Octopath Traveler II: All Support Skills RANKED!
Octopath Traveler II not only has fun and unique jobs and characters, but also fun and unique skills! Skills are the bread and butter of the Octopath Traveler II battle system, and quite frankly, without using the best skills, Octopath Traveler II is not going to be the most fun experience. Using sub-optimal abilities in Octopath Traveler will lead to an untimely demise, so I decided to make a tier list with my opinions for the best job skills in Octopath Traveler II. Now without further ado, RPG Ranked presents.... Octopath Traveler II: All Support Skills RANKED!
48. Incidental Attack - F Tier
This skill is just so frustrating and weak. Upon using an ability on enemy that does not deal damage, this attack hits the enemy for one physical attack. Let's dissect why this ability is utter garbage. First of all, even 4 physical attacks in a row is weak in this game! This game is built around utilizing powerful abilities and intricate tactics, not spamming basic attacks. The only reason physical attacks should ever be used are when 1) you are out of SP or 2) you desperately need to break an enemy and have no better way to do so. The second reason? This ability is so inconvenient! If you are trying to Steal or Collect or use some sort of ability when an enemy is on low health to increase the success rate? This can just totally kill the enemy! All in all, I can't even think of a single time that this ability would be more useful to equip than any other ability in the game... I'd literally rather not have this ability equipped than have it equipped, and for that, it is in last place on this list.
47. Ensnare - D Tier
Upon being hit by an enemy's physical attack, the equipper of this ability will counter-attack with debuffs on the enemy. This is actually a really cool idea, and could've been good... but it was just implemented very poorly. Also, it doesn't even have that great of a success rate, so it isn't exactly something you can build a strategy around. Also, in a game with one of the best counterattacks in the history of gaming, Vengeful Blade? This is absolutely pitiful. Overall, this ability is terrible, but not nearly as offensive as Incidental Attack.
46. Of Equal Might - D Tier
I can see how this ability being utilized well, but this ability is the definition of not being up my alley. This equalizes your physical and magical attack, making them both just as good. However, I can't think of any character that I genuinely need them to be good at both! This ability really isn't all that bad, but in a game where you have a meager 4 ability slots? This is an ability you should completely avoid.
45. Invigorating Break - C Tier
This ability is the definition of mediocre. Upon breaking an enemy, you get health back. If this restored the character to full health? This could be good, but probably still not a top-tier ability. But as it is, it just is so weak compared to some of the other abilities in the game. However, I can still see this being a pretty solid ability on Ochette or Temenos, so I can't completely discount this ability. It isn't good, but it definitely isn't horrible. Don't worry, there will be plenty of abilities centered around survival much higher up this list.
44. Inspiriting Break - C Tier
Same idea as the last ability, but with SP instead. Again, this is incredibly mediocre, and there are much better abilities in the game dedicated to restoring SP. I would not really ever recommend using this ability unless you are incredibly frugal about your SP-restoring items
43. SP Recovery - C Tier
This restores SP equal to 1% of the damage you deal. So, for example, if you hit 10,000 damage you'll restore 100 SP. This is by no means bad, and I can see it becoming a bit useful on a high level Hikari, but in all reality, why not just give him a very strong skill that will make the battle last shorter and lead to less SP being used overall? This isn't really a bad ability, but if you are hoping to save SP, you may as well go with an amazing skill like SP Saver instead.
42-37. The Stat Buffing ones... - C Tier
This tie includes all of the following stat-buff abilities: Inner Strength, Hale and Hearty, Eagle Eye, Summon Strength, Fleetfoot, and Elemental Augmentation. While these are really good early game skills, they aren't exactly crucial and they quickly become completely overshadowed by literally every other skill that ranks higher on this list. Equipment can do exactly what these skills do but so much better, and for that, this have to rank rather low on this list.
36. Purification - B Tier
This ability doubles the speed in which the party's enfeebling effects (status debuffs) wear off. This is incredibly helpful in a few situations against certain bosses, but it isn't an ability I would generally equip or an ability I would consider better than any of the following abilities on this list. It is a nice ability to have, especially since enfeebling effects are generally pretty hard to get rid of, but overall, this ability is just mediocre and there's no denying it.
