Quests

Octopath Traveler side stories are not hard to find. They sit on the minimap as small stars and the game shows you exactly where they start. What the game never tells you is why you cannot finish the one you are standing in front of, and the answer is almost always the same: the quest wants a path action, path actions belong to one traveler each, and you are only carrying four of the eight.

So this page is sorted by the party you need to be carrying, not by where the quest is on the map. Swapping a traveler means walking back to a tavern, which makes "can I clear this with the four people I have right now" the only question that actually costs you time. Our full side quests page is the region-by-region version if you want the map view instead.

This covers the 2018 original, which matters here because half the search results for this are about Octopath Traveler II. Our regions are the Frostlands, Flatlands, Coastlands, Highlands, Sunlands, Riverlands, Cliftlands and Woodlands, and our catalogue runs to 99 individually titled quest entries once the multi-part chains are counted separately.

How side stories actually gate you

Two rules cover almost everything. First, a quest does not appear at all until you have finished Chapter 1 of the traveler whose region it sits in, so an empty-looking town is often just a town whose owner you have not played yet. Second, most quests need one of the eight path actions, and the actions come in pairs: a noble version usable by day and a rogue version usable by night, doing the same job.

That pairing is the good news, because it means you never need a specific traveler, only one of two. Bringing Cyrus or Alfyn covers every information quest in the game. Bringing Ophilia or Primrose covers every escort. The table below is the key to the rest of the page.

The rogue actions have a catch the noble ones do not: they can fail, and several have level requirements. Stealing the Mind-me-always for Ogen's Epilogue needs level 36, the Tools of Learning needs level 42, and the Memorial Sword in Sir Miles III needs level 72. Alfyn's Inquire in The Bandits' Code wants you at level 20. If you are below the line, the noble half of the pair and a large pile of leaves does the same job.

Quests by the party you need

Information quests: bring Cyrus or Alfyn

These are fetch quests where the thing you fetch is a sentence. Sir Miles, Servant of the Flame (I) wants Rumors of a Knight Adante out of the Former Knight Adante in Flamesgrace Cathedral. Here Be Dragons is the biggest of them and needs three separate knowledges: Knowledge of the Highlands from the Cheerful Storyteller in Cobbleston, Dragon of the Frostlands from the Veteran Mercenary near the Stillsnow tavern, and Dragon of the Cliftlands from the Affable Merchant on the west side of Orewell. It pays 11,000 leaves and the Dragon's Scarf, which is the best reason on this page to keep an information traveler in the party permanently.

The Innocent Inmate can be solved either way, which makes it a useful demonstration: get the Eyewitness Account from the witness in Flamesgrace with Inquire or Scrutinize, or skip all of that and steal the dungeon key off the drunken soldier. Same quest, same reward, two completely different parties.

Acquisition quests: bring Tressa or Therion

Purchase and Steal do the same job at very different prices, and this is where our pages record real numbers. Ogen's Epilogue wants the Mind-me-always from the Flower girl in Victors Hollow: 27,550 leaves to buy, or level 36 to steal. Sir Miles III wants the Memorial Sword from the Refined Merchant near the Lorn Cathedral exit in Northreach: 25,650 leaves, or level 72 to steal, which is realistically a late-game-only theft. Let There Be Warmth is three pickups in Stillsnow, the Portable Pot, Adequate Flax and Satisfactory Coal, and pays 4,800 leaves plus two nuts.

Escort quests: bring Ophilia or Primrose

The most party-locked group on the page, because there is no way to fake an escort. Our Lost in Translation walkthrough is the model: start with the Bookbinder in Stonegard Heights, west of Yvon's Birthplace, then walk Exotic Grandma back from the end of a pier on the south side of Rippletide. It pays 6,500 leaves and the Exotic Garb, which restores SP at the end of every turn and is otherwise only obtainable from Captain Raaf in Marsalim Palace or by beating the Prideful Warrior in Victors Hollow.

Our Way Through the Woods guide covers the other early one: escort the Genteel Madam from S'warkii to Bolderfall to reunite her with the Industrious Husband, for 1,500 leaves plus a Magic Nut and a Critical Nut. Arianna Again (I) is the odd escort out, because our page is explicit that Arianna gives you nothing at all for it.

Duel quests: bring Olberic or H'aanit

Challenge and Provoke start a fight with an ordinary NPC, and the ones that matter have stated stats. The Wellspring guard blocking the house in Hello Again, Harald has a strength of nine, which is well above where you will be, and our page's answer is simply to bring spears. Bryan has 2,816 HP, is weak to Spear, Bow and Lightning, and needs strength level 7 to Challenge outright. Setting Out and Sir Miles II are both straight duels, and Miles pays 6,600 leaves for his.

