Stealing

Stealing is a new mechanic introduced in Epic Battle Fantasy 5. By utilizing either the Steal Item skill or using a single target melee weapon-elemental attack while wearing equipment with an on-hit stealing effect (i.e. "Steals items with single-target melee attacks"), the players can steal one of the target enemy's item drops; the stolen item will be shown in a small text bubble besides the character.

Stealing is mainly useful for farming, as it allows players to acquire items without having to defeat foes; it's entirely possible to steal from a certain foe, immediately flee the battle, and repeat the process. Alternatively, players can steal from the foes and then defeat them normally; stealing does not affect a foe's actual drops, so it can effectively double the items gained from a successful battle.

Stealing Details[]

Stealing is always guaranteed to succeed, though each enemy can only be stolen from once per battle. It should be noted that stealing requires damage to be done to the target (be it positive or negative); if the attack/skill deals exactly 0 damage, the steal won't take effect.
To steal with equipment, other than being a single target weapon-elemental attack, the attack must also be at melee range. As such, Anna's Piercing Shot and Combo Shot, Lance's Snipe, Double Shot and Unload, and Natalie's Spectrum will not trigger the stealing effect. Since the v2 update, Steal Item is an exception; despite not being Weapon-elemental, it still triggers the steal effect from equipment.
For skills that retarget like Matt's Cleaver and NoLegs' Final Cutter, the item will be stolen from the last foe hit.
Which of the enemy's drops is stolen depends on two factors: the "Steal Power" of the player and the number of drops the enemy has; the actual drop rate of the items has no effect.
- For Steal Item, its Steal Power is equal to its level, while for equipment that grants the stealing effect, their Steal Power is equal to (level-1); minimum Steal Power is 1, and maximum Steal Power is 4.
- Generally speaking, higher Steal Power gives higher chances of stealing drops from rightmost slots, which contain rarer/more valuable items; note that only the drops on the first 4 slots can be stolen.
Equipment that grants the stealing effect stack with each other and, after the v2 update, also with the Steal Item skill, potentially allowing Matt to steal 4 items at once from the same enemy.

Steal Chances[]

Below is a list of the exact chances a character has of stealing a particular drop, based on the player's Steal Power and the number of item drops the target enemy has:

If the enemy only has one drop, that's the item that'll be stolen, regardless of Steal Power.
1 Steal Power
- 2/3 chance to steal the item in the first (leftmost) slot, 1/3 chance to steal the item in the second slot.
2 Steal Power
- 2 drops: 1/3 chance to steal the item in the first slot, 2/3 chance to steal the item in the second slot.
- >2 drops: equal 1/3 chance to steal any of the first, second or third slot items.
3 Steal Power
- 2 drops: guaranteed to steal the item in the second slot.
- 3 drops: 1/3 chance to steal the second slot item, 2/3 chance to steal the third slot item.
- >3 drops: equal 1/3 chance to steal any of the second, third or fourth slot items.
4 Steal Power:
- 2 drops: guaranteed to steal the item in the second slot.
- 3 drops: guaranteed to steal the item in the third slot.
- >3 drops: 1/3 chance to steal the third slot item, 2/3 chance to steal the fourth slot item.

All Steroids and most Rare Food drops are in the 5th slot or further, preventing the player from farming them through stealing (the only foes through whom Rare Foods can be stolen are Jotun, Chibi Knight, Super Chibi Knight, and the final boss).

Equipment[]

Below is a list of the equipment that grants its wearer the capability to steal:

Ultra Pro 9000X (sword)
Alt Crimson Razorback (sword)
Alt Paper Fan (staff)
Alt Eagle Eye (bow)
Alt Hellfire Shotgun (shotgun)
Bandit Blade (cat toy), both the regular and Alt versions
Hobo Clothes (male armor), both the regular and Alt versions
School Uniform (female armor)
Alt Sami Dress (female armor)
Fake Mustache (Flair), both the regular and Alt versions - due to being a Flair, can only reach 2 Steal Power even when maxed.

Trivia[]

Due to the restriction of only being able to steal with weapon-elemental attacks, NoLegs's Bandit Blade cannot steal from enemies with exactly 200% Water resistance, such as Sea Dragons (highest Moon Pearl drop rate pre-v2), as well as both Lime Squids and Poseidon (two highest drop rates of Sapphires in pre-v2), unless they're Chilled; otherwise, his weapon-elemental attacks will deal 0 damage to them. In these cases, substituting a different weapon and relying on the Hobo Clothes and/or Fake Mustache, or using a different character like Matt to perform the thievery may be a reasonable option.
Stealing is the only instance in the game where a difference is drawn between melee and ranged attacks.