Some allies in Octopath Traveler 0 can turn a tough battle into a flawless victory. From rare recruits to hidden helpers with surprising powers, here are the companions that stand above the rest.
How helpers work in Octopath Traveler 0
Helpers in Octopath Traveler 0 assist the player’s party during battles by providing supportive actions such as healing, stat boosts, or additional attacks. Each helper has unique abilities tied to specific characters or scenarios, making them valuable for both strategy and flexibility. Players can summon helpers through story progression, side quests, or special encounters, and managing their availability and skills can greatly influence combat outcomes.
There are a wide variety of helpers in Octopath Traveler 0, but you can only have up to five with you. The limited number forces you to select the ones that best fit the needs of your party, compensating for what you’re lacking or improving what you already have.
You may be lacking consistent healing, which makes having a helper who can grant a healing-over-time effect a great option. On the other hand, you may want to be sure you’re buffing the right character to hit the enemy after breaking their shield. In this scenario, summoning a helper who increases physical or elemental damage is the best option.
To add a helper to your pool, you must find the NPC and use one of the three Path Actions capable of recruiting them: “Recruit,” “hire,” and “impress.” Although the result is the same, the process involving each one of these actions is different. “Recruit” allows you to enlist a helper if you pass a persuasion check, while “hire” requires you to pay money to use the character’s services. Lastly, “impress” makes you fight the character. If you win the battle, they will help you.
Despite how useful and powerful a helper is, you must be mindful when you’re summoning them. You can only use a helper a limited number of times, which varies per helper, and there’s also a limit on the number of summons you can perform per fight. Once you’ve used a helper the maximum number of times, they leave, but you can go recruit them again. If you want, you can raise the number of helpers you can have with you, the number of times you can use a helper, and the limit of summoning per fight by developing your town and unlocking the Church.
Best helpers in Octopath Traveler 0
Allies in Octopath Traveler 0 bring unique strengths to support each protagonist’s path actions and combat strategies. Characters like clerics can heal or shield the party, while merchants supply valuable resources and enhance economy-driven tactics. Thieves or scholars add versatility by stealing rare items or exploiting enemy weaknesses. Choosing the right helpers based on their field skills and synergy with your lead character can make exploration smoother and battles more manageable.
In order to give you a broad picture of what is possible depending on the stage you are in, we split the list below into the best helpers for the early, mid, and late game. The goal is to present helpers that can be useful regardless of your party composition. There are other great helpers in the game, but picking them is more of a situational decision (e.g., you may need a helper capable of dealing a specific type of elemental damage).
Best early game helpers
At the beginning of Octopath Traveler 0, there are too many aspects to prioritize – from building your characters to starting to rebuild Wishvale – so you won’t have enough money to hire helpers all the time, and your characters won’t be strong enough to fight with the helpers you will find in the initial towns. That’s why you should focus on recruiting helpers, which is free – you just need to pass the persuasion check. In general, you also want to have helpers who can exploit enemies’ weaknesses to break their shield and heal you.
Here are the best early game helpers:
|
Name |
Location |
Skill |
Uses |
Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Main Street Bartender |
Valore – tavern on the main boulevard |
Refreshment – grants HP regeneration to an ally for 3 turns |
4 |
Contend |
|
Grandiloquent Man |
Valore – south of the main boulevard |
Soothing Whisper – Restore HP of the entire front row or entire back row |
3 |
Recruit |
|
Young Man from Emberglow |
Valore – market (after Master of Power Ch. 3) |
Barrage – deal bow damage to random foes 3 times |
3 |
Recruit |
|
Girl’s Caretaker |
Emberglow – second house on the right side of the map |
First Aid – greatly Restore HP of an ally |
4 |
Contend |
|
Hero-Extolling Minstrel |
Emberglow – tavern |
Verse of Incantation – raise Elem. Atk. of an ally for 3 turns |
4 |
Recruit |
|
Soldier Guardian Entrance |
Theatropolis – near the entrance |
Stab – deal dagger damage to foe for 3 turns |
4 |
Recruit |
|
Grounded Aristocrat |
Theatropolis – amphiteatre entrance |
Noble Service – Restore HP of the entire front row or entire back row |
2 |
Impress |
Best mid-game helpers
As you hit the middle part of the game, encounters become more difficult, mostly because there are more enemies capable of applying detrimental effects and buffing themselves. However, you should have a solid party composition with strong characters who can hit really hard if you set everything up correctly. In order to avoid wasting a turn to buff your party, having helpers who can either increase your damage or reduce enemies’ resistances is one of the best options.
