Octopath Traveler II – Get All 8 Travelers in One Hour
Octopath Traveler II is a mammoth of a JRPG, and clocking in at over 60 hours of playtime, we’ve barely scratched the surface. When you’re not completing the main story of all eight travelers, you’ll be busy with side quests, completing intersecting side stories between travelers, and much more.
There’s a lot to do in Octopath Traveler II, but getting all travelers should be your first priority to maximize your time with them. Taking your time with all of them may take you around 10 hours, but you can really get them in just one hour, and it involves a lot of shortcuts.
Don’t worry about skipping though, you can always review stories later at the tavern, and by getting all 8 travelers in Octopath Traveler II as early as you can, you can use your time more wisely by leveling them up and choosing which ones you really want in your party for the long haul.
Octopath Traveler II – Get All 8 Travelers in One Hour
Throne
The first question is: who will be your protagonist in Octopath Traveler II, and why is it Throne? First of all, you need a capable anchor to do much of the hard work of gathering your crew. Second, if there’s one way to efficiently round up everybody, you will need to focus on one continent and then work your way west or east. Throne is located on the eastern continent, and half your characters are also located there, making her an easy choice.
While it is tempting to maybe start west going east, I do not recommend starting with Agnea unless you really want to end up with the Dancer class until the endgame. Throne is a solid DPS character with high speed and evasion to allow for quick armor breaking, and she has a solid nighttime talent, and she can also steal items that would be useful for your travels. Plus, her Latent Power allows her to move twice; it’s a newbie’s dream!
You will be forced to watch the protagonist’s Chapter 1 backstory, and Throne’s is actually quick to get through versus someone like Osvald, who will complete his backstory in the middle of Chapter 2. With scene skipping and getting through most of Throne’s story, you’ll finish at 8-15 minutes on the clock.
Temenos
With 45-53 minutes left to spare, it is tempting to go for Osvald to complete your offense, but I would suggest finding a healer first. Despite being the most annoying character in Octopath Traveler II, Temenos’ abilities really come in handy. While I would argue Castti’s apothecary may be the best healer in Octopath Traveler II, the goal of this exercise is speed, not taking your time.
Make your way northeast to Flamechurch from New Delsta once you complete Throne’s story. Once you enter the town, you’ll quickly run into Temenos right away after making quick work of a soldier trying to start something. Allow Temenos to join your party and skip his Chapter 1. As mentioned before, you can revisit them at any time, so there’s really no concern here.
Osvald
Now you can head to the Winterlands to find Octopath Traveler II‘s badass scholar turned prisoner. Fast travel from Flamechurch back to New Delsta and make your way north. Alternatively, you could walk directly from Flamechurch, but I doubt you’ll be strong enough to face Level 11 challenges just yet.
Once you reach the edge of Winterlands south of the village of Cape Cold, you’ll find Osvald lying on the plot of snow. Simply talk to him, and he’ll join your party. While he makes up for it in sheer elemental damage and scanning enemy weaknesses, he’s undeniably fragile. Having a buffed-up Temenos in your party will keep him hale and hearty until you can finish building your Octopath Traveler II party.
Ochette
From the Winterlands, you have a choice: sail off to the Western Continent or collect your final member sitting on another island. While you may choose to secure the Western Continent first before going for Ochette, I’d like to make the argument that Ochette is possibly an underrated heavy hitter in Octopath Traveler II. She has almost the same skills as Hikari, but she can one-shot beasts by capturing them, saving you some combat time.
Head southwest to the Western Continent port from the Winterlands and sail to Ochette’s island for 1,500 leaves. From there, make your way south to the Beasting Traverse and use this opportunity to level up your current party. Once you enter the village, Ochette will be away from the populace in the southwest of town.
Castti
Now you can head back to the port (or you can fast-travel back to the Eastern Continent to avoid fighting) and use this opportunity to level up Ochette as you make your way back up the port. This time, sail to the Western Continent in the port city of Canalbrine for 1,000 leaves, and by this time, you’ve more than likely hit the 40-minute mark of your journey, provided you’ve been skipping scenes.
Castti will be located just west of the ship. You will need a healing grape to recruit her, and if you haven’t been wasteful with your items, you could probably spare one. From there, Castti will join your party. Easy peasy.
Now, you’ll be given a choice to switch up your party members in Octopath Traveler II, but I reckon that your current four-person team is strong enough to take on the Level 11 challenge all the way until the end.
Hikari
Hikari is found further west of Canalbrine. He’s in the village of Ryu and you can find him southeast defending villagers from corrupt soldiers. By this time, if you’ve been keeping your levels in check, you’ll be able to make quick work of them and recruit Hikari. Bench him with Castti, and you’ll be able to call on him again later.
Two more to go!
Partitio
Head north to Oresrush from Ryu to recruit Partitio. Just like most characters, talk to him west of Oresrush. He’ll be standing on a cliff, looking important. Bench him with the rest and recruit your final character in Octopath Traveler II.
Agnea
Finally, this leaves us with Agnea. Your characters will probably be about level 10–12, making easy work of enemies along the way. When you reach Cropdale, examine the glowing spot near the tavern at the entrance to town. Agnea will show up and ask for her bag to be returned to her, and she’ll join your party soon after that.
And voila! All eight Octopath Traveler II characters are in your party. I did it in 58 minutes, leaving two minutes to spare. At this time, you can choose to bask in your victory and catch up on the stories and side content you’ve missed out on, or just proceed with the main questline of the game. Either way, you’ve got a whole game ahead waiting for you!
Octopath Traveler II is now available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.