Starting your journey in Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent (COTC) can feel overwhelming, with its vast cast of characters, unique mechanics, and deep combat system. To help you navigate the early game, here are 7 essential beginner tips that will make your first steps smoother—and your team much stronger.

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1. Build a Balanced Team Using All Eight Classes

COTC features eight unique classes, each tied to a weapon type:

• Merchant – Spear
• Apothecary – Axe
• Dancer – Fan
• (plus others like Clerics, Hunters, Thieves, etc.)

Enemies often have specific weapon or elemental weaknesses, and your ability to exploit those efficiently depends on team diversity. Try to include one character from each class to cover as many weaknesses as possible, ensuring faster battles and easier breaks.

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2. Master the Shield Break System

Each enemy has a shield icon and a number indicating their break threshold. Hitting them with a weapon or magic they’re weak to reduces that number. Once it hits zero, the enemy is broken—stunned for one turn and vulnerable to increased damage.

Timing is everything. Plan to break enemies right before they unleash powerful moves, or during key turns to maximize your team’s burst damage.

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3. Use Boosts Strategically for Big Damage

Characters generate Boost Points (orbs) each turn. Spend up to three at once to enhance an ability or repeat standard attacks multiple times in one move.

Pro tip: Break the enemy first, then unload your boosted abilities while they’re vulnerable. This dramatically increases your damage output and can turn a losing fight around.

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4. Raise Your Influence for Permanent Perks

Your character progression is tied to three influence types:

• Wealth
• Power
• Fame

Increasing your influence unlocks permanent bonuses, such as:

• Bonus rubies for summoning
• Increased base stats
• Improved NPC interactions and Path Actions

Boost your influence by recruiting allies, completing story quests, and upgrading skill boards.

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5. Interact with NPCs Using Path Actions

Most NPCs allow you to use one of the game’s Path Actions, depending on your influence:

• Purchase – Buy gear, consumables, and rare items
• Contend – Challenge NPCs in combat to earn rewards
• Entreat – Politely request items if your influence is high enough

Path Actions offer valuable loot and hidden treasures, so talk to everyone—and raise your influence regularly to access the best rewards.

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6. Hunt Kates for Huge XP Gains

Kates are rare, cat-like enemies that provide massive XP rewards. They’re tough to hit and flee quickly, but defeating them gives a major level boost.

Look out for:

• Wild Kates that appear in random battles
• Stationary Kates, which spawn once daily and don’t run away

Use your most accurate or multi-hit abilities to defeat them quickly and efficiently.

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7. Rerolling: Optional, But Powerful

After completing the tutorial, you receive rubies for at least one 10-pull summon. You’ll also start with a random 5★ character. If you’re aiming for a stronger start, you can reroll your account until you get your desired characters.

Rerolling means replaying the tutorial multiple times, so only consider this if you’re patient and want to chase meta-defining units early on.

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Bonus Tip: Enjoy the Journey—No Rush Required

COTC is a rare mobile RPG that focuses on a single-player experience. There are no limited-time events or PVP pressure. This means you can explore at your own pace, experiment with team setups, and savor the storytelling without FOMO.

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