Octopath Traveler 0 Tips & Tricks: 12 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started

Guide
Written By NLM Team

I made the mistakes so you don't have to.

A turn-based battle screenshot from Octopath Traveler 0, showing a party of eight characters facing a large, cloaked enemy being struck by a powerful 'Lightning Blast' attack, displaying a damage number of 470.

After losing a few boss fights and wasting all my money on grapes, I’ve compiled the "meta" knowledge, and the stuff the game conveniently forgets to tell you, that you need to actually be good at this game.

1. Kill the Cats (Caits) on Sight

If you see a cat carrying a bag, drop everything you are doing and kill it. These are "Caits." They are the metal slimes of this universe.

They have high evasion and will flee if you don't kill them in one or two turns. If you manage to kill one, you get an absurd amount of EXP. I went from level 12 to 15 in a single fight because of one of these things. Use your multi-hit attacks or Soulstones (magic items that never miss) to take them down instantly. Do not try to steal from them. Just kill them.

2. The Math Behind Weaknesses

The game hides enemy weaknesses behind question marks, but they actually follow a strict logical order on the HUD. If you pay attention, you can guess what a weakness is without using the "Analyze" skill.

The order on the screen is always:

Sword > Polearm > Dagger > Axe > Bow > Staff > Tome > Fan > Fire > Ice > Lightning > Wind > Light > Dark.

Here is how you use this: If you hit an enemy with an Axe and it reveals a weakness icon in the 4th slot, and you hit them with Fire and it reveals the 9th slot, any unknown icon between those two must be Bow, Staff, Tome, or Fan. It cuts down the guesswork significantly.

3. Don't Be a Hoarder with "Helpers"

You can recruit NPCs to follow you around and help in battle. Unlike previous games where this was limited to specific classes, almost everyone can do this now.

I spent the first ten hours "saving" my helper summons for a boss fight that never felt hard enough to justify using them. Use them. They have a limited number of uses, but you can just go back to town and recruit them again. It’s free damage. You can have up to five helpers at once, so there is zero reason to go into a fight alone.

4. Food is Broken (Eat Up)

I ignored the food system for way too long. In the tavern in Wishvale, you can cook meals. These aren't small buffs. We are talking about +20% Physical Defense or +15% Elemental Resistance for 15+ turns.

There are also specific foods for grinding:

  • Grape Ice Cream: +25% Job Points (JP) earned.

  • Nutcake: Boosts EXP earned.

  • Cream Pasta: Buffs Crit rate and prevents nasty statuses like Terror.

If you are grinding levels, you are literally wasting your time if you aren't eating Grape Ice Cream beforehand.

5. Why Pay for Sleep? (The Wishvale Trick)

Inns cost money. In the early game, money is tight. Why are you paying 50 leaves to sleep in a dirty bed in the boonies?

Once you unlock the very first "Rekindling the Flame" quest (which happens almost immediately), you can fast-travel back to Wishvale and sleep in your own house for free. It restores full HP and SP. It takes seconds to warp back and forth. Stop burning your cash on inns.

A dramatic HD-2D tactical map view in Octopath Traveler 0, featuring a naval battle with numerous destroyed and burning ships filling the fiery orange sea.

6. The "Blessing in Disguise"

Keep an eye out for an item called the Blessing in Disguise. You will find gear that looks terrible because it has "cursed" stats (like lowering your defense). The Blessing in Disguise flips those negative stats into positive ones.

Do not sell "bad" gear until you check if it can be reverse-engineered into a god-tier item with this accessory. It turns trash into treasure.

7. Speed Up the Grind

This game has a lot of dialogue. Like, a lot.

  • Cutscenes: You can speed these up. On controller, hold B (or Circle) and tap the bumper. On Keyboard, press C then Q/E.

  • Combat: You can speed up battle animations by pressing the Start/Option button (or P on keyboard).

If you are farming materials, turn the speed up. You will save hours of your life.

8. Elite Enemies and the Color Lie

You will see "Elite" enemies on the field map. The game tutorializes that they are color-coded by difficulty (Blue, Yellow, Red).

The game is lying to you.

The difficulty is relative to your party, but the calibration is often way off. I’ve wiped on "Blue" enemies and steamrolled "Red" ones. Don't be afraid to poke the bear. If a Red enemy looks scary, try it anyway. You might be surprised at how easily it goes down.

9. Second Phases Are Real

This isn't Dark Souls, but it's close. Many end-chapter bosses have a "Phase 2". You will beat the boss, the music will stop, and a cutscene will play. Do not put the controller down. The boss is about to transform and come back with full health and new moves. Always save some SP and helper summons for the second half of the fight, or you will get caught with your pants down.

10. Blue Chests (Don't Panic)

You will see Blue Chests everywhere. You cannot open them.

Do not stress about this. You don't need a specific key you missed in the tutorial. These unlock later once you progress the Wishvale "Rekindling the Flame" questline to a specific level (Level 5 Town). The game will eventually give you a checklist of where they all are. You don't need to manually write down the location of every chest on a sticky note like a maniac.

11. Multi-Hit > Big Hit

In Octopath 0, "More is Better". A skill that hits 3 times for 50 damage is infinitely more valuable than a skill that hits once for 200 damage. Why? Shield Breaking. Your goal is to break the enemy as fast as possible. Prioritize learning skills like "Threefold Strike" or "Rapid Fire" over big, single-hit nukes.

12. Unlock All Jobs

Your main character isn't stuck in their starting class. You can—and should—unlock every job available to them. This gives you massive flexibility. If your party is full of Warriors, swap your main character to a Cleric to balance it out. Flexibility is the only way to survive the later chapters.

The Final Word

Octopath Traveler 0 rewards the prepared. It’s a game of knowledge checks—knowing the weakness order, knowing where to sleep for free, and knowing when to use that Grape Ice Cream. If you follow these rules, you won’t just survive Orsterra; you’ll own it. Now go find some Caits and get rich.

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NLM Team
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