Varkyn Guide Pt.1: Who/What to Prepare [Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent]

[@ShizukatzCotC]

Forgot to do this when it was first uploaded, mb Timestamps for the mobile users: 0:00 Intro 0:58 Equipment/Accessories 2:05 Weaknesses + Wisp 3:34 MVP Units 6:03 Attackers 8:42 Healers 10:07 Other 11:00 Sample Compositions

[@adopted996]

Love your stuff man can't wait for cyrus lol people are gonna go crazy

[@DragonsVnm]

Thanks again for being the CotC gigs-chad. Fantastic breakdown.

[@16SF]

Me, building my team: And this is where I would put my Cyrus....IF I HAD ONE!!1!1! (seriously, they better drop him, I have farming to do and I need him to speed things up lol)

[@caseywalton3161]

I'm sure this will be as helpful as the previous arena guides. Thanks a ton

[@jonathancook1731]

I am hyped that I actually have some of the MVP travelers for the fight this time. Fiore and Sophia it’s your time to shine! Oh yeah, if Mr. Albright comes out Wednesday I will have 10 pulls to chase him with. I hope it goes better than my pursuit of Primrose.

[@ShadowXemnas13]

Having recently beaten the Sable Black Dragon, I'm legit looking forward to another fight where Sofia is the MVP even if her main debuffing move is a liability. I still don't have Viola, but the multitude of free pulls we got during the collab did net me Kurtz, so I'll probably start building him up to make things easier. I'm also less than 500 Rubies away from 6k, so if Cyrus does show up soon I'll be ready. Definitely want to not only get him, but see if I can grab Awakening stones for him so that he can be on par with or stronger than my Awakening 2 Sofia. I have Fiore at Awakening 1 too thanks to some lucky daily pulls in the past, so she'll be potent here too. Just need to get healing and debuffing sorted since the Wisp is an issue that I guess you can't just kill outright to keep him from resummoning it. Hoping I can grab enough Rubies to hit 6k soon, might need to power through a bunch of the Feats and Traveler Stories I have undone. Thanks for the info!

[@empressfrozentoes5285]

the A2 sofia pervading my BD step up rolls was waiting for this very day

[@Over-mh3wr]

So many of you dropping Varkyn cup guides. Makes me really wonder if it and a certain hyped up character are really coming next update. Because since Glossom dropped on October 5th, I was wondering if they would drop Varkyn next update on the 2nd right right as the collab ends or the week after on the 9th.

[@silverroxas358]

ITS SOFIAS TIME

[@kitakkful]

I’ve found it’s not entirely true that the Wisp’s weakness is hidden. If you hit/analyze the Wisp’s weakness, you’ll always see that weakness when it comes up again. Allows more use of random target skills from Sophia, etc.

[@homazoid]

Finished that bastard after several tries - all thanks to Your guide! *handshake*

[@allyrose9494]

Considering Varkyn is weak to ice and the next two arena champions (from what I heard) are weak to fire, Cyrus is probably gonna be coming soon so time for me to go into hardcore saving mode. Edit, also this may be a dumb idea, but if he doesn’t drop/I don’t get Cyrus, I’m tempted to bring Therese along to bonk the add with the tome weakness as well as for analyse to know what the wisp is weak to. Is it dumb, yeah, but if I have a free slot I might just try it-

[@moldyshishkabob]

Meanwhile me not having done the Glossom cup yet lol If Cyrus is coming on Wednesday, I'll be glad I saved all my rubies during the Bravely Collab! Though I'm so glad I got Fiore and Edea from the free Edea pull...

[@giogio6965]

My A4 Fiore, A2 Sofia, A1 Edea, and A3 Sigrid are ready👌

[@ChrisZ901]

My 6k rubies are ready for Cyrus. Can't wait. By the way, any guess on when A4 for 4 stars will become available and what the A4 upgrade will give

[@tollnag]

Very Informative video, thanks for your effort, for my part I don't think we'll get Cyrus that quickly. We'll also get the Cait Exp Chase event week on November 2nd, but I'm happy to be surprised. But I have a few questions about Varkyn himself. He is a Light AoE Scholar what an odd combination But ist a 5 star hero so better save than sorry. But how good is he at all and what can he do? That's missing in the video, I will Put in my team, Stead, Edea, Hannit, Cardona, Helga as attackers. Ramona as a healer with Stead as an emergency healer as well as Novelle and Viola as debuffers.

[@ShizukatzCotC]

Varkyn Overview going over how good he is as a playable charsacter will be out later this week :) Short version: Very good Light caster, even if you already have Odette. Both of them can combine Light Def Down debuffs to let both of them deal lots of damage :)

[@tollnag]

@@ShizukatzCotC Thank you for the reply, since. I don't have Odette But he would be a great scholar for covering Light Up. I'm looking forward to the video about it.

[@gb213]

would kersjes be any good? 3 hit single target ice, plus an ice nuke which lower eatk, i think is a great fit against varkyn, his 3rd skill could be a bow nuke to level the adds early in the fight.

[@gb213]

update: i just beat him and kersjes does help a lot, his ice multi hit and ice arrow works nicely against him.

[@DahRahzor]

I still need to manage defeating the previous two arena characters, but at least rubies can be got just by qualifying for the boss battle

[@dt5622]

I will come back for this fight in 2025

[@Robert256]

4:52 do I understand correctly: that after *every* turn all ally buffs get dispelled by the wisp? Meaning, Theo is rendered basically useless? Follow up question, if you kill the wisp, will it get resummoned? Thanks!

