Octopath Traveler Champions of the Continent (COTC) is a pixel based RPG from the makers of the original Octopath series. If you’d like to read a review on the game you can click here. I’ve also written an article on the top 3 reasons to play Octopath. In this guide we will cover all the basics you need to know about the game to help get you started. This will include information on: re-rolling, how to progress, gear, leveling up, combat basics, team building, and a tier list.
RE-ROLLING:
It’s not necessary to re-roll at this time in the game’s life cycle. This is because the units you can get from the re-roll have been surpassed by numerous characters in the game. Combined with the fact that as a new player you’ll be able to earn premium currency from playing and completing objectives to then be able to pull for new units. If you do wish to re-roll, Lynette is usually considered the best choice with her de-buffing capability. When I started the game, I did not get Lynette and I did not have any issues at all with the game. In fact, I quickly got units that are much better than her.
HOW TO PROGRESS:
Main Story Quest
Most of your progression in the game will be tied to completing the main story quest (MSQ). Many of the games features are locked behind the MSQ. This can be a bit deceptive for new players thinking that they have seen everything the game has to offer in the early chapters when in fact much of the game is not available. As these features unlock, you will see that there is an abundance and variety of content and very challenging and rewarding fights. In fact, I would say out of all the free to play games out on the market this is by far one of the most complete in feeling like a full single player RPG with an exceptional narrative and fun combat system that encourages exploration.
Side Quests: Nameless Town
Many of the quests listed in the side quest section unlock game features. The most prevalent to your progress are the Nameless Town quests. You should prioritize completing these quests once the are available. Many of them are quick and easy. They will unlocked features that will help you automatically generate resources needed to level and/or progress your characters.
Emberflame Quests: Pets
The other major side content is the Emberflame quest. These quests unlock fairly early on and completing them will grant you access to pets and ember beasts (a type of ‘summon’). Pets are similar to gear you can equip. They can be upgraded and come with a unique skill that can be used in battle. They are one of the best ways to boost your characters stats, namely their attack stat and HP. You can also augment other critical stats like speed and/or SP if needed. Ember beasts are similar to hiring an ally. The can be summoned after a certain number of turns in a fight and usually do damage/provide a buff or de-buff.
Talk to Everyone: Path Actions
In every town that you visit, you’ll be able to perform path actions. This is simply talking to an NPC and if you meet the minimum requirement (reputation level for the faction e.g. wealth/power/fame) you’ll be able to inquire with them. This will allow you to see what items/accessories/gear they have on offer. Many of these items are decent and its one way to get new gear easily.
Explore the Map: Treasure is Everywhere
As you travel between towns and explore dungeons, keep an eye out for treasure. Areas with treasure will display a treasure icon and show you how much total treasure there is and how much you have found in the map display screen. Just like items that can be discovered in the path actions, items from treasure can also be very helpful. This is another way to get items needed to progress, especially as you enter new chapters. Another tip is that there are ‘hidden’ treasures. Because of the layout of the map certain paths may appear to only allow travel in one direction when in fact you may be able to navigate in multiple directions. Keep an eye out as you travel. Many locations have ‘hidden’ treasure.
GEAR: Core Power
Most of your characters’ power will be tied to gear and not exactly your units’ level. The biggest influence on gear is the items grade. The grade level matters more than the stats. The greater the grade the more it will scale with your character. If you’ve paid attention to the tips above, you will be able to find gear from talking to NPCs, from treasure and also from killing mobs and turning in the materials to blacksmiths. This will unlock new crafting recipes. You generally do not need to grind levels or gear until you get stuck on a chapter. For me the only time I had to ‘grind’ gear was when Fortune weapons became available.
Gameboard: Fortune Weapons & Soul Shards
As you progress through the MSQ you will unlock various game boards. These are encounters with a board game style layout that will allow you to farm certain currency that you can then exchange for various resources like weapons. Each board is usually setup for farming specific items. For example, if you need gear or leaves ($) you should see what the exchange has to offer. The most important resources/gear you can get from the boards are fortune weapons and souls for fortune/hell/heaven weapons (soul weapons). Souls provide unique stats/skill increases. Soul weapons have specific slots (e.g. A weapon needs to have that specific soul slot in order to be used). Some souls provide base stats like attack or HP while other souls provide boosts to specific skills for individual characters.
