Osvald is your Octopath Traveler 2 scholar, which means he’s the groups “default” mage. Now, this isn’t to say he’s the only one. With secondary jobs, the way the apothecary works, and such, other folks can be using elemental attacks too. But it might make it easier to think of him being in that “box.”
How Do You Recruit Osvald in Octopath Traveler 2
If you didn’t start with Osvald in Octopath Traveler 2, then you’ll find him lying in the snow in Southern Cape Cold Snows, just below the city of Cape Cold and above the Abandoned Village and Flamechurch.
Note that if you choose to see the start of his story right away, it will be a while. You’ll see his chapter one and two segments one after the other.
How Does Osvald Work in Octopath Traveler 2
Like I said, he’s a mage. He can eventually learn all of the following skills. Note that Alephan’s Wisdom will only unlock after he learns the other seven. Also, please prioritize him getting Fireball, Icewind, and Lightning Bolt. As a scholar’s only weapon access is to a staff, you’ll be relying on these magical abilities to suss out enemies’ weaknesses.
- Fireball: 14SP for fire damage to all foes.
- Icewind: 14SP for ice damage to all foes.
- Lightning Bolt: 14SP for lightning damage to all foes.
- Analyze: 1SP to reveal one week point randomly for an enemy.
- Stroke of Genius: 5SP to get two random buffs.
- Elemental Barrage: 10SP to deal 3-5 hits of random fire, ice, or lightning damage to enemies.
- Advanced Magic: 15SP to double the power of an ally’s magical attacks.
- Alephan’s Wisdom: 30SP to boost an ally’s magical attacks by three times.
His one talent means the second he enters a battle, he’ll identify one weakness for each foe. This carries over, so as long as he’s around, you can be learning all these skills without needing to Analyze. I’d honestly say you can hold off on learning Analyze as a result.
The best scholar abilities to make sure Osvald knows ASAP are Fireball, Icewind, Lightning Bolt, Elemental Barrage, and Stroke of Genius. This should also mean he’ll get the scholar support skills he needs most, which is Elemental Augmentation. You need scholar skills for it. When equipped it increases elemental attack power by 50.
His limit break “Latent Power” attack allows him to deal major magical damage to a single enemy with one of his elemental spells that normally hits everyone.
What About Osvald’s Octopath Traveler 2 Path Actions?
Osvald can Scrutinize during the day and Mug at night. Scrutinize is the helpful one. It’s a great way to get information out of people. It’s percentage based, so you don’t have the same limitation as Castti’s Inquire that requires her to be at a certain level to ask for information. If you’re new to a town, have Osvald around to (hopefully) get information out of almost everyone. As long as it was above 50%, I noticed he almost always succeeded.
Mug is the way of getting items out of NPCs at night. However, I’d say avoid it. Osvald’s magic can get costly, and his being a scholar really limits his ability to take advantage of weapon weaknesses unless he has the right secondary job. It’s better to let Throne Steal or Partitio Purchase to get what you want.
Which Secondary Jobs are Good for Osvald in Octopath Traveler 2
Make him a cleric or apothecary.
Yes, with a cleric he isn’t gaining any additional weapons to take advantage of that weakness. But for this build, you’re making him the team mage. You probably won’t need Temenos around then, unless you really need to Guide or Coerce someone. (But anyways, Hikari’s Bribe is better for nighttime information gathering, and you can always have Ochette, Agnea, or Partitio around to get an NPC to go with you.)
With the apothecary option, you’re getting some healing and support skills like Healing Touch, Rehabilitate, and Replenish Health. However, you’re also getting the ability to use an axe as an additional weapon, assisting with his range.
Octopath Traveler 2 is available for the Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC. A demo is available.
