Octopath Traveler: All Jobs RANKED!
Octopath Traveler not only has fun and unique characters, but also fun and unique jobs! They are found in shrines around the world, and each of them is more unique than the last. Without further ado, RPG Ranked presents.... Octopath Traveler: All Jobs RANKED!
12. Warrior - C Tier
This may be controversial, but this is easily my least favorite job in Octopath Traveler. Cross Strike? Not as good as SP Steal, Amputation, any of the Warmaster’s skills, the Divine Skills, et cetera. Level Slash? Worse than the first and last Hired Help abilities. Incite? Too many enemies have multi-target attacks. Spearhead? Going faster isn’t worth the low damage output. Abide and Stout Wall? Worse than Lion Dance and Mole Dance. Brand’s Thunder? Not as powerful as better Divines like Aeber’s Reckoning. In my opinion, there are only two saving graces of this job: 1) the Surpassing Power passive, which is absolutely insane as it lets you break the damage limit and 2) because Thousand spears is one of the best abilities in the game if the enemy has a spear weakness. Overall, I learned Surpassing Powers with my attackers and equipped this as a secondary job for boss fights with spear weaknesses, but otherwise, I stayed away.
11. Starseer - C Tier
This job is pretty underwhelming, considering it is one of the four advanced jobs. Shooting Stars is a pretty good spell, but not as strong as any of the Sorcerer Spells. Ethereal Healing? Regen is bad in this game. Moon’s Reflection? Just as bad as the weak Eye for Eye ability. BP Boost? Good on paper, but convoluted in practice. Divination? Actually, this ability is not too bad, but I still hardly found myself using it. Celestial Intervention? Absolutely fantastic, but very situational. Steorra’s Prophecy? Can be powerful, but very hard to set up and peaks at 99,999 damage. And my personal favorite, Starsong, is an amazing defensive buff (especially when combined with Sealticge’s Seduction). Where the Starseer really shines is in its fantastic passive abilities, with awesome BP-related skills and the Divine Aura ability, which allows you to avoid damage 25% of the time! Overall, though the Starseer has good passive abilities, the Starseer is obtained very late in the game and has lackluster job skills, so I could not rank it higher on this list. At least it doesn’t only have two good abilities like the Warrior…
10. Apothecary - C Tier
Okay, this is a pretty decent job, but why did I put it this low? Because I just don’t see why you would use this as a secondary job when Alfyn is just perfect at it. And because it has some issues. This job is kind of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none type job, and those jobs are usually not the best. They have Amputation and Last Stand, decent axe attacks, but honestly, nothing too special. First Aid and Vivify are always good abilities to have, but completely outclassed by the Cleric’s Heal More and Revive. Icicle is pretty weak, and so are the Apothecary’s passive skills. However, Rehabilitate, Empoison, and Dohter’s Charity save this job from being completely outclassed. Rehabilitate is the only reliable status-curing ability in the game, Empoison can end up doing huge damage against hearty bosses, and Dohter’s Charity is one of the best Divines in the game, allowing you to use Jams on the entire party. However, all three of his abilities are still pretty situational, and Dohter’s Charity really isn’t that great until you build a stock of Jams near the endgame. Overall, with mediocre passives and three great (yet situational) job skills, it is a good job, but not a job I can place any higher, especially with Alfyn already covering all the bases with this job.
9. Scholar - B Tier
This job is very weird, as it is basically just outclassed by the Sorcerer. No other job class gets outclassed like this. However, for a large portion of the game, the Scholar will be your best damage dealer, and fantastic at breaking groups of enemies. Even though the Sorcerer is just better, it can’t be stressed enough how powerful it is to have two Sorcerers in your party… you can clear all the enemies on the screen for most of the game, even if you don’t break the enemies. They also get Analyze, which is actually pretty dang helpful in this game, as it isn’t always easy to find out an enemy’s weakness. Overall, though they become outclassed by the Sorcerer later on, their elemental damage is just so good that I couldn’t put it lower on this list.
8. Cleric - B Tier
Alright, I am a big fan of healers. If you’ve checked out any of my other articles, you know that I always put the main healers near the top. However, as much as the Cleric has some very powerful abilities like Revive, Heal More, and Reflective Veil, the Cleric is almost completely outclassed by Alfyn. However, having both in your party? Never a bad idea. Giving Cyrus or Primrose the Cleric class is a pretty awesome idea. Obviously, this is a fantastic class, and having awesome healing and defending abilities is never bad, but overall, Alfyn is just better at healing and supporting in my opinion… and if I want a Cleric, I’ll just bring along Ophilia, since she has by far the best Elemental Defense.
