In a whole lot of methods, Octopath Traveler II can really feel like a fairly easy turn-based RPG, however if you consider its eight characters’ unique mechanics, its non-linear storytelling, and the way unapologetic it may be about throwing you into the deep finish, there’s a whole lot of complexity below the hood. Whether or not it’s prioritizing recruiting occasion members early or making probably the most out of sure methods, listed below are some tricks to get you began in your Octopath Traveler II journey.
Common PSA: You received’t miss out on any content material by beginning with one character
The primary determination you’ll make in Octopath Traveler II is which of its eight playable characters you need to play first. This has a number of penalties in that it’ll act as an anchor level to your introduction to its world, and can decide the primary set of weapons, talents, and particular abilities you’ll have firstly of the sport. Every character has a narrative introduction that takes about an hour or so to finish, however the first one you play by way of does set a sure tone for the start of your journey. Nonetheless, as you recruit the opposite seven characters throughout the sport, you’ll have a possibility to listen to their origin tales as effectively. So whereas selecting your first character is a giant determination, don’t fear about lacking out on any story content material alongside the best way.
New characters received’t scale to match the extent of your previous ones
There’s a whole lot of facet content material to do in Octopath Traveler II, nevertheless it’s most likely a good suggestion to prioritize gathering the total occasion as early as you possibly can. Whereas some RPGs will guarantee your occasion’s ranges are about the identical as you struggle by way of the world, new characters in Octopath Traveler II will begin out at degree 1, no matter what degree the remainder of your occasion is at. Due to this, it’s value listening to each character’s origin story if you’re prompted to at first assembly, as a result of it offers you each some context as to who this new occasion member is, and provides you a chance to degree them up a bit towards enemies they’re scaled to struggle. Fortunately, when you make a degree to recruit characters early, they may probably degree up pretty shortly and catch as much as characters you have already got with minimal grinding.
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The origin tales are each narrative and mechanical intros, so do them as quickly as doable
Once I first began Octopath Traveler II, I didn’t play by way of the origin tales once I recruited new occasion members, as an alternative planning to play them by visiting a tavern and selecting to pay attention again to an previous story later. I used to be busy and had tunnel imaginative and prescient on enjoying by way of Partitio’s story, who I selected once I began the sport. Nonetheless, once I lastly obtained round to listening to new characters’ tales on the tavern, it was not solely useful to lastly have funding in a number of tales, nevertheless it helped me contextualize how characters like Agnea and Castti’s unique mechanics, similar to soliciting for info from an area or charming them into serving to us out, may very well be helpful. So when you won’t be instantly excited about a personality upon first assembly, it’s nonetheless value interrupting your quest to listen to their story, as it should enrich your general expertise with each story context and information of the sport’s methods.
Rewatch earlier cutscenes to refresh your reminiscence in regards to the story
Man, extra RPGs ought to allow you to do that. As a result of Octopath Traveler II focuses on eight anthology tales, it may be straightforward to lose observe of threads as you’re enjoying and zigzagging by way of totally different characters’ chapters. Fortunately, the sport has a useful characteristic that may allow you to refresh your self on huge occasions, characters, and motivations: rewatching cutscenes. To do that, pause the sport, go to the Journal tab, and discover the character whose story you want a refresh on. Right here you possibly can learn summaries of every chapter’s scenes, or rewatch them fully. Numerous RPGs preserve observe of issues by way of quest logs and codex entries, however Octopath Traveler II allows you to simply rewatch a complete storyline proper from its pause menu, and given its construction, it’s a welcome addition value profiting from as you come again to tales all through the sport.
Crank up the sport velocity
Octopath Traveler II is a beautiful recreation, however you received’t lose any of that visible aptitude by making its battles go by somewhat quicker. Throughout a struggle, press the Begin/Choices/+ button and it’ll velocity up the battle animations. That is particularly useful throughout stretches of grinding, as it should minimize down on the time for every fight encounter, and because it nonetheless exhibits all of its beautiful animation, you’re not likely shedding something by flipping the change.
Prioritize recruiting characters who can fill gaps in your arsenal
Whenever you’re selecting your first character, it won’t solely set you on a selected path for the story, however it should additionally play a significant function in what talents and weapons you’ve gotten within the early recreation. For instance, when you select to start out as Agnea, your early fights are going to be with a dagger, and that’s the enemy weak spot you’ll most simply exploit. However as is the case with each character, one occasion member can’t strike each weak level on their very own. As you discover new additions internationally, you’ll naturally discover teammates who fill out these gaps, however some characters may help you make up for these deficiencies by bringing NPCs alongside for the experience for a restricted time. Agnea and Partitio each have talents that assist you to recruit NPCs you meet in your travels as short-term companions, full with their very own talents and weapon units. You’ll be able to see these earlier than you rent them, so that you received’t be stepping into and utilizing assets merely hoping a possible recruit can accommodate to your shortcomings. It’s strategic play to acknowledge what weapon weaknesses you possibly can’t strike (or can possibly solely strike with one character who might use some assist overlaying your bases), and both beginning with these characters or recruiting them early on will allow you to exploit weaknesses you in any other case wouldn’t have the ability to with out occasion members you’ve gotten but to satisfy.
Take the guesswork out of discovering weaknesses
Numerous battles in Octopath Traveler II begin with some guessing and prodding as you attempt to reveal enemy weaknesses throughout elemental injury and weapon injury. This could take up a number of turns relying on which characters you’ve gotten, and is a recreation of means of elimination. Nonetheless, sure characters have talents that may allow you to take away among the thriller. Two characters specifically, Ochette and Osvald, have talents that may reveal weaknesses early on so you can begin utilizing them to do additional injury, tearing down defenses, and beautiful enemies. Ochette’s is extra exact and a bit restricted comparatively, however remains to be useful. As a Hunter, Ochette is ready to summon a companion that you simply’ll choose firstly of her story. Whether or not you select the lājackal Akalā or her malamaowl Mahina, Ochette could have a capability that reveals weapon weaknesses or elemental weaknesses respectively. Osvald’s isn’t restricted to both weapons or parts, as a result of as a Scholar, he can use Analyze, which each reveals an enemy’s HP, in addition to one weak spot. Having a minimum of one in every of these two in your crew always will shorten battles since you received’t spend early turns making an attempt to determine what weak factors to strike.
Stagger your Breaks and use BP strategically
The core technique in Octopath Traveler II’s battles is to assault weaknesses and take down an opponent’s defenses. These are referred to as Breaks, which can stun an enemy for a flip, and trigger any subsequent assaults to do further injury. Every enemy has a sure protection degree proven by a numbered protect icon, with the quantity displaying what number of extra instances you need to strike at a weak spot earlier than their defenses will break. On high of this, as every character reaches a brand new flip, they’ll obtain one BP level that enables them to do another assault in a flip per level used. As tempting because it could be to make use of a number of BP in a single flip to interrupt an enemy’s defenses, surprised enemies take extra injury than enemies do recurrently, so typically it’s value it to spend extra time utilizing single assaults on a flip to slowly break down defenses after which use BP to unleash a number of stronger assaults whereas an opponent is surprised. Breaking defenses is likely one of the key elements of succeeding in battle in Octopath Traveler II, however doing loads with the brief period of time it offers you is the distinction between chipping away at an enemy’s well being for lengthy stretches of time and doing chunks of injury in a short time.