Mastering Specialties in Star Ocean: The Second Story R – A Guide

Discover the intricacies of specialties and how they empower your party in Star Ocean: The Second Story R, where skill development and unique abilities play a crucial role.

The Star Ocean series has consistently introduced innovative ways to enhance characters’ skills and capabilities. Star Ocean: The Second Story R employs a system centered on specialties, a vital aspect for acquiring specific skills like cooking, crafting, and even enjoying reduced prices at weapon and item shops. Understanding how to strategically invest in particular skills and comprehend their functions can be challenging, but once you grasp these systems and unlock unique abilities, you’ll appreciate the game’s versatility and replayability. Each playthrough of Star Ocean: The Second Story R can become a unique experience, allowing you to experiment with various approaches.

Specialties in Star Ocean: The Second Story R

Specialties are the modern equivalent of Item Creation and Skills found in earlier Star Ocean titles. In Star Ocean: The Second Story R, these specialties and super specialties encompass a diverse range of skills. For instance, investing skill points in Biology will grant access to Compounding and Fishing, while focusing on Resilience will result in Train and Survival skills, along with defensive bonuses. The game offers an extensive list of skills for you to explore. A strategic approach involves assigning specific skills to various characters, ensuring they offer unique contributions to the party. Keep in mind that certain Item Creation (IC) skills, particularly in Item Appraisal, require two party members to reach level 4.

IC/Specialist Skills to Prioritize in Star Ocean: The Second Story R

When investing your Skill Points, some IC/Specialties should be your top priority, as they contribute significantly to your party’s development, enhancing their combat prowess, HP, and more.

Here is a selection of the most advantageous IC/Specialties:

1. Determination: Reduces the SP required to unlock other skills and specialties, and it activates the Train ability, which lowers your party’s attributes to gain more EXP in battle.
2. Purity: Rewards each character with up to 100,000 FOL/money.
3. Effort: Lowers the EXP needed to level up your characters.
4. Biology: Unlocks the Fishing specialty, offering various rewards, such as the ability to summon characters from previous Star Ocean games. It also increases your characters’ HP based on the formula 20 x LV + 10.
5. Animal Training & Whistling: These skills unlock the Super Specialty Bunny Call, allowing you to summon mounts for climbing mountains and more. They also grant the ability to command pets to bring supplies to the party.
6. Courage & Poker Face: These skills, in combination with the Thief’s Glove, unlock the Pickpocketing ability, adding a thrilling dimension to your adventures in Star Ocean: The Second Story R.

“Star Ocean: The Second Story R” is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.