Star Ocean: The Second Story R – Character Recruitment Information and Finest Celebration


Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a remake of the PSOne traditional. One facet of this sport is the character recruiting function which is usually a headache for brand new gamers and even veterans of the sequence. It is a complicated system – however this information is right here that will help you with character recruitment, displaying learn how to recruit all characters in Star Ocean 2.

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The complexity of this method is principally due to the celebration cap and the provision of characters in particular routes, two key design components in Star Ocean: The Second Story R. These mechanics make it inconceivable to recruit all characters in a single playthrough. This information will function a pointer to let gamers have a normal thought of every playable character’s normal strengths to allow them to decide whether or not to recruit them or not. As a result of gameplay adjustments on this Remake, all characters are viable in fight so the overall overview is that casters are significantly higher than their authentic counterpart, nevertheless, melee continues to be total superior. 

Warning Word: Since this covers all of the characters within the sport, there might be spoilers on who’s playable.

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Claude ClaudeSpriteNew.png

  • Route Unique: No
  • Recruitment: Default
  • Drawbacks:  N/A

Claude is without doubt one of the two potential characters who might be chosen as the primary protagonist within the sport. Each protagonists, Claude or Rena, will be part of the celebration early within the sport, so you will not find yourself lacking them regardless. Claude serves as the usual melee DPS character. He could begin off as common, however he is more likely to develop into your best DPS character by the top of the sport, making him among the finest playable characters. 

Rena RenaSpriteNew.png

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  • Route Unique: No
  • Recruitment: Default
  • Drawbacks:  N/A

The opposite major protagonist, Rena, is a assist character and possibly the very best one at it. Rena focuses on therapeutic, which is a task that many different characters lack. She’s additionally a beneficial supply of buffs in your celebration members. Rena’s talents make her a superb alternative and you’ll most certainly all the time have her in your celebration even on Claude’s route. 

Celine CelineSpriteNew.png

  • Route Unique: No
  • Recruitment: Though Celine can be part of as a brief member in Krosse, the choice to recruit her completely comes on the finish of Krosse Cave. (If you happen to reject her request, she’s going to by no means seem once more.) 
  • Drawbacks:  There may be one other caster which you can recruit later that is likely to be higher, however he is unique to Claude’s route. 

Celine is without doubt one of the earliest story characters you will meet. She’s a spellcaster, and spellcasters within the Star Ocean sequence have had a status for being weaker in comparison with melee DPS characters. Nevertheless, in Star Ocean 2R, the battle system has been utterly reworked, with spells being forged sooner and not freezes the sport. There’s a superior spellcaster (Leon) for Claude’s route, which you can recruit for later, since there are many character slots, having her be part of the celebration will make the early sport a lot simpler.  Nevertheless, she nonetheless offers good assist talents should you do not depend on her casting assault magic on a regular basis. 

Ashton AshtonSpriteNew.png

  • Route Unique: No
  • Recruitment: After the story quest in Marze, head to the city of Harley. Speak to the miners on the city’s entrance. Clear the Salva Mines facet quest to recruit him. If Opera is in your celebration, Ashton won’t be part of you.
  • Drawbacks: Recruiting Ashton prevents Opera and Ernest from becoming a member of the celebration. Everlasting dangerous luck and has the worst accuracy out of all of the close-range fighters. Ashton additionally begins with random abilities. 

Ashton is without doubt one of the earliest elective melee DPS characters you may recruit to your celebration. He turns into an exceptionally sturdy melee fighter within the late sport due to his unimaginable bodily energy and highly effective talents. Nevertheless, there is a important trade-off when recruiting Ashton. By recruiting him, you will miss the chance to recruit Opera and her lover, Ernest. Opera is taken into account among the finest ranged fighters in Star Ocean 2, making this determination a considerable one.

Dias DiasSpriteNew.png

  • Route Unique: Rena Solely
  • Recruitment: In the course of the story sequence in Lacuer Entrance Line Base, Dias will discuss to your celebration, should you begin as Rena, he presents the choice to affix you. 
  • Drawbacks:  Mid Bodily Stats, different swordsmen have higher abilities. 

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Many of the male fighters within the sport are typically sturdy characters. Whereas Dias could have comparatively decrease bodily energy in comparison with different combatants, he excels at greater issue ranges as a result of his greater dexterity development, which makes it simpler to hit enemies when going through more durable foes. In decrease difficulties, you may nonetheless discover Claude superior. Regardless of these drawbacks, Dias is taken into account among the finest playable characters within the sport.

Leon LeonSpriteNew.png

  • Route Unique: Claude Solely
  • Recruitment: Throughout the primary story, whenever you attain the Ell Continent, you’ll have the chance to ask him to affix you.
  • Drawbacks:  Casters typically aren’t as versatile as melee fighters. Leon additionally comes fairly late and different casters have higher superior assist talents which could Leon a lesser choice.

