- "What do layfolk know of illnesses and their cures? Nothing—that's what makes this job so easy." —Vanessa Hysel
Vanessa Hysel is a character in Octopath Traveler. She is a fraud Apothecary who deliberately gives her patients medicine with harmful side-effects so that she can sell the remedy at premium prices. She is the second boss of Alfyn's story.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Vanessa has dark-purple hair in the style of a ponytail. Her left eye is obscured by her hair, a clue to her sly personality.
Personality[]
Vanessa originally came off as a highly acclaimed Apothecary in Goldshore for curing the residents of a plague that had struck the town, gaining the people's trust and respect. She appeared to hold the same philosophy as Alfyn in that every life is worth saving and that people's gratitude is enough payment and satisfaction for her.
However, this is later revealed to be nothing more than a façade. Vanessa is, in actuality, a devious and conniving young woman who took advantage of the people's lack of knowledge in the arts of medicine for her own profit, giving them medicine with dangerous side-effects on purpose so as to sell a remedy at high prices. She cares very little if nothing for her patients, viewing them as flasks that are to be thrown away once they are no longer able to provide her the revenue she so greedily seeks out.
After her defeat and imprisonment by Alfyn and his group, she resolved to turn over a new leaf, possibly due to the after-effects of the slumberthorn Alfyn induced in her. She now sells genuine medicine of very good quality, albeit still at high prices, a remnant of her past self.
Story[]
 |
(I don't think this is where I should be going at the moment...) The following section contains potential story spoilers! |
Vanessa is first seen in Goldshore giving medicine to a sick girl with a fever. She then departed for the Manor District up north to help the upper class citizens. After treating them, hearing their thanks and giving a speech about helping others in need, she then met Alfyn, who had heard about her work from before. After a friendly chat between the two, they went their separate ways.
A short time later, she was once again confronted by the upper class citizens, who state that their loved ones would not stop coughing. After she diagnosed it as the "Gaborra whooping cough", she offered them a tonic that will cure it overnight, however due to the rarity of the key ingredient, which was glowworm moss, she charged 100,000 leaves per phial. As the aristocrats are able to pay for the medicine, she is confronted by Marlene, whose daughter also has the cough, and offered her her savings, which was significantly less than her price for the medicine. However, Vanessa refused to accomodate her, and turned her attention back to the aristocrats, noting she was almost sold out and had to restock on more ingredients, departing the town to the Caves of Azure.
Inside the cave with her sellsword group, she began harvesting the moss when she was confronted once again by Alfyn and his companions. After revealing her selfish desires, she engaged them in battle with her group, only to be defeated. As she feigned repentance, she attempted to escape, but was stopped by Alfyn, who used slumberthorn to knock her out for the guards to take into custody.
Once Alfyn's fourth chapter is completed, Vanessa can be found in the Undertow Cove, where one can either purchase or steal a Battle-tested Dagger from her.
Relationships[]
Alfyn[]
The two were originally on good terms upon first encountering each other in the port town of Goldshore and seemed to share the philosophy of helping those in need regardless of circumstances. However, once Alfyn caught on to her scheme of taking advantage of the people's ignorance in the arts of medicine for her own profit, Vanessa viewed Alfyn as a threat to her "business" and sought his life immediately with the aid of her hired hands. In the end, this plan failed and Vanessa was brought to justice, with her cursing him all the way until being put to sleep and placed in custody.
- Attack: Physical attack, single target.
- Concoct Stimulant: Buff. Augments Vanessa and all Sellswords with
Increased Physical Attack for 4 turns. - Concoct Sedative: Single target. Chance of inflicting Sleep.
- Concoct Poison: Single target. Chance of inflicting Poison.
- Concoct Explosive: Elemental damage, . Targets entire party.
- Huff and Puff: Higher physical damage than her standard attack. Targets one character.
- Concoct Restorative: Can only be used if Sellswords have been defeated. Attempts to revive Sellswords.
- Vanessa called for help!: Summons two Sellswords at full health to protect Vanessa. Vanessa's shields cannot be broken until they are defeated. Can only be used once.
- But Vanessa was out of ingredients...: No effect. Concoct Restorative fails if used more than once.
Strategy[]
Like any other boss that seals their weaknesses until their lackies are defeated, focus on taking out the Sellswords before attacking Vanessa. Vanessa is unique in that her moveset is more supportive than offensive, applying an AoE 
Increased Physical Attack buff for four turns and debilitating your party with various status effects. In fact, the Sellswords have greater physical attack and defense than Vanessa (who has greater elemental attack and defense). Since you have to bring Alfyn along for this fight, he can cure your party with Rehabilitate and/or Concoct. If you have a Wakeful Stone in your inventory, equip Alfyn with one so that Vanessa can't put him to sleep with Concoct Sedative. A Scholar packing Blizzard is also helpful for this fight, because six shields is pretty high for the lackies of a Chapter ≤2 boss.
