How to Beat the Scourge of the Sea in Octopath Traveler 2

Once you have the Grand Terry, you’ll quickly find that the sea is your oyster. But there are a few optional bosses scattered here and there that you can go toe-to-flipper with. One of these monsters lurks in the whirlpool just north of Tropu’hopu. Here’s how to beat the Scourge of the Sea in Octopath Traveler 2.

How to Beat the Scourge of the Sea in Octopath Traveler 2

Similar to Odysseus, you can challenge the monster in the whirlpool. But the monster you encounter is no Charybdis. No, this is the Scourge of the Sea: an ominous beast with lantern-like eyes, its body cloaked with ocean waves.

And despite its liquid form, it’s no pushover. Here are its stats:

Scourge of the Sea’s Stats and Weaknesses in Octopath Traveler 2

• Shields: 12 Shields
• HP: 95,000
• Weak: Sword, Axe, Staff, Fire, Light
• Attacks:
  • Attack – 1100~ damage to one party member.
  • Bad Dream – A party attack that does 1100+ damage. Has a chance of putting a party member to sleep.
  • Shipwreck – a party attack that does 800+ damage. Has a chance to inflict a status effect that blocks boost attacks.
  • Dark Vortex – dark attack that affects the entire party, 1100 damage with a high chance of it being a critical hit.
  • The enemy attempts to swallow everything… — This is the Scourges charge attack. Prepare to have 3 of your team swallowed.

This fight is a delicate balance of keeping your team alive, breaking the Scourge’s shields, and then unleashing your built-up BP and latent abilities to do as much damage as possible. It’s better to be more conservative than aggressive, as the Scourge’s party-hitting attacks can quickly put a glass cannon into the ground if you’re not careful. You can protect yourself from this with the support skills Rise Again (Cleric) and Hang Tough (Merchant).

As for what jobs to bring, Warrior is a good idea as it has access to the skill Aggressive Slash, a move that will hit a random foe three times with a Sword. This will be extremely helpful in breaking the Scourge’s Shields. A Cleric is ideal for Heal More, as your entire team will eat a significant amount of damage. But classing Temenos into Scholar will also give you access to Fire, allowing him to heal when necessary and provide damage otherwise.

It’s a good idea to pick up the Double Tomahawk, an axe weapon that hits twice. It can be found in an ocean chest on the far bottom left corner of the map. This will really help with the Scourge’s high shields. It’s a good idea to have two characters that can heal. One character at the top of the party, one character at the bottom. A Dark or Ice Amulet isn’t a terrible idea either, as Scourge’s Dark Vortex attack is the most devastating.

Related: All Captured Monster Skills in Octopath Traveler 2 for Ochette

Immediately, the Scourge will begin the battle by removing two of your party members, who will be gone for two rounds. The two chosen are random, but this is why it’s a good idea to have two healers. This is the pattern throughout the battle. Essentially, the Scourge will dismiss two party members for two turns, do damage to your two team members (usually hitting both). The rest of your team will return, and the Scourge will use team-hitting attacks and debuffs for several more turns. Then, he will send away two of your party members again, wash and repeat.

What breaks this cycle is when you get him to be 30,000 HP. At that point, he will prepare his charge up move, “The Scourge of the Sea wants prepares to swallow…”

At this point, you must do everything you can to break the Scourge. Waste BP if necessary. That’s because if the Scourge “swallows” your party, it means that only one party member will be left on the field. The Scourge’s speed will also increase, and it will be able to attack multiple times in a row.

If the character left on the field has less than 2,400 health, they will likely die. If they die, it’s game over. It doesn’t matter that the rest of the party is still alive and kicking in the Scourge’s stomach with full HP. You also have no indicator of what party member will be swallowed, and you can only hope it’s not your healer or weakest unit.

If you manage to get through this point, continue as normal, breaking the Scourge when possible. It will periodically Shapeshift, changing its Shield points and weaknesses. When it does this, it’s always a good idea to use the Scholar’s Elemental Barrage or the Armsmaster Sixfold Strike to quickly ascertain its new weaknesses.

The Scourge may easily be the hardest boss you face up to this point because of its huge HP pool, its tendency to split your team, and its heavy, team-hitting attacks. But if you approach it with two healers and two tanky DPS, you should be able to get through. And once you do, you’ll be able to access one of the secret jobs and obtain the quest item, Sea Monster’s Whisker.

Or, failing that, you can throw money at the problem with two Merchants, use maxed-out BP, Hire Veteran Warriors, and do nearly 80,000 damage in one round. Assuming the Scourge is broken.

If you don’t have the Armsmaster job yet, here’s our guide on how to unlock it.