Spoiler-free tips for every Octopath you’ll travel
Octopath Traveler 2 is finally here, devoid of the three-hour time limit that impeded us before. I said it was looking like a treat for RPG fans, and I remain confident in that assertion.
Octopath Traveler 2 is much more than another dose of the first game. While commonalities are here (for better or for worse), there are many new skills and secrets that firmly break the mold set by Octopath Traveler. In fact, you could miss some crucial features if you intend to play this exactly like its predecessor. Octopath Traveler 2’s open ended structure is all about the joy of discovery, so you don’t have to follow a perfect path to enjoy the game. Still, if you like to optimize your progress (since you play RPGs and clicked this article, I’m guessing you do), there are a few key tips you should know about. Below are my favorite finds.
Agnea is an SP battery
One of my cornerstone strategies from Octopath Traveler involved the Thief class’ Steal SP and Share SP skills. It was so easy to tear through random battles using my most powerful abilities while Therion topped off everyone’s magic. The Thief class is stripped of these skills in Octopath Traveler 2, which made me worried this strategy became obsolete. Fortunately, that isn’t the case.
The Dancer Agnea might not have Share SP in her kit, but she arguably has something even better: NPCs she recruits with her Allure Path Action grant additional effects to her Dancer skills. The moment you finish her prologue, you can find a villager in the southwest corner of Cropdale who restores a small amount of SP as a Dance Session perk. This makes every dance restore 40 SP to the target, letting you easily top off heavy hitters like Hikari and Osvald. Flamechurch also houses an apothecary that ups that amount to 75 SP per cast, so look out for her!
Protagonists are split into complementary groups of four
If you played the demo, you know Octopath Traveler 2 gives all characters brand new Path Actions that only work at night. While this ups the total count of Path Actions to 16, they all boil down to four effects: Getting items, obtaining info, knocking out NPCs, and recruiting followers. Some NPCs will only appear at certain times of day, so you’ll be forced to use night or day actions specifically to interact with them.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, you likely noticed that the protagonists are split into two groups on opposite sides of the world. This is no accident. With the way Path Actions are mixed and matched, using travelers from one side of the world guarantees access to all four possible effects regardless of the time of day. This can be immensely helpful if you initially want to focus on one core party but don’t want to miss out on any quests along the way. That said, you can absolutely mix and match travelers from the east and west. There’s some amazing combat synergy you won’t want to ignore, like Agnea topping off Osvald’s SP.
If you need to decide between an eastern or a western party, both have pros and cons. The west party members veer towards a generalist playstyle, relying harder on Path Actions and jack-of-all-trades base kits. The east party has more defined party roles, and their base talents emphasize traveling at night. Each are strong, so pick whoever appeals to you the most.
You can get a secondary job really early
One of the biggest surprises about the demo was the easy access to the Inventor class. This can be found on the Eastern New Delsta Highroad near Throné’s starting town. Check out our guide here for more details.
This is a great find for the early game. The inventor class will give its user bonus stats in addition to making Swords and Axes equipable. I personally stand by Partitio being a great candidate for Inventor. He benefits from both added weapon types, and Changeable Catapult gives him a party-wide attack that his kit natively lacks. Secondary jobs can be reassigned at any time, so give Inventor to whoever needs it most on your team.
Optimize your sales with Partitio
Speaking of Partitio, the Merchant class is unsurprisingly good at buying and selling things. This was true in the first game, but there are some added mechanics that make Partitio worth strategizing around.
Partitio’s new night Path Action is Hire, which allows Partitio to pay NPCs and recruit them. NPCs recruited by Partito come with exclusive “Merchant Talents” that give various money-related benefits. The most notable effects in the early game are wholesale discounts on purchases and bonus money from sales. By strategizing around Partitio’s followers, you can save a ton of money by purchasing items with a discount and holding sellable items until you have a follower with an ample sale bonus. Even if you aren’t actively using Partitio, it’s easy to get a decent follower for him without spending too much. Which conveniently brings us to our last point…
Visit the black market
For an early game power boost, there’s a not-so-hidden set of shops located in the New Delsta Flats (north of where the Inventor job is). Near the northern side of the map, you’ll see a torch lit during the night where a group of NPCs will gather. This is the black market, which we’ve discussed in more detail here.
As I’ve tested this further, I’ve noticed four possible iterations of the black market: one shop keeper with bogus items, two shop keepers with accessories and defensive equipment, another two shopkeepers with Soulstones and bottled dusts, and three shop keepers with a spread of items, weapons, and armor. That last set is the one you’ll want to look out for, since you can score some powerful weapons for your lead attacker. I found that rapidly cycling through the day and night cycle will also reroll the market that appears. In other words, peruse the black market as much as you want.
Secrets like these aren’t mandatory to progress, but they’re well worth the time to check out. Stay tuned as we learn more about the game and uncover every corner of Solistia!
Published: Feb 24, 2023 09:00 am