The Ultimate Guide to 4-Star Characters and Teambuilding

Welcome fellow travelers to this comprehensive guide covering not only these versatile 4-star characters but also offering insights into early game team-building strategies.

So, here we are, merging these two topics into one insightful article to help you optimize your gameplay.

Let's get to it!

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The Ultimate Guide to 4-Star Characters and Teambuilding in Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent

In Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, you'll encounter a total of 32 four-star characters (with 11 more missing from the Japanese version), each belonging to one of the eight classes.

This guide aims to highlight the most crucial aspects of each 4-star character, providing you with valuable insights to enhance your team-building process.

You'll end up using most of these characters in early game content or specific Job Towers, so get ready to get the most out of them!

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Warriors

Sigrid: The Offensive Powerhouse

At the pinnacle of the warrior class is Sigrid, a formidable offensive unit boasting three-hit sword and two-hit lightning attacks.

Her diverse skill set makes her ideal for multi-hitting in either attack type, with the third slot usually dedicated to her one-hit sword AoE.

Sigrid’s three-star passive offers a significant advantage by applying a three-turn 15% sword defense down debuff to all enemies at the beginning of every fight. This capability bolsters the damage inflicted by Sigrid and any other warrior allies.

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Trish: The Sustainable Warrior

Trailing behind Sigrid is Trish, another warrior boasting the three-hit sword attack. However, she gains access to it at her 2-star board, earlier than Sigrid.

Despite being slightly weaker, Trish's three-hit sword attack has a much lower SP cost, which, when coupled with her self-regen skill and self-heal passive, makes her a better fit for longer battles.

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Miles: The Defensive Wall

Representing the defensive side of the warrior class, Miles may seem a bit limited offensively, but his defensive capabilities are where he truly shines.

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Tahir: The Supportive Warrior

The last warrior on our list is Tahir.

Although he isn't as offensively powerful as his counterparts, his unique passive ability that buffs sword damage to the ally in the same row cannot be overlooked.

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Merchants

Devin: The Budget Tank

When it comes to the merchant class, Devin leads the pack as a budget tank.

He's akin to a junior version of Gilderoy, equipped with an AoE taunt and a counter stance identical to Gilderoy's.

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Barrad: The Offensive Powerhouse

Following Devin is Barrad, who stands out as an offensive powerhouse among the four-star merchants.

He is the only merchant in the base game with access to a three-hit spear attack, enhancing his offensive prowess.

He also has a passive that gives himself + ally in the same row 3 turns of 15% attack up at the beginning of every battle.

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Helga: The Jack of All Trades

Helga is a mixed bag with a not-so-clear role, but she brings decent multi-hit options to the table on both spear and ice fronts.

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Pia: The Adorable Buffer

Last on our merchant list is Pia, who, like Devin, possesses an AoE taunt.

However, Pia's taunt grants a 15% attack boost to your entire front row, a significant advantage in battle.

It's also worth mentioning her ultimate grants another 10% attack boost to the front row, making her a budget Lynette.

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Thieves

Cless: The Versatile Assassin

Moving on to the thieves, we have Cless, a character that isn't particularly flashy but performs excellently with his access to 2-hit dagger and 2-hit shield crack dagger attacks.

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Kurtz: The Utility Specialist

Kurtz is often seen as a budget Viola due to his immediate access to Anti-Attack. He isn't the most impressive offensive unit, but his utility options make him suitable for nearly any fight.

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Wingate: The Supportive Backline Unit

Next up is Wingate, a fan-favorite who often serves as a support backline unit due to his passive ability that boosts the damage inflicted by the ally in the same row against broken enemies.

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Aslyte: The Ice Mage Thief

Last but not least for the thieves, we have Aslyte, who's essentially an ice scholar.

She excels in ice magic and debuffing enemies' ice defense, making her an excellent companion to Sofia.

Her ultimate also inflicts more ice resistance down on enemies, which makes her a great budget unit for arena fights like Largo.

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Apothecaries

Shelby: The Best Four-Star Apothecary

In the apothecary class, Shelby takes the crown as the best four-star apothecary.

