Partitio is a unique party member in Octopath Traveler 2. He’s a merchant that can sniff out a good deal — and there are unique quests only Partitio can take part in. After getting Partitio in your party, you’ll find three ‘Scent of Commerce‘ story quests marked on the map. The locations are obvious, but actually completing these quests isn’t easy. You’ll need extra cash, and you’ll need to search out locations for lost NPCs. One of these quests is essentially a tricky riddle. Learn how to complete all the ‘Scent of Commerce’ quests with these step-by-step instructions.
The most important quest is related to a ship — we’ve covered the ship in a full guide linked below, but we’ll also explain how to get the ship here.
More Octopath Traveler 2 guides:
All 8 Standard Job Altars | Inventor Advanced Job Guide | Secondary Job Guild Locations | How To Unlock The Ship & Sea Region
The Scent of Commerce | Quest Guide
After unlocking Partitio the Merchant, you’ll have access to three bonus story quests called ‘The Scent of Commerce‘ — these quests involve Partitio making deals in different locations. The name of the quest is always the same, but the solutions are always different. These quests are also very important for finding powerful items and learning more about the world. One of these quests gives you access to a ship with an entire new sea location filled with high level content.
- Winterbloom Scent of Commerce Quest: Enter the house on the east side of town. The man inside has invented a phonograph. Partitio wants to help by bringing three musicians to record. To complete this quest, you need to hire musicians and bring them back to the house.
- Musician #1: Canalbrine – Find the ‘Violinist’ playing violin near the entrance to town at night.
- Musician #2: Crackridge – The ‘Guitarist’ is in the home behind three gathered NPCs at night.
- Musician #3: Flamechurch – Outside the small-church in the town, talk to the ‘Piano-playing Cleric’.
You need to hire these people as summonable quest characters, then lead them back to the inventor’s house in Winterbloom. Bring them back one at a time. Once you bring all three, you’ll complete the quest.
- Sai Scent of Commerce Quest: Reach the small shack in the upper-right corner of the town. Up above, you can find the house of a great merchant. Talk to the Merchant and he’ll test you — he’ll let you read his library but only if you can answer his riddle.
- To complete his riddle, go to the small house beneath the Warrior Guild. There’s a young female NPC here — talk to her, and you’ll learn she is the merchant’s daughter. Use a Path Action to hire her and lead her back to the merchant.
- After the Merchant tells you that you’ve failed his test, use Partitio’s Path Action on the Merchant himself. Hire him instead. This completes the quest.
Unfortunately, you don’t actually hire the Merchant. You will gain his key and gain access to the library. The library is full of lore notes and important hints to find secrets and other hidden content. Hiring the Merchant is actually much, much more expensive.
- Tropu’hopu Scent of Commerce Quest: The simplest quest is located on the southeastern island of Toto’haha. Reach the connecting village of Tropu’hopu and enter the docks. There you’ll find an NPC named Terry. She’ll sell you the boat for 100,000 leaves.
There’s no trick to this one. Bring Terry 100,000 leaves to complete the deal. The ship is one of the best upgrades you can find — it gives you access to the Sundering Sea region, with multiple islands and optional boss monsters to fight or explore.
