New Fashions

Some people might think this is a bit early to comment on, but I've still got 2 hours to go on an update that keeps interrupting itself.

I wanted to talk about some new gear as it applies to Thief.

Overall...I'm feeling pretty good. I'm no disappointed in the gear, but I'm not going to say I'm jumping for joy either. I think we got some good upgrades, some nice alternatives. The weapons department is a bit lacking, I think. But, then again I have arguably the best combo excluding a Mandau.

We'll go through this piece by piece, every single thing in the update that Thief can wear. I ask you to keep a couple things in mind.

A. This is mostly going to be in comparison with gear I currently have, which isn't the best.
B. This is going to be based on my on preferences\play styles which may vary from your own\community opinions.
C. Izman's a girl in IRL. It's true. And he's not pretty. If he didn't make damn good pancakes, I woudn't even have slept with him.

On to the gears.

Enkidu's Harness
DEF:50 STR+5 AGI+5 Accuracy+10 Attack+10 Evasion+5 "Subtle Blow"+5
Lv. 72 MNK/THF/RNG/SAM/NIN/BLU/COR/PUP/DNC
Right now, I rock Scorpion Harness +1 for most situations, but I have a Pahluwan too if I want to hit a bit harder (The Crit Rate), but here we have STR and Attack and of course, the Accuracy same as both Pahluwan and the Scorpion Harness. Which means, Scorpion Harness is looking to be a Solo only option. Hell, depending on what you're solo'ing you might stay in this. Evasion +5 and Agi+5 against +10 Evasion? Not that far of a difference considering the STR\Attack bonus your getting and no one is ever going to complain about more Subtle Blow.

This might also make a nice alternative to the Dragon Harness for Trick Attack purposes, you're loosing out on 1 Agi, but you got 5 Str in there. I'd stick with Dragon Harness if you're stacking TA+WS though, of course.

Antares Harness
DEF:50 HP+15 DEX+8 AGI+8 Accuracy+8 Evasion+8
Lv. 71 WAR/MNK/BLM/THF/DRK/BRD/NIN/BLU/COR/PUP/DNC
Now, this piece is pretty tasty. It's a very nice alternative to Scorpion Harness, even the plus one if the old 2 Agi=1 Evasion rule holds true. And, to top it off, it could replace your Dragon Harness depending on how fond of that Attack +10 you are. +2 more Agi and Dex, and Acc instead of Attack?

Enkidu's Leggings
DEF:23 DEX+3 AGI+3 Attack+4 Ranged Attack+4 "Subtle Blow"+2 Haste+2%
Lv. 72 MNK/THF/RNG/SAM/NIN/BLU/COR/PUP/DNC
Now this is an exciting piece for a lot of reasons! Firstly, we're seeing a nice cheap, just good alternative to Dusk Ledelsens! They're better then Dragon Leggings (except the Enmity) and even when you get Heca-Feet they're great to keep for TA boost.

Enkidu's Mittens
DEF:24 STR+4 DEX+4 Accuracy+5 Ranged Accuracy+5 "Subtle Blow"+2
Lv. 72 MNK/THF/RNG/SAM/NIN/BLU/COR/PUP/DNC
I myself, don't have much use for these since I have Heca-Hands, but for a THF without Sky Access they're going to replace whatever you have. Honestly, they're what Dragon Mittens should have been. But now we get these for SA and those for TA. However! For Thieves having trouble getting TP Gloves like Dusk\Homam...toss the War Gloves and pick up these babies. =)

Cuchulain's Belt
DEF:6 HP+15 DEX+6 Attack+10
Lv. 72 WAR/BLM/THF/PLD/DRK/BST/BRD/RNG/SAM/NIN/DRG/BLU/COR/DNC
What we may have here is a final alternate option to the Warwolf Belt. The STR on the belt doesn't affect our Weaponskills as a Modifier, not like Dex does. More STR helps because it means harder hits, which we get from the Attack as well. And the Attack is going to let us hit harder then the 5 Str. If you don't need a lot of accuracy and you don't have a Swift Belt yet for Haste. This might not be a bad option to pump up your DoT a little.

Enkidu's Cap
DEF:23 DEX+3 AGI+3 Accuracy+8 Ranged Accuracy+8 "Subtle Blow"+2
Lv. 72 MNK/THF/RNG/SAM/NIN/BLU/COR/PUP/DNC
For any of you poor fools (like I was) still WS'ing in your Empress Pin at Lv. 70+, fret no more. We got the same amont of stats from this and it has some Accuracy on it. Not the best, obviously the Assassin's Bonnet or Heca-Cap a lot better. But, this is a nice solid alternative to those who can't quite reach the aforementioned yet.