The only time I had to ‘grind’ was when Fortune weapons became available. You can use regular weapons found in the MSQ before you get access to these. You do not need to get the perfect stat rolls on souls once you get access to these weapons. Instead I just focused on getting each member on my core team of 8 a fortune weapon. For my main DPS carry, I may have put in more resources to ensure they had good stats but for everyone else, it wasn’t as critical. Also note that fortune and hell/heaven weapons can be upgraded beyond the base tier. By investing in fortune weapons, I did not need to build hell weapons and could jump to heaven weapons. This may or may not apply to you as it will depend on your team composition during the later MSQ chapters. Fortune weapons are used for most of the regular content in the world, while hell and heaven weapons are for those specific areas in the game.
LEVELING UP
Most of your leveling will come from playing the campaign. You can also do the daily cait ad fights. By viewing a short ad you can then fight a cait that will grant more experience than other mobs you could face. The higher the units in your team the higher chance you have to encounter a cait that will provide more experience. Level 71+ is where you will maximize you chance to get a better cait. Hence, by getting one unit on your team to 71 you can get the best chance for a better cait. Although the experience may seem small at first by doing this consistently over time, it does add up and will help you level up your entire squad.
Hunts:
The other way you’ll level up (outside of just doing the MSQ) is through hunts. These are also unlocked through the MSQ. Once you complete the initial hunt you can then auto complete it the next time. Keep an eye out when you visit a new city as new hunts can also be unlocked. These provide a lot of experience as well as granting you resources (shards) to limit break a character and increase their maximum level. The ability to limit break units is almost always needed as 5 star characters can reach a max level of 100 at the moment.
Getting a Unit with 4/5 stars to a 5 star:
The resources needed to upgrade a unit that can be a 5 star but is currently at a 4 star level is through the exchange. You can see the exact resources needed by going to the learn skills tab (on the character) and clicking on the last skill tab (that will be locked). It will then list the items you need to unlock it. These resources can be gained through the exchange.
COMBAT: Shield Break Timing
The central focus of the combat system revolves around shield breaking. Enemies in a broken state will take more damage. If you time your shield breaks, you can get 2 rounds while the enemy is in a broken state. This is done by getting the enemy to a low shield count (but not zero). You can then use one character to break their shield. This allows your other allies to use their boost points (BP) and attack the enemy in their broken state. Since the enemy entered a break state in the current turn, they will continue to be in a broken state for the next turn. The following turn will then allow you to again attack with the enemy remaining in a broken state. This helps maximize your damage output.
TEAM BUILDING:
As you get to more challenging content your team composition will become more important. In the early chapters most fights are quite easy so it won’t matter as much who is on your team. But as fights get more challenging you’ll need to bring specific units to fill certain roles. The most basic team composition should consist of: DPS nukers (usually single target attacks with high potency for bosses), shield breakers (multi-hit attacks), tank, healer/support (buffers/de-buffers). You may not need all roles for all fights but these are the core components. For your DPS/shield breakers you will want to equip them with multi-hit skills and also a nuke skill (a skill usually with their highest potency). Tanks will usually have a way to mitigate damage of other members by taunting or re-directing damage to themselves. Your healer/support and sometimes your tank units should also be able to buff your team and/or debuff the enemy. Some units have skills that can fill multiple roles. An example of a team that helped me clear most of the MSQ is:
Tank: [Hannit Ex], Healer: [Primrose EX], DPS: [Elrica, Sazantos] Shield Breakers: [Cecily, Cyrus, Therion or Chloe] Debuffer: [Signa].
TIER LIST:
The following tier list has been compiled from numerous other lists. It’s a simplified version specifically for new players to help them focus on specific roles/units for their team. It does not include every unit. If a unit is not listed it does not mean they are not viable. It will depend on what your team needs and who you currently have. Instead the list features certain units that stand out in their role. For the DPS units some specialize in multiple weaknesses while some focus on single weaknesses. Some may also be better for breaking shields while others are better at nuking a boss. As discussed you’ll want a combination of nukers and shield breakers for DPS. For example a unit like Elrica (more single target focused) can nuke bosses (2X with her nuke skill) that are weak to sword, light or dark but is generally weaker if there are extra adds with the boss so they will need other units to help do shield breaks. It helps a lot to have a DPS carry that can hit multiple weaknesses. Also don’t under estimate how much a good tank and healer/support can be for your team. A good tank can mitigate the damage for the rest of your team. A great healer with buffs/debuffs can greatly impact your overall DPS and survival. You will mainly build a core team of 8 with DPS (damage carry), shield breakers, tank, healer/support. Outside of that core 8 you will likely have DPS and/or shield breakers that you can substitute into your main party when you need them for their specific weakness specialty. Some units are also ‘free’ as long as you can defeat them in the arena.
