It’s time to finally get some payback
Osvald’s journey through Octopath Traveler 2 starts with a quest for revenge on the man who wronged him and his family. And despite the twists and turns along the way, it ends just the same. Harvey is gonna have to die.
[Spoilers follow for Osvald’s Chapter 5 in Octopath Traveler 2.]
As you’ve learned by this point in Osvald’s story, Harvey is pretty much the root of all things that have gone poorly in the Scholar’s life. He’s stolen the formulae, the research, and even Osvald’s wife and daughter to use as pawns in his pursuit of the One True Magic. So our beleaguered academic heads to Gravell, in pursuit of Harvey for one final showdown, as the evil professor hatches one last villainous scheme to harness a new magic (which is actually just Shadow and will definitely not go poorly for him).
Mastering the elements
Thankfully, Harvey is a more straightforward fight than some of the other path-end fights. He’s mostly a spellcaster who will pelt you with attacks, occasionally putting fighters to sleep with his Lecture skill. Keeping some Herbs of Awakening or an Apothecary with Rehabilitate on-hand will help, though Sleep is often a problem that resolves itself.
It does feel like Harvey charges up his more powerful attacks more often than other bosses though, so breaking him will be important. This goes doubly for his Pure Elementals, which can start to wreak havoc if left on the field for too long. Osvald is well-equipped for dealing with those, though; he already has AoE magic attacks to hit their elemental weaknesses, and skills like Advanced Magic and Alephan’s Wisdom to make them hit multiple times. Soulstones provide an extra avenue for this, as well as Beast abilities and Summons.
Best strategies for Harvey in Octopath Traveler 2
A big boon for this fight is that Osvald gets one of his endgame extra skills unlocked. One True Magic is a potent spell with a hefty SP cost, but it does significant damage to all enemies and breaks shield points off, no matter what weaknesses there are. For reference, Harvey’s weak points are Polearms, Axes, Lightning, Fire, Ice, and Lightning to start. After the phase shift, he’ll swap to Daggers, Bows, Light, and Dark.
In our experience, saving One True Magic for a big break-time damage dump makes the Harvey fight go fairly quick. Otherwise, this is a by-the-numbers boss. Keep your health up and SP fully fueled, whittle down the shield points, and blast him with the power of love.
