A professional disagreement between Partitio and Thurston was bound to lead to blows, but Roque’s flunky doesn’t even have the guts to handle the matter himself. Instead, he sends the company dog in to play fetch with your mangled corpse. Don’t panic, merchant, we’ll give you the lowdown on how to beat Garnet in Octopath Traveler 2.
Garnet Boss Guide for Partitio Chapter 2 in Octopath Traveler 2
Techniques: Lethal damage dealing, buffs and debuffs, three(!!) attack turns.
Weaknesses: Spears, Axes, Fire, Lightning.
If you’ve been fumbling your way through Octopath Traveler 2 with only brute strength so far, Garnet can and will ruin your day. Roque’s favorite canine is a damage dealing machine that excels at wiping out your party with AoE or multi-hit techniques, leading to an unorthodox fight that demands patience and consideration.
First off, Garnet has a wide range of basic attacks that all lay down the hurt, with the worst of them unleashed towards the end of the fight. It can buff itself, debuff you, and when it’s gotten mad, it will expand its attack range to an astounding three moves per turn. One attack is deadly, three is a massacre. At a glance, this battle is cause for concern, meaning that prevention is key.
Garnet will start the fight off playfully digging for items; either a Fire Soulstone that damages the whole team, a Delicious Nut that will heal it and give it a range of buffs, a pair of skeleton minions, or (hopefully) nothing at all. You’ll have to react accordingly; Temenos’ ability to heal the whole team at once makes him the preferred option to counter the flame damage, though he’ll need a Secondary Job to give him more attacking options. The Hunter Guild is located near the entrance to the Nameless Village to the east of Beasting Bay on Toto’haha, and is well worth a visit before entering the factory.
Hikari’s Enervating Slash is custom made to deal with those Delicious Nut gains, nullifying all of them and growing in strength the more buffs it clears. If Garnet digs up skeletons, you’ll have a hell of a time dealing with them while trying to keep the pooch in check; they’re easy enough to Break, but they are surprisingly sturdy and can even be gnawed upon for Garnet to recover damage.
When Garnet “runs wild”, things kick up a notch. Not only will you be facing those dreaded three attacks per turn we warned you about, but it pulls out some new tricks. Shred to Pieces does damage and resets your BP, while Rampage sends a trilogy of random strikes. You’re not going to survive too many of those, so what’s the key to success?
One word: Ochette. Although it should come as no surprise that the Hunter is well equipped to counter this ferocious beast, once you’ve gotten into a rhythm, you’ll be surprised by just how easy it is to manage. Leghold Trap can mean the difference between victory and success, placing Garnet’s attacks at the end of the line and giving you sufficient time to Break its defences. You’ll still have to deal with it when it recovers, but after surviving each onslaught, you will have ample opportunities to stun it every second turn.
For this reason, it’s best not to go ham and spend all of your BP when it’s already groggy. Dealing crit damage is nice, but preventing an overpowered boss from retaliating is more important. Amusingly, Partitio can exploit Garnet’s aversion to Axes with even the weakest of hired help. His hometown friend Harry, who does next to nothing in actual damage, can bother the doggo with a pair of chops.
Once you’ve gotten into this cycle of tanking damage, recovering with Temenos and then busting through Garnet’s shield, you’ll have this canine eating out of the palm of your hand. Now that you know how to beat Garnet in Octopath Traveler II, you’re qualified to investigate the guides below. …For your eyes only!!