Muse Tariqah
DEF:15 MND+7 CHR+7 Spell interruption rate down 10%
Lv. 74 WAR/RDM/BLM/THF/PLD/BST/SAM
This is something I'm curious about. As of now, Shield selection for Thief includes the Tatami Shield for a WS boost, Tariqah for Acc\Eva boost or Viking Shield for Atk Boost. Now, Dancing Edge uses CHR as one of it's modifiers. I can't help but wonder just how much +7 Chr might help? So, this is more of an 'I wonder' piece then anything right now.

Airy Buckler
DEF:17 CHR+2 Accuracy+2 "Store TP"+2 Haste+1%
Lv. 71 THF/PUP/DNC
Finally! Thieves can achieve Full Haste Cap on gear without needing Dusk Gloves +1. And we get some Acc and DE Mod. =) Yay!

Cuchulain's Mantle
DEF:8 STR+4 DEX+4 Accuracy+5
Lv. 74 WAR/MNK/BLM/THF/PLD/DRK/BST/BRD/RNG/SAM/NIN/DRG/BLU/COR/DNC
And wow! What have we here? A new WS Cape! Hell, this is even better then Assassin's Cape! It also saves me some money...because I'm in love with this more then Cerberus Mantle+1 now. Thank you SqaureEnix. =)

Ancient Torque
DEX+4 Accuracy+9
Lv. 74 All Jobs
Goodbye Chivalrous Chain! Helo Ancient Torque. It's like you were made for me! However...this is very obviously a great WS piece for the neck slot. It's also a great TP piece, but depending on what you're going for you might keep the Chiv. Chain for TP. Dex helps Crit Hits sure, but STR would help your overall DoT as well. So, it's a call based on what you want. Regardless, I'd pick this thing up.
Enkidu's Subligar
DEF:40 STR+4 DEX+4 "Store TP"+5 "Subtle Blow"+5
Lv. 72 MNK/THF/RNG/SAM/NIN/BLU/COR/PUP/DNC
Fuck! Yes! Thank you SE! Up until now the options for Thief WS pieces weren't very good...I mean, yes Heca-Legs are goddamn amazing, but they're a trip to get. Dragon Subligar is good, Pahluwan Legs aren't bad. Even Rogue's Culotte's +1 can pass...but now we have these! It's like they put P. Legs and Dragon Subligar together!

Oily Trousers
DEF:35 DEX+5 AGI+5 Accuracy+5 Ranged Accuracy+5 Decreases movement speed
Lv. 74 WAR/BLM/THF/PLD/DRK/BST/BRD/RNG/SAM/NIN/DRG/BLU/COR/DNC
These aren't bad either. In fact, I like 'em. New alternative to TP when you can't get Haste Gear, and they're not bad for Weapon Skilling either. If you're doing SAWS, I'd go with the Enkidu's I think, but this is great for TAWS, or a SATAWS if you're going old school.


Vajra
DMG:31 Delay:200
Lv. 75 THF
This is our Nyzul Isle Weapon. Now, there's a lot of debate\theories concerning why it's blank weapon and my guess is as good as anyone else. What I'd like to point out that I'm disappointed in the base states of the thing. DMG: 31? There's a new Jambiya added with the same DMG! And the Delay is 201. So far...I don't want this, because my Blau\Sirocco is way better. But, we'll see...my theory? Think back to FFX's Final Weapons.

Azoth
DMG:35 Delay:210 AGI+4 Accuracy+4 Evasion+4
Lv. 74 THF/DNC
Now this is an interesting one. DMG is pretty high, nice Acc on it, not to mention some Agi\Evasion. Not bad for a Solo Dagger perhaps?

Zareehkl Jambiya
DMG:31 Delay:201 Evasion+5 Latent effect: DMG:36
Lv. 71 WAR/WHM/BLM/THF/PLD/BRD/NIN/SCH
This is one high-end DMG on the latent. I mean, that's sexy. Mandau is only 39 DMG. That would make this the new Blau Maybe? Who knows, something to keep your eye on though.

Black Tathlum
DEX+1 Accuracy+4 Attack+4
Lv. 70 MNK/THF/SAM/DRG/PUP/DNC
Now, this I'm looking forward too. We don't have MUCH in the way of Ammo Slot item. When we don't have a ranged equip really it's...Bomb Core, Bomblet or...RSE Satchel. Well, here we have the THFs Bomblet, because it gives us Dex to. Yay! Use Darts for pulling, use whatever you want for smacking things (Bomb Core for me) and this for Weapon Skill! Since changing Ammo does not reset TP. =)

Now, I left out a few things. Like Cobra Stuff -- because honestly, I don't need it. There's better stuff you can get...and just yea, whatever. These are the things I'm looking forward to most as a Thief. So, we'll see what happens in the next few weeks to come.

I'm out.