35. Invigorate and Inspire - B Tier
This ability basically makes so any augmenting effect granted by the equipper also gives the target a small portion of their Latent Power gauge... but in the grand scheme of things, it isn't really enough to make it super powerful, and I can't see my self buffing all that often anyway. However, I can see this being really good on Agnea, where she could use a Dancer, Cleric, or Inventor skill on the whole party with All Together Now and grant the entire party some of their Latent Power gauge. This is a solid ability as a whole, but truly not solid enough to go any higher on this list.
34. Heightened Senses - B Tier
Getting first attacks on enemies is really nice to have when walking around dungeons or different areas, especially early in the game! However, A Step Ahead has the effects of this ability plus so much more, and if you really want to avoid annoyances from battle, you may as well just get rid of battles as a whole with Evasive Maneuvers and/or Evil Ward!
33. Preventative Measures - B Tier
This prevents status effects from hitting your party for three turns, which can be really nice for the couple of bosses that hit you with status effects right out of the gate! Also, I'm pretty sure this effect can be dragged out with Agnea's Song of Hope, making it a very powerful ailment-resistance ability! However, the first three turns is rather pitiful for having to take up a whole slot, and there are so many accessories that nullify status effects in Octopath Traveler II. Overall, I just don't think this ability deserves any higher on this list.
32. Master of Offense - B Tier
Master of Offense increases the critical hit chance of the wearer's attacks against broken enemies. While this is a pretty nice concept and does a lot of damage, in terms of execution, it just isn't all that great. The Inventor's skill, Critical Scope, is one of the most important abilities in the game, but this? It definitely is not. Not bad, not all that mediocre, but not terribly outstanding either.
31. Resilience - B Tier
When Resilience is equipped, White Magic restores more HP to the equipper of Resilience. This should be a phenomenal ability—but it isn't. The reason this isn't one of the best abilities in the game? Because, well, you can restore more than enough HP without this ability, and it is pretty much just a waste of a slot, which is pretty disheartening. Overall, this could have been so much better, but it didn't do enough to set it apart like the next 30 abilities on this list.
30 & 29. Evil Ward & Evasive Maneuvers - A Tier
These abilities were both very awkward to place. These abilities are completely unnecessary and are actually kind of detrimental to the player because, well, they will fight less battles and have less experience points as a whole. However, these abilities improve the quality of life so much in this game, and make the game so much less tedious. Overall, these were some weird abilities to place but they are still quite good nonetheless.
28. Divine Wrath - A Tier
Upon dying, this ability activates one of two things: 1) 6,000 elemental damage, the much worse outcome or 2) inflicting every single status ailment on the enemy. If you are able to build a decent strategy around this awesome ability, it can be pretty solid, but it is pretty unreliable and hard to execute... and the damage definitely isn't worth it. Overall, if you want to inflict status effects, this is the way to go, but it is just too unreliable for me to say this is a great skill.
27. Rise Again - A Tier
This ability is definitely a bit overrated, but it is still pretty dang solid. This ability instantly revives you once a battle, which can be a godsend in specific boss fights! However, compared to the much better Hang Tough ability, I can't say this deserves to be anywhere near the top of this list. This is definitely a great ability to equip while casually romping through the game, but during boss fights? Take Hang Tough over Rise Again, for sure.
26. Advanced Magic Master - A Tier
This ability lengthens the spells Advanced Magic and Alephan's Wisdom by one turn each. While that isn't too significant for the first ability (especially with the existence of the Stone of Truth), having another turn of Alephan's Wisdom is so incredibly helpful for mid-game play. Being able to keep Osvald or Temenos dishing out huge damage is very important, and if you really think about it, this is basically like a 50% damage buff. However, this is not really the best ability because, in the end, there are just so many other abilities that are more impactful. Anyway, let's move on.
25. Ever Evasive - A Tier
This ability is a very nice survival skill, I will admit. It is a very good passive skill that is always worth using, giving your character all that much of a boost in their evasiveness. However, as a whole, a great evasion boost is still that—just an evasion boost. Using Sidestep, Veil of Darkness, Sacred Shield, Divine Protection, or Seal of Diffusion/Sidestep? All of these are much better ways of protecting yourself from oncoming danger, so I can't put this much higher on the list.
