The Boost System Is Your Friend
Using the boost system effectively is key to winning your battles in Octopath Traveler. Unlike in Bravely Default, you can save up Boost Points (BP) simply by not boosting during your turn. If you don’t boost, you gain 1 BP during your next turn. If you boosted, you won’t gain any BP during your next turn. Every enemy has a shield with a number attached to it, and if you hit it with a weapon or magic type it’s weak to, that shield count goes down by one. With that in mind, you could potentially break a shield in one turn if you have enough BP saved up. However, that’s not always wise. As I progressed through Octopath Traveler, I found that it was usually better to have two characters saving up their BP just in case a boss was about to charge up before unleashing a powerful attack. With enough BP in your back pocket, you could break their shield in one turn, preventing them from doing massive damage to your party.
Not only that, boosting can help in other ways, like capturing beasts or stealing. For instance, when you break an enemy’s shield, you can boost Therion’s Steal to increase your chances of actually stealing an item. Similarly, boosting H’aanit’s Capture skill will increase her chances of capturing the monster. Olberic also has the ability to boost while defending, allowing him to mitigate the damage taken.
