World Octopath Traveler 2 big and not very interested in giving you a helping hand outside of the initial tutorials. Like the retro classic that inspired it, Octopath Traveler 2 wants you to figure things out on your own, and while that leads to some heartwarming discoveries, a few tips can go a long way toward making the experience more enjoyable.
This Octopath Traveler 2 tips guide covers a number of topics, including how to manage the hidden power meter, the best way to get valuable items for free, and how to deal with some of the RPGmore stupid quests.
Steal everything
Octopath Traveler 2 has no morality system, so you can steal anything from anyone you meet without consequence. Thief Tron can steal items during the day, although her chances of success are lower for valuable items. Level her up to increase those chances. Oswald can rob people at night, and if he wins the fight, he gets whatever they have handy. Just remember to check their approximate strength before starting a fight.
The easiest way to get free stuff is to use Agnea’s night action where she can claim items from people and if she’s high enough they’ll give them to you without question. It’s good to be a celebrity.
Trinkets, jewelry, silver pouches, and coins make the most money, but stealing or acquiring essential items in other ways is also a convenient way to preserve your limited funds.
Use your power
Octopath 2 introduces hidden powers during key moments in each character’s first boss fight. It’s tempting to think that you should save your powers for boss fights, and while they generally make it easier to survive these longer battles, feel free to use them elsewhere.
Enemy mobs can quickly wear down your heroes, even during the day, and some common enemies in the game’s more difficult dungeons can wipe out even a well-formed party. You need all the help you can get and you can still top up your latent power meter quickly.
Roll with punches
Your hidden power meter fills up when you take damage. However, if you are defending or using a skill that blocks or defends against attacks, your meter does not fill up after an enemy attacks. If you need to activate a hidden power, it’s better to focus on healing wounded heroes than defending against attacks.
Use healing items liberally
Healing grapes and SP restoring items are not in short supply, and if you don’t want to buy these essentials, you can just wave them around. Instead of hoarding them for when you need them, use them when you need them in battle to make life easier. If you’re out of stock and have Castti in your party, she can create a healing concoction from the right items and even mix it with an individual ingredient for an extra boost.
Other health and stat-boosting items are harder to come by, so be more discerning with them – like the different types of nuts you come across and the stat-boosting Kastti ingredients.
Knowledge is power and profit
Several characters can get information from almost every NPC. Osvald’s Scrutinize has a high chance of incapacitating people. Temenos can break their minds, which is handy due to his hidden power, but also time consuming. Casti’s method is the easiest because it depends on her level, not randomness.
However you do it, make sure you get input from everyone. In many cases, the information is just extra information, but sometimes you get discounts at local shops, knowledge of where to find valuable hidden items, or most importantly, items you’ll need to complete side quests. NPCs with quest items are not marked on the map or with any quest indicator. If you’re stuck in a sidequest, thorough analysis or information gathering is probably the way forward.
Go hiking (and swimming and climbing)
Unlike the first Octopath Traveler, Octopath 2 has plenty to do and see off the beaten path. Take some time between traveling to new story locations to explore the regions you’re in. You can find a powerful piece of equipment that saves you from having to buy something in the next town, or you can find the next town completely by accident, which makes it much easier to get there for a later story quest.
However, at other times you will encounter quests and even guilds where you can get additional secret jobs.
Experiment freely
As you find these sidequests and unlock the means to equip secondary tasks from the eight core classes, take some time to play around with your builds and see what works best. Once you master a support skill, you can take it with you to any other class your character can equip to create powerful and deadly combos.
Experiment with classes. Octopath Traveler 2 is so balanced that almost any class is possible in most situations, so while a group of scientists and apothecaries might be ideal, you can’t go wrong.
Go through dungeons often
What is there is it’s a level up around the middle of the game and a significant increase in the number of job points required to unlock new skills. This is where additional dungeons come in handy. They’re handy for finding rare gear and testing yourself against powerful bosses, but they’re even better for speeding through levels and accumulating job points that can be spent on new skills.
Each region has at least two additional dungeons, and by the time you encounter them during the main story, they’re usually several levels higher than you should be. This makes them ideal for leveling up quickly, although be aware that the threats you’ll face inside will be more dangerous than standard encounters.
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