She's the only 4-star or lower apothecary with access to a 3-hit axe attack, making her a valuable addition to any team and a great option for the Apothecary Tower.

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Rodion: The Bleed Inflictor

Following Shelby, we have Rodion, another four-star axe user.

His kit, while a bit unconventional, can be effective under the right circumstances if you lack other axe characters.

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Merrit: The Healer and Fan Favorite

Merrit is another big fan favorite among the apothecaries.

She's mainly used for two reasons: her charming appearance and her backline regen passive.

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Rita: The Reliable Healer

Last in the apothecary class, we have Rita.

While her kit isn't as impressive as the others, her 160 power axe nuke and single target heal make her a solid addition to any team.

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Hunters

Bertrand: A Lightning-Focused Hunter

Bertrand stands out with his three-hit bow random target and two-hit lightning random target abilities. These skills work best in fights with a single enemy rather than multiple. His two-hit lightning attack may occasionally paralyze enemies.

Bertrand can also set up powerful lightning casters to deal hefty damage thanks to his lightning AOE that inflicts a 15% lightning defense down, coupled with a similar passive effect.

Another valuable passive of his prevents paralysis for both him and his row partner, proving incredibly useful in specific fights.

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Ashlan: Poison-Inflicting Hunter

Ashlan's kit is simple. His primary multi-hit option is a 2-hit bow random target with a chance to inflict poison. While this poison damage can be significant early game, it becomes less effective later on.

However, it does enable bonus damage on certain future units.

Ashlan's gimmick is critical hits. He possesses skills that guarantee critical hits, buffs that increase the front row allies' critical hit chance, and a passive that boosts crit damage by 20% for both him and his row partner.

This makes his personal damage fairly respectable, placing him in a similar role to Rodion in the Apothecaries.

Ashlan is great for fights like Tikilen (arena) and the Hunter Tower, where both bosses use a gimmick based on critical hits. If you don't have H'aanit, he's a great replacement for landing crits.

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Camilla: The Hunter Healer

Camilla is a unique 4-star Hunter who could be viewed as an apothecary wielding a bow. Her utility lies in her passive that heals her front row, similar to Merrit, creating synergy with units that function optimally at full health, such as Fiore and Richard.

Camilla also brings to the table a passive that boosts both her own and her row partner's bow damage by 10%. While for a general team, you'd typically want to distribute units of the same damage type, this passive is advantageous for hunter-focused teams.

On the utility front, Camilla offers a single-target heal early on in her skill set, with a stronger version available later.

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Lucetta: The Strongest Hunter

Lucetta, another 4-star Hunter, is considered by many as the strongest four-star hunter available on release. She boasts three-hit bow single target and two-hit ice AoE, demonstrating impressive multi-hit capabilities on both fronts.

In addition to her multi-hit skills, Lucetta also has access to a one-hit bow AoE that inflicts a 15% defense down debuff on all enemies hit. This makes Lucetta resemble the Sigrid of Hunters, as she's an incredibly solid offensive unit.

Her Ultimate grants another defense down debuff on enemies, which makes her a super solid hunter.

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Clerics

Clerics play an essential role in any team composition, offering a range of healing and offensive abilities. Here's a breakdown of the key four-star clerics:

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Ramona: The Versatile Healer

Ramona stands out as the best four-star cleric. She possesses a full front row heal and a stronger one upon reaching her three-star board. Additionally, she has access to a full front row magic defense buff.

While she lacks any multi-hit abilities, she carries a perfectly usable 160 ice nuke, which becomes more potent as she gains access to a one-hit ice AOE and one-hit staff AOE.

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Menno and Cedric: The Regen Casters

Menno and Cedric are the game's two regen casters among the four-star clerics. Both start with a single ally heal but later gain access to a skill that heals and grants regen to the entire front row.

An important note about these skills is that boosting them only increases the potency of the heal, not the duration of the regen.

On the offensive side, Menno serves as a competent wind support with his two-hit wind random target that also inflicts two turns of speed down per hit. He also carries an AOE wind defense down debuff and inflicts a 15% wind defense down at the start of the battle.

