Class Favourite 7: Thief

[bethany81707]

Thieves are utility characters. They are typically very weak, unable to reliably damage many units while taking a lot of damage in return (though most thieves will take a singular hit while dealing two back), but they are still a good choice to bring because of their abilities. They can steal items from enemy inventories if they have enough Speed, and they can open locked doors and chests. Enemy thieves will show up on maps with treasure chests, and it is in your best interest to kill them quickly before they pilfer the spoils of the level... and your items, too.

Thieves use Swords, Knives, or in Fates, Bows. While thieves require levels to gain the speed necessary to continue stealing items, it is often challenging to gain these levels. In some games, thieves don't even get a promotion. For this reason, it's often wiser to use the prepromoted thief, as without a solid diet of combat and luck, it's tricky for the starting thief to catch up in terms of speed. Assassins make good combat units due to Lethality and/or higher crit rates, but often lose some of the utility of being a thief.

 

Well, now that the Cavalier business is behind us (almost- it double-posted, somehow, and I might need to do something about that), back to going through various infantry units of differing weapon classes. I kind of like thieves as a concept, especially since they'll have a few conversations where they get called out on their habits, and especially due to their role in Genealogy- hit with sword, steal all their money, get experience for giving it to someone.

[BreadLord]

Lifis/Rennac/Shura

I guess I like the more jerkish theives.

[Christianguy7]

Should Kaze, and he other Ninja really be considered thieves though?

[bethany81707]

2 minutes ago, Christianguy7 said:

Should Kaze, and he other Ninja really be considered thieves though?

Don't they have Locktouch? Using Shuriken, I'd think they're closer to thieves than Outlaws are. Plus they promote into a class that's close to Assassin, from what I hear.

[Christianguy7]

They promote into Master Ninja, I never really played with thieves before, so I don't know really how assasians are. (I killed Gaius by accident. I thought you just attacked them, and instead of fighting they would talk to you and join you, or something like that.)

[Slumber]

Lara, Matthew, Niles.

Lara is special for being a three tier unit in a game that isn't FE2 or FE10, Matthew for being cool and having the most awful shit happen directly to him and still continuing on, and Niles for... I don't really remember, but I remember really liking him in Fates.

26 minutes ago, BreadLord said:

Lifis/Rennac/Shura

I guess I like the more jerkish theives.

Also, Lifis crosses the line past "jerkish". He's full-on evil, who only continues to be on the good side because multiple people(Including Perne, his boss) threaten to kill him.

Edited January 26, 2017 by Slumber

[Thor Odinson]

Patty/Astore/Saizo

fucking love Saizo

[Shadow Mir]

Dunno

Legault

Anna

Edited January 26, 2017 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Punished Dayni]

Julian, Legault, Anna

Julian is the first thief you get in FE, and barring the first game is still a solid unit in combat, who actually has a nice (if very simple) romance that actually gets built upon, much as it has.... certain issues in regards to another character. HM to Dew (he's such a tricksy scamp! (This needs to be heard more than typed)), Patty (You know, despite starting at level 1 around Yied, I do like her utility, and she's at least one of the first doing it for the orphans) and Lara (She can become a dancer who still can steal. If only she were in FE4.....). Jeez, if only Lifis and Pan weren't such pricks.

Legault, because 1: he's the best of the three as an assassin, imo 2: his previous relationship with the black fang is fascinating in its own right 3: he's still great even as an unpromoted thief. HM to Matthew (his own arc's great, even for FE7's standard) and Colm (Best Rogue)

Anna, because she's part of the red-haired legion under RNGus, spreading Her word through sales, she's actually really solid as a unit from when you can get her and her supports in Awakening are pretty fun (Can't say a thing on Fates Anna). HM to Gaius (Because despite his sweet tooth, he's still pretty good in his own right) and Kagero (Saizo's just so... serious, and Kaze is generic loverboy to a fault)

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Patty, Matthew, Kaze.

[KoimanZX]

1. I went with Laura because I am a sucker for dancers (I like the belly-dancer aesthetic those ladies often have).

2. I went with Volke as he is pretty decent in Path of Radiance (he is the only good thief in that game and can still steal when promoted) and is still pretty cool in Radiant Dawn with his decent strength and durability for a knife-using class (I wish one could pick him over Sothe in the endgame). His design is also pretty cool.

