Octopath Traveler 2: Osvald Character Guide

Osvald is one of the eight main characters in Octopath Traveler 2 and a scholar who fills the role of the classic mage.

With high-damage AoE attacks, Osvald can deal elemental damage on all enemies and reveal their weak spots easily with his Talent.

In this in-depth Octopath Traveler 2 guide for Osvald, I will list all of Osvald’s skills, talents, path actions, and Latent Power while also mentioning his best secondary job and party combination.

Also, did you know that Osvald is one of the four best starting characters in the game? With the right build, he can help you get through some of the hardest early-game boss fights.

All Osvald Skills in Octopath Traveler 2

Osvald during his Chapter 1 story in Octopath Traveler 2.

Osvald has a wide variety of skills, including job, support, divine, and ex skills. Let’s examine all of them in turn.

Scholar Job Skills

Skill	Effect	Damage Type	SP Cost
Analyze	Reveals the HP and one weak point of an enemy.	–	1
Stroke of Genius	Gain two random buffs.	–	5
Elemental Barrage	Deal fire, ice, or lightning damage at enemies randomly, 3-5 times.	Lightning/Ice/Fire	10
Fireball	Deal fire damage on all enemies.	Fire	14
Icewind	Deal ice damage on all enemies.	Ice	14
Lightning Bolt	Deal lightning damage on all enemies.	Lightning	14
Advanced Magic	Buffs an ally’s spells for two turns.	–	15

Scholar Support Skills

Support skills offer passive effects that are constantly active.

Skill	Effect
Evasive Maneuvers	Reduces the rate of random encounters.
Elemental Augmentation	Increases Elemental Attack by 50.
Extra Experience	Receive extra EXP after every battle.
Advanced Magic Master	Can use intense spells one extra time.

Osvald Divine Skill

Skill	Effect	Damage Type	SP Cost
Alephan’s Wisdom	Boosts spell intensity of an ally three times.	–	30

Osvald EX Skills

Skill	Effect	Damage Type	SP Cost
One True Magic	Deal highly powerful magic damage that transcends the elements to all foes, and reduce their Shield Points regardless of their weak points.	–	7
Teach	Grants your buffs to an ally for 2/3/4/5 turns.	–	12

One True Magic can be gained by completing Osvald’s main story.

Teach can be gained by finding the Scholar Altar at Winterbloom.

For more details on where to find the altar, check out our guide on all EX Altar locations in Octopath Traveler 2.

Osvald Talent in Octopath Traveler 2

Osvald’s talent, Study Foe, allows Osvald to study enemies at the start of the battle and reveal one weak point in each of them.

If you meet the same enemy again, Osvald will reveal an additional two weak points. It’s an ideal option to avoid having to experiment while trying to identify weak points.

Osvald Latent Power – Concentrate Spells

Osvald’s Latent Power is ‘Concentrate Spells’, which is an extremely useful tool when facing tough opponents like bosses.

This power allows him to convert an AoE spell into a single-target spell while giving it extra damage. With the right set-up, this can even one-shot most enemies.

Osvald Path Actions

How to defeat the final boss in Osvald's Chapter 1 story in Octopath Traveler 2.

Partitio has two path actions based on the time of day:

Scrutinize (Day) – Scrutinize people to gain information from them. Failing this will result in losing some of your reputation.
Mug (Night) – Mug people by fighting them in combat.

Best Secondary Job for Osvald in Octopath Traveler 2

For this Osvald character guide in Octopath Traveler 2, I highly recommend the Cleric for the early game and the Arcanist for the late game as the best secondary jobs for Osvald.

The Cleric allows him to deal Light damage and heal in case of need, while the Arcanist will further amplify his elemental damage during the end-game and make him one of the strongest characters overall.

For more recommendations, consider checking out our guide on the best secondary job for each character.

Best Party for Osvald in Octopath Traveler 2

Osvald escapes from prison in Octopath Traveler 2.

In Octopath Traveler 2, when building a party, you want to have one DPS unit that focuses on dealing damage, one Support unit that buffs allies and debuffs enemies, and one Healer that keeps your team alive.

As for the last slot, add anything you’re missing; more damage, buffs, or heals.

The best party for Osvald in Octopath Traveler 2 is the following:

Osvald
Partitio
Agnea
Castti

For this combo, Osvald serves as the main DPS and his goal is to deal as much damage as possible on every attack.

Partitio is overall an amazing support buffer whose main role is to fill Osvald’s BP bar from turn one with his Latent Power and “Donate BP” skill.

Agnea can buff Osvald’s damage with her skill “Peacock Strut” while also being able to buff all characters at the same time with her Latent Power.

Lastly, Castti is a healer who can keep Osvald and the other party members healed, cure them of status ailments, and even revive them if needed.

Wrapping up – Osvald Character Guide in Octopath Traveler 2

To summarize this character guide in Octopath Traveler 2, Osvald is an amazing elemental DPS character that can shine with the right combo.

He deals AoE damage, which is ideal for clearing hordes of enemies, while he can also deal solid single-target damage with his Latent Power to take down bosses.

If you enjoyed reading this article, consider checking out our build guide for Ochette, the strongest physical DPS in the game.

What’s your favorite team for Osvald? Do you have any other combos to recommend? Let us know in the comments below.

Author
Recent Posts

Harry

Harry has been a fan of video games from a very young age and writing allows him to share that passion with others. His favorite genres include MMORPGs, survival, and FPS.

He has a Master’s Degree in Philosophy, which allows him to always come up with a fresh approach to solving in-game puzzles and challenges, but also to create content that’s to the point, clean and easy to follow.