Leon arrives fairly late within the sport and is unique to Claude’s route. Whereas he possesses a few of the strongest magic within the sport, typically overlaying a large radius that may simply filter trash mobs, magic customers are typically underwhelming in comparison with non-magic attackers. For normal content material, Celine offers higher assist magic which might be extra helpful for combating boss fights or greater issue fight. 

Summary PrecisSpriteNew.png

  • Route Unique: No
  • Recruitment: After ending the Lacuer Arms Event, use Personal Motion in Linga to satisfy her. 
  • Drawbacks:  Prevents Bowman from becoming a member of. Relatively mediocre stats.

Regardless of being one other melee fighter, Summary fulfills a singular function that no different character can replicate. Summary will not be the strongest or most correct fighter, however her major energy lies in her glorious crowd management talents, as she will be able to stunlock enemies and maintain them at a sure distance. If you happen to’re aiming to make sure characters like Opera or Chisato shine, then recruiting Summary as an elective character is a superb choice. Nevertheless, one downside with Summary is that considered one of her finest talents can solely be discovered if Ashton is in your celebration, which might forestall you from recruiting Opera and Ernest.

Opera OperaSpriteNew.png

  • Route Unique: No
  • Recruitment: Earlier than you begin the recruitment course of, you will need to skip out Ashton for Opera to look.
    • After leaving Krosse Fortress for the primary time, Set off the occasion in Krosse that entails a three-eyed man operating away. (This occasion is a Personal Motion within the Authentic/Second Evolution)
    • Get additional into the story till you may take part in the Lacuer Arms Event.
    • After the match, discover Opera in Hilton Bar. 
    • Journey to Krosse and discuss to the King to get rumors a few three-eyed lady.
    • Go to Mountain Palace. Then discover Opera someplace contained in the dungeon and ask her to affix you. 
  • Drawbacks:  She is going to solely seem within the story if you don’t recruit Ashton. Requires a protracted sequence of quests to recruit. Additionally, takes some funding to shine.
Opera is arguably one of many strongest ranged characters in Star Ocean who is not a magic caster. She’s a superb addition to your celebration, particularly should you do not thoughts lacking out on recruiting Ashton. Nevertheless, there is a caveat in the case of utilizing Opera: her gear choices aren’t nice till later within the sport. Moreover, you will want to speculate a while in creating her proficiency earlier than she actually excels and outperforms others in your celebration. One among Opera’s standout talents is Therapeutic Star, this is without doubt one of the finest therapeutic abilities within the sport. Her ranged assaults utilizing a rifle help you method and defeat many bosses with ease as a result of her prolonged vary. Importantly, recruiting Opera additionally opens the door to recruiting her lover, Ernest as effectively.

If you happen to get Opera, you don’t *have* to get Ernest. Nevertheless, should you flag the occasions to recruit Ernest (see under), after which reject him on the final minute, Opera may also depart your celebration.

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Ernest ErnestSpriteNew.png

  • Route Unique: No
  • Recruitment: To start out the search line of recruiting Ernest, you will need to have already recruited Opera.
    • Clear the Mountain Palace with Opera, the story sequence ought to lead you to a room the place there is likely to be indicators of Ernest.
    • After this sequence, return to the Sacred Forest of the place Rena first met Claude. It will set off a narrative scene.
    • Then associate with the primary story till you clear Hoffman Ruins. This will provide you with the chance to recruit Ernest.
  • Drawbacks:  Require Opera in your celebration to recruit him. Has a protracted sequence of quests earlier than you may recruit him. Ashton and Dias are additionally superior melee fighters over him. 

Ernest, much like Dias, does not excel when it comes to bodily stats. Nevertheless, encountering him has its benefits. By following the Opera questline, you may come throughout Ernest as a part of a facet quest. If you happen to’ve invested within the Pickpocket expertise, you may steal among the finest armors within the sport from him. Regardless of these perks, Ernest primarily depends on a whip that is arduous to focus on and has just one first rate capacity. He might be considerably more practical in more durable issue ranges as a result of his excessive accuracy stats.

Welch WelchSpriteNew.png

  • Route Unique: No
  • Recruitment: After ending the Lacuer Arms Event, use Personal Motion in Lacuer to satisfy her. You want no less than 4 characters, and it should be executed earlier than finishing the Linga herb quest.
  • Drawbacks:  Does not actually concentrate on something. 

Welch is an unique character created for the improved port and remakes of Star Ocean: The Second Story. Within the authentic model for PlayStation, Welch is just not recruitable. Whereas Welch does not have any specialty, what units her aside is that none of her assaults or abilities are tied to elemental attributes, making her versatile in conditions the place elemental attributes is usually a downside. Moreover, she boasts one of many quickest regular assault animations among the many playable characters. There may be additionally an easter egg for Welch for gamers who discover a particular merchandise in Eluria Tower.

