Bravely Default 2 Beginner Tips & Tricks

Bravely Default 2 is a brand new JRPG from Square Enix that’s just been released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. It’s the latest entry in the JRPG franchise that got its start on the 3DS, but it features a whole new cast of characters and a new world to explore so even new players can jump in without needing prior knowledge of the older games. Here are a few beginner tips to get you started in Bravely Default 2.

Constantly Check Weaknesses

While Bravely Default 2 might be all about the unique Brave and Default turn-based combat system, you still need to be on top of enemy weaknesses in order to finish your battles efficiently and save MP while you’re at it. Checking and hitting enemy weaknesses allows you to kill them quickly while taking minimal damage, which is useful when you’re in a dungeon.

To check weaknesses, you can either use the Magnifying Glass consumable item (bought at stores), or use the Examine ability with the Freelancer job. The game never quite makes this explicit, but once you’ve identified an enemy’s weakness, you can press the X button in combat to bring up battle info, which gives you the enemy’s total HP and all vulnerabilities.

Speaking of the Freelancer job, we recommend keeping it as a sub-job on one of your characters during your early hours. Even after you’ve gotten enough jobs to fill all the main and sub slots for every character, having the Freelancer can still be useful for checking weaknesses and treating teammates if your healers are in a pinch.

Once you get the Salve-maker (this is only obtained later in the game, in chapter 3), you won’t need it anymore.

Or just carry a whole bunch of Magnifying Glasses if you really want to get rid of Freelancer early.

Experiment With a Variety of Main Jobs

On that note, it’s really important to experiment with all of the jobs you get in Bravely Default 2. While it might be tempting to just have Seth be a Vanguard main for the entire game, or have Gloria just rock White Mage and Black Mage the whole time, it’s useful to have them play around with other jobs for both passive and active abilities.

For instance, while Seth might excel with Vanguard as his main job, you still need to fill out his sub-job slot. Having him level up Bard, Thief, Red Mage, or Salve-maker are all really solid options as Seth’s a pretty decent all-rounder.

One thing you need to know, however, is that characters only earn JP for their equipped main jobs. This means that if you want Seth to get all of the Red Mage perks when equipped as a sub-job, you’ll still need to equip it as a main job for him first. Once he’s gotten enough JP to max it out and get all the skills, set it as a sub-job and put him back on whichever main job you want for him.

The stats will be scaled back to whatever the main job entails, but he’ll still have all the Red Mage perks available in combat. It’s also worth noting that passive abilities can be equipped regardless of a characters main or sub-job.

This means that if you level Berserker enough on a character to get the Unshakeable Will passive ability, you can put that on your character and ditch the job entirely.

Similar to Octopath Traveler, it’s definitely worth your time to try to level several jobs on each of your characters to get some seriously good passive abilities that will make your party unstoppable.

Purchase All New Accessories

Each time you reach a new town in Bravely Default 2, make sure to hit up the merchant. Not only will you find new weapons and armor to purchase, you’ll also gain access to a slew of new accessories that will be extremely helpful in combat.

Of course, it’s worth noting that you can get a lot of new weapons and armor just by exploring the open-world, cutting grass and trees, and opening chests, but if you’d rather gear your party before tackling the new areas, hit up the merchant.

Aside from equipment, make sure to purchase the new accessories as well. These offer a variety of elemental resistances, as well as status protections that can come in very handy for boss fights. If you find yourself completely stuck in a boss fight, chances are good that you can buy a few accessories to make things much easier on yourself.

Expect to Fight Bosses At Least Twice

I’m not joking when I say that the bosses in Bravely Default 2 go hard. They really do. You might breeze through the prologue without much trouble, thinking that you can get by with a couple healers, but once you reach chapter 1, the difficulty starts to spike a little, and it only gets harder from there.

The thing about the bosses is that they all have some sort of gimmick to them, and they all have the ability to counter almost anything you do. This might feel unfair at times, but you just need to be careful with status afflictions in order to come out on top.

For instance, a boss might counter by casting sleep or blindness on you every time you use a white magic ability, but if you have accessories to block those, the fight becomes exponentially easier.

Of course, you wouldn’t know what to expect from a boss until you’ve faced them at least once, and in our playthrough, we had to fight and fail most boss fights at least once to see what their deal was, then prepare accordingly, and kick ass the second time around.

It’s definitely a viable strategy to just survey a boss fight during your first round, check out their weaknesses and HP, then go for a second try with some job and accessory adjustments. And like we said previously, the merchant almost always has something you need to beat that area’s boss.

Always Send the Boat Out

Early on in Bravely Default 2, you’ll get your first side quest which tasks you with retrieving an old boat on the coast for an old lady. After that, you’ll unlock expeditions, where you get to send the boat out to find items while you’re out doing your own thing.

The boat will continue to explore even when you’ve quit the game, so make sure to send it out before you put the game down for the day.

The boat brings back tons of useful items like JP Orbs, Experience Orbs, and Booster Buns. The JP Orbs, in particular, are essential for leveling up your jobs quickly especially as you progress further and the game keeps throwing new Asterisks at you. There’s no cost to using the boat either, so keep sending it out whenever you can.

Use Your Booster Items

Finally, on the topic of consumable booster items, don’t be afraid to use them. As mentioned previously, boat expeditions will reward you with a lot of booster items, and they can give you a serious advantage if you use them wisely.

Booster Buns can give you permanent stat increases, JP Orbs give you JP, and Experience Orbs give you experience. I tend to save the Booster Buns for later in the game once my jobs have all been leveled up and my characters have settled into set roles I want for my party, as it’d be easier then to see which stats you want to focus on.

And those are our Bravely Default 2 beginner tips for those looking to get a headstart in the game. Be sure to search for Twinfinite for more tips and information on the game.