Basic tips and tricks: an overview of the combat system, tips for choosing a character, leveling up, boss battles and much more
The first difficulties will arise immediately after the launch of Octopath Traveler , when the game asks to choose between 8 different characters. All of them will eventually meet and become one big family, but the decision made will determine the initial style of the game. However, there is something to think about in addition to choosing a character, so below we will provide basic tips and tricks for beginners.
Choose the character you are most comfortable with
After several hours of playing Octopath Traveler, you will begin to explore the map of the world and meet new squad members. And only after that the game will become more similar to the classic JRPG. To keep this intro section easy, pick someone who really suits your play style.
The easiest way to simplify your choice is to split all 8 characters into two main groups – mages and warriors. Alfin, Cyrus, Ofilia and Primrose fit into the first category, while Haanit, Alberic, Tressa and Therion are considered warriors. There are a few exceptions (Alfin and Tressa are on the border of two classes), but we have highlighted the type of game to which they belong.
Mages are strong, but extremely vulnerable to any damage characters, while warriors are more resilient, have more health points, better defense and the ability to equip strong armor and strong weapons. To understand which character to choose in your case, you need to study the strengths and weaknesses of each of them. However, this is a topic for a separate article.
Buy some inexpensive upgrades right away
Each character has a few basic skills in the beginning that you can upgrade for a modest fee. The first thing to do after gaining control of the hero is to explore the small city. In each case, you will have access to such a tiny village where there are abandoned treasure chests (some of them are hidden behind buildings). Explore all the screens you are allowed to visit. Depending on the starting character, you will receive equipment, items, money, or all of this in varying amounts. Take Therion to gain access to the poisonous dagger from the first region.
After these first steps, head to the equipment store marked with the shield and sword logo. Buy weapon and armor upgrades, the cheapest you can find. You will still have enough money to purchase items.
Here’s a quick list of the essentials:
- Healing Grapes x7 (restores health points).
- Healing Herb x2 (Poison).
- Awakening Herb x2 (Sleep).
After you buy the items on the list, you can spend money on additional services. In the beginning, the characters do not have accessories, but you can buy a couple of the cheapest and simplest ones.
Remember the basic rules of any JRPG
We are talking about such obvious things as frequent saves, healing before a boss fight, checking an equipment store when visiting new cities, buying armor and weapon upgrades, talking to all characters, and so on.
Use non-combat skills as often as possible
Every hero in the game has a useful skill that can be used outside of combat. Theft is especially useful as it has no disadvantages. If you fail to steal the item 5 times in a row, your “reputation” in the city will suffer, but it doesn’t matter – go to the bar and pay the “fine” to become “clean” before the law again.
Don’t forget the calls
Priest Olyphia is usually useless in combat, but you should remember that she can recruit NPCs and then summon them during the battle. In fact, you get a fifth character in the squad, which is very useful during boss fights.
Combat System: Strength and Stun Points
Octopath Traveler is guided by two basic principles of combat. Below is a detailed description of both concepts.
Power points
Characters gain strength points each turn. Think of them as a temporary boost, indicated by a bright dot next to the character information. You can spend three strength points on any turn, and squad members can gain 5 at the start of each. If you decide to strengthen, then the next turn the indicator of the power point will no longer appear.
With this information in mind, you must constantly think about the effects of amplification. In light battles (“JRPG junk battles”), it will effectively burn 3 points of strength at once in order to destroy weaker opponents and move on to the next battle. For boss fights, it is very important to choose the right moment to amplify, which will change the course of the battle.
To make the most of your Power Points, you need to understand how the stun system works.
Stuns
Under each enemy there is a scale with vulnerability, as well as a shield icon with a numerical value inside. Enemies can be vulnerable to anything – axes, fire, or any other category. If you attack an opponent with a technique to which he is vulnerable, this leads to a rapid decrease in points on the shield. As soon as the points on the shield drop to zero, the enemy will be stunned for the next 2 turns.