3. I admit to going with Miss Senran-Kagura Boobs-of-Steel. Her personality is one of the more tolerable ones in the Modern Era (Zero/Niles is not too bad either and Saizou can be amusing, but I had to pick one) and she is pretty useful in Revelation due to her good strength stat and she has nice boobs. My honorable mentions are Zero and Saizou. Zero is useful for his Capture ability and is a fairly sympathetic character (he also is a good ninja killer in Conquest as a Bow Knight); his poor strength and heavy dependence on the player phase without the Mini Bow or Point Blank lower his effectiveness in my opinion. Saizou has good strength and decent magic, which allows him to work as a decent mixed attacker. He also has no trouble hitting things and is fairly sturdy for his class, but he is pretty slow and has a bad ability. I like his occasional snarkiness that is not too pronounced. Asyura/Shura is not too bad either. 

Guire/Gaius/Gurei/Asugi is pretty obnoxious with his "sweet-tooth" gimmick and the fact that he was copy-pasted into Fates does not help my opinion of him. Suzukaze is pretty boring (and pretty stupid in Conquest) and has terrible strength, which means needs help killing most enemies. Eponine/Nina is incredibly annoying with her fujoshi tendencies that define her entire character. Anna is also really obnoxious with her entire character being essentially Nurse Joy with a money obsession/fetish.

Sorry for the walls of text.

1 hour ago, phineas81707 said:

Don't they have Locktouch? Using Shuriken, I'd think they're closer to thieves than Outlaws are. Plus they promote into a class that's close to Assassin, from what I hear.

Yes, ninja have Locktouch. Their promoted class, Master Ninja, gains the Lethality skill like Assassins (they even have those same stupid and highly-impractical gauntlet spikes that Assassins in Awakening have). 

[Koumal8]

  I messed up and gave my vote to the wrong characters, but whatever: Patty, Legault and Saizo for me, HM to both Jaffar and Matthew (man FE7 has some great thieves!) I also have fond memories of Chad for whatever reason.

[Cornguy]

Lifis. Some unreasonable bias here, my last playthrough he managed to level up his build stat 3 times, really early on, so he was even more useful than he is normally. He's also a less than redeemable character, and if you read my reasoning for Shinon, you know I love that. HM to Patty, for cheesing the arena with her Sleep Sword.

Volke. I love this guy. He starts out as a rugged thief for hire. Then its revealed he's actually kind of an awesome guy, and even after that, still kind of a greedy turd. "yeah, paying me all that gold was my contribution to our plan." I also love every bit of dialogue he's involved in, both serious and humorous. HMs to Matthew and Legault, both good-humored characters dealt awful tragedies. 

Kaze. Likable character in Fates is a plus. HMs to Saizo and Kagero, the ninja were one of few things in Fates I really liked, personalities and class.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Classic: Julian because he's great despite not having a class change, and I really like his name.

Veteran: Volke because of his story part in FE9.

Modern: Idk. Since stealing was removed, so I didn't really pay attention on this class in the newest parts anymore.

 

[Sylphid]

Don't know, Matthew, Shura

7 hours ago, Christianguy7 said:

Should Kaze, and he other Ninja really be considered thieves though?

They are basically Hoshidan thieves so I don't see why not. Apart from a separate poll for ninjas, which would be silly, I don't see what better place there is for them unless you wanted them in the cavalier poll. (Also I would argue ninjas are more like traditional FE Thieves than Outlaws since the latter use bows)

[Anacybele]

Kaze is the only 'I don't know' that I didn't select. I've just never been real fond of thief characters. But Kaze is cool!

[NinjaMonkey]

N/A, Volke, Anna.

[Locke087]

Patty, Jaffar, Kaze

Though it is always hard to pick between the FE 7 Theives they are all so good, but admittedly Jaffar has always been my favorite... 

Edited January 26, 2017 by Locke087

[Cymbalina's Revenge]

Patty-- adorable design, adorable characterization, can actually fight with the right father.

Rennac-- love his characterization too much to care about anything else. 

Anna -- FE13 waifu bias but honestly she was pretty cool. Gaius wasn't bad, though.

[Jeheza]

IDK, Sothe, Anna

Veteran and Modern choices were hard again since I like Jaffar, the sacred stones thieves, Tellius thieves, Gaius, Saizo... 

[The Malign Knight]

Patty, Astore and Shura.

The modern choices were really hard for me, considering that i like pretty much all of them.

[Tango]

1. Julian, but shoutouts to Patty. She's so cute. 

2. Legault is so freaking cool.

3. I love Kaze as a character and as a unit. 

[Sweet_Basil]

Patty
Sothe/Heather tie
Anna/Niles tie