Updated on August 28, 2026, by Mark Sammut: I've cleaned up this article, adding a new intro, links, games, and a feature image. Octopath Traveler is still quite popular, so this information might be useful to beginners who are just starting their journeys.
Nowadays, we aren't that starved of throwback turn-based JRPGs, but that wasn't the case in 2018. When Octopath Traveler dropped into the scene, the gaming world sent out a joyful yelp as Square Enix returned to its glory days, producing the exact type of game they might have created during the SNES era. Be it HD-2D animation or the narrative structure, Octopath Traveler has many strengths, and its job system ranks among the most important.
Each playable character has a primary job that defines their role in the party, and this cannot be changed. However, players can assign a sub-job to each member, granting them access to an entirely different skill set. This system opens up an impressive range of combinations, as you could end up with a Warrior Scholar, a Dancer Thief, or a Cleric Warmaster. While most combos are somewhat usable, certain secondary jobs fit certain Octopath Traveler characters like a glove.
Our goal is a balanced party, with each character having a different subjob since you cannot have duplicates. However, an alternative subjob is listed that ignores party management and just picks the best (or second best) one in a vacuum.
How Important Are Secondary Jobs In Octopath Traveler?
Now, we have already outlined that sub-jobs are a vital part of Octopath Traveler's appeal, as they are central to the game's customization options. So, secondary jobs are important for Octopath Traveler's success as a JRPG, but how crucial are they in-universe? Can picking the wrong sub-jobs doom a playthrough? Or, can you mostly just go with whatever you want and not worry too much about messing things up?
OK, this answer is actually harder than it seems on the surface. Secondary jobs are treated as important by Octopath Traveler's combat system, and your team will be notably weaker if you end up assigning poor fits to all the party members. However, the campaign is not difficult by the genre's standards, so you don't have to optimize every single aspect to have a chance of finishing all the stories. Honestly, as long as you don't go with an absurdly unbalanced team that has obvious blind spots, you should mostly be OK. Just make sure you have a decent magic DPS and a healer. That said, some of the optional fights can be quite difficult, and a few bosses can be painful if your team lacks a strong magic caster.
Where picking the best sub-jobs for each character can make a difference is in the grind required to defeat some of the harder enemies. Optimized sub-jobs mean you don't need to have the greatest gear or to power-level and brute-force battles. It allows for a more balanced experience with fewer stalling and frustrating moments.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/square-enix-octopath-traveler-best-sub-job-characters/