To maximize damage and effectiveness, you need to learn to act according to the situation. For example, when the boss is about to use a charged attack that takes several turns to prepare, you can try to stun him with power points, thereby interrupting the killing blow. Alternatively, you can stun the boss without amplifiers, and then activate the latter while he is immobilized. You will set one turn for this powerful attack, and the other for the use of any consumable item or a healing spell.
Another important thing about vulnerabilities. You’ve probably noticed the “arrows” next to the main attack prompt. You must change weapons and look for the one to which the enemy is most vulnerable. The right weapon is the key to victory.
Skills
As soon as you reach the middle of the fourth level (a little further), you will open access to skills. These additional abilities will help you diversify your battles, increase your chances of survival in certain situations, and usually emphasize the strengths of each individual hero.
Whatever the skill, it is advisable to use it in moments of stunning the enemy. If the skill allows a squad member to deal increased damage on the next turn, save it and activate it so that this hero has 3 boost points.
Do not forget to heal and save more often
Octopath Traveler is modeled after old-school JRPGs, so if you die in battle, you will see a real screen with the inscription Game Over. Save as often as possible and use healing potions / spells early. Do not risk starting a fight with 50% of your maximum health points in reserve. You can be taken by surprise through random events: for example, the enemy army attacks first, as a result of which the hero will miss 4 hits at once.
Save each time you see the corresponding journal (indicated by “pen”). As soon as you leave the safe shelter in the first chapter, you can get into a dungeon, where enemies do more damage than is on your health bar.
Use fast travel to return to safe locations
If you find yourself in a difficult situation with a minimum supply of health points, without the means to heal, you do not need to give up. Press the “-” key to open the menu, and select a city to move quickly. You can use this feature even while in the dungeon.
In most dungeons, there is a wandering merchant right at the end, so click on him if you see the item bag icon on the radar.
If you are lost, then use the map
There is a training section in the main menu with the “Miscellaneous” tab. There you can find out a lot of useful information about buff and stun points, talents and skills of a particular character.
But the most important thing is that Octopath Traveler automatically keeps track of all major tasks both in the journal menu and on the world map. If you get lost, just open the world map and look for the “head” icon indicating the location of your character. This will allow you to get a hint about the region, find out information about the next quest and the recommended range of levels. In addition, the journal contains the history of each hero from the next region that you will visit.
If you see an additional dungeon, be sure to explore it
There are often a lot of treasures inside such locations. In addition, this way you can pump the level of the characters, which is obviously useful in order to go through new chapters.
The character is blocking the door: what to do?
It’s not so obvious, but in reality, if a character blocks the door, he thereby challenges you. You can challenge him to a duel using the abilities of Alberic or Haanit. Often, wealth is hidden behind such doors.
Note . Only Therion can open purple chests.
Boss Fighting Tips
Briefly and to the point:
- Use buffs on your characters and debuffs on bosses. Any boss in the game is subject to debuffs!
- The battle with any boss must follow the same scheme. Devote the first moves to finding out all the weaknesses of the enemy, breaking shields, setting debuffs and improving your heroes. And only after you destroy the enemy’s shield, attack the enemy.
- One or two characters must be “damage dealers” (high damage fighters), the other two must support or weaken the boss.
- Save bonus actions and don’t use them until the boss is stunned. Yes, it will be tempting to activate them in order to quickly destroy the enemy’s shield, but the enhancements are much effective already during the stun, allowing them to deal colossal damage.
- For the boss to be stunned for 2 full turns, you need to act more cunningly. If he has already attacked, and you see that you can break the enemy’s shield, select “Defense” by the acting character. Thanks to this, on the next turn you will attack first, and thereby be able to stun the enemy, allowing each of the other characters to spend 2 more turns.
We hope our Octopath Traveler tips and tricks can help you. In general, the game will not be a stumbling block for veterans of Japanese RPGs, but some aspects allowed the developers to dilute the painfully familiar formula of classic JRPGs.
