Complete guide to the best earning spots in the early stages of Octora 0: A thorough guide to quickly mass-produce experience points, JP, and leaves by hunting Gentle Catman in one blow

In the early stages of Octopath Travelers 0, commonly known as Octora 0, many players face the triple challenge of stagnation in level due to lack of experience points, delay in acquiring skills due to lack of JP, and stagnation in equipment enhancement due to lack of leaves. There is a way to eliminate this resource shortage all at once and dramatically accelerate story progression. That is hunting for the Gentle Catman. This rare enemy alone provides an extraordinary reward of 500 experience points, 50 JP, and 12,000 leaves, and if you successfully defeat it in one turn, additional bonuses will be added, further improving efficiency.

Gentle Catman's appearance rate is low and the risk of escape is high, so it seems to be a difficult hurdle for beginners. However, if you prepare properly, follow the route, and use the merchant job's powerful abilities, you can stably hunt.

This guide provides detailed step-by-step instructions that you can put into practice right after completing the prologue. With practice, you can raise your entire party's level by 10 or more, accumulate hundreds of JP, and secure hundreds of thousands of leaves in just a few hours. This will make it much easier to get through the difficult parts in the early stages, including the boss fight in Chapter 2 of The Torchbearer. We will prove with data why this method is the strongest, including comparisons with other small-scale enemy laps and alternative earning spots.

The overwhelming advantage of Gentle Catman hunting and its impact on the entire early stage

Gentle Catman is the king of single rewards in the early stages of Octra 0. The experience points you can get from a single battle against a normal field enemy is about a few dozen to 100, JP is about a few to 10, and Leaf is about a few hundred. On the other hand, each Gentle Catman has 500 experience points, 50 JP, and 12,000 leaves, which is more than 10 times the value of normal battles. If you add the 1-turn defeat bonus, the experience value will increase by an additional 20%, and JP will also be made more efficient with the damage bonus in the break state.

For example, if you hunt 5, the total reward will be over 2,500 experience points, over 250 JP (over 312 when using grape ice), and over 60,000 leaves. In order to obtain the same amount of money by going around normal small fry, it would take more than 50 battles, which is extremely time-efficient. Catlin species can be cited as an alternative source of income around the Rippletide Road, but the reward is less than half of that, around 200 experience points and 20 JP. Gentle Catman is truly a revolutionary character in the early stages.

The impact of this hunting goes beyond just getting rewards. If you use the JP you have accumulated to refine your merchant abilities and strengthen your Lucky Arrow, your JP efficiency will increase by 2% in all subsequent battles. Purchase platinum swords and power belts at Leaf and your combat power will skyrocket. As a result, you will be able to accelerate the town build of Wishveil, quickly achieve the goal of having all 8 friends, and immediately pass through story chapters 2 and 3. According to actual play data, the introduction of this routine reduces the initial clearing time to less than half of the normal time. Please note that the recommended level is 8 or higher. It can be adjusted with Ripple Tide Road Small Fish.

Essential preparation for successful hunting: Optimal setup of job, skills, and items

Preparation is the key to achieving a 99% hunting success rate. First, change the main character's job to a merchant job. The merchant job handles spears and bows, which are the types of weapons that are easy to obtain in the early stages. To change it, after clearing the Wish Veil Restoration Quest “The Torch Lighter Chapter 1”, unlock the secret menu by building the training center (requires 5x grapes to recover all HP, purchased at Shepherd's Rock tool shop), and insert JP.

The required skills are as follows.

• Lucky Arrow (SP35): Deals heavy damage to a single enemy with a bow, and all participants receive 2% of the damage as JP. In the break state, damage is increased by 1.5 times or more, and JP efficiency increases dramatically.
• Critical Spear (SP30): Deals critical damage to a single enemy with a spear. Ideal for a one-hit kill that ignores defense power.
• BP Passer (SP5): Recovers 1 BP of a single ally. Enables opening boost.

You will need about JP150 to learn these, but you can collect them in the prologue battle. Next, make the grape ice cream. This dish grants +25% JP gain for 20 turns and increases JP50 to 62.5. Ingredients are grapes x2 and milk x1. Purchase grape seeds (750 leaves) from an “old woman who knows the town” in Valore and plant them in the field. Secure sheep and produce milk at Shepherd's Rock. The cooking facility will be unlocked after clearing Chapter 1 of the Torch.