24. Lasting Memory - A Tier
Yet another ability that is just pretty solid, but not too amazing? That's Lasting Memory! This ability allows you to keep your status effects, even if you die! This is pretty nice if you gave a character some really important Divine Skill status effects! However, if you just set up a good defensive strategy, this is just an obselete skill. And I'll take the survivability skills over this one. This is great, but outclassed.
23. Latent Power Plus - A Tier
This is a very self-explanatory ability. It is very solid, because, well, why wouldn't you want more of your Latent Power gauge? This is a very good passive skill that I can't complain about! However, there are much more unique abilities, and restoring the Latent Power gauge isn't all that bad due to items like Lychees! Alright, let's move on.
22. Arms Refinement - A Tier
This is slightly better than the last ability because hitting enemy weaknesses is so reliable and can be strategized around, unlike the more passive Latent Power Plus ability. However, being a passive ability is also rather solid, so this one just barely gets the edge. Again, you could just use Lychees... so this isn't all that fantastic.
21. Boost-Start - A Tier
Okay, let's get this out of the way—this is way worse than A Step Ahead. However, this is still amazing for basic encounters, especially if used in tandem with A Step Ahead! The second BP is great to get battles done with really quickly, especially with characters like Castti who can use powerful Concoct right out of the gate with this ability, or deal massive damage with Osvald/Hikari right out of the gate.
20-16. Leveling Abilities - A Tier
These leveling abilities (More Rare Monsters, Grows on Trees, Extra Experience, Hard Worker, and Life in the Shadows) are all very awkward to place, as they are just for convenience, but they are just so amazing. They make the game so much easier and so much better, and I mean, I think that's enough to justify that these abilities deserve to be in the top of A Tier.
15. Vigorous Victor - S Tier
This ability sucks during boss battles, but is one of my favorite abilities for normal encounters. After beating a battle, you get 30% of your HP and 30% of your MP back, which makes this such a cool and useful ability! Sure, I understand that you can just use SP and HP restoring abilities, but hey, I got to have one stupid pick on this list!
14. SP Saver - S Tier
Halving SP costs is not just convenient... it is necessary for very hard boss fights as, without this ability, you will have double the chance you have to waste a turn trying to heal a character's HP! Wasting a singular turn is insanely detrimental in Octopath Traveler II, more so than pretty much every other RPG I've ever played. Overall, this is an incredible must-use ability.
13. Bolstering Break - S Tier
This is the only ability I have changed since my ranking I made a video on the topic. Why, you may ask? I thought it only dished out extra damage when you broke the enemy, making it super situational. But no, it does extra damage when the enemy is broken the whole time (which makes way more sense in retrospect... please don't judge me, this translation is confusing at times). Anyway, this can hugely increase the damage output of your damage dealers, which makes this ability absolutely phenomenal.
12. BP In Adversity - S Tier
This is an amazing ability, especially for damage dealers equipped with Alpione's Armlet! When you are on low health, you get tons of BP back... and that's amazing! However, it is not really a great idea for more than one character in your party to have this, as you shouldn't really be leaving your whole team on low health. While it isn't a must-have for your entire party to equip, characters like Hikari and Osvald equipped with Alpione's Armlet can make great use of this ability. Overall, this is a more niche ability, but it is awesome nonetheless. Probably better to keep most of your characters near max health, though, and this ability is a little too passive and weak if you aren't planning your strategy around it.
11. Fruits of Labor - S Tier
This is a very good way of buffing your defense and elemental defense, perhaps the best way of doing so in the game! The strength of this ability is solely dependent off of how many skills you learn, so if you learn a good amount of job skills, you can potentially get a 90+ boost in both elemental defense and defense! This makes this by far the best stat-buffing ability in the entire game! However, as fantastic this ability is for both survivability and for boosting your White Magic prowess (yes, elemental defense is how you buff your healing spells), I can't put it any higher on the list all things considered.