Cedric, on the other hand, offers a fire nuke that inflicts defense down and staff nukes that can inflict bleeding on enemies. He also grants increased ailment duration to himself and his row partner, but this only affects status ailments such as bleeding, not debuffs like defense down.

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Madelaine: The Offensive Cleric

Madelaine stands out as the most offensively inclined of the four-star clerics.

She's unique as the only four star character in the game that has any staff multi-hits.

She also carries a decently strong 160 power lightning nuke and has access to single-target healing as well as a full front row 15% magic up buff.

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Scholars

Peredir: The Weakness Checker

Peredir is a Scholar with a unique ability.

He can reveal one unknown weakness of every enemy in a fight like Cyrus and 9S.

While he may not be the most effective combat unit, his ability to reveal weaknesses provides a significant quality of life improvement.

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Laura: The Thunder Scholar

Laura is a powerful lightning character.

With access to two-hit lightning, two-hit tome, and a decent lightning nuke, she can also inflict paralysis.

Laura's passives also complement her skills, allowing her to debuff enemies' magic defense, making her a powerful asset in any stage of the game.

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Noelle: The Wind Powerhouse

Noelle is a standout wind character due to her raw strength as a wind attacker and overall utility.

She also has a powerful 220 potency wind nuke and a range of utility skills.

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Heinz: The Dark Mage

Heinz is one of the best dark attackers currently in the game, just after Stead and Primrose.

His kit consists of a 2-hit dark single target attack and a 160 power dark nuke.

Heinz also has a passive that boosts his magic up for three turns at the start of a fight.

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Dancers

Iris: The Physical Dancer

Iris is a physically inclined attacker with a three-hit fan random target and a strong 170 power fan AOE.

Her main buff can increase the attack of all front row allies by 15.

Her passives boost her fan damage up while at full HP and also grants her 15% attack up for the first three turns of combat.

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Fabio: The Magical Dancer

Fabio, on the other hand, is a magic-based attacker.

He has a similar kit to Iris, but it's based around his magic rather than his physical attacks.

His passives are similar to Iris's, giving him 20% wind damage up while he's at full HP and 15% magic up for the first three turns of combat.

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Mabel: An All-Rounder

Mabel is more of an all-rounder, with buff skills that augment various stats across the entire team.

She also has a fan AOE attack that inflicts 10% magic defense down. While she doesn't have any fan multi-hit skills, she has a very strong two-hit lightning attack.

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Meena: The Budget Hasumi

Meena is a much more support inclined dancer with defensive buffs and healing.

Meena is the only non-cleric four star character currently in the game with an AOE heal.

She also comes with multiple full front row defense buffs.

On the offensive side, Meena has a two-hit fan single target with a very high 115 base power and a 145 base power light AOE.

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Teambuilding Strategies for Octopath Traveler

Once you're familiar with the potential of each four-star unit, the next step is to master the art of team building.

The process involves a mix of strategy, understanding each unit's strengths and weaknesses, and a bit of experimentation.

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1. Class Variety

Start by looking at class variety.

A diverse team means more opportunities to strike enemy weaknesses.

However, it's not mandatory to have all eight classes. Having seven or even six is completely fine if it means playing a better overall unit.

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2. Shield Crack Thieves

Having a shield crack thief can be quite effective since they're effective against any enemy.

This ensures you're ready to fight enemies no matter what their weaknesses are.

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3. Secure a Decent Healer

Securing a decent healer is a high priority.

Ramona, Cedric, Menno, and Meena are the go-to healers in the lower rarities, all offering team-wide healing at some point in their kit.

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4. Prioritize Healing and Debuffing

If you don't have any of the healers listed, prioritize some healing over a bit of combat proficiency.

Some units with single target healing available from an early level include Shelby, Rita, Merritt, Camilla, and Kurtz.

In this situation, look for attack debuffers to reduce the amount of incoming damage.

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5. Consider Running a Tank

Running a tank like Gilderoy and Devin, both fantastic tanks with some regen in their kit, can be beneficial.

By buffing up their defense and putting additional regens on them, they can serve as a one-man damage sponge.

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By understanding these principles and applying them to your team building strategy, you can create well-rounded teams that can tackle any challenge in Octopath Traveler: Conquerors of the Continent!