1. Assuming I have a mastered thf and the TH3 job trait, does that mean I need +5 in gear for the initial +8?
2. Do I need to have +11 in gear to eventually proc up to TH14 or can I do it in my +5 in gear? From reading the thread there is quite a lot of discourse on this question, and I'm not trying to troll. Asked another way, if I'm +5 in gear can I get TH procs that go up to TH14 or will I cap at TH8?
so as was stated, yes, you would only need an additional TH 5 in gear to get your base 8.
regarding how you then get to 14- there is some confusion on this topic, but with each melee attack, you have a chance to proc TH and add another level.
things that increase that chance
-crit hits
-weapon skills
-sneak attack
-trick attack
-feint (at 5/5 it doubles your proc chance on the next attack despite the numbers saying 100%)
there is no clear cut math on this formula, but the generally understood concept is that when you attack, you have a % chance to proc to the next tier. beyond being effected by the above variables, there is an innate chance that is calculated by your current TH gear compared to your current TH level.
so for arguments sake, let's say you have TH 8 in gear, so your base hit will proc TH 8
I'm making these numbers up for this argument, but there is some information floating around with similar margins.
let's say the chance on a TH proc is 1%, so at level TH 8 with 8 gear, you have a 1% chance of getting a level up. if you get to 9, then you have a 8/9* 1% chance on another level up.
inversely, if you had TH 14 in gear and your base proc was 8, then all subsequent hits would apply a 14/8 * 1% chance to level up.
bottom line is that if you're going for TH procs, there is some merit to having higher TH gear in your SA/Ta/feint sets.
this being said, THF does attack very fast, and you can fairly easily get most mobs that take longer then 2 minutes to kill up to level 11 as long as you're using those abilities on cool-down.