Stealing in FFIX.

[En Saga]

I've had the same problem over the years on both console, emulators and now on PC.
I either steal all the items a boss carries within 5 turns, OR I steal all but one and then I'm completely unable to get the last one.

One boss specifically has this issue everytime and it's the Antlion boss in Cleyra.
The last time I played this I tried stealing the last item for over 30 minutes just to see if I could actually get it. Nope. So I soft reset and tried again, lo and behold, stole all availible items in a row. This has worked on other bosses as well. But some bosses aren't really close to a save point so soft resetting because Zidane can't grab ♥♥♥♥ (unless its attached to a girls behind) feels really crappy.

Is this common for anyone else? Why does it happen? Is it just because of bad luck and abyssmal RNG?

I've started to just steal as many items I can until I see "Couldn't steal anything..." three times in a row and then give up and kill the boss because I know it's gonna be one of those endless 'Steal' tries. I know it's not that big of a deal but some bosses carries some really sweet loot and it's annoying when you're unable to get them, even with 'Bandit' equipped.

[Xenader]

steal is a huge pain from around there til start of disk 3. when you get master thief it seems to work alot better. til then, try staying 3 lvls or more above stuff. had alot of luck that way, but still always get that 1 here and there that takes 20 or so tries.
still better than hot or cold game

[Neoripo]

Activate infinite health healt+limiti, activate x3 speed, have cursor on memory and Zidane steal while the others defend and mash away.
I usually do that until i've got the items, then deactivate cheats, let the limit run out and proceed with the battle.
The steal is RNG in this game (some items have an 1/253 chance of being stolen) so it's just pure luck.

[clawsofdeath9]

keep your spirit as high as posible with equipment, and activate all stealing abilities, i would sugest to simply keep everyone on defend and keep only stealing with zidane... i had no problem stealing this way at all. i even have steal all equipment from beatrix fights with no problem.

[Cress]

Welcome to FFIX

[En Saga]

I'm never gonna use the cheats to obtain stuff.

I was just wondering if other people find just FFIX stealing RNG as hellish as I do. :) Then again I've never really bothered with stealing stuff in other FF's other than VII, but that game has nowhere near the garbage RNG numbers when stealing or being able to steal more than one item per mob. It just feels like IX has a way more ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ way of handling steals. It's like either you get all items on the first tries or you won't get the last one at all. And I usually grind a lot so I have an advantage over bosses.

I'm sorry, I'm just rambling.

TL;DR - I get the feeling that the stealing system in IX is awfully harsh compared to other FF installments. :D

[Ashmic]

Originally posted by Epex aetonix:

I was able to get the Gold Helmet from Antlion but it took me like 20-30 attempts though. Mostly just luck.

I got the gold helm in like the 3rd steal. no bs
im not saying this to be like "haha better than u" but moreso to show the weird steal chances

[Zunnoab #931]

I just looked this up.

Spirit does nothing more than allow you to even attempt to steal if your level is lower than the enemy's. If you have the Bandit skill, spirit does nothing at all for stealing. Each item has a hard coded success rate. Master Thief raises the rarest of items up to 32/256 chance.

[Neoripo]

Originally posted by En Saga:

I'm never gonna use the cheats to obtain stuff.

I was just wondering if other people find just FFIX stealing RNG as hellish as I do. :) Then again I've never really bothered with stealing stuff in other FF's other than VII, but that game has nowhere near the garbage RNG numbers when stealing or being able to steal more than one item per mob. It just feels like IX has a way more ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ way of handling steals. It's like either you get all items on the first tries or you won't get the last one at all. And I usually grind a lot so I have an advantage over bosses.

I'm sorry, I'm just rambling.

TL;DR - I get the feeling that the stealing system in IX is awfully harsh compared to other FF installments. :D

I spent near 3 hours trying to get the Fairy Flute on PSX and no luck back in the day; and even cheating in PC I only got it after 1 hour of mashing, so ♥♥♥♥ it. I almost consider stealing some kind of dificulty balance to have to fight bosses 3 vs 1 instead of 4 and let me tell you, a boss fight where you are only fighting the boss 4v1 and not 3v1 and the rng with Zidane is way easier.

[Zunnoab #931]

Originally posted by Aaliyah:

Originally posted by Zunnoab #931:

I just looked this up.

Spirit does nothing more than allow you to even attempt to steal if your level is lower than the enemy's. If you have the Bandit skill, spirit does nothing at all for stealing. Each item has a hard coded success rate. Master Thief raises the rarest of items up to 32/256 chance.

this is false considering I raise the spirit and success rate is on point. Zidane steals everything, sometimes even the best items first, and thi is with no master theif equipped.

I think the people that obsessively dissected the game's code have more accurate information than your subjective guesswork, unless they massively changed the formula for this port.

[Zunnoab #931]

This is making my head hurt. Random subjective observation is not proof.

[slmorton]

It's not really worthwhile to get the slot 3 and slot 4 items until you get Master Thief. The only truly missable steals in the game are the Genji equipment and Ozma's goodies, and you'll have access to Master Thief long before then.

[Rodhis]

Since this game is over 15 years old I think most of what there is to this stuff was cracked already.

So yeah, it's just bad luck/bad RNG.