Let’s get this out of the way: there are no “best” combinations in Octopath Traveler. The best is only what you want out of your party — and some players will have very different goals than others. It might not seem like builds matter much in Octopath Traveler when you first get started, but once you unlock all eight sub-jobs, your versatility will extend significantly.
All eight characters have a job (or class), and you can change their sub-job at any time. You won’t be able to access their Path Actions from a sub-job, but you will get all their skills and passives. The moment I unlocked all these classes, I asked myself — “Which sub-job is best for which character?” — and the answer is a whole lot more complicated than I first anticipated.
Here, I’m going to break down my personal “best” sub-job choices for each character. If you disagree, we want to hear from you! Let us know your favorite characters and sub-job combos in the comments section below.
More Octopath Traveler guides on Gameranx:
- Octopath Traveler: Beginner’s Guide | 8 Tips To Help You Get Started
- Octopath Traveler: How To Unlock 8 Sub-Jobs & 4 Advanced Jobs | Secret Classes Guide
- Octopath Traveler: How To Unlock The True Ending | Secret Ending Guide
- Octopath Traveler: How Earn Money, XP & JP Fast | Easy Farming Guide
- Octopath Traveler: How To Get The Best Post-Game Weapons | Battle-Tested Locations Guide
Character & Sub-Job Combos | Classes Guide
Before we get started, this is not an end-game guide. These are strong combos available to players before the post-game section, and will not include the four secret sub-jobs.
There are eight classes in Octopath Traveler — thief, cleric, warrior, dancer, scholar, apothecary, merchant, and hunter. All eight of these jobs can be unlocked as sub-jobs. You can assign one sub-job to any character. Each sub-job can only go to one character, meaning you can have a maximum of two of each class in your party — one core job, and one sub-job.
- NOTE: After assigning a sub-job, you can spend JP to unlock skills. Unlocking skills will unlock passive skills. You can only assign four passive skills. You can swap jobs at any time. You’ll retain any skills you’ve unlocked on a sub-job when you choose to swap back to it.
Some characters have naturally better stats than others. Let’s have a quick overview.
- Best Characters By Stats:
- Highest Elemental Attack: Cyrus, Primrose, Ophilia
- Highest Physical Attack: Therion, Olberic, H’annit
- All Arounders: Alfyn, Tressa
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Cyrus can’t become a Warrior, or that Ophilia shouldn’t become a Hunter — it just means that those stats are likely to be higher. Depending on your party, you can either focus on enhancing a character’s power or their utility — Alfyn, for example, can easily become a powerhouse fighter, or a pure support character. If you’re unhappy with H’annit’s magical power, you can equip gear that will improve her magic attacks. You don’t need to min / max to crush your opponents. It’s all about who you want in your team.
Characters By Build — What Sub-Job To Select For Each Character
When selecting sub-jobs, you’ll want to consider their role in combat — a single-target fighter, AOE damage-dealer, support, or healer. Many characters can fit two roles at the same time. Anyone can be support, but you don’t want to select a sub-job that conflicts too much with their current class.
EXAMPLE: If you want to make Ophilia into a dedicated AOE healer, you don’t want to also give her an ability that will waste her turn. If she is mostly healing, don’t give her support abilities. In general, support jobs are paired well with physical damage jobs.
Bolded jobs are my personal favorites for each character.
- Therion (Thief):
- Strong Sub-Jobs: Dancer, Merchant, Apothecary
- H’annit (Hunter):
- Strong Sub-Jobs: Warrior, Dancer, Thief
- Ophilia (Cleric):
- Strong Sub-Jobs: Dancer, Scholar, Apothecary, Merchant
- Cyrus (Scholar):
- Strong Sub-Jobs: Cleric, Dancer, Apothecary
- Tressa (Merchant):
- Strong Sub-Jobs: Thief, Apothecary, Hunter, Dancer
- Olberic (Warrior):
- Strong Sub-Jobs: Hunter, Merchant, Apothecary
- Primrose (Dancer):
- Strong Sub-Jobs: Scholar, Thief, Cleric, Merchant
- Alfyn (Apothecary):
- Strong Sub-Jobs: Warrior, Merchant, Cleric, Thief
If your goal is to reduce as much redundancy as possible, compare what weapons each class can equip — the weapon selection is an easy way to tell if there will be a significant overlap. It’s okay to overlap abilities, and select abilities that are naturally better from another class — your sub-job will also boost your stats. If you want your Scholar to do more damage, select a job that increases his Elemental Attack.
Additional Information: [1]
