Over the course of a game of Octopath Traveler 2, you can expect to fight hundreds of enemies in the various overworld regions and dungeons. Most of these enemies are serious threats (at least if you're at or below the recommended level), but a few rare monsters work differently.
These rare monsters are called caits and octopuffs. Caits have returned from the first game to play the same role in Octopath Traveler 2, while octopuffs are effectively water-based caits. You can expect a big payout for defeating both caits and octopuffs, but both finding them and beating them is a difficult job.
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How to Find Caits and Octopuffs
The odds of encountering a cait or an octopuff start out very low. In the first place, you need to make sure you're exploring either an overworld area or a dungeon that has nothing to do with the story. Neither caits nor octopuffs will ever appear in story locations like the Canalbrine: Water Source, the Sand Lion's Den, or the Secret Forest. Instead, you should spend your time on the roads between towns, such as the Eastern Cropdale Trail, the Southern Crackridge Wilds, and the Northern Ryu Sands.
Unlike in the first game, your odds of finding a cait or an octopuff anywhere are static. If a cait can appear in an area, you always have a two percent chance of spotting one during any given random encounter. However, caits won't appear if your lead character is currently on a boat in the water. Instead, you'll have a four percent chance of encountering an octopuff (and a one percent chance of finding an octopuff on land).
There are a few things you can do to boost these odds:
- The Hunter Support Skill "More Rare Monsters" increases the chances of encountering caits and octopuffs. This seems to increase the encounter rate by two percent, so 4 for caits and 6 for octopuffs. However, the skill's effects don't stack when multiple characters equip it.
- You can find and equip accessories that boost the encounter rate: Cait Powder and Octopuff Pot. Unlike the support skill, these accessories seem to stack, but they only raise the encounter rate by one percent each.
- The Inventor Support Skill "Upgraded Accessories" increases accessory values by 50 percent. This may also apply to Cait Powders and Octopuff Pots.
Which octopuff or cait you encounter depends on tier of the region. If you're close to the starting eight cities, you'll encounter regular Caits and Octopuff Travelers. If you're in the next ring of cities, you'll encounter Cultured Caits and Queen Octopuffs. In the most dangerous areas, you can find Chubby Caits and King Octopuffs.
If you're ever in doubt as to which tier you're in, pay attention to the combat music, because each tier has its own combat theme. Music is also a good way to tell when a cait or octopuff shows up, because the game will always play "Cait's Theme" instead of the normal track.
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How to Beat Caits and Octopuffs
Finding caits and octopuffs is hard enough, but there's also a good chance they'll flee from battle the first chance they get. On top of that, every rare monster has 999 Physical Defense, 999 Elemental Defense, and 999 Evasion. But on the bright side, Chubby Caits and King Octopuffs only have around 100 HP, with the other rare monsters having even less.
Attacking a rare monster normally is unlikely to work, but there are a few strategies you can use to improve your chances of taking one down:
- Soulstones are guaranteed to hit every enemy on the screen, no matter what their Evasion is. A medium soulstone can end a Cait, and a large soulstone can defeat a Cultured Cait, but you may need three or four large soulstones to defeat a Chubby Cait (or their octopuff counterpart).
- Every rare monster has the same four weaknesses: Swords, Daggers, Axes, and Staves. Also, regular Caits and Octopuff Travelers have two shields, while the tier two and three rare monsters have four. If you manage to Break their defense, you'll guarantee your victory.
- Since each individual hit has a low chance of connecting, you should focus on attacks that give you several hits per turn instead of ones that deal single massive blows.
- Rare monsters are vulnerable to status effects, just like other monsters. Abilities that delay their turns, reduce their defense and evasion, or cause lingering damage are especially helpful.
- Hikari can learn a skill called Merciless Blade from a Young Man in Tropu'hopu (the one who says "I never tire of the sea"). This skill deals a set 3,000 damage, which will kill any rare monster if it connects.
Your reward for defeating a rare monster is a large amount of all three resources:
Monster | Leaves | XP | JP |
|---|---|---|---|
Cait/Octopuff Traveler | 1,500 | 500 | 300 |
Cultured Cait/Queen Octopuff | 3,000 | 500 | 800 |
Chubby Cait/King Octopuff | 25,000 | 1,000 | 1,500 |
