Octopath Traveler II: All Path Actions RANKED!

The Path Actions are one of the most iconic parts of the Octopath Traveler series, and in today's ranking, I decided to rank all of the Path Actions in the newly-released Octopath Traveler II! There are four types of Path Actions: ones that give you information, ones that give you items, ones that give you extra party members, and ones that get stubborn NPCs out of the way! It was a weird thing to rank, but it worked well in the end. Now without further ado, RPG Ranked presents... Octopath Traveler II: All Path Actions RANKED!

16. Guide - D Tier

Why would I use Guide when I could be using Allure or Hire? Allure is incredibly powerful in battle due to the Dance Session ability, which makes Agnea an obscenely powerful support character, and Partito’s Hire allows you to get a huge boost in the amount of Leaves you gain! Even Befriend is better than this trashy Path Action… at least Befriend doesn’t make you level up to insanely high levels to recruit people! By the time you are at a high enough level to get people worth guiding, you could’ve recruited them eons ago with any of the other three abilities! Overall, Temenos’s Guide is easily the worst Path Action in the game.

15. Bribe - C Tier

Bribe is definitely situational, but it is also definitely better than Guide. Though I think it is stupid to pay money for information, I can see there being a situation where the Scrutinize percentage is low, the town person's strength is way too high, and their level requirement is way too high… but paying them off is a good option. Though Scrutinize is infinitely better than this ability, I can see it having situational use, so it didn’t quite fall into D Tier.

14. Befriend - C Tier

Just like Bribe, I see this having situational use. But also like Bribe, I don’t want to give away my good healing items when I could just use Allure or Hire. Besides, Ochette can already summon beasts, so she doesn’t need to waste a turn summoning some weak townsperson. Overall, a very mid ability.

13. Inquire - C Tier

Like Guide, this ability isn’t all that good. However, during the endgame where you are at a high level and you are trying to knock out side quests as fast as possible? Inquire is a pretty dang good ability. So just like the other C Tier abilities, this is situational, but it is still usable.

12. Soothe - B Tier

If you want to avoid battle but want to get past somebody, this is the way to go. But as always, I would rather battle than use items that I could put to use elsewhere. However, I do love this ability—the animation is hilarious and there are definitely times I’d rather use this than grind to a point where I can beat up the enemies. But overall, I’d usually rather use Ambush or Provoke to get past somebody in the way.

11. Ambush - B Tier

Though you have to wait for a townsperson to be a high enough level to use this, since there are only two ways to knock somebody out, this is a better ability than the previous abilities! There are definitely situations where fighting somebody on your own is better than summoning monsters with Provoke, but since you have to wait to level yourself up, it isn’t quite as good. Overall, an ability that is great in a lot of situations, but not quite as good as Provoke.

10. Coerce - B Tier

Possibly the most interesting Path Action in the game, its too bad that it isn’t that great. The idea is that you have to break somebody in battle and then you get the information from them. However, this is terrible early in the game, as Temenos is the last person you want to be taking part in a duel. He also only has two weak points that he can hit early on, and he’ll need to get a really good secondary job to make this ability worth using. However, if you get some sort of secondary job that has multi-hit attacks and combine that with his Latent Power, Judgement? This could potentially be even better than Scrutinize. Overall, this is an ability that definitely seems like it’ll have great potential during the late game, but early on, it is just too bad that I couldn’t put this ability higher than B Tier.

9. Entreat - B Tier

This gives you items for free… no need to Steal, Mug, or Purchase the items! However, you have to wait until you are at a high enough level to use this… and the items might have lost their use by that point! So as much as this is a fantastic ability, overall, you’ll have to do a lot of grinding if you want this ability to be one of the best Path Actions in the game.

8. Purchase - A Tier

If this game is anything like the first, there will be plenty of items that will have a 0% Steal rate, and Purchase will be a great ability during certain points of the game. Also, with the Business Partners Talent, there are some great benefits that come via purchasing and selling items. However, overall, Steal and Mug are still better in most circumstances, but this ability is a must-have for getting your hands on certain exclusive items.

7. Hire - A Tier

With the Business Partners Talent, the Hire ability is awesome. It’d be in last place if that Talent wasn’t epic, but luckily, that is not the case. Though Hire is much better out of battle than in-battle, there is no denying that, overall, the Hire ability is a must-have Path Action.

6. Provoke - S Tier

If there is a pesky townsperson in your way, Provoke is the way to go to get them out of the way. Though Soothe and Ambush have situational uses, Provoke is usually the better choice due to just how easy it is to capture monsters in this game! It allows you to choose the exact abilities you want to have before going into the battle, and since you auto-capture beasts and keep them in your party for ages, this is an awesome Path Action! Adding to that, Ochette’s starting beasts can break any weakness, so it makes it really easy to beat people up with this ability. Overall, Provoke is a very good Path Action, and is definitely more useful than Ambush and Soothe in most situations.

5. Mug - S Tier

Mug is definitely more convenient than Steal. Just beat up the enemy, and you get all of their items… no need to keep reloading the game! This is a fantastic and fun ability, especially since Osvald is such a strong character. However, if you cannot beat the battle, you cannot get the items… and all Steal takes is a little bit of reloading or a little bit of cash to the tavern keeper. Overall, this is a great ability, but still not quite as good as Steal.

4. Scrutinize - S Tier

Though Coerce will likely be my favorite by the endgame, Scrutinize is definitely the best way to get information throughout the beginning and middle of the game! The success rate for Scrutinize is never all that low, and it is so much nicer than having to grind for Inquire to work, Temenos to be strong enough for Coerce, or wasting money with Bribe! Overall, Scrutinize doesn’t always work, but it is still so much better than its counterparts.

3. Allure - S+ Tier

With the relatively high success rates of Allure and the awesome Dance Session Talent, Allure is a must have ability! Though it was pretty terrible in the first game, you should always have somebody recruited if you have Agnea in your party to get your Dance abilities as strong as possible! Overall, Allure is one of the best Path Actions, and you should definitely utilize it as much as possible.

2. Challenge - S+ Tier

As long as you are at a high enough level, you can Challenge people with Hikari and learn their abilities… this basically makes Hikari a powerful Blue Mage like character, and this Path Action is why Hikari is such an awesome character! Unlike Hikari’s Bribe, I would use this ability as much as you can each time you reach a new town to make Hikari an irreplaceable character. Overall, if you put the effort into using the Challenge Path Action, it is absolutely amazing.

1. Steal - S+ Tier

Steal was the best in the first game, and nothing has changed here. It just feels wrong to not Steal from every townsperson… and it also feels wrong to say that, it makes me sound like a psychopath. But being able to get a huge stockpile of amazing items is something you should not pass up. Overall, Steal is the best Path Action… and there is no questions about it.

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