How to beat Gigantes in Octopath Traveler 2

Gigantes is easily one of the hardest optional bosses in Octopath Traveler 2, as you have to really prioritize each turn. While most fights in Octopath Traveler 2 revolve around breaking your enemy, this one is a bit different due to one key mechanic.

So, if you're struggling to beat the Gigantes boss, then make sure to read the rest of this guide as we've got some tips to help you out.

How can you beat Gigantes?

The key mechanic within the Gigantes boss fight is its ability to increase its shield points after every single turn. Every time Gigantes has a move, it will increase its shield points by two, and on occasion block off some of its own weak points too.

This makes breaking the boss extremely hard, so you will have to manage each turn perfectly in order to take this mighty foe down. Even one set of wasted turns can see the boss climb up beyond 15 shield points, which makes the fight near-unwinnable.

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Ochette is an essential party member for this fight, purely due to her ability to break down shields quickly. Her Provoke skills are particularly good if you've captured the right beasts, but pairing her with the Warrior job can let her use Aggressive Slash and Precise Shot to multi-hit with the sword and bow.

In turn, Hikari is also an excellent choice due to his high damage stats and multi-hit skills. You could do the reverse and pair him with the Hunter job, and you could easily break a high-value shield in a single turn between the two of them.

Throné is the other strongest character for this fight when paired with the Warrior job, as her Latent Power will let her do a minimum of six sword hits on Gigantes, reaching a whopping 11 hits if you have a full BP bar at the start of your turn.

Gigantes weaknesses

Here are the Octopath Traveler 2 Gigantes weaknesses that you'll want to exploit and build your party around:

• Sword
• Bow
• Fire
• Ice
• Lightning

While you can use magic in a pinch - and it is good for damage when you have broken the boss - we would recommend generally steering clear as you are only able to do a single hit with magic skills.

Alternate strategy

If you're finding the shield points too difficult to keep up with though, there is one other route that you can take that might work better for you. You will still need to try and do at least one break on the boss at the start of the fight to get a good chunk of initial damage in, but then just focus on your hardest-hitting moves and try and brute force its HP to zero.

This can be very risky - especially when Gigantes buffs himself - but with enough healing and some support skills, you can definitely get it done.

What do you get for beating Gigantes?

Beating the fight will have you introduced to Georges Lazuli - a self-proclaimed student of the ruins and seasoned adventurer. Using any of the inquiry Path Actions on him after the fight will give you the ability to decipher foreign languages, which can be particularly useful for a few other moments within the game.

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There aren't really any other rewards outside of this, but hopefully, you'll be able to make fine use of your new translation skills, and you enjoyed the challenge of this particular boss fight too.

Wondering how to complete A Mysterious Box in Octopath Traveler 2? We've got you covered with this guide.