within being a thief behind. :/ Whether is times for me to put my effort into another job that is more effective, more respected, and will in the end bring me more happiness because I know that I am needed and wanted. :/

    Thanks in advance for any input you have, I greatly appreciate hearing any hearing non-thieves (and thieves, but to a lesser extent) opinion on the matter.

    Note: It seems to me that the only job that really wants a THF around is NIN, for obvious hate control reasons. Sad thing is that, a job such as SAM/THF is going to do a heck of a lot more to keep hate on a NIN than a THF is.
    «» "I might be an onion thief, but I'm still a thief." «»

  • #2
    Re: What do you really think about THF?

    I love thief, it's awesome to watch more than 30% of a mobs hp disappear with one SATA-enhanced skillchain. Not to mention that as I'm a pld, I really appreciate the massive hate SATA can give me.
    MisterCookie: Alla refugee since May 2006

    MisterCookie: Writing poor signatures since January 1999

    http://www.songbirdnest.com - OSS Media Player

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    • #3
      Re: What do you really think about THF?

      As a mage (For the most part) I see the Thf as a good puller, spiker and hate-controller. If I'm leading a party, I'll try to get a Thf for sure. Thief means that I get to nuke more, which is good.

      Post-60 I still see Thief as a power-hitter, with Dancing Edge. I haven't partied with one since the nerf, so I can't comment on that.

      I have a feeling you're a tad paranoid. There's usually one spot for a Thf in a party, and it still has to compete with other jobs.

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      • #4
        Re: What do you really think about THF?

        Let me first say that I am newly returned to the game, and before I played almost exclusively as a MNK. I never really played past 30, so my experience largely comes from the Dunes and reading forums.

        Theif has a taken a lot of bad publicity, IMO mostly due to the misconception that they bring little to a party. Most players dont realize the value of a good theif because they think THF is there for TH or for dealing damage (why get a THF when you can have someone who deals more damage?

        THF is a hate-manager. The THF does not focus on dealing damage, he helps the Tank so-that your MNK, DRK or BLM can go Nuke-crazy. If a BLM has to cast less or a MNK has to un-equip a +Haste item, its because the Tank cannot get enough hate.

        Sometimes this is due to a bad tank.

        Sometimes this is due to good DDs.

        If you are doing your job (and the Tank is doing hers) then a party can deal truely amazing levels of damage. Imagine a PLD, THF, BLM, BLM, DRK, MNK setup where the Tank never worries about losing hate?

        Since so many of thier good-points are not availible/recognized till later on, THF is the hardest job. You rarely get invites for exp parties and often people only want you because they are trying to get X item or take Treasure Chests. I have a great deal of respect for anyone whois willing to stick with THF for the long-run.

        If I were creating a perma-party, I would make getting a (good) THF a priority, paticularly if I had a non-WAR/ tank.
        Ajido-Marujido: This is Tarutaru.
        We are Windurst.
        You are now our slave...

        Check out my RP journal at http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/jou...owjournal&j=84

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        • #5
          Re: What do you really think about THF?

          I like THF if the pt is set up right and know what their doing if not it can end up with the NIN not getting infront of the THF for SA+TA well i have the mob voked and stuff

          Which FF Character Are You?


          And you, wich Final Fantasy character do you resemble?

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          • #6
            Re: What do you really think about THF?

            Thf is a weak damage dealer with the ability to deal a little bit of spike damage.

            At my level (50), SATA <whatever> does like, 400 damage. But so does a WS from a decently equipped monk, and the monk hits for 50-60, and the thf hits for 1-15 maybe. Plus, now instead of simply "engage teh mob and rock it", everyone now has to carefully array themselves around the monster, which makes it very difficult to get all the melee in Earthen Ward range (speaking as a smn).

            My overall opinion is this: I don't mind thieves, but with 4 spots taken - Healer/Refresher/DamageDealer/Tank, they are really left to fight for one of the "random" slots, along with the Dark Knights and Dragoons.

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            • #7
              Re: What do you really think about THF?

              I always like thieves in my party to keep it stable. They can contribute a lot to DD if done right, and the hate control is crucial if you're going for IT+. Pulling is always a plus, and flee really helps in crowded areas. I'd never turn down a thief.

              Except maybe for a bard.

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              • #8
                Re: What do you really think about THF?

                They don't do much before 30. It's even worse before 15. After those painful first levels, things are smoother.

                While THF isn't an incredible party class, IMO, Treasure Hunter, Flee, Hide, Mug, and Steal are very beneficial to you as a player.

                I wish I had the drive to level THF. TH2/Steal would be so helpful as an alchemist.

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                • #9
                  Re: What do you really think about THF?

                  They don't do much before 30. It's even worse before 15. After those painful first levels, things are smoother.

