The original Octopath Traveler was one of 2018’s breakout successes; its gorgeous visuals have led Square Enix to formally trademark the engine ‘HD-2D’, with several great games tapping into it since (and more on the way). Of course, the most heavily-anticipated inheritor of the HD-2D engine is the sequel to the game that spawned it in the first place. Lo and behold,Octopath Traveler 2is here at last.
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There is an air of comfortable familiarity in this second installment, but improvements have been made across the board. Gameplay mechanics are deeper, and combat options have expanded. Even the world itself is vaster - and exploration is more rewarding. Jot down these tips to start Octopath Traveler 2 in style.
Double Down In Town
You’ll need assistance from multiple characters in your party in order to make the most of every NPC in Octopath Traveler 2’s myriad of settlements.Castti can ‘Inquire’to learn key information about people, though she’ll only succeed if her level is high enough.Throné can stealfrom everyone, but every item has a percentage-based chance of success or failure. Difficulty is always ‘gated’ one way or the other.
But those two examples aredaytime-only; at night, you’re able to achieve similar resultswith different requirements.Hikari can ‘Bribe’ someoneat night no matter to gain that information, though the costs can range from paltry to tremendous. Agnea, rather than stealing,can attempt to ‘Allure’ people into giving her stuff in the evenings.
Furthermore,many NPCs can only be found either during the day or at night.Keeping a sharp eye out for these people can mean procuring some very nice merchandise you’d otherwise miss.
Sell Yourself Out
There area lotof items to find in Octopath Traveler 2. Many of which are equippable - weapons, armor, accessories. Some come in the form of ‘Nuts’, which are one-time consumable items that’ll boost a character’s stats. There are items for basic healing, items for elemental damage-dealing atonof items designed for the Apothecary class…and plenty of items that exist simply to be sold.The game will denote these if you go into your inventory; ‘sells for a [fair/modest/etc] price’ is what you’re looking for in the description.
So very many things can be pilfered from people, either by asking nicely (Agnea), thieving ruthlessly (Throné), violently mugging (Osvald), or even purchasing wholesale (Partitio). And so many of these things are junk. From scrap paper to famous artwork, they serve no purpose sitting in your inventory.Sell, sell, sell.
A Hire Purpose
There are numerous roles that townsfolk can play for you, depending on how you choose to temporarily recruit them. You might simply need to guide them from Point A to Point B. Perhaps you’ve tapped into their ability to show up during battle dances. Or maybe, just maybe,you’ve hadPartitio hire them to tag along with you until further notice.
You’re going to want to do thiswhenever you are about to either make lots of purchases or (especially) sell off a ton of junklike we mentioned in the previous tip.Many merchant-type NPCs will help cut down spending costs or assist in fetching extra coin for every item you sell.This adds uptremendously. We cleared our inventory thoroughly for the first time several hours into the game, with Partitio recruited and a merchant hired.We probably made around 40 percent more leaves this way.
Do this often enough, and you will end up with millions more leaves at your disposal!
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Dress For Success
Taverns serve several purposes in Octopath Traveler 2, from relatively trivial bits like triggering entertaining party banter sequences to downright mandatory mechanics such as initiating new story chapters. One thing that might go perilously overlooked -you’re able to access everyone’s equipment at once at taverns, whereas you’re stuck with just the four-person (or fewer) active party elsewhere.
In a game that tosses so much equipment at you, it can be quite overwhelming to figure out which characters are best suited for, say, a sword with a bonus to Elemental Attack, or a Staff with a significant Speed boost involved. Too often, we found ourselves thinking, “wait, perhaps this is better for someone not in the current party; let’s try to remember to look into it later.” Don’t be like us.Save big re-equipping sessions for the bartender.
At a certain pointquitelate into the game, you’ll gain the ‘Formation’ command in the main menu. Here, you will be able to select your active party on the fly, without needing to visit taverns to do so. But this comes quite late, so we’re essentially ignoring it for the purposes of the above suggestion.
Note The Boat
We’ll let that in-game tutorial screenshot speak largely speak for itself - there is a lot to love about getting your own boat in Octopath Traveler 2. Those new islands the game mentions are well worth exploring,and there’s even a ton of (excellent) treasure scattered throughout the open sea.
Much later, acquiring the ship proves necessary to continuing the story. But the earlier you can figure out how to get it, the more quickly a whole new ‘zone’ opens up to you - you have full control of the vessel as you travel across the Sundering Sea. It’s rad. Here’s how to get the ship ASAP:it’s the reward for completing one of Partitio’s ‘Scent of Commerce’ quests,specifically the one on the island of Toto’haha.
We won’t go into deeper detail here, since these tips are designed as more of anoverviewthan a full guide, but trust us, you’ll want to follow Partitio’s, er, nose on this.
Fight (At) Night
Early on in your Octopath Traveler 2 tale, the game will warn you that battles are generally tougher during the nighttime range than when the sun’s keeping everything nice and bright. Remember,you’re able to switch between day and night with a simple button press; Octopath Traveler 2doesn’tfeature an internal clock so much as a toggle.
Not only are those harder fights going to award more Experience Points, JP, and cash, butif you have Throné in your party, her special ability ‘Blessing of Darkness’ grants the party three excellent buffs in nighttime battles. These boosts, frankly, more than even the odds; in our opinion, fights became overalleasierdespite the more challenging opponents when we were able to deal more damage, and more rapidly at that.
Other party members have time-related perks, but Throné’s is just fabulous.Combine hers with Temenos’ ‘Moonlight Judgment’, which lowers the enemy’s Physical Defense and Accuracy at night,and… yeah. It’s good.
Guild Guides
Finding theguilds for each Job Classunlocks the license for an additional character to use that Job Class in the ‘secondary’ role, supplementing their innate class. By completing certain tasks,you can gain up to three of every license. The exception is the game’s hidden Jobs, of which you can only ever have one equipped at a time - but those places aren’t reallyguilds, anyway, so much as a single NPC imparting special knowledge.
Regardless,it’s important to speak with the guild leaders for hints on the locations of legendary equipment and secret shrines that impart powerful EX abilities. The guild leaders are the only folks in the game who provide clues to the whereabouts of these ultimate treasures.
Chapters Of The Chosen
We’re not in the business of dropping major spoilers in tips articles here, so we’ll refrain from providing theidentitiesof the characters in question, but we will alert you to the fact that after every party member’s story arcs are finished, not only is there a ‘final chapter’ to the overarching narrative,but several prominent supporting NPCs from the heroes' individual storylines get their own quest.
These quests are cool for two big reasons. First, it gives memorable people some further character development. Some of this stuff is golden, we tell you. From a more… utilitarian perspective,these quests are also the gateway to some of Octopath Traveler 2’s most incredible pieces of equipment.You’ve just got to know they’re out there -revisit towns, and you’ll happen upon them in no time.