Concoct Stimulant is probably Vanessa's most dangerous move, especially if the Sellswords are still in action. Once they're gone, begin whaling on Vanessa. Eventually, she will summon two more Sellswords and seal her weaknesses all over again. Unlike most other Chapter ≤2 bosses, Vanessa's reinforcements arrive on the scene at full health, instead of at 50% max. HP.
All in all, the Sellswords and Vanessa's Concoct Stimulant are the most dangerous aspects of this fight. Once the second round of Sellswords are gone, Vanessa will fight alone for the rest of the battle, and the battle itself becomes pretty easy.Locations[]
| Location: Undertow Cove | |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Alfyn Chapter 4 completed |
| |
Path Actions[]
Minimum Level: 40
Base Probability: 50 | Details |
|---|
| After the incident with Alfyn, she decided to leave her criminal life behind, but continues to sell her tonics at a high price. As the daughter of a famous apothecary, her knowledge of the field is vast, and the quality of her medicines are well worth the price. |
| Information Gleaned: None |
Quotes
| Scrutinize Failure: | Hey! Stop that, you deviant! |
Minimum Level: 20
Base Probability: 30| Summon | ||
|---|---|---|
| Strength: | 
| |
| Summonable: | 7 | |
| HP: | 1,698 | |
| Cover Rate: | 0% | |
| Stats: |  292 292 999 256
|
 282 280 256 256
|
| Skills: | Concoct Explosive | |
Quotes
| Guide Success: | I promise to follow a path that is straight and true. |
| Guide Release: | I still cannot seem to find the answers that I seek. |
| Allure Success: | Oh, you are so beautiful... |
| Allure Failure: | H-hey! Stop immediately! |
| Allure Release: | Yes, if it will help your cause, I will gladly leave you be. |
Minimum Level: 10
| Battle | ||
|---|---|---|
| Strength: |
| |
| HP: | 8,000 | |
| Shields: | 4 | |
| Weak: |     
| |
| Stats: | 270 250 112 112
|
300 280 112 61
|
| Leaf: |   200
| |
| EXP: | 150 | |
| JP: | 25 | |
| Drop: | Olive of Life (M) (30) | |
| Skills: | ||
Quotes
| Challenge Initiate: | If you underestimate me, you're going to end up getting hurt. |
| Provoke Initiate: | I have just the thing to deal with such monsters! |
| Provoke Loss: | Hey! Stop that! Don't you know how dangerous that is!? |
| Possessions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Item | Price | Steal Lvl |
 Olive of Life (L)
|
24,000
|
41 |
 Noxroot
|
6
|
13 |
 Battle-tested Dagger
|
86,400
|
77 |
Quotes
| Purchase Talk: | Oho! Please come again sometime. |
| Steal Talk: | Hey! Stop that, you deviant! |
Trivia[]
- Failing a Rogue Path Action against her (such as Steal or Scrutinize) will not have any negative impact on the player's reputation in any town.
Quotes[]
- "Wh-what is wrong with you!? I didn’t do anything to deserve this!" —Speaking to Vanessa (Undertow Cove)
- "Oho! Please come again sometime." —Purchase
- "I promise to follow a path that is straight and true." —Guide
- "Oh, you are so beautiful..." —Allure
- "I still cannot seem to find the answers that I seek." —Part Ways (Ophilia)
- "Yes, if it will help your cause, I will gladly leave you be." —Part Ways (Primrose)
- "If you underestimate me, you’re going to end up getting hurt." —Challenge
- "I have just the thing to deal with such monsters!" —Provoke
- "H-hey! Stop immediately!" —Failure
- "Hey! Stop that! Don’t you know how dangerous that is?" —Failure
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
- Vanessa is a name of Irish origin, coined by the Anglo-Irish writer Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) in 1713 when he wrote his poem Cadenus and Vanessa, which wasn't published until 1726. However, the name didn't become popular until over 200 years later, in the mid-20th century. Hysel is a possible pun in that Vanessa "sells" her remedies for the illnesses she intentionally induces for "high" prices.
Trivia[]
- During Alfyn's Chapter 2, Vanessa uses two textboxes of thought bubbles, making this the only instance in the game where a villain's thoughts are directly visible to the player.
- Vanessa is also unique in that she's the only boss in the main game with an official last name.