Octopath Traveler 2 Tips For Beginners

The world of Octopath Traveler 2 is vast and not very concerned with giving you a helping hand outside the initial tutorials. Like the retro classics that inspired it, Octopath Traveler 2 wants you to figure things out on your own, and while it leads to some satisfying discoveries, a few pieces of advice can go a long way toward making the experience more enjoyable.

This Octopath Traveler 2 tips guide covers a range of topics, including how to manage your Latent Power meter, the best way to get valuable items for free, and how to handle some of the RPG’s more obtuse quests.

Steal everything

Octopath Traveler 2 has no morality system, so you can steal everything from anyone you come across without facing consequences. Throné the thief can swipe items during the day, though her chances of success are lower for high-value items. Level her up to boost those chances. Osvald can mug people at night, and if he wins the fight, he gets everything they had on hand. Just make sure to check their estimated strength before initiating a battle.

The easiest way to get free stuff is by using Agnea’s nighttime action, where she can request items from people and, if she’s at a high enough level, they give them over without question. It’s good to be a celebrity.

Knicknacks, jewelry, and silver pouches and coins fetch the most money, but stealing or acquiring basic items by other means is also just a handy way to conserve your limited funds.

Use your power

Octopath 2 introduces Latent Powers during key points in each character’s first boss fight. It’s tempting to think you should save your powers for boss fights, and while they do generally make these longer battles easier to survive, don’t hesitate to use them elsewhere.

Enemy mobs can quickly wear your heroes down, even in the daytime, and some of the standard foes in the game’s tougher dungeons can destroy even a well-built party. You need all the help you can get, and you can replenish your Latent Power meter quickly, anyway.

Roll with the punches

Your Latent Power meter fills up as you take damage. If you defend or use a skill that blocks attacks or defends against them, however, your meter won’t fill after the enemy’s attack lands. If you need to activate a Latent Power, it’s better to focus on healing wounded heroes than defending against attacks.

Use healing items liberally

Healing Grapes and SP-restoring items aren’t in short supply, and if you don’t want to buy these necessities, you can just swipe them. Instead of hoarding them for the right moment, use them when you need them in battle to make life easier. If you happen to run out, but have Castti in your party, she can create a healing concoction with the right items and even blend it with a separate ingredient for an extra effect.

Other health- and stat-boosting items are more difficult to find, though, so make sure to be a bit more discerning with those – the different types of Nut you come across and Castti’s ingredients that buff stats, for example.

Knowledge is power and profit

Several characters can glean information from nearly every NPC. Osvald’s Scrutinize action has a high chance of sussing people out. Temenos can break their minds, which is handy thanks to his Latent Power, but also time-consuming. Castti’s method is the easiest, since it relies on her level and not chance.

However you do it, make sure to get information from everyone. The intel is just extra lore in many cases, but other times, you end up with discounts at local stores, knowledge of where to find valuable hidden items, or best of all, items you need to complete side quests. NPCs with quest items aren’t marked on the map or with any kind of quest indicator. If you’re stumped in a side quest, Scrutinizing or gathering information is probably the way forward.

Take a hike (and a sail and a climb)

Unlike the first Octopath Traveler, there’s quite a bit to do and see in Octopath 2 off the beaten path. Take some time between traveling to new story locations to explore the regions you’re in. You may find a powerful piece of equipment that saves you having to buy something in the next town, or you may find the next town entirely by accident, which makes getting there for a later story quest that much easier.

In other cases, though, you’ll run across quests and even guilds where you can pick up an extra, secret job.

Experiment freely

Once you do find those extra jobs and unlock the means to equip secondary jobs from the eight main classes, take some time to tinker with your builds and see what works best. Once you learn a support skill, you can take it with you in any other class that character can equip to make some potent and deadly combinations.

Experiment with classes as well. Octopath Traveler 2 is balanced to a degree that nearly any class is feasible in most situations, so while stacking your party with Scholars and Apothecaries might be an ideal setup, there’s no wrong choice.

Tackle dungeons often

What there is is a level spike about halfway through the game and a significant hike in the number of job points required to unlock new skills. That’s where the optional dungeons come in. They’re good for finding rare gear and testing yourself against high-powered bosses, but they’re even better for grinding levels quickly and racking up job points to spend on new skills.

Every region has at least two optional dungeons, and by the time you encounter them through progressing the main story, they’re usually a few levels above where you should be. That makes them perfect for leveling up quickly, though bear in mind that the threats you face inside will be more dangerous than your standard encounters.