Bowman BowmanSpriteNew.png

  • Route Unique: No
  • Recruitment: If Summary is just not in your celebration, he’ll ultimately ask you if he can be part of the celebration after the Linga story arc. 
  • Drawbacks:  Prevents Summary from becoming a member of, 

Bowman is a personality with a polarizing opinion locally. Some gamers think about him to be godawful, whereas others consider he is among the finest melee characters you may recruit, relying on who you ask. Bowman’s main weapon is his fists, which end in a comparatively quick vary. Nevertheless, in a sport the place spamming talents are frequent, his vary will not be a major concern. One other challenge with Bowman is that his weapon of alternative has poor accuracy, which might be problematic on greater issue ranges. Recruiting Bowman additionally prevents you from getting Summary, who might be a superb character.

Noel NoelSpriteNew.png

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  • Route Unique: No
  • Recruitment: Will ask to affix the celebration after the story sequence within the Cave of Crimson Crystals. 
  • Drawbacks: Rena and Celine can do every part higher, a waste of a personality slot. Additionally joins extraordinarily late within the sport. 

Noel is a flexible character who can deal with each assist and assault magic. Nevertheless, a major downside is that Rena is a compulsory member of the celebration, and he or she excels in offering assist, making Noel’s assist talents redundant. Moreover, should you’re in search of offensive magic, Celine performs this function extra successfully than Noel. In mild of those elements, it is difficult to justify together with Noel in your celebration when Rena and Celine can be found a lot earlier within the sport and provide superior talents and assist. You would not want him within the celebration when you may carry a personality that focuses on that area.

Chisato ChisatoSpriteNew.png

  • Route Unique: No
  • Recruitment:
    • When exploring the Cave of Crimson Crystals, discover Chisato and she’s going to drop an ID card.
    • Convey the ID Card again to Centropolis, discuss to the Chisato with the ID Card and she’s going to be part of you.
  • Drawbacks:  Comes extraordinarily late within the sport and by that point you might need all of your character slots crammed up. Poor talent restoration, requires safety for her to excel in fight.

Chisato is broadly thought of the very best injury seller on this sport, primarily as a result of her extremely highly effective Tear Gasoline capacity. This talent inflicts a large variety of hits and is comparatively correct, making it able to annihilating enemies. Nevertheless, to profit from Chisato’s talents, she does require some funding when it comes to proficiency and assist from her celebration. One downside is that she has poor restoration, which might depart her weak whereas utilizing her abilities. It is important to produce other celebration members overlaying for her to guard her from enemy assaults. Moreover, Chisato joins the celebration fairly late within the sport, so that you may have already got a full celebration by that time, probably lacking the chance for her to affix you.

Star Ocean 2 – Finest Celebration

At this level, you is likely to be questioning “That is nice and all, however simply inform me what the very best celebration is!” There are 13 characters and solely 8 ‘slots’ in your celebration, so you may’t recruit everybody.

Honestly, Star Ocean: The Second Story is just not a really arduous sport, and the remake is even simpler. You may simply clear every part within the sport with any celebration, even publish sport. Claude and Rena themselves are each nice battle characters, in order that may very well be half your 4-man battle celebration proper there.

However for the min-maxers on the market, it is best to know that melee fighters nonetheless appear to have a powerful edge over casters. Particularly within the late-game and post-game, the variety of hits you may land will decide your injury output moreso than anything. So meaning characters like Celine, Leon, and Noel aren’t glorious additions in comparison with different characters. Even Rena is not a requirement in an ideal battle celebration, as therapeutic might be achieved with characters like Opera, objects, or Elements within the remake (though in fact you need to have Rena as considered one of your eight characters).

  • As said above, Chisato is without doubt one of the finest fighters within the sport, outdoors of Claude. She assaults rapidly and has a number of good talents. She’s a extremely beneficial addition to the celebration (and he or she comes pre-loaded with some capacity in replication as a bonus, too, which is sweet for cash and merchandise exploits). Actually there is not any cause to not get her.
  • Opera is a superb injury seller WITH a therapeutic capacity in Therapeutic Star. Being a ranged attacker, she typically stays away from enemies (assuming you do not give her abilities that assault from up shut), so she does a good job staying alive.
  • AshtonSummary, Dias, and Bowman are additionally stable bodily fighters, though none as top-tier as Chisato. It is essential to notice that Summary’ finest assault – Robbie’s Superbeam – requires Ashton within the celebration, so you probably have Opera as a substitute, Summary is not pretty much as good as she may very well be. If you happen to do have Ashton, although, Summary turns into a bit extra helpful.
  • Whereas Welch and Ernest are additionally bodily attackers, they’re merely not so good as different choices, largely as a result of underwhelming abilities.

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Again within the day, a typical normal tip was “three fighters plus Rena”, which continues to be truthful sport. If you happen to should know, I used Claude/Chisato/Rena/Summary (with superbeam) in my post-game celebration that took on bosses like Gabriella Celeste and the Iseria Queen. Different gotos embrace Claude/Chisato/Opera/Bowman, or Claude/Chisato/Ashton/Rena

Simply ensure that to incorporate Chisato, actually.