Merchant is a recurring job.
Merchant is a starting job in Octopath Traveler. It is Tressa Colzione's primary job.
Merchants have a mix of offensive and supportive skills, with several skills revolving around money such as Collect, Hired Help and their second support skill, Grows on Trees. Merchants also learn Wind magic naturally, the only job of the initial eight to do so. This balance between offensive and supportive skills complements the even stat distribution of the primary Merchant, Tressa, as well as the evenly distributed stat bonuses from Merchant as a secondary job. They are also notable for their ability to boost their allies' (but not their own) BP with Donate BP. As a result, Merchants are very effective utility units and niche spellcasters.
Merchants wield Polearms and Bows as weapons. The Merchant job's fourth support skill, SP Saver, is widely considered among the best support skills in the entire game.
Skills[]
| Skill | SP | Damage Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collect | 2 | Collect money from a single foe. | |
| Tradewinds | 7 | 
|
Deal heavy wind damage to a single foe. |
| Rest | 0 | Restore one's own HP and SP, and cure status ailments. | |
| Trade Tempest | 10 |
|
Deal wind damage to all foes. |
| Donate BP | 3 | Grant 1 BP to an ally. | |
| Sidestep | 10 | Dodge a single physical attack with a 100% success rate. | |
| Hired Help | 0 | Pay money to summon hired help to the battlefield. | |
| Bifelgan's Bounty | 30 | [Divine Skill] Unleash a non-elemental attack on a single foe and receive money equivalent to the damage dealt. |
Support Skills[]
| No. of Skills Unlocked | Total JP | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 130 | Endless Items | When a character with the skill uses an item, there is a 25% chance the item will not be consumed. |
| 5 | 630 | Grows on Trees | Gain additional money after battles. (Equipping this skill with multiple characters will have no added effect.) |
| 6 | 1,630 | Hang Tough | When the user is not near death, all attacks that would reduce the user's HP below zero will instead leave the user with 1 HP. |
| 7 | 4,630 | SP Saver | Halves SP consumption for the equipping character. |
Shrine Location[]
- Main article: Shrine of the Trader
Located in the west side of Moonstruck Coast, in the Coastlands.
Strategies[]
The Merchant secondary job is unlocked at the Shrine of the Trader. With its balance between offensive and supportive skills, the Merchant job is a versatile one and can be recommended to several characters.
- Cyrus is one of the best choices for the Merchant job. Cyrus has the highest Elem. Atk. of the eight protagonists, and Merchant Cyrus gains access to Polearms, Bows and Wind magic in addition to his primary Scholar job's Staves and Fire, Ice and Lightning magic, giving him seven different means of coverage. However, because Cyrus has the lowest Phys. Atk. of the eight protagonists, his weapons are best used for breaking (including his primary job's Staves, which tend to increase the user's Elem. Atk. more than their Phys. Atk. anyway). The Merchant job has Rest among its skills to replenish the user's HP and—more importantly—SP, and also removes ailments, which helps manage Cyrus' SP-reliant playstyle; Sidestep (which can be stacked) to give Cyrus a 100% chance of dodging a single physical attack; and Hired Help/Mercenary to apply the
Increased Physical Defense buff to the entire party. The latter two skills help cover for Cyrus having the third-lowest Phys. Def. of the eight protagonists after Primrose and Therion/H'aanit (tied). Finally, Cyrus' playstyle means he greatly benefits from the Merchant job's fourth support skill, SP Saver. - Ophilia is tied with Primrose for the second-highest Elem. Atk. of the eight protagonists after Cyrus, letting her make good use of the Merchant job's Wind spells alongside her primary Cleric job's Light spells. The Merchant skills Rest and Donate BP enhance Ophilia's role as a support unit, and her support-oriented playstyle is further complemented by the Cleric job's second support skill and the Merchant job's fourth support skill, Inner Strength and SP Saver respectively. Merchant Ophilia has five different means of coverage overall: Polearms, Bows, Staves, Wind and Light. However, Ophilia is also tied with Primrose for the second-lowest Phys. Atk. of the eight protagonists after Cyrus, so her weapons are best used for breaking.
