Best Support Skills for Every Character in Octopath Traveler
Before we start dishing out advice, it should be noted that there are tons of effective party and skill combinations in Octopath Traveler. We’re simply trying to provide a guideline for players who aren’t sure how to start building their party, and this is by no means the most optimized setup for the eight characters.
For starters, we firmly believe that Saving Grace is the best late game support skill that you should have on all your characters when you’ve settled on an active party in Octopath Traveler. This Cleric support skill allows your characters to be healed over their maximum HP, and lets you survive a few extra hits from the tougher bosses. Being overhealed also means that your mages have more opportunities to deal damage instead of healing. We’ll be breaking down the best skills for the characters based on their utility in the game.
Support Characters – Best Support Skills for Every Character in Octopath Traveler
This applies to characters like Primrose, Therion, and Tressa. These characters are kind of like hybrids, where they’ll dish out damage and break shields, but also provide support when the party needs it. They aren’t very SP reliant, so there’s no need to waste a skill slot on SP Saver or Second Wind, but they should still have some way of recovering SP when needed.
We recommend the following support skills:
- Inspiration (Apothecary)
- Resist Ailments (Apothecary)
- The Show Goes On (Dancer)
- Fleetfoot (Thief)
- Eye For an Eye (Dancer)
Inspiration is essentially your SP recharge mechanic, where you can regain a little bit of it whenever you deal damage. Resist Ailments is also helpful as it ensures your characters won’t be easily affected by status ailments, which can be useful in an emergency where you need to use items or revive someone else. The Show Goes On lets you increase your buff duration by one turn, while Fleetfoot increases your speed so you’ll always move first, allowing you to buff an ally before they attack or debuff an enemy. Lastly, Eye For an Eye isn’t essential, but it helps with damage output as you have a chance of counterattacking whenever you take a hit.
Magic Users – Best Support Skills for Every Character in Octopath Traveler
The primary magic users in Octopath Traveler are Cyrus and Ophilia. If you have them both in your party, you can expect to deal massive amounts of elemental damage. When you unlock the advanced jobs, Ophilia can take on the Sorcerer class for triple-hit elemental spells as well. We generally prefer to have Cyrus stick with the Cleric secondary class, as having two healers is extremely helpful for late game encounters.
We recommend the following support skills:
- SP Saver (Merchant)
- Second Wind (Dancer)
- Augmented Elements (Sorcerer)
- Divine Aura (Starseer)
- Saving Grace (Cleric)
- Encore (Dancer)
Saving Grace is especially crucial for Cyrus and Ophilia because they have lower HP than the rest of the cast. SP Saver and Second Wind are must-haves for these two characters in particular because it ensures that they can keep recovering SP every turn, and you won’t have to waste time replenishing them with Inspiriting Plums. Augmented Elements can be helpful for boosting elemental damage, while Divine Aura offers a 25 percent chance of taking zero damage from attacks. Encore allows your character to be revived with a bit of health after a death blow. This is helpful early on, though its utility is quickly outdated when you approach the end game content. The point of these support skills is to ensure your mages can keep casting, and that they’re not so easily killed.
Physical Attackers and Tanks – Best Support Skills for Every Character in Octopath Traveler
This applies to basically everyone aside from Cyrus and Ophilia, and these are skills that are great for whichever characters you choose to be your main physical attackers. This can also include Primrose, Therion, and Tressa, in addition to Olberic, H’aanit, and Alfyn.
We recommend the following support skills:
- Hale and Hearty (Apothecary)
- Second Serving (Hunter)
- Patience (Hunter)
- Endure (Warrior)
- Cover (Warrior)
Hale and Hearty gives you a 500 HP boost, which is great for tank characters. If you’re going to put that on Olberic and H’aanit to create a true tank, make sure to slap on Endure and Cover as well. Endure gives you better defense when inflicted with a status ailment, while Cover lets you take a hit for an ally who would otherwise die from the blow. Second Serving gives you a 50 percent chance of attacking a second time, while Patience gives you a 25 percent chance of having an extra move at the end of a turn. These skills are great for melee attackers who are focused on breaking shields, as well as tanky characters who are made to absorb hits. The Warrior class also has an ability that makes it more likely for enemies to target them, and this goes well with Endure and Cover.
Be sure to check our wiki for more information on Octopath Traveler.
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