Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent has recently made its global debut, allowing players to travel the world of Orsterra before the events of the console RPG Octopath Traveler. With its pixel, 2D environments rendered in Unreal Engine, traditional turn-based combat, and main story with Japanese vocals, Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent is sure to rekindle the nostalgia of early video games.
Though the title is a single-player game, it can be a bit daunting to know where to begin once you exit the tutorial. This beginner’s guide will help ease your concerns by giving tips and tricks on the game’s different mechanics and systems, as there is a lot of information the game throws at you as you embark on your journey in the world of Orsterra.
▍Tip 1 – Obtain Items & Gear from NPCs
Knowledge is power, and Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent is no exception. By speaking to a townsperson with a speech bubble above their head, you can tap the Inquire button at the bottom right of the screen.
Doing so will allow players to view the villager’s inventory, and execute a Path Action in order to obtain their items or even recruit the NPC as an ally. The color of the speech bubble above the townsperson shows which Path Action will be used, and the player might not even be able to Inquire with a villager unless their Rank in the required Influence is high enough.
As your Travelers begin with no gear equipped, gear from NPCs can be extremely valuable until the player can acquire materials to sell to the Blacksmith, and obtain better equipment. An NPC might also hold the gear that’s stronger than what you can obtain in the current area!
Keep in mind that there won’t always be a 100% chance to succeed when trying to obtain items this way! Don’t be afraid to fail, however; you can take 5 hits to your Reputation before you need to head to a Tavern to pay Leaves in order to reassess the Inquire button, but the cost to do so is relatively cheap.
One last thing to consider is to be careful when purchasing vendor items from villagers; items that are explicitly stated to be sold for a sum of Leaves. Sometimes, you can sell them for a profit, but certain NPCs might try to rip you off as you won’t be able to check an item’s selling price before purchasing.
▍Tip 2 – Beat Elite Enemies to Get Greater Rewards
The world of Orsterra is vast and filled with valuable treasures to be discovered and enemies to defeat. Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent does a good job in guiding players to each story objective, but the UI’s map does not display anything off the beaten path unless the player moves there themselves. Keep an eye on the environment to see potential routes to take!
Players might find Elite Enemies in the wilderness, which are powerful versions of regular mobs with much higher HP. A simple glance can show how powerful an Elite is compared to the player’s party of Travelers; blue Elite Enemies are safe to engage with and aren’t very threatening, yellow Elites will pose a challenge to the team, and red Elites should be avoided until the party becomes stronger. Beating these enemies will reward the player with Leaves, materials, and possibly gear, so it is a good idea to defeat any you see as they respawn daily.
In Story Dungeons, players may encounter a Healing Flame; this landmark can only be used once until the player visits an inn, but restores all the HP and SP of all Travelers in the player’s roster. They’re usually located just before a Boss Battle and are accompanied by a warning to the player about the upcoming fight. Players are given the option to back out and prepare if needed.
Lastly, special enemies called Caits may appear either through random encounters or on the world map as Elite Enemy. Go out of your way to defeat these special foes for a good chunk of EXP and Leaves, as they are very easy to defeat! Inflicting Break Status on them isn’t important, as they will always take 1 point of damage per hit.
▍Tip 3 – Build a Diverse Team of Travelers
The combat system of Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent demands the player to build a party of Travelers with different elemental attacks and weapon types in order to take advantage of its Break system. With 8 slots to fill, the game gives plenty of opportunities to build a well-rounded squad that can tackle any opponent.
It’s easy to assume that higher rarity Travelers are more useful than lower rarity units, but this may not be the case in every fight. Though it’s true that characters with lower rarity stars have lower level caps, this can be worked around by consuming Guidestones through the Limit Break system, which increases the Traveler’s level cap! Some Travelers may also be obtained at a lower rarity than their maximum, but they can be promoted through grinding or obtaining their higher rarity version from the gacha.
A Traveler’s skill set can also impact their usefulness in battle. For example, even though Wingate is currently a 3★/4★ Traveler, his Shield Breaker skill allows him to deplete an enemy’s Shield Point by 1 even if he isn’t hitting their weak point; an extremely useful skill to have for early-game players who might lack a diverse roster of Travelers.
▍Tip 4 – Keep Your Travelers Updated
Players will need to equip their Travelers with the best gear they can find in order to tackle the world of Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent. Simply leveling a Traveler isn’t enough, as gear plays a critical role in increasing offensive and defensive stats.
Octopath Traveler incentivizes players to visit a Blacksmith at least once a day in order to sell materials as part of the game’s daily missions, which is key to unlocking better gear outside of the Inquire system. As both Weapons and Armor consume materials per purchase, players are limited to what they can buy based on the materials exchanged each visit.
As for the levels themselves, each level a Traveler obtains will give them a Job Point, or JP. These can be used on the Ability Board to increase the Traveler’s stats, increase a character’s Influence in their associated area, or unlock new Passive and Battle skills. Players should prioritize Passive and Battle Skills first, then any nodes that increase the Traveler’s Influence.
▍Tip 5 – Conserve BP for Critical Moments
Without an auto-battle function, Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent requires player input every turn to progress in battle. However, the BP system puts a spin on the traditional turn-based format, adding a layer of strategy to each of the player’s turns. Each Traveler can hold up to 5 BP at a given time, and obtain 1 BP every turn regardless if they are in the Front or Back position.
By consuming BP, a Traveler’s Battle Skills are empowered in different ways. Spending BP on the regular Attack command increases the number of Attacks dealt in a single turn by that Traveler at a cost of reducing the potency of each attack, which is extremely useful in inflicting a Break on an enemy if the weapon type has an advantage. Using BP on offensive or healing Battle Skills will increase the potency of the skill, increasing the damage dealt or the healing received. BP spent on Battle Skills that grant buffs or inflict debuffs will increase the number of turns the status lasts for.
During Boss Fights, the Boss may sometimes emit flames from its sprite, and a warning will be given about a powerful attack. Inflicting the Break status during that turn is critical, or the party will suffer from high amounts of damage or annoying debuffs. As these warnings can come out of nowhere, the player can’t simply default to reserving their BP for when the enemy is under the Break status.
▍Take Your Time to Enjoy Your Journey in Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent
Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent takes notes from Another Eden, another mobile title that draws from the well-loved Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross to deliver an extensive single-player experience. Players who may not have played Octopath Traveler on the console will contend with similar gameplay in this mobile title, and fans of the RPG can rest assured that the members of the beloved group will eventually make their way to the global version of the app.
While this guide won’t cover a tier list of which Travelers are best to reroll for, keep in mind that rerolling isn’t a must in order to progress through each story. Having higher rarity Travelers will make the journey easier, but players can clear each Chapter with weaker characters with the right strategy.
Hopefully, these pointers are helpful in traversing the vast land of Orsterra in Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent!