10. Upgraded Accessories - S Tier
This is like the last ability, but more versatile (albeit weaker). This gives a 50% buff to any stat buffs given by equipment, which can be insanely powerful all things considered. Equip a really good accessory like Melia's Amulet or Sister's Amulet, and this skill becomes insanely powerful! Overall, this is very good skill, but nevertheless, it's a little too niche for me to rank it higher.
9. The Show Goes On - S Tier
Anytime the person who has this ability equipped uses a buff, it lasts one turn longer! This is phenomenal if you have a buffing character with awesome buffs like Aelfric's Blessing, Sealticge's Seduction, and Dohter's Charity! Keeping these buffs for just one turn longer makes this a fantastic ability that is a cut above the rest of the abilities in this game. While, most of the abilities in this game, that is.
8. Price of Power - S Tier
This is an amazing ability that skyrockets your magic-casting potential through the roof! This ability makes characters like Osvald or Temenos be viable in terms of damage (even if Hikari is just so much better than them)! Combine this with SP Saver, and you can have huge magic damage without any disadvantages (well, outside of taking up two passive skill slots). Overall, this is a must-have for your magic casters, but not a skill your physical attackers should have.
7. Peak Performance - S Tier
This ability gives you a very good damage boost... as long as you are at full health! However, this can totally be planned around with defensive abilities, as well as the amazing Prayer for Plenty ability! While not quite as powerful as using Alpione's Amulet, Last Gasp, and BP In Adversity, this is still a very solid ability and a much more reliable setup for killing enemies. Overall, this is a very reliable damage buff that can be utilized very well, but not exactly the greatest ability in the game.
6. Salt the Wound - S Tier
When you break an enemy, Salt the Wound has a 50% of giving you an extra turn. This could be super annoying that it isn't an 100% chance, but this ability is still a phenomenal stand-out ability when using characters like Temenos and Ochette. Using Temenos's Judgment Latent Power and Ochette's Provoke Beasts? You can break enemies so often that you can get an insane amount of extra turns with this ability. Overall, this is a little unreliable, but who cares when it is this good.
5. Hang Tough - S+ Tier
This ability is the best survival ability in the game! Unlike Rise Again, which can only activate once per battle, this is able to keep you alive over and over again as long as you don't do anything stupid. Utilize Hikari's Boost from Beyond in tandem with Hang Tough to give your party BP and set yourself up for dishing out insane amounts of damage with his low health strategy. Honestly, Hang Tough is just phenomenal, but still not the best ability in the game.
4. A Step Ahead - S+ Tier
Giving you an extra turn and every character an extra BP at the beginning of the battle? This is an amazing ability, and should be used during every enemy encounter. For example, having Castti have an extra turn before everyone else and concocting something that gives BP to the entire party? That's amazing. While this isn't quite as good during boss fights, it still has its uses in trying to get the upper hand over terrifying foes like Galdera. This is a great ability through and through, but still not a top 3 ability.
3. Full Power - S+ Tier
This gives you a full Latent Power gauge at the beginning of every battle... this is so broken, I don't know how this passed playtesting. This in tandem with giving your party a ton of BP with the aforementioned A Step Ahead allows you to devastate every single enemy in just seconds with the right setup. While this isn't quite the best ability in the game against bosses, it is phenomenal against enemy fights, and easily one of the best abilities in the game.
2. BP Regeneration - S+ Tier
This ability just randomly gives you your BP back. And it happens a lot. Like super often. You literally will have all your BP restored on a regular basis here, and using Partitio? He will have his Latent Power and with this, you will likely just basically get another Latent Power through this ability, et cetera. You can basically have infinite BP with Partitio by using this ability! Overall, this is a phenomenal ability that is only outclassed by one ability on this list. However, I believe that this is a must-have for every single character in the party.
1. Deal More Damage - S+ Tier
This has got to be the most self-explanatory ability in the game... it can basically multiply your damage by ten if you are smart about your strategies. This is an essential ability to have equipped at all times with Temenos, Osvald, Throné, and most importantly, Hikari. Without this ability, you are not going to do nearly enough damage during the endgame, and the hardest bosses will be almost impossible. Overall, this is easily the best ability in Octopath Traveler II.