                  While THF isn't an incredible party class, IMO, Treasure Hunter, Flee, Hide, Mug, and Steal are very beneficial to you as a player.

                  I wish I had the drive to level THF. TH2/Steal would be so helpful as an alchemist.
                  Yeah, I feel that helps to compensate for thfs reduced role at later levels. Against a lot of mobs, stealing is so useful that at points the job is nearly self-funding.
                  MisterCookie: Alla refugee since May 2006

                  MisterCookie: Writing poor signatures since January 1999

                  http://www.songbirdnest.com - OSS Media Player

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                  • #10
                    Re: What do you really think about THF?

                    Originally posted by MisterCookie
                    Yeah, I feel that helps to compensate for thfs reduced role at later levels. Against a lot of mobs, stealing is so useful that at points the job is nearly self-funding.
                    can you steal from HNM?

                    Which FF Character Are You?


                    And you, wich Final Fantasy character do you resemble?

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                    • #11
                      Re: What do you really think about THF?

                      can you steal from HNM?
                      Not that I can recall.

                      Anyway, as pld, I don't like pting with thf, because it's easy to hold hate w/o one and it can cause some problems with ballad with a brd in the pt.

                      However, as thf, I absolutely love my job. It's my favorite job in the game, even if it does need some work on it endgame. And, contraryto popular belief, a well geared thf is actually a very good DD until 60. At 60, it starts falling behind the other DDs from my experiences. Back when I was lv 50ish, I parsed most of my pts as elf thf (arguable the worst the race), and I out-DDd mnks, blms, drks, sams, etc. I dont think I was outdamaged once in total dmg till post 60, where many jobs get strong WSs.
                      Calin - Ragnarok

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                      • #12
                        Re: What do you really think about THF?

                        On my old character (A PLD) I staticed with a THF from level 1-65. I wouldn't have had it any other way. They make excellent pullers, put out decent damage, and their hate control can't be ignored. As a PLD, a THF wasn't always necessary, perhaps, but it made things go a heck of a lot faster. Plus, depending on the SATA timer, I could hold hate well enough for the THF to SATA off of our other DD, doing excellent burst damage to the mob.

                        We did have the benefit of a RDM in our static as well, so positioning was never an issue for things like Songs. But as a PLD I preferred a RDM anyway. Most BRDs didn't want to party with me anyway.

                        I'm currently leveling my THF to 40 so I can sub it to melee jobs later on. I may take it further though, because I've found that it has a lot of utility outside of a party setting, and has a remarkably high solo survival rate.

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                        • #13
                          Re: What do you really think about THF?

                          Thanks to everyone who replied so far; it's nice to see that I guess THF isn't as looked down upon as I thought it was.

                          Just wondering why this thread was moved, I gave a couple of reasons why I thought it would be more beneficial to everyone to have it in the main forum.
                          «» "I might be an onion thief, but I'm still a thief." «»

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                          • #14
                            Re: What do you really think about THF?

                            Originally posted by Deltran
                            can you steal from HNM?
                            Most NMs have nothing to Steal, but you can Mug nearly all of them for gil.

                            ---

                            On topic, I really like thieves in parties.

                            They make excellent pullers, add to hate control, and their damage is at least reasonable as long as you play smart. Even when levelling Bard (the job most likely to be frustrated with the constant motion of THF) I thought the extra hate control from a well-played THF was well worth the DD slot - not to mention the simply insane skillchain bonus damage when a 2xMinuet thief drops Viper Bite/Dancing Edge/Shark Bite for Distortion with a Threnody.


                            Icemage

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                            • #15
                              Re: What do you really think about THF?

                              THF is a powerful job. I don't have post-60 experience, but up until then my girlfriend has pretty much outparsed practically all the DDs save for the DRGs (*gasp!* Who could've known if you add their Wyvern's damage they do so much! XD) It's also great hate control. I'm a PLD, with my girlfriend SATA'ing on to me hate holding is soooo easy. And for parties where the other DD doesn't have Provoke and can't turn the mob for skillchains, we simply SATA on to that DD. It gives me a good workout, since I hardly have to use my hate JAs in the average party.

                              If you want to do good damage as a THF, though, you have to understand that SATA isn't everything. Most THFs simply wear their DEX/AGI setups 24/7 until endgame. A good THF equips himself for STR/Attack/Accuracy like any other DD, and only brings out the DEX/AGI for SATA.

                              THF is also one of the few jobs that you can trust to do good spike damage practically all throughout the game. The other DDs start to catch up in spike damage later on, but before then, it's rare for me to find someone with really good spike damage, especially with everyone using Sushi now, even at low levels.

                              Now, mind you, this is simply my experience; Maybe THFs really aren't as great DDs as I make them out to be. Maybe they are. I just know that my girlfriend definetely does good damage as a THF.
                              Last edited by Armando; 05-07-2006, 12:36 PM.

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