Thief Sothe

Weapon: Vicious Dagger+ (+Spd) / Courtly Fan+ (+Spd)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Moonbow / Glimmer / Ruptured Sky

A Passive: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot

B Passive: Windsweep / Watersweep

C Passive: Spd/Def Rein / Atk/Def Rein

Sacred Seal: Blade Session / Heavy Blade

• Thief Sothe, despite being in an unfortunate class archetype, does have a saving grace in the form of Vicious Dagger+ / Courtly Fan+. With this weapon, he’ll be able to secure his own doubles, provided that he can make the Spd check, as well as run either Windsweep or Watersweep as the weapon provides him with a Player Phase half-NFU effect. This will at least give Thief Sothe an adequate combat presence.
   
• Any low cooldown Special will work well with Thief Sothe as he’ll want to be able to consistently output as much damage as possible. Granted, it’ll be a bit difficult to get consistent Specials going without either Heavy Blade or external support from the likes of Thorr but it’s entirely possible nonetheless.
   
• Given the glass cannon-nature of his being, any A Passive that can bolster Thief Sothe’s overall Atk and Spd will worth well for him. Atk/Spd Catch grants the most out of any Passive currently with a staggering +9 Atk/Spd if both conditions are met but he can still make due with other accessible options.
   
• As just mentioned, Thief Sothe isn’t built for taking hits, so if the foe is able to counter back, it may spell the end for him. As such, he’ll want to opt for either Windsweep or Watersweep, depending on preference, as he’ll be able to more securely output damage without the fear of falling in combat.
   
• Another saving grace for Thief Sothe is his ability to run Rein skills. Unlike Joint Drives, these are able to buff two to three of the user’s stats, depending on the variant used. For Thief Sothe in particular, he’ll appreciate either Spd/Def Rein for more damage output and Windsweep / Watersweep security or his innate Atk/Def Rein to help with Heavy Blade checks.
   
• As far as his Sacred Seal options are concerned, Blade Session will provide the most overall Atk and Spd, which will help him with damage output in general. Beyond that, Heavy Blade can be considered if you want to consistently trigger two-cooldown Specials. Just keep in mind that it may not always work out as newer units continue to raise the bar for overall Atk and Guard effects can put a damper on charging Specials in general.

Weapon: Florid Knife+ (+Spd) / Bone Carver+ (+Spd)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Moonbow / Miracle / Glimmer / Ruptured Sky

A Passive: Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot

B Passive: Windsweep / Watersweep / A/S Far Trace / A/D Far Trace / S/D Far Trace

C Passive: Savage Blow

Sacred Seal: Savage Blow

• If Vicious Dagger+ / Courtly Fan+ aren’t currently at your disposal, Thief Sothe can instead run a chip damage support set either with his innate Florid Knife+ or Bone Carver+ from a Hatari Deen. As a Ranged Flier, he already struggles quite a bit with his skill accessibility, so there’s only so much Thief Sothe can do without a decently combative weapon. However, this isn’t too bad for supportive purposes.
   
• As the goal is to inflict chip damage on foes, he’ll naturally want to stack Savage Blow so that the amount of damage he’s inflicting on nearby foes increases by a significant margin. However, the weapon he uses will ultimately depend on how much the player values the ability to securely provide support versus the scale in which they can output said support. With his innate Florid Knife+, Thief Sothe will be able to inflict up to 14 points of chip damage with double Savage Blow and have the ability to move a single space afterwards, making positioning a lot more lenient. Meanwhile, with Bone Carver+, he loses his ability to move after combat but increases his chip damage by seven points, making foes a lot more susceptible to KOs.
   
• Regardless of the weapon chosen, Thief Sothe will want to run Windsweep or Watersweep so that he can securely inflict the chip damage without much fear of retaliation from the foe. However, it isn’t the only option at his disposal. If he runs Bone Carver+, he can opt for Far Trace as there is always a possibility that he will be able to retreat, despite being quite unreliable. Moreover, by ditching Windsweep or Watersweep, he can instead opt for Miracle so that if he is able to charge it, he’ll have more security in inflicting Savage Blow support but keep in mind that if he does fall below 25% HP, Bone Carver+ will deactivate.

Weapon: Pumpkin-a-Box+ (+Spd)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Moonbow / Glimmer / Ruptured Sky

A Passive: Fury (3 or 4) / Atk/Spd Boosting A Slot

B Passive: Desperation

C Passive: Spd/Def Rein / Atk/Def Rein

Sacred Seal: Fury / Heavy Blade

• Given the state of Ranged Flier skill accessibility, it’s hard to recommend much beyond the initial two builds as there are very few options to be had, let alone their optimability. However, with Daggers in particular, they do have access to quite a bit of weaponry, so it’s not entirely hopeless. Even so, they to are still quite limited in scope.
   
• The idea with this build is to help Thief Sothe fall into the Desperation range as quickly as possible so that he can output two attacks, when possible, consecutively. As such, he’ll want to stack Fury in his weapon, A Passive, and Sacred Seal so that he can take upwards of 20 chip damage per combat and meet the Desperation condition quickly.
   
• Thief Sothe could potentially set up Desperation in a single combat without the need of Fury as the A Passive, and if that is possible, then that can be swapped out for another Passive that increases his overall Atk and Spd. However, given that he’ll be wearing himself down over time, he’ll want to avoid skills that have an HP condition such as Atk/Spd Push.
   
• Beyond that, he can either opt for Spd/Def Rein or keep his innate Atk/Def Rein and run a low cooldown Special such as Moonbow, Glimmer, or Ruptured Sky. It’ll mainly boil down to preference but the former Rein does help Thief Sothe with his damage output more while the latter Rein can be used for potential Heavy Blade checks to make triggering Specials a lot more consistent.