In Octopath Traveler 2 you can fill your party with summonable NPCs. Four characters have this ability — something I mostly ignored through most of my 75~ hours. There are a handful of very, very useful NPC summons if you’re willing to look. One of the best NPC summons I’ve found so far is the fabulously wealthy Alrond. This colorful character appears during Partitio’s Quest, and you’ll need to complete the merchant’s story before you can hire Alrond as a helpful ally.
Alrond isn’t powerful. He’s a Strength: 1/10 NPC. You can only summon him a grand total of x3 times before you have to hire him again. He’s also incredibly expensive — it costs 160,000 leaves to hire him just once. You’ll be able to hire him for free once you hit Level 80 (!!!), but you won’t have to be that high level to make him available. What makes Alrond truly special is his Treasure Smell ability that can give you x10 EXP or x10 JP bonuses. Combine that with Cait hunting, and you’ll gain x100 boosts when farming. Seriously.
More Octopath Traveler 2 guides:
All 8 Standard Job Altars | Inventor Advanced Job Guide | Unlocking All Inventor Skills | Armsmaster Advanced Job Guide | Arcanist Advanced Job Guide | Conjurer Advanced Job Guide | Secondary Job Guild Locations | Best Weapons You Can Find Early | How To Unlock The Ship & Sea Region | Best Character Skill Synergies | Best Weapons To Get Early | Scent of Commerce Quests Guide | Bottled Nightmare Trick | Secret Sunshadow Staff | Ultimate End-Game Weapon Locations | Infernal Castle Secret Dungeon Location
How To Hire Alrond | Best EXP & JP Farming Summon
Alrond is the incredibly wealthy man that helps Partitio in his story path. Before we can hire Alrond as a summon, you’ll need to complete Partitio’s story. Defeat the final boss of Partitio’s path, then follow the steps below.
- How To Find Alrond At Night: Complete Partitio’s Story, then return to Wellgrove. Go to Alrond’s Mansion and talk to the butler in the first-floor right-hand room. He’ll give you the quest ‘Misha’s Next Chapter‘ — Alrond disappears at night.
- Go to Wellgrove and talk to the NPC at the vendor’s stall to the left of the Department Store building. The NPC is called the Strolling Townperson. The NPC only appears at night. Bribe, Coerce, etc the NPC to gain information.
- Next, talk to the Eager Townperson standing outside the Department Store. Use Castii’s Path Action to get information — this NPC only appears during the day.
Gain these two pieces of information, then return to Misha in Alrond Manor. Complete this quest to gain the Butler’s Tailcoat (Phys. Def. +128, Elem. Def. +192, Critical +75) — that’s useful, but what’s REALLY useful is that we can now hire Alrond.
- Complete this quest and Alrond will be available during the day and night as a NPC you can hire. During the day, Alrond is in his second-floor mansion office. At night, he’s standing outside the mansion.
- Day: You must be Level 80 (!) with Temenos to hire Alrond.
- Night: You must spend 160,000 (!) leaves with Partitio to hire Alrond.
- Inquire Alrond during the day to make hiring NPCs in Wellgrove cheaper.
Alrond has a special ability called Treasure Smell. He is summonable x3 times — his strength is extremely low, but his special ability can make farming much, much easier. Keep summoning him and he’ll provide gigantic EXP, JP, or money bonuses. He sticks around for two turns, and each time he gives you a random bonus. The random bonuses can be x10 JP, x10 EXP and more — the rewards will appear at the end of the battle.
To get the most out of Alrond, save him for a battle against a Cait. Use the Hunter’s More Rare Monsters skill and hunt Cait, then use A Step Ahead (Inventor’s Support Skill) with a Hunter. Use Leghold Trap during your starting turn to delay the Cait, giving your full party a chance to attack it. If you can kill a Cait, then avoid killing the other enemies in the battle and summon Alrond until you get all the big bonuses you want.
