THF/??? until Viper Bite?

[Serif]

Hearing a lot of mixed reviews

/mnk

or

/nin

I have 8/8 h2h merits if that makes any difference.

[Raen Ryong]

/mnk H2H
/nin Sword+Sword or Dagger
/rng Sword
/drg Sword
/war Sword (30-32)

All work quite well. If your Dagger skill isn't at the standard of a level ~33 Thief, you might want to go sword/dagger to ensure it is up to par by the time you would get Viper Bite.

/mnk I've heard people like a lot, but I didn't -really- like it when I was levelling Thief, switched to Thf/War with Sword and preferred the results in my mind at least -- this was not parsed so don't take it too literally. Your merits will give you 2/4/6 combat skill at levels 10/20/30, which will make it normally one less than your Sword skill (assuming no merits) at most levels (pre-33), but only by 1~2 Combat Skill, so it's pretty much all down to the WS and overall DoT.

/nin is nice for pulling but not necessary, it's very possible to pull normal movement speed mobs and not take damage without shadows.

/rng gives you Accuracy Bonus which is helpful for Marksmanship spammage (a very efficient and damaging way of building TP at that level -- if you have the accuracy).

/drg gives you Attack Bonus and Jumps, though isn't quite as powerful as /rng overall if you really spam that Marksmanship.

/war just gives you Berserk, which is rather good.

There's just my analysis of it :X 20+, I'd go /rng or /nin until Viper Bite (/war at 30+ looking good too), but that's just me.

[Clyne]

I just tried to pass this along to a friend yesterday, but not sure if he listened.

Regardless of your sj, you should use H2H 15-33 when you get Viper Bit, even without merits. There simply isn't a Dagger ws even remotely as powerful as SA+Combo. Fast Blade comes closest using sword, but even that lags behind in damage numbers.

So if you're going to use that advice, go /mnk for the Martial Arts trait. Anything else, you're probably best serves with /rng for the acc bonus and widescan for pulling.

[Bakthi]

I used /MNK, but this

If your Dagger skill isn't at the standard of a level ~33 Thief, you might want to go sword/dagger to ensure it is up to par by the time you would get Viper Bite.

is important to keep in mind, unless you can skill up dagger on another job.

[Serif]

I already have Dagger skilled to 37, did it on my PLD earlier this month.

I wonder why so many people are against you seeking as THF/MNK then, haha.

Also what foods did you eat?

I am currently 27 and tried /mnk for the first time and with Rice Dumplings my acc was somewhat shitty, my friend recommended using Jack-O'-Lanterns.

[Zoot]

Those are the people who are probably like, "lolz thf is spose' use dagger dumb thf."

If you're overcamping rice dumplings won't help too much, jack'o'lanterns are nice for 5 more acc but lack the +20% attack and 3 str from the dumplings. I'd recommend staying with dumplings abit longer.

[Karbuncle]

I just tried to pass this along to a friend yesterday, but not sure if he listened.

Regardless of your sj, you should use H2H 15-33 when you get Viper Bit, even without merits. There simply isn't a Dagger ws even remotely as powerful as SA+Combo. Fast Blade comes closest using sword, but even that lags behind in damage numbers.

So if you're going to use that advice, go /mnk for the Martial Arts trait. Anything else, you're probably best serves with /rng for the acc bonus and widescan for pulling.

This is true, Even for a lvl 75THF, Combo is still fun, nothing gets more "WTF" Like popping a 1900 Combo on some Skeleton while farming a Coffer >___________>

Note: Never use H2h after Viper Bite fore exp party purposes, i was just stating that you're not going to regret using it, because it is very fun o-o, Other then that, THF/MNK is pretty decent... SA/Boost > Combo = Dead Thief (recommend Trick Attack )

[Quixote]

/war.

H2H while keeping Dagger capped. SA Combo is hilarious.

[Bakthi]

I don't see why you'd go /WAR instead of /MNK until level 30. 30+, sure. I did /WAR on THF from about 40 until 69 (it was my first job 30+ and I was a gimp and kept using /MNK 33-38 because I didn't have...well, anything else), but until 30 /WAR doesn't really get anything you'd want, and /MNK has Martial Arts (THF 1) and Counter (THF 20). Boost and Subtle Blow are okay too, I guess.

[Maaglin]

and you can make a sweet booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooossssssssssss ssstttttttttttt macro (don't forget to add calls).

[diemos]

/p I pull an arrow and put it on my bow and aim it at <t>'s head!
/ra <t>

[Serif]

Meh I just don't see it right now with the camp I am at.

I guess it is because a 27 THF/MNK isn't too stellar at Yhoator Jungle on IT+ Mandras ;

[Tricen]

Sword/Dagger was pretty nice. You have to be able to hit EXP mobs to get tp to do combo, and that is always a problem at real low lvls.

[orson]

/War is 30+ as people said. Until you get multi-hit WSs Thf/War is by far the best if your tanks are good. 400-600 Viper Bites with a Distortion following in Garlaige make people.

[XxSlusherxx]

Man I thought I was so baller with my two small swords when I hit 20, but when I got to 25 I switched to 2 Windhurst Knives and never looked back. The improvement in accuracy was just too much for me to pass up, so I've never been a big proponent of the whole fast blade thing, though I've seen plenty of people do it.

[fantasticdan]

I did /drg 30-37 with all 3 of the latent items, SATA jump was fun.

EDIT: I just used fast blade until VB, but h2h might be better with /drg for those 3 levels, since you get a full attack round on jump.

[Serif]

What is the earliest a THF can get Viper Bite?

If I am doing my math correctly, shouldn't it be 31? 96 skill plus 2 merits?

Right now with my level 30 THF I have 93 skill and does it not rise up 3 levels per level?

Might postpone my THF to get dagger merits for it.

[Genosync]

THF/WAR 33->75 unless pulling situation requires shadows because of fast moving mobs

and yes, it's Lv31.

[Lordwafik]

Shadowstitch + sneak attack isn't horrible to use if you're in the lowbies. I used sword till that , and like slusher , using those knives together = great.

As for food, Rice Dumplings add 5 acc as well as attack, jack o lantern only give you 10 acc/eva. The loss of 5 acc for more attack isn't bad at all especially since you don't need a gigantic amount of accuracy in the low levels.

[Eratosthenes]

THF/MNK with H2H until level 20, where you switch your sub to /RNG, but keep the H2H so you can SA Combo. Build TP with a crossbow, since it's C rated, while H2H is E. Switch to dagger when you get VB and change your SJ to /NIN or /WAR if you feel like it.