I'm playing Disgaea 1 for the first time. How should I equip

Whatever increases their proper stat, also Emblems if you have them. One Shoe item is also preferred.
You can do 3 armor, but if the unit is a bow or gun user, something like Armor/Glasses/Shoes is preferred, or if they're a warrior, Armor/Shoes/Belt. Give Mages Orbs and Muscles early on so they can last longer, and give Etna an Axe if you plan on using her.

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>>380840486
Do shoes actually increase their movement range? The item description doesn't say anything about this, they just add a little bit spd.
Speaking of which. How should I equip Thieves in particular? Does higher hit help them steal better?
And yeah, I gave Etna an axe, since spear damage is a bit underwhelming.

I usually have one armour piece on each character and 2-3 boosters for their primary stat - glasses/shoes for Gunners/Thieves/Archers, Muscles for frontline fighters, etc. The exception is Mages and Clerics, who get loaded up with Orbs. If you're doing your job right, they'll never be in the line of fire, thus not needing much defence, but they'll be able to snipe enemy units with ridiculously powerful skills.

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Will I be able to buy muscles/orbs at some point, or is hospital/stealing them from enemies is the only way to get them?

I think for the most part, you only ever get them as rewards, either from the hospital or the bonus gauge. There is one story stage, however, which has an enemy that spawns with special items you'll know it when you hear the phrase horse weiner. That stage can be repeated, the enemy respawns and can be stolen from repeatedly. It's worth doing so since you can sell its items for a ton and they're worth using by themselves.

>>380840785
>>Do shoes actually increase their movement range?
Yes, I'm sure it would show that on the UI, the number is small but if you give someone a MV of 5 a shoe, it should go to 6.
Also, Thieves in D1 are intentionally the worst class in the game, and in the series, holy shit they're awful. Stealing doesn't really come into affect until postgame, so I wouldn't worry that much. However, a lv.200 thief is required to get the best class in the game, so if I were you, I would reincarnate your current Thief into a Scout and use him till he's a decent level and had good skills, then reincarnate him back to a Thief. On top of this, make a 2nd Scout and use him too since he's also required to get the Majin.
Also, to answer your question, yes HIT affects steal rates.

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Oh, you can reincarnate units into different classes? Are there any restrictions?
Also, what carries over and what doesn't? Will, say, a warrior reincarnated from a mage be as effective as a warrior normally would in close combat? What I'm trying to say, is how does reclassing affect the stat growth?

>>380842117
When it comes to reclassing, you're probably better off reading up on mechanics. I forget precisely how it works in D1, but it's more to do with the number of times you've reincarnated a unit, rather than what it was/will be. A unit reincarnated 10 times will be overall better than a unit reincarnated once. Plus, there's how much mana you spend and other factors.

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>>380842293
IIRC I read there's a limit to a total number of reincarnations you can do, and you get to carry over like half stat points you had prior. So it's best to reincarnate only at the max level (9999?) if you want to get the absolute best out of this mechanic.
But I was wondering you can redistribute the bonus stat points in any way you want? So a reincarnated warrior wouldn't get stuck with super low attack and high int.