Here’s a complete list of every ability for the Thief in Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles – JP costs, unlock requirements, and what each one does.
In Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles (FFT), your character picks one job (class) and then evolves into different jobs as you level up. The more advanced the job, the better stats, abilities, and power you gain. In FFT, you earn Job Points (JP), which act as experience. Every action you take earns you JP for your current act job.
At the start of the game, you can either pick Squire or Chemist, with the main character defaulting to Squire. After reaching Squire Level 3, you can then choose the Thief. The Thief isn’t a powerful house damage or survivability Job. However, it can steal the best end-game gear items, making your team incredibly wealthy and powerful. It also has Move +2 and is required to level to 5 to unlock the Ninja Job. Therefore, it’s likely a melee build will have to level the Thief for a while.
In this guide, we show you all the Thief Job and explain all the abilities so you can pick the right ones!
Related FFT Guides:
Overview of the Thief Job
The Thief is a fast, evasive utility job unlocked by reaching Job Level 3 with Archer. While they don’t hit as hard as other melee classes, Thieves are incredibly useful for stealing enemy gear, turning the tide of battle by stripping opponents of weapons, armor, and even turns. They also excel at mobility and speed stacking, making them great skirmishers.
Why Use a Thief:
- Steals enemy weapons, armor, accessories, and even turns (Steal Heart).
- One of the highest Speed stats in the game.
- Excellent mobility with Move +2 and Jump +2
- Required for unlocking Ninja, Lancer, and Dancer (female units).
Pro Tips:
- Great candidate for Brave-based reactions like Counter or Speed Save.
- Use Steal Weapon to disarm enemy Knights, Archers, or even bosses with rare gear.
- Steal Heart is a cheap and reliable crowd-control option with high success on opposite-sex enemies.
- Pair Move +2 with melee or ranged jobs for better mobility across the map.
Thief Ability List
Below are the abilities for the Thief Job in Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, including Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement:
| Name | JP Cost | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steal Gil | 10 | Action | Steals a small amount of gil from the target. |
| Steal Heart | 100 | Action | Inflicts Charm on an opposite-sex target. |
| Steal Helmet | 200 | Action | Steals the target’s helmet or headgear. |
| Steal Armor | 200 | Action | Steals the target’s body armor. |
| Steal Shield | 200 | Action | Steals the target’s shield. |
| Steal Weapon | 300 | Action | Steals the target’s weapon (best used against high-value targets). |
| Steal Accessory | 300 | Action | Steals rings, boots, and other accessories. |
| Steal EXP | 300 | Action | Reduces target’s EXP and grants it to the user. |
| Reflexes | 300 | Reaction | Automatically enters Defend stance after being attacked. |
| Gil Snapper | 400 | Reaction | Gain gil equal to damage taken when hit. |
| Catch | 400 | Reaction | Lets you catch weapons thrown by Ninjas. |
| Poach | 200 | Support | Defeated monsters drop items instead of crystals or chests. |
| Move +2 | 500 | Movement | Increases movement range by 2 tiles. |
Tips for Unlocking and Using Thief Abilities
The best way to unlock the Thief is by picking Squire at level 1. From here, learn the JP Boost ability, which helps power level any Job. Then, learn Move +1 from the Squire as well to increase overall speed. After reaching level two or higher with Squire, move to Archer and make sure to equip the support and movement abilities from Squire. Only stick with Knight for 3 levels, then move onto the Monk. Unlock the Steal Heart ability first and use it to Charm and crowd control enemies from range.
Below are some other tips and tricks for Thief Abilities:
- Steal Weapon and Steal Accessory are incredibly valuable—disarm threats or farm rare gear.
- Steal Heart gives you temporary crowd control without needing high damage or MP.
- Move +2 is a staple movement skill—equip it on nearly any physical job.
- Use Secret Hunt in monster-heavy maps to gather rare items and beast equipment.
- Thieves make great secondary jobs for classes like Ninja, Monk, or Samurai to increase speed and mobility.
- Run high-Brave + Speed Save for snowballing turns and keeping up pressure.
More Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles
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