Octopath Traveler’s Job System Can Make Every Character Important

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Octopath Traveler is a game that gives people quite a bit to work with, something that is rather obvious. We have eight playable characters, each of with has a unique job, path action and special ability. Four of them can be in a party at a time. Once you pass the second chapter of a story and visit some shrines around the world, you can unlock secondary job classes. But even those introduce limitations, since two characters can’t have the same secondary job at once. (So if I have an Ophilia who is a Cleric and a Scholar, no one else can have the Scholar subclass.)

 

Of course, even before you get to the point where you can start visiting shrines, Octopath Traveler lets you start making important decisions. When building up a character’s main class, there is no automatic skill acquisition. The player gets to decide what order abilities are learned. Let’s stick with Ophilia as an example. She knew Heal Wounds and Holy Light at the start. When I had 30 JP after going through her introduction, I could choose to acquire Heal More, Luminescence, Sheltering Veil, Reflective Veil or Revive. I ended up going with Luminescence, because I only had one character and wanted her to be able to tackle multiple enemies, but later could go ahead and get the other skills when I wanted.

 

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After a point in the second chapter, the secondary jobs can be acquired. While it might be tempting to maybe even try for a secret job, it is best to stick with the more basic ones first. To make things easier, here are the locations of all the normal jobs.

  • Apothecary: East Saintsbridge Traverse near Clearbrook
  • Cleric: Western Stillsnow Wilds near Flamesgrace
  • Dancer: Northern Wellspring Sands near Sunshade
  • Huntress: East Victors Hollow Trail near S’warkii
  • Merchant: Moonstruck Coast near Rippletide
  • Scholar: Western Noblecourt Flats near Atlasdam
  • Thief: South Quarrycrest Pass near Bolderfall
  • Warrior: North Stonegard Pass near Cobbleston

The secret jobs are guarded by optional bosses and are something of a challenge to get. If you have a well-leveled Alfyn for Concoct, you might be able to start trying for them before level 50, but it takes a lot of work. If you are ready, you can find the Runelord shrine at West Everhold Pass, the Sorcerer shrine at East Duskbarrow Trail, Starseer shrine at the Western Wispermill Flats and the Warmaster shrine at the North Riverford Traverse

 

Because of these multiclass options, active skills and passive skills, incredible things can be accomplished. As I mentioned earlier, there are restrictions with secondary jobs. Not doubling up is an issue, as it needs to be unequipped to offer it to someone else. When you unequip the job, the character can no longer can use that ability. If I take away the Scholar secondary job from Ophilia, she would no longer be able to use spells like Fireball or Icewind, but she could keep the passive skills she had unlocked, like the HP regenerating Vim and Vigor. This allows Octopath Traveler to maintain a balance, while still giving players power and making characters feel strong and valuable.

 

Eventually, you will find certain sorts of jobs work best for different people. Folks like Primose and Olberic are rather versatile and work with multiple sorts of jobs due to their stats. People like Ophilia and Cyrus are good as supporters and mages. H’aanit, Tressa and even Alfyn can be great physical attackers. It can come down to looking at a character and thinking about what you wish they could do. I like Primrose as a Hunter, because I like the diversity it offers her. She can be bringing along NPCs and use hunter skills to cover enemies’ physical weaknesses. Olberic is fun as a Warrior and Apothecary, since he can do great damage, be there to act as a meat shield and help the party by using Concoct to heal people and offer up BP.

 

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In case it helps, here’s what I ended up going with for my team. I have Ophilia as a Cleric and Scholar, Cyrus as a Scholar and Cleric, Primrose as a Dancer and Hunter, H’aanit as a Hunter and Merchant, Tressa as a Merchant and Warrior, Olberic as a Warrior and Apothecary, Alfyn as an Apothecary and Thief, and Therion as a Thief and Dancer. This way, I can have Ophilia, H’aanit, Olberic and Therion on one team and Cyrus, Tressa, Primrose and Alfyn on the other. On each team, I have some designated damage dealers. Cyrus, H’aanit, Olberic and Primrose are there to hurt as many enemies as possible. Therion, Tressa, Alfyn and Ophilia can attack when I need them to, but are mainly there to support, buff, debuff or handle other important incidentals.

 

There is just so much you can do with your party in Octopath Traveler. Even though there are only 12 job options and limitations are in place to keep you from having an army of characters with Apothecary abilities, it is possible to have these incredibly strong parties put together. Which is important, since it means you could have two great teams that each cover every one of your weaknesses and exploit those of your enemies. Plus, it doesn’t take too long to unlock secondary jobs, so it is possible to start experimenting early in the game.

 

Octopath Traveler is available for the Nintendo Switch.


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Jenni Lada
Jenni is Editor-in-Chief at Siliconera and has been playing games since getting access to her parents' Intellivision as a toddler. She continues to play on every possible platform and loves all of the systems she owns. (These include a PS4, Switch, Xbox One, WonderSwan Color and even a Vectrex!) You may have also seen her work at GamerTell, Cheat Code Central, Michibiku and PlayStation LifeStyle.