Below, you find the best mid-game helpers:
|
Name |
Location |
Skill |
Uses |
Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Terrorized Scarlet Wing |
Emberglow – on the eastern side of the map |
Armor Corrosive – lower Physical. Def. of a foe for 3 turns |
4 |
Hire |
|
Woman Knowledgeable of Valore |
Emberglow – house beside the item shop |
Spirit Corrosive – lower Elemental Def. of a foe for 3 turns |
4 |
Hire |
|
Traveler from Theatropolis |
Emberglow – tavern |
Inspiriting Plum – greatly Restore SP of an ally |
3 |
Hire |
|
Novel-Reading Librarian |
Theatropolis – library |
Mindrot – lower Elem. Atk. of a foe for 3 turns |
4 |
Recruit |
|
Capital Guard |
Cragspear – entrance |
Spirited Slash – deal great sword damage to a foe |
4 |
Impress |
|
Slum Guard |
Cragspear – near the exit to the slums |
Mass Mindrot – lower Elem. Atk of all foes for 3 turns |
3 |
Hire |
|
Passionate Repairer |
Shepherd Rocks – near the entrance |
Proper Maintenance – raises physical and elemental def of the entire front row or back row for 3 turns |
2 |
Recruit |
|
Watchful Grandma |
Flamesgrace – near the tavern |
Brisk March – raise speed of the entire front row or back row for 3 turns |
2 |
Recruit |
|
Woman New to Town |
Flamesgrace – in front of the tavern |
Everyday Tips – raise Elem. Atk. of an ally for 3 turns |
4 |
Hire |
|
Argumentative Man |
Victors Hollow – near the entrance to the arena |
Triple Crack – deal dagger damage to a foe 3 times, lower shield points regardless of target’s weak points |
2 |
Impress |
|
Information Broker |
Victors Hollow – down the stairs in the Old Quarters area |
You Hear It From Me – discover 3 weak points of all foes. |
2 |
Hire |
Best late-game helpers
The helpers listed below were chosen with a single purpose: to help kill enemies faster. Of course, support helpers are still great, and you should have one or two capable of raising your damage output. Even so, at this stage, enemies have too many life points, so maximizing damage during the short windows of vulnerability after breaking their shield is crucial.
Most names in this list require you to impress them, and some are powerful level 60 characters.
|
Name |
Location |
Skill |
Uses |
Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Master of Books |
Theatropolis – library |
Triple Beat – deal great tome damage to a foe 3 times |
2 |
Impress |
|
Energetic Old Woman |
Rippletide – house right of the weapon shop |
Mighty Blow – deal massive polearm damage to a foe 3 times |
2 |
Impress |
|
Powerful Pauper |
Cragspear – slums |
Double Killer Bee – deal great dagger damage to all foes 2 times |
2 |
Impress |
|
Town Watch |
Clearbrook – near the entrance |
Crush and Grind – deal great axe damage to a foe |
4 |
Impress |
|
Reflective Grandma |
Clearbrook – cemetery |
Mighty Bash – deal great staff damage to a foe 3 times |
2 |
Impress |
|
Assiduous Mercenary |
Sunshade – on the east side of the town |
Fortify Critical – raise Crit. of the entire front row or entire back row for 3 turns |
3 |
Impress |
|
Sandcat Dancer |
Sunshade – top left side of the town |
Sandcat Dance – deal massive fan damage to all foes 3 times |
2 |
Impress |
|
Kindly Old Man |
Sunshade – entrance |
Godly Thrust – deal massive polearm damage to a foe |
3 |
Impress |
|
Chatty Old Woman |
Shepherd Rocks – right side in the mid-level |
Weapon Maintenance – raise Phys. Atk., Elem. Atk., and Crit. of the entire front row and back row for 3 turns |
2 |
Impress |
|
Former Warrior |
Shepherd Rocks – beside the fountain in the castle square |
Trice Blade – deal massive sword damage to all foes 3 times |
2 |
Impress |
|
Muttering Codger |
Flamesgrace – left of the tavern |
Ultimate Arcanum – deal massive non-elemental damage to all foes 3 times |
2 |
Recruit |
|
Mont d’Or |
Victors Hollow – near the entrance to the Old Quarters area |
Unyielding Strike – deal critical polearm damage to a foe and raise Crit. of entire front row for 2 turns |
Which helpers are best for early game healingGirl’s Caretaker from Emberglow stands out as the top early game healing helper in Octopath Traveler 0. She fully restores an ally’s HP with her First Aid ability, available up to 4 times per enlistment via the Contend Path Action, making her ideal for tough early battles where sustain is critical. Other Early HealersAdditional options from starting areas provide solid backup:
Usage AdviceRecruit these via low-requirement Path Actions to conserve resources, and pair with damage-focused helpers for balanced teams. Re-enlist after uses run out to maintain healing uptime in prolonged fights. Which helpers have passive healing abilities early gameOctopath Traveler 0 helpers primarily provide active abilities rather than true passive healing effects like regeneration over time. No early-game helpers feature automatic, continuous healing without manual activation, based on available guides. Closest Early OptionsThese provide strong active heals accessible from starting regions:
Alternatives for SustainRely on active healers and pair with buffs like Hero-Extolling Minstrel for attack boosts to shorten fights. Check taverns frequently for re-enlistment, as passives remain unavailable early.  |