Best Octopath Traveler Subclasses on All Characters
In Octopath Traveler subclasses are a big part of customizing your party for optimal performance. You’re going to want to pick the best possible subclass for each character.
In this guide you’ll learn which Octopath Traveler subclasses pair well with each of the main characters. Because 4 additional Octopath Traveler subclasses open up at the end of the game, I’ll give you both early game opinions and late game opinions.
Table of Contents
Therion – Best Octopath Traveler Subclasses
Early Game
Most people like to pair Hunter with Therion (Thief) for most of the game. The reason being that Hunter synergizes well with Thief. There aren’t any crossover weapons, so Thief/Hunter ends up with access to 4 kinds of breaks (Sword, Dagger, Axe, Bow). Additionally, Hunter and Thief both have the best debuff options (Leghold Trap on Hunter, Shackle Foe and Corrosive Armor on Thief). As a result, Thief/Hunter can be your dedicated debuffer.
Late Game
As I discussed in my advanced subclass guide, your best option for Therion late game is (surprisingly) Sorcerer. The Sorcerer subclass pumps out damage incredibly well and Therion is able to equip 2 weapons that boost fire damage, making him a top tier candidate for the Sorcerer job. That, along with his speed and ability to naturally recover SP with his Steal SP skill, make him an ideal Sorcerer.
Ophilia – Best Octopath Traveler Subclasses
Early Game
There are two trains of thought with Ophilia. The first is to double down on the support-role nature of her Priest base class. The second is to give her a damage-dealing subclass in order to give her something to do when healing isn’t necessary. These are both pretty good ideas. Personally, I prefer to make her a dedicated support by giving her the Dancer subclass, but making her a Scholar is another good option.
Late Game
Ophilia is probably the best candidate for the Starseer subclass, but honestly, you could just as easily keep her with Dancer or Scholar. I’d say make her a Starseer purely because you’re probably going to want to give it to someone and it sort of fulfills 80% of both the Scholar and Dancer rationales.
Tressa – Best Octopath Traveler Subclasses
Early Game
Tressa actually pairs very well with the Scholar subclass as, with Merchant’s Wind spells, Tressa Scholar gets full elemental coverage. There are certainly other options, but my opinion is that Tressa Scholar is about the best you’re going to get for both a subclass for Tressa and a candidate for the Scholar subclass.
Late Game
Runelord is the only option here. Tressa Runelord is just stupid. It’s almost certainly the best thing in the game. With double wind boosts, good elemental attack equipment and a good support skill setup (Surpassing Power, Elemental Augmentation, Patience, Second Helping), Tressa will be hitting multiple times a round for 40k+ while other characters are still dealing just a few thousand damage.
Tressa Runelord is nuts. Of all the best combinations for Octopath Traveler subclasses, Runelord Tressa is truly top tier.
H’aanit – Best Octopath Traveler Subclasses
Early Game
H’aanit is a powerful physical attacker and, in my opinion, it’s best to double down on that. Because her story requires her to use her (terrible) provoke command, I’d recommend you pick up Eye for an Eye from the Dancer subclass (50% counter chance), and then subclass her to warrior, which gives her access to Swords and Spears. With that setup you get good break coverage and two multi-hit break options (Thousand Spears and Arrowstorm).
Late Game
Late game with H’aanit, you’re going to want to go with Warmaster. Warmaster is a fantastic physical subclass and H’aanit makes the best candidate for it. You lose out on your multi-hit spear attack, but gain a multi-hit sword attack, so it’s kind of a wash in that regard, but you also end up with full weapon coverage, great support skills (Physical Prowess), and some insane damage potential (Warmaster’s Divine Skill is pretty bonkers).
Cyrus – Best Octopath Traveler Subclasses
Early Game
You’ll probably want to go with Cyrus Merchant for the same reason that Tressa Scholar is a good idea. Full elemental coverage with the Scholar spells + Merchant’s Wind magic. However, Cleric is another good option that provides additional Light coverage while giving some necessary support skills. Because Cyrus tapers off late game, I tend to think support Cyrus is a little bit better in the long run than damage Cyrus, but it’s up to you.
Late Game
Cyrus is, unfortunately, the worst character late game. Everything a Scholar can do, a Sorcerer can do better. And Cyrus is, ironically, the worst possible candidate for Sorcerer.
He doesn’t unlock any extra weapons, so he can’t increase his elemental damage with weapon equips unlike other characters; his natural elemental attack growth becomes meaningless when every character starts getting near the cap; and Scholar adds nothing to the Sorcerer arsenal whatsoever. So I’d recommend giving him a support subclass: Dancer, Priest or Starseer.
Olberic – Best Octopath Traveler Subclasses
Early Game
Because Olberic has to engage in a bunch of duels, I actually think the Thief subclass is his best option because of the additional dagger coverage and the ability to self-sustain with Steal HP and Steal SP. Like with H’aanit, you might want to also pick up Eye for an Eye from the Dancer job. Another popular option for Olberic is the Apothecary subclass, which unlocks Axe coverage and gives him some support role options.
Late Game
You can either stick with Apothecary or switch over to Warmaster. H’aanit is easily the better Warmaster, but Olberic isn’t a bad choice either. If you’re going to have H’aanit as your Warmaster, I’d say leaving Olberic as Apothecary is probably your best bet, but you could really do anything with him. Thief, Hunter — it’s pretty wide open.
Alfyn – Best Octopath Traveler Subclasses
Early Game
People love making Alfyn a Priest. Personally, I don’t think it does very much for him. He’s already capable of out-healing a Priest in his base class with his party-wide 3,000 HP heal. Then again, Alfyn is relatively self-sufficient with just his base class – other Octopath Traveler subclasses don’t really provide him with a lot of extra utility. You could give him pretty much anything, just to give him more coverage for breaks. Warrior is a good option. I think Scholar is an interesting, if unconventional, choice, just since it gives him the most break options and he doesn’t really need SP for his Apothecary skills.
Late Game
Alfyn has sort of the same issue late game as he has early game, which is that he’s basically fine as he is. You’ll either want to make him a dedicated support or give him some kind of damage options, so in a lot of ways he’s in the same boat as Ophilia. He’s a good candidate for the Starseer class, if you want to go the support route (then again, like with Priest, he’s capable of pretty much everything you’d want from the Starseer already), or stick with some other option like Dancer or Scholar.
Primrose – Best Octopath Traveler Subclasses
Early Game
Lots of people like to make Primrose a Scholar, which is definitely a good option. She’s fast and she has high elemental attack. Another option is to make her a Priest, sort of like a reverse Ophilia. The only issue with that is that Dancer Ophilia is just a better version of Priest Primrose. Magic damage is most likely your best options.
Late Game
You could make Primrose your Sorcerer. That would be a great upgrade to the standard Scholar Primrose, and she is capable of equipping the Fire-boosting dagger. She’s not as good of a Sorcerer and Therion, but she’s not bad either, and the other top tier Sorcerer options (Tressa, Alfyn and H’aanit) all have options that suit them better. Otherwise, most likely just keep Primrose with whatever you decided on early game (most likely Scholar).
That about does it for the each character’s best Octopath Traveler subclasses. Be sure to check out the Games Section for more content like this, or click here for more game guides for Octopath Traveler.
