5 December 2025

Best Starting Options In Octopath Traveler 0

By newsgame

Octopath Traveler 0 is a huge game, with a hundred-plus hours for players to enjoy all of its good old-fashioned JRPG goodness. But every journey has a starting point, and in OT0, chances are that players might get confused with so many starting choices to make.

So here’s a quick guide on every starting option in Octopath Traveler Zero, along with their effects, advantages, disadvantages, and why players should choose them.

Octopath Traveler: Best Weapons Of Every Type (& Where To Find Them)

This list breaks down the best weapon of each type in Octopath Traveler and details how to get them.

Best Mastery Skills in Octopath Traveler 0

First players will be able to select from 3 Learned Skills. Depending on the skill they pick, the story will have minor alterations, and the characters will be more or less prepared to pick a Job related to any of the three character types: DPS, Support, Caster.

Attack Skill – Twin Shot Mastery. Select a Weapon and deal damage to a foe 2 times. ‘You wanted to learn how to fight as a member of the watch. So your father, the watch captain, taught you how to strike down enemies.’
Recovery Skill – Healing Prayer Mastery. Grant HP recovery to an ally and restore SP by 10%. ‘You wanted to learn how to heal the injured. So your mother, a former cleric, taught you how to ease the pain of others.’
Enfeebling Skill – Weaken Foundation Mastery. Lowers Phys. Atk and Phys. Def of a foe for 2 turns. ‘You showed a great interest in architecture. So the local carpenter taught you about everything you needed to know about structures.’

For the purposes of knowing which skill is better, players should know that Twin Shot Mastery and Healing Prayer Mastery are considered S-Tier, while Weaken Foundation Mastery is a subpar debuff (B-Tier) that can be easily replaced early in the game.

Twin Shot Mastery is especially useful to quickly Break enemy shields and interrupt Boss Charged Attacks.

These skills are considered Jobless (Or classless) skills, and any character can learn them throughout the adventure, following certain requisites, like befriending NPCs, or challenging them to a combat round and winning.

Octopath Traveler 0’s Break in Format is Playing With Fire

Compared to the mainline games in the series, Octopath Traveler 0’s new gameplay formula is both refreshing and risky in a couple of ways.

Best Favorite Dish in Octopath Traveler 0

The next step in character creation is to pick the Favorite Dish of the main character. This will influence slightly at the start of the adventure, and later it will become an enhanced menu players can craft in their base of operations, gaining slightly better stats than from regular dishes (Dishes are numbered in order from top left to bottom right, and they need to be named by the players after picking one):

Dish	Effect	Utility Grade
1	Max HP/Max SP + 10% Phys. Atk. +5%	B – Tier (Good for Warrior, Thief, Ranger)
2	Max HP/Max SP + 10% Phys. Def. +5%	A – Tier (Good for Most Jobs)
3	Max HP/Max SP + 10% Crit. +5%	A – Tier (Good for most DPS Jobs)
4	Max HP/Max SP + 10% Accuracy. +5%	B – Tier (Situational, good for a few classes, but still useful)
5	Max HP/Max SP + 10% Speed +5%	S – Tier (Any speed boost is great for the party)
6	Max HP/Max SP + 10% Elem. Def +5%	S – Tier (Elemental Defense is a must-have throughout the game)
7	Max HP/Max SP + 10% Phys. Atk. +5%	B – Tier (Only useful for Scholar, Alchemist, and Dancer)
8	Max HP/Max SP + 10% Evasion. +5%	C – Tier (Only useful for Thief and Dancer)

No matter which Favorite Dish players pick, the benefits will be given to the entire party when consuming it. Favorite dish is a recipe that’s always unlocked from the moment they select it on this menu.

Best Belongings in Octopath Traveler 0

Finally, Octopath Traveler 0 will ask players to pick three belongings. The items from this list can be chosen to carry from the start of the adventure. Take a closer look at their effects, utility tier, and other important details:

Item Name	Effect	Utility Tier
Promise Charm	(Accessory) Elem. Atk. +10%	C Tier, quick stat boost, but can be replaced later for better Accessories
Fighter’s Wristband	(Accessory) Phys. Atk. +10%	C Tier, quick stat boost, but can be replaced later for better Accessories
Sacred Flame Charm	(Accessory) Phys. Def. +10% AND Elem. Def. +10%	B Tier C Grade, moderate stat boost, can be replaced later for better Accessories, but its still a good defensive item
Crested Key	(Quest Item) A key engraved with the crest of a dagger.	S Tier – Triggers an encounter with a recruitable character
Letter Fragment	(Quest Item) A fragment of letter. Its content cannot be deciphered.	S Tier – Triggers an encounter with a recruitable character
Ratatouille	(Consumable) Elem. Def. +20%/Phys. Def. +15% AND Fire/Ice/Lightning/Wind Resistance + 15%	E Tier- Effect lasts only 15 Encounters, then disappears forever
Nourishing Nut (M)	(Consumable) Greatly increases maximum HP.	S Tier – Permanent Stat Boost
Embershroom Bed	(Farming Item/Seed) A mushroom bed that can be maintained to yield a harvest of mushrooms at a later date.	A Tier – Has Utility later in the game, Recipes are found separately, but they really boost the party stats

Ideally, players should pick the Letter Fragment, Crested Key, and Nourishing Nut, but the Embershroom Bed is also a good option. The rest of the items could be categorized as situational depending on what the players want to do (playstyle-wise), and the already mentioned items grant long-lasting benefits like recruiting extra characters and permanent boost stats.