7. Dancer - A Tier
The Dancer is an amazing support character, and while the Starseer is gained so late in the game, the Dancer allows you to buff you for the entirety of the game! It also has one of the best Divine Skills in the game, Sealticge’s Seduction! I put it above the Cleric because, while that is outclassed by Alfyn, Dancer is not. I always like to have at least one Dancer in my party for the majority of the game, usually Ophilia or Alfyn. Overall, the buffing abilities of the dancer are absolutely fantastic and since Primrose is one of the weakest characters in the game, it is great to give a strong character the Dancer subclass and make the best use of its Divine Skill and Peacock Strut abilities.
6. Hunter - A Tier
Arrowstorm, Rain of Arrows, and Leghold Trap are absolutely overpowered. Second Serving and Patience? Also overpowered. Give Therion this class, and he’ll be absolutely busted. Being able to deal tons of damage to multiple enemies, break enemies, and drastically slow bosses down is very powerful, and should make it a mainstay in your party. Overall, Hunter still is not quite as broken as some of the next few jobs on this list since it is mostly just powerful against enemies weak to bows, but it is still awesome nonetheless.
5. Thief - A Tier
To be honest, this is just personal preference. I understand that the majority of people liked the Hunter better, but for me, I just preferred the Thief. I love the three different stealing abilities, and the Steal SP and Share SP combination is just so fun. The Thief is also an amazing debuffer, as it can debuff both defense and attack, and its Aeber’s Reckoning skill is extremely powerful throughout the midgame. The Thief is fantastic at taking down enemies with knife weaknesses, but also can wield swords or cast fire magic if necessary. Overall, I just love the Thief and personally prefer it over the Hunter due to its awesome ability combos and buffing capabilities.
4. Runelord - S Tier
Adding runes to the attacks of magical attackers like Cyrus, Tressa, or Primrose is absolutely insane in terms of damage, but even adding runes to physical attackers can be helpful in terms of breaking capabilities! With the runes, axes, and swords, the Runelord can hit eight weaknesses total—more than any other job in the game! On top of that, Balogar’s Blade is an amazing Divine skill that can dish out huge magic damage (I would say the Sorcerer does it better, but this is still very good)! Though this job lets you pile up tons of extra damage, its biggest strength comes when it is combined with Tressa. With access to double buffed-wind magic and runes, Balogar’s Blade, Hired Help, and the Sidestep + Transfer Rune combo? She can potentially be the strongest character in the game. However, on its own, it is not quite as good as the next few jobs on this list, so overall, I just couldn’t justify it being any higher on the list.
3. Merchant - S Tier
This is perhaps the most versatile job in the game, and you have access to it from the get-go! Its Donate BP ability? Allows you to be an insane BP battery until you get access to a large stash of Pomegranates, Jams, and alchemy ingredients. Rest? Free HP & SP, as well as one of the only ways to cure a variety of status ailments (this is awesome with Transfer Rune in regular encounters). Collect and Bifelgan’s Bounty? Nice for grinding leaves! Tradewinds and Trade Tempest? The best Wind magic for the majority of the game! And the two best Merchant abilities? Hired Help and Sidestep. These abilities can lead to absolutely broken strategies with huge amounts of damage and providing invincibility for the party. Hired Help—in combination with exploiting Tressa’s Eye for Money Talent—allows you to decimate any boss with relatively no effort. This ability also allows the Merchant class to be able to hit for seven different weaknesses: polearms, bows, wind, swords, axes, knives, and light… This cannot be done by any other basic secondary job! This class can target more weaknesses than the Warmaster! And as aforementioned, the Sidestep ability with Transfer Rune is just completely broken. Overall, though the Merchant isn’t quite as good as the next few jobs, it is easily the strongest and most versatile of the eight base classes.
2. Warmaster - S+ Tier
Even if this job had no abilities, it’d still be one of the best jobs in the game! With the ability to equip every weapon type, the Warmaster is a must-have in the party once you get it, and with a variety of different weapon abilities, this class is elevated to the runner-up position on this list. The Winnehild’s Battle Cry Divine Skill is by far the strongest ability in the game, and can not only dish out tons of damage, but can find and exploit weaknesses very effectively. Overall, with the best physical damage in the game, as well as access to all of the weapon types, this job is the second best job in the game.
1. Sorcerer - S+ Tier
With access to AoE triple-hitting spells of every element, the Sorcerer is not only a master of breaking enemies, but is the undisputed best damage dealer in the game. It is also important to note that the Sorcerer is the only job in the game that completely outclasses another job (the Scholar), as well as the only job in the game that can debuff elemental defense! Disregarding its mediocre Divine Skill and the slightly costly spells, this job is basically without flaws, and even with these two flaws, I don’t care at all since this job just deals so much damage. Overall, with eight different ways to break enemies and the strongest damage in the game, the Sorcerer is the strongest job in Octopath Traveler.