To prepare equipment, ask for the forbidden longbow (physical attack +350) from Victor Hollow's “Old Man Who Tells Legends” (success rate is 3%, but low level is possible). Equip the Power Belt (Atlas Dam Treasure Chest) to strengthen your firepower. Select abilities prioritize BP plus and post-battle recovery. By being prepared in this way, you can minimize your hunting failure rate.

Optimal party formation and division of support roles

In Octora 0, an 8-person battle system, party composition determines victory or defeat. The optimal formation for hunting Gentle Catman is as follows.

• Vanguard 1: Protagonist (merchant) In charge of the Spear of Success/Arrow of Fortune. Forbidden longbow + power belt equipped.
• Vanguard 2-4: Fen (Hunter), Alexia (Scholar), Kael'thas (Thrower) Break support and damage source. Fen deals with bow weaknesses.
• Rear guard 1-4: Steer, Macy, Viator, free frame Support the main character with BP passer (Stear) and SP passer (Macy). Equipped with secrets to increase JP acquisition.

Secure the opening BP3 with Steer's BP passer and shoot the hero's boost lucky arrow. It can be fired repeatedly with Macy's SP support. The rear guard automatically recovers SP/HP with post-battle recovery secrets. The order of joining is Stia (Prologue), Fen (Torch Chapter 1), Alexia (Valore), and Macy (Emberglow). With this formation, it will be stable for one turn from encounter to defeat.

As an alternative, you can use the JP +20% support obtained with the dancer protagonist. However, merchant firepower is superior. Many players have also said, “JP is Morimori with Lucky Arrow Gokui.''

Details of the shortest access and efficient route to Shepherd Rock

The hunting ground is the field around Shepherd Rock north of Rippletide Road. The access procedure is as follows.

1. From Wishveil to Rippletide (Reconstruction Quest Chapter 2).
2. Go south on the highway and head west for 2 minutes to reach North Shepherd Rock.
3. Explore the village for 1 minute and head to the northwest area of ​​the hunting ground.

The route is clockwise. Return from North Shepherd's Rock to the south of the village, via the northwest of the field. The appearance rate is about 20% in 5 minutes per round. It will be further improved with Encounter Increase Secret (obtained in the second half). To secure the sheep, purchase it from the village NPC “Merchant who admires the Wise King”, and sell milk Nissan + 5000 wool leaves at the farm. Immortal Olives can also be collected from Blue Treasure Chests.

Please note that they are more likely to appear at night. If you run away, please retry immediately.

Complete reproduction of battle procedures: 99% one-hit-kill pattern explanation

This is the flow from the start of the battle to the defeat.

1. Steer BP passer gives main character BP +1 (opening BP3).
2. Weakness (dagger/bow) break (shield 2) on Fen/Alexia.
3. Defeat the main character with a boost critical spear or lucky arrow. 1.5x damage after break, defense penetration with critical hit.

When no break is required, it is the opening spear. Success rate is 99%, and if it fails, it will run away immediately. Actual verification has confirmed 1 minute/body.

Complete automation of grape ice production and construction of material loop using Town Build

Town builds make hunting more sustainable. After opening the Wishvale Tavern, please build the following facilities.

• Field: Grape seed planting, Nissan multiple grapes.
• Ranch: Sheep placement, Nissan milk + wool (sale for money).
• Cooking facility: automatic grape ice generation, dozens of stock.

Loop turns milk + grapes into ice cream, and uses leaves obtained from hunting to increase seed/sheep production. 10,000 units of leaves per day + JP efficiency will be made permanent. Other dishes (grape juice EXP +25%) can also be produced at the same time.

Optimal investment strategy for acquired resources: Explosive force increase and mid-stage transition route

Use experience points to level up to 15, use JP to upgrade (strengthen your Lucky Arrow), and use leaves to purchase store-bought equipment (Platinum Sword 12000 Leaf, Ring that Calls Victory). The priority order is from the training center to the store (sales +10%) to the ranch/field. The next step is to hunt Catlin on the West Valore Forest Road and secure level 25.

Summary: Completely conquer the early stages of Octora 0 with this hunting

Gentle Catman Hunt is the strongest early stage boost that combines preparation, laps, and automation. Take a hit with Merchant's Lucky Arrow and Critical Spear, maximize JP with Grape Ice, and complete the loop with Shepherd's Rock Sheep. If you put it into practice, you will be able to eliminate the triple resource burden and realize a comfortable play. This is a must-have technique with no replacement, as evidenced by data and player reports. Get started now and progress through Octra 0's epic adventure as quickly as possible.