- Primrose is tied with Ophilia for the second-highest Elem. Atk. of the eight protagonists after Cyrus, letting her make good use of the Merchant job's Wind spells alongside her primary Dancer job's Dark spells. The Merchant skills Rest and Donate BP enhance Primrose's role as a support unit, and her support-oriented playstyle is further complemented by the Dancer job's first support skill and the Merchant job's fourth support skill, The Show Goes On and SP Saver respectively. Meanwhile, Sidestep and Hired Help/Mercenary help cover for Primrose having the lowest Phys. Def. of the eight protagonists, although Hired Help/Mercenary pretty much renders the Dancer skill Mole Dance redundant. Merchant Primrose has five different means of coverage overall: Polearms, Daggers, Bows, Wind and Dark. However, Primrose is also tied with Ophilia for the second-lowest Phys. Atk. of the eight protagonists after Cyrus, so her weapons are best used for breaking. Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Dancer Divine Skill, Sealticge's Seduction, is incompatible with Rest and Donate BP, because the former can only target the user and the latter only other allies.
- Alfyn can be effective as a Merchant if you plan on extending his supportive capabilities that come from his primary Apothecary job. In particular, Donate BP can be combined with Alfyn's talent, Concoct and Essences of Pomegranate to easily restore BP. In addition, the Apothecary skills First Aid and Rehabilitate are very good companion skills to Rest because, while Rest restores HP, SP and removes ailments simultaneously, First Aid restores much more HP (especially since Alfyn is tied with Tressa for the third-highest Elem. Def. of the eight protagonists after Ophilia and Cyrus), and Rehabilitate not only removes ailments but renders the target immune to new ailments for a few turns, making them better HP-restoring/ailment-removing skills individually. Finally, Merchant Alfyn has five different means of coverage overall: Polearms, Axes, Bows, Ice and Wind; and Alfyn is tied with Tressa and Therion for the second-highest Phys. Atk. of the eight protagonists after Olberic/H'aanit (tied), but is also tied with Therion and H'aanit for the second-lowest Elem. Atk. of the eight protagonists after Olberic.
- Therion can make use of the Merchant job because his primary Thief job has Steal SP and Share SP among its skills, which work well with Donate BP. Merchant Therion can both give BP to and share his SP with other allies, while using Steal SP to deal damage and restore his SP. Furthermore, because the Thief job comes with Daggers, Swords and Fire magic, and because the Merchant job comes with Polearms, Bows and Wind magic, Merchant Therion will have six different means of coverage, although Therion is tied with Alfyn and H'aanit for the second-lowest Elem. Atk. of the eight protagonists after Olberic. That said, Therion is also tied with Tressa and Alfyn for the second-highest Phys. Atk. of the eight protagonists after Olberic/H'aanit (tied). In addition, the Thief job's third support skill, Snatch, gives Merchant Therion the power to obtain twice the amount of loot from Collect and Steal.
- H'aanit can have a niche Merchant role because her primary Hunter job has Leghold Trap among its skills, which can work well with Donate BP because it can restore an ally's BP before an enemy takes action. However, H'aanit is primarily a physical attacker, Merchant H'aanit's weapon variety is compromised because both the Hunter and Merchant jobs wield Bows, and she is tied with Alfyn and Therion for the second-lowest Elem. Atk. of the eight protagonists after Olberic. That said, having H'aanit fight alongside a Merchant works very well.
- Note: Because Donate BP can only target other allies, Merchants may want to conserve their own BP; though this can be circumvented by having the primary Merchant, Tressa, donate BP to them, Alfyn's Concoct, etc..
- As far as support skills go, besides the staple Saving Grace, recommended support skills for Merchants include: Inner Strength (early-game), Elemental Augmentation (early-game), Vim and Vigor/Second Wind, Hang Tough, SP Saver, Heightened Healing, Snatch, Patience, Divine Aura and Elemental Edge.
- As far as weapons go, the Tradewinds Spear and Primeval Bow of Storms are good weapons for Merchants because they both increase the power of the user's Wind spells, which stack with each other.
Notable Merchants[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- According to Tressa, merchants have a saying: "When you help a traveler in need, accept no coin in return."
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