Steal (Final Fantasy IX)

Steal is a command ability in Final Fantasy IX that lets Thieves take items from enemies. It is used by Zidane, Marcus, Blank, and Cinna. Zidane being the main character, the player has access to Steal for most of the game. Stealing can be improved with certain support abilities Zidane learns, and the number of successful steals determines the damage Zidane's Thievery can do. Stealing from bosses is a great way to get various equipment pieces early, but the rarer items may require numerous attempts before Zidane succeeds. Zidane can use Detect to see what items an enemy holds.
The Vice and Magic Vice can also steal from the player. Once an enemy steals an item from the player, it cannot be retrieved even when the enemy is defeated.
Stealing 50 times in the mobile/Steam version, earns the Sticky Fingers achievement.
==Mechanics==
Each opponent has between one and four items available and their list is set; the player can steal repeatedly until the enemy has no items left. Some items are easier to steal than others. After an enemy has been stolen from, it still may drop items upon defeat.
The Master Thief support ability makes it easier for characters to steal rare items, and the Bandit support ability perfects the steal success rate. 
Without Bandit, the formula for Steal hitting a target is as follows:
:Attack = Random number between 0 ... [(Level + Spirit) - 1]
:Defense = Random number between 0 ... (Enemy Level - 1)
If Attack is equal to or greater than Defense, Steal succeeds. If Bandit is equipped, this step is ignored and Steal will always hit the target.
After Steal has successfully hit the target, the chances for stealing from each slot is as follows:
Item Rarity	Success Rate 	Master Thief
Very Rare 	1/256 (0.39%) 	32/256 (12.5%)
Rare 	16/256 (6.25%)	32/256 (12.5%)
Uncommon 	64/256 (25%) 	64/256 (25%)
Common 	256/256 (100%)	256/256 (100%)
Steal will first attempt the rare slot. If that fails, it tries the next most common slot. A successful Steal from an empty slot results in a failed Steal attempt. If the Master Thief ability is equipped, it changes the Steal rate for rare and semi-rare items to 32/256 instead, and allows Steal to ignore empty slots.
Therefore, with Bandit and Master Thief both equipped, if the target has a common item, Steal will have 100% success of stealing one of the items.
If Zidane equips Mug, he deals damage alongside the Steal as per the following formula: 
:Random number between 0 ... [(Zidane's Level * Target's Level / 2) - 1]
If Zidane equips Steal Gil, he also gains gil alongside the Steal as per the following formula:
:Random number between 0 ... (Zidane's Level * Target Level / 4)
==Use==
Steal is used to obtain items from enemies, and for powering up Zidane's Thievery; Thievery counts all successful steals, even from the guest characters. Because Thievery deals fixed damage, it can become supremely powerful and it is often worthwhile for Zidane to steal commonly. However, there are times when Zidane is the only physical attacker in a party of mages, so the player may not want to use up his turn for stealing.
Enemies faced in random encounters typically hold recovery items and Ore. They are good sources of Tents and Ethers. Enemies that inflict status abnormalities commonly have the item that heals the abnormality as a stealable item.
Steal is especially useful in boss battles as they usually hold equipment pieces that are not yet available in shops. The downside is that the rarest items may take numerous attempts and Zidane, though a strong attacker, is then preoccupied with stealing on his turns, and the party may even end up wanting to stall to avoid killing the boss before Zidane has taken everything the boss has to offer. The first-time Tantarian and Beatrix, for example, have some great items but the battles are under a time limit. Hilgigars is a notorious boss for how difficult it is to steal the Fairy Flute off him.
It is worth augmenting Steal with Bandit and Master Thief, but Mug and Steal Gil are not as useful. Mug deals minor damage and the player may not want to kill the target, anyway, before all items have been taken. Steal Gil is likewise but a minor income, but if the player is stealing anyway, and has the Magic Stones to spare, having it doesn't hurt.
Category:Command abilities in Final Fantasy IX