Quick Links

  • How To Unlock The Battle
  • Preparating Your Party
  • Scourge's Stats
  • Strategies For Success

The original Octopath Traveler had several tough optional bosses, all with worthy rewards. Octopath Traveler 2 has a tendency to up the ante in every regard, doubling down on what made the first game work so well and adding more, more, more. True to form, there are more optional bosses than before, and some - like the Scourge of the Sea - can be particularly tough.

Related: The Best Items In Octopath Traveler 2, Ranked

We'll tell you what goes into unlocking this fight, prep you for the challenge, and if we've done our jobs right, help you to surpass this high-seas menace and sail past its ominous whirlpool.

How To Unlock The Battle

Before you can reach the Scourge of the Sea, there is a quest you must complete in full. It's one of three sub-quests within Partitio's'Scent of Commerce' questline, so you'll need to have recruited him and kept him in your party to trigger it. Specifically, the Tropu'hapu portion of 'Scent of Commerce' is what you'll need to tackle, as it is the prerequisite to acquiring a ship.

We have a full-fledged guide on everything 'Scent of Commerce' - just follow that link. For the purposes of this page, we'll go over the Tropu'hapu bit again, but check out that article for the full scoop.

Snagging The Ship

This is a pretty straightforward string of events with a sizable caveat. All you need to do is head to the eastern screen in Tropu'hapu with Partitio in your party... and pay 100,000 leaves. Yeah, one half of that sentence is easier than the other. To be clear, there are numerous cutscenes involved, but so long as you have the cool hundred grand on your person the moment you view them, you can fork it over and the SS Terry is all yours.

If you don't, no worries. (We sure didn't.) Just keep playing the game ship-less until you do. Octopath Traveler 2 can feel pretty restrictive about its economy at first, but it's not so bad once you get the hang of it. Better yet, read our money-making guide for the easy path to prosperity.

Finding The Fight

This one's pretty easy as well. The good news is, you won't have to spend another dime. The bad news is, well, the boss is quite challenging for the unprepared. But hey, that's why you're here. Simply sail northeastward from Tropu'hapu and head south straight into the huge, visible whirlpool that's conspicuously preventing further passage in that portion of the sea.

Upon entering the whirlpool, the boss battle begins!

Related: The Best Side Quests In Octopath Traveler 2

Preparating Your Party

Oh, what do you know, the Scourge of the Sea is the whirlpool itself. But with creepy all-white eyes. And claws. And a knack for killing unprepared parties in cold blood.

The first thing to take into account here is its danger level. At danger level 45, you'll want a party with at least that high an average level before going after it. Is it doable in the thirties? Yes, it is, and in fact plenty of our suggestions will work relatively well at that point. Will it be harder to keep afloat? Definitely - your defensive stats are the big issue. The Scourge of the Sea already hits hard even against parties in the fifties, so you can imagine the dent it'll leave on underleveled folks. Just something to bear in mind.

That said, the Scourge's HP isn't as high as some of the other tough optional bosses, and by the time you're around level 45-50, you'll likely have found ways to deal enough damage every round to keep the pressure on it whenever possible. 95,000 HP can be sliced to ribbons with effective strategies. Those strategies should include Partitio's BP donation to fuel powerhouses like Hikari and Osvald, whose Brand's Blade/Vengeful Blade and high-tier magic spells, respectively, can quickly nuke your nemesis.

You'll want a full-time healer, however. Temenos makes the most sense, being the naturally gifted Cleric that he is. Castti can work as well, since Alchemists are quite good at removing debuffs and such, though if you have her with you, it may be best to use her various concoctions to buff your party instead.

One thing to avoid is taking anyone along who has difficulty staying alive of left on their own for any length of time. We'll go into why shortly, but the gist is plain enough - there will be points at which only two of your four party members will be available, and if they die, it's game over.

Scourge's Stats

Let's mull over Scourge's stats, attacks, and weaknesses in full, so you know precisely what you're getting into. Given the fact that Scourge of the Sea's weaknesses shift twice throughout the battle for a grand total of three separate sets, it's tough to fine-tune your party's composition completely around that angle, though surely you'll want Osvald and/or some other magic practitioner for the various elemental ones.

  • 95,000 HP
  • 12 Shields
  • First Weaknesses: Swords, Axes, Staves, Fire, Holy
  • Second Weaknesses: Daggers, Bows, Lightning, Darkness
  • Third Weaknesses: Spears, Axes, Bows, Ice, Fire

Our damage estimates assume you're around level 45. Add or subtract if you're lower or higher, respectively. Scourge of the Sea's regular physical hits for between 1,000 and 1,200 to a single party member - not terrible. Bad Dream, however, hits for about as hard party-wide and may cast Sleep status simultaneously. (On average, you'll probably lose one or two of your team members to Sleep.)

Dark Vortex is also party-based, and also deals around the same amount of damage, but it eschews a debuff in favor of a high chance to hit critically. Shipwreck will do a few hundred damage less than its peers, again party-wide, but it can inflict Terror, blocking your Boost gauge - a nasty thing, and worth fixing ASAP. Probably your biggest recurring thorn, however, is Starboard Straight, which eliminates two of your party members completely for two to three rounds before returning them safe and sound.

During that timeframe, you can get a game over just from your remaining party members getting knocked out, so Scourge of the Sea has effectively reduced your overall defensive capabilities considerably for the duration of its effect. 'The enemy attempts to swallow everything...' is basically Starboard Straight, but three party members are removed rather than two; it's Scourge's ultimate move.

Strategies For Success

By now, you should have a pretty good feel for what's to come. (And if you've already attempted the fight, hit a game over, and come here for tips, you surely have a good feel for it.) All that's left is to learn what hits the thing the hardest. And honestly? The answers are pretty conventional. Apart from dealing with its shifting weaknesses and penchant for temporarily removing party members, Scourge of the Sea is a rather straightforward fellow to kill.

Hikari's Brand's Blade, his fully-boosted Warrior attack, can dish 25,000 damage or more at around level 45-50, so long as you have his passive skill 'Deal More Damage' equipped to cross the 9,999 barrier. You can use Partitio to keep Hikari's BP up, tapping into Brand's Blade nearly every turn except when - inevitably, because he's a rude dude - Scourge yanks Hikari off the field for a bit.

Osvald can reach Hikari's numbers with fully-boosted magic spells. There's no best pick here; just use whatever it's presently weak against. If you're concerned that this means wasting turns that could have had Osvald reveal Scourge's weaknesses with Analyze, consider giving the Scholar license to somebody as a secondary class who can keep the analysis going in his stead. Just make sure, as we noted earlier, that you keep a full-time healer on hand as well.

Our final recommended party member is Ochette; though it's more important that you bring Ochette's Hunter class than the gal herself. If you'd prefer to give it to someone as a secondary, by all means. The reason Hunter is handy here is that it has plenty of ways to break Scourge's physical shields, tying in with your Scholar to help shatter its defenses as rapidly as possible.

Your primary reward for killing Scourge of the Sea is access to the southeastern portion of the Sundered Sea, where you'll find - among other things - the Arcanist class. You'll need to solve a puzzle on a certain island, but our class unlock guide below will make it easy-peasy!

Next: Octopath Traveler 2: Where To Unlock Every Class