The quests that need two travelers, not one

This is the group nobody flags, and it is where a party that covers one action pair perfectly still gets stuck halfway. Each of these chains two different path actions, so you need both in the party at once.

The Bandits' Code is worth reading closely because it is the clearest example of a quest with two entirely separate solutions. The Ophilia or Primrose route sends you to Sunshade to Guide or Allure the Faltering Youth to the Veteran Bandit. The Cyrus or Alfyn route sends you to Victors Hollow to Inquire or Scrutinize the Marta's Gang knowledge from the Orphanage Matron and carry it back instead. Same 2,400 gold, same Blazon of Protection.

The chapter gates we can pin down

The blanket rule is Chapter 1 of the region's traveler. Beyond that, these are the specific hard gates our walkthroughs record. It is not an exhaustive list of every gated quest in the game, only the ones we can state with certainty.

Hello Again, Harald is the one worth waiting for. Reggie wants the family heirloom that Harald, who leads the Riverford resistance, is selling off to save the town, and the reward is Harald's Sword, which adds fire damage and is genuinely useful in the mid-game against enemies with fire defences, plus 8,000 leaves.

Chains that move the NPC between parts

Twelve side stories in our catalogue run in numbered parts, and the reason people lose them is that the client relocates between each one. Sir Miles goes Flamesgrace, Stillsnow, Northreach. Kaia goes Bolderfall, Quarrycrest, Orewell. Theracio goes Atlasdam, Noblecourt, Wispermill. If you finish part one and leave the region, part two is waiting somewhere you have no reason to return to.

The other chains are Arianna Again, In Search of Father, Le Mann Explorer Extraordinaire, Noelle Seeker of Knowledge, Ria Born to Roam, Meryl Lost then Found, Zeph and Mercedes, Ashlan the Beastmaster and Daughter of the Dark God. Every sequel requires the previous entry, so none of them can be picked up out of order. Our Kaia walkthrough and Theracio walkthrough cover two of the three-part chains end to end.

Do these before you start the quest

A handful of hidden items vanish the moment a related side story begins, because the NPC holding them either relocates or dies. Four are worth memorising. Ask Meryl about her past while she is still in Clearbrook, because her own questline moves her. Take the Inspiriting Plum (M) from the Traveler on the Trail to the Whitehood while Arianna Again (I) is running. Get what you need out of the Duskbarrow swindler before The Price of Vengeance, since losing that challenge sends him away for good. And speak to Zeph while he is still standing outside his house in Clearbrook. Our missables guide has the rest.

Side stories that are really boss fights

Some quests want a party that can win a fight rather than one holding the right path action, and it is worth knowing which before you walk in. The Slumbering Giant sends you after Jotunn in Hoarfrost Grotto, reached from the Western Flamesgrace Wilds, for 4,500 leaves and the Calamity Spear. Scaredy Sheep is the one that spawns Managarmr in the Forest of Purgation, and the wolf never turns up unless the Trembling Merchant has been questioned first. Lianna and Eliza sends you after a Remnant Leader in the same forest for 11,000 leaves and the Bishop's Staff. Sir Miles II is Miles himself. Full tactics for these are in our bosses guide.

Quests also open several optional dungeons: the Untouched Sanctum in the North Cobbleston Gap, the Tomb of Kings in the West Stonegard Pass, Captain's Bane where the Leviathan waits, Undertow Cove on the North Rippletide Coast, the Quicksand Caves in the Northern Wellsprings Sands, Dragonsong Fane in the South Orewell Pass, the Forest of No Return and the Moldering Ruins on the East Duskbarrow Trail. Our dungeons guide covers those.

The rewards worth planning around

Most side stories pay a few thousand leaves and a nut. A short list pays something you will actually equip: the Dragon's Scarf from Here Be Dragons, the Exotic Garb from Lost in Translation for its per-turn SP, Harald's Sword for fire damage, the Robe of the Dragon Princess from Kaia III, the Double Tomahawk from Ogen's Epilogue, which is also the weapon our Managarmr guide asks for, the Calamity Spear from the Jotunn fight, and the Blazon of Protection from The Bandits' Code.

For raw money, At Journey's End pays 100,000 leaves and the Spurning Ribbon, King Khalim's Conundrum pays 30,000, and Tilting at Windmills and Performance Art pay 22,000 each. Everything else is small by comparison, which is worth knowing before you plan an evening around a side story.