DPS:
A2, Agnea, Bargello, Castti, Cecily, Cyrus, Ditraina, Elrica, Eltrix, Emil, Frederica, Herminia, Hikari, Hujheb, Isla, Kaine, Krauser, Leon, Magnolia, Mirgardi, Morffins, Nier, Nephti, Ochette, Odette, Odio-O, Ogen, Osvald, Partitio, Pirro, Richard, Sazantos, Sertet, Sonia, Therion, Throne, Yan Long, Yunnie
Tank:
Fiore Ex, Gilderoy, Grieg, H’aanit Ex, Kilns
Healer/Support:
Alaune Ex, Gloria, Hammy, Primrose Ex, Rinyuu, Signa, Solon, Tatloch
*Future units that did not have their name listed in the tier list are highlighted in bold.
Notable Units:
Alaune EX: Can regen BP for all allies.
Bargello: Can increase maximum damage cap and deals great dagger DPS. This can lead to a large increase in overall damage output. Useful for a variety of teams.
Cecily: Can hit spear, tome and axe weaknesses. Helpful for a variety of fights.
Cyrus: The elemental equivalent of Cecily. Can hit fire, ice and lightning weaknesses.
Elrica: Nuke skill can hit 2x and be used against sword, light and dark. A good damage carry especially for the MSQ.
H’aanit EX: Can taunt, dodge, de-buff enemies and shield break for fan weakness. Taunt and dodge allows H’aanit to reduce damage for the party and still survive.
Primrose EX: Can heal, buff, de-buff and boost ultimate gauge for the party. Combining roles and opening up slots for other units on your team.
Rinyuu: Can channel healing (cast it and then move to backrow and still healing as long as you still have SP). In addition, can revive, buff, protect against certain ailments and mitigate/restore SP. Considered one of the best healers.
Sazantos: Can do up to an 8 hit shield break against sword and fire. Ultimate allows party to regain BP.
Signa: Powerful de-buffer, healer and can shield break and deal damage against light weakness. Becomes more powerful later on in the game when level cap is raised beyond 100.
Solon: Ultimate can double the potency of a character. Can end fights much quicker. Usually combined with Primrose EX so you can boost twice during a break.
SUMMONING:
Similar to other gacha games, you will need to examine what you currently have on your team and what you need. When a banner is available take some time to research the unit and see if it will be a good addition to your team. The overall base pull rate is similar/better to other games. It’s based on a system that increases your chance if you don’t pull a unit, increasing 0.2% for each unsuccessful pull up to 20%. However, the guarantee pity kicks in at 200 pulls. This can be confusing but on average you’ll likely pull a featured character around 80 pulls (similar to other games). In practice, out of all the gacha games I’ve played I’ve been able to acquire most of the units that I wanted/tried for. Only perhaps on one or two banners in a whole year was I unable to get a unit I wanted. Meaning, if you carefully plan and save your premium resources you can build the team you want. Surprisingly, I was able to get many more units that I thought was possible and quickly replaced all my 4-stars with 5-stars. This is possible because as a new player you have access to a lot of quests that grant premium resources/pulls and also due to special events like anniversaries with unique banners/rewards that are given out through out the year.
CLOSING:
Octopath Traveler COTC is an amazing game. The further you get into the story and unlock more content the more challenging and rewarding the journey is. Many characters are viable and fun to learn how to use. Don’t feel rushed. Enjoy the journey. Talk to NPCs. Explore dungeons. This is a game to relish in the journey as much as the destination. As an avid RPG fan, I do believe Octopath Traveler COTC is one of the best in the genre in terms of narrative and combat. It’s a masterpiece that unfortunately not many will fully experience.
THANKS:
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