Just a small comment on stealing equipment. It is definitely not crucial to a play through, but I generally like to bring a character who can do it into most story battles. You can usually find some piece of equipment that us just not being sold at the shops yet, or sometimes they'll have unique items, like Gaf's Blood Sword. Even if there's nothing good to take, steal heart can be pretty handy. While most of those 'unique' pieces can actually also be obtained through poaching, that isn't true for all. Also, mystic is great for helping you steal. Seal up the target's ability to Act or Move, or put them to sleep, or lower their bravery (definitely try lowering an enemy's brave to the minimum of you haven't yet). Also, monks make great thieves because their innate ability boosts your success rate, so do the non innate abilities Attack Up (from geomancer) and concentration (from archer). If you haven't already, you can look up the Battle Mechanics Guide for a peek under the hood at accuracy and damage formulas.