[@ShizukatzCotC]

That is correct, the buffs get dispelled every turn. The wisp cannot be killed, it takes basically no damage. If Varkyn get's KO'd, the wisp will remove itself :)

[@michaelguidi9205]

Great video!!!

[@AlvinAdrianto]

who would you recommend to swap sofia and cardona with? I have the rest. And yes hopefully cyrus arrive

[@nicholasdalberto8174]

Is it worth pulling Cyrus if I only have 1400 rubies? Is there anyone I should save up for that might eventually be better?

[@bryanjensen3647]

No mention of Stead? Wouldn't he be the second best healer?

[@ShizukatzCotC]

I would put Stead after the Clerics mentioned due to lack of MDef buffs. They're very helpful in having a safe early game when all three enemies are active.

[@luizpedropeixoto2707]

I have a fair doubt. Where can i fight Tikilen again? I fought one time after defeated her and i can't find it anymore.

[@ShizukatzCotC]

The refight can be found in the Memoirs! :)

[@tlk777]

wouldnt cyrus be unusable in 2nd phase because ice aoe?

[@16SF]

Nope. He also has a juicy single target nuke attack for each of the 3 elements. Just change his role from shield breaker to nuker and you're good.

[@tlk777]

@@16SF ah it totally says that in the video too upon second viewing. My bad

[@andymci3246]

It's kinda unbelievable (and kinda ridiculous) but somehow have most of those mvp and support units! ( 4.5 class up hunts have been going good). have a chance... tho whenever i win in arena i go on and get totally wiped by the travellers tale boss

[@Narematto]

I don’t understand what should we do about the light spirit ? What should be our behavior. If I understand correctly we shouldn’t attack it ?

[@markus3840]

"If you attack its weakness, it'll counter" I understood. Its basically against buffs and multi hit random attacks in a 1/3 chance of countering. I wouldn't dare to challenge my luck but unless you dont hit the weakness I guess its alright. Somebody correct me if im wrong

[@ShizukatzCotC]

I would avoid attacking it at all costs. It's unkillable (takes basically no damage) so it cannot be removed, just ignore it and focus on killing Varkyn as fast as possible. Once Varkyn is KO'd, the wisp will kill itself.

[@SephirothTwitch]

So Cyrus will be the same as Sofia? Ice + Tome? Not worth imo

[@FinixPwns]

cyrus is fire lightning and ice. very worth it

[@floodj3230]

Did you mention Eliza? I feel like she would do well here with her sword atks, backup heal and her ability to boost the magic damage of a caster?

[@ShizukatzCotC]

The main reason I decided to exclude Eliza over some of the other characters I showed in the video is because they do what Eliza does but better. While she is a Sword character, Edea and Kouren are better for damage purposes, and even Sigrid and Trish are better for multi-hitting. Even though she's a healer, she doesn't offer additional defensive utility that other healers like Millard, Ramona, and Hasumi all offer. She just doesn't do enough for entry-level Varkyn comps. Later on down the line when people are much stronger, you can start forgoing backup DPS units altogether to maximize DPS and kill speed, and THEN Eliza becomes a good unit to bring, but even then probably only for her backline passive to boost damage on units like Sofia or Cyrus.

[@floodj3230]

@@ShizukatzCotC Thank you for sharing your thoughts behind it. As always I appreciate your content. Cheers!

[@nathankoontz7529]

How does Lionel fare in this fight?

[@ShizukatzCotC]

Lionel is pretty good for this fight. With access to 3-hit Sword and 3-hit Ice he can hit whichever enemy he pleases, and since they are both single-target (rather than random-target) he has no problems with accidentally hitting the wisp and proccing its counter.

[@Esalok]

i made some tries to see what I can do and man I surrender. It's not that I could not try and find a way to do it, but every time something goes wrong I have to sit there for 4 turns or more for him to finish me of. It's stupid we can't flee, I just don't have the pacience to spend most of my time sitting there hitting attack til I¡m dead. But then again, AFTER you have beat him, you can flee in the rematches. Nonsense

[@mariosonic32497]

So is it possible to kill the wisp and would thief shield crack skills proc the wisps counter?

[@ShizukatzCotC]

It is not possible to kill the wisp, but Shield Crack skills will not proc the Wisp counter, since they are not striking a weakness :)

[@Narematto]

If we have viola why should we have noelle and Ramona knowing their skills are more weak it will be better to have other units like aslyte or heatcoth

[@ShizukatzCotC]

Having a lot of Mag Down debuff and MDef Up buff is very important for this fight, as the enemies can do a LOT of magic damage. This is the main reason I chose not to include units like Aslyte or Heathcote who provide offensive utility but do nothing in terms of defense and helping the team stay alive.

[@Narematto]

@@ShizukatzCotC oh ok

[@karubinko]

I think you might have forgotten to mention Eliza?

[@empressfrozentoes5285]

eliza has marginally worse sword options than kouren, edea, and fiore, so I see why she was skipped over. she could definitely work in the fight, but she's just not as useful as the other warriors mentioned

[@phuocnguyenhoangthien2307]

Believe me, for light weakness, she's great, but for sword weakness, better use Sirid, Fiore or other warrior

[@karubinko]

She has a niche of healing also though, just thought it was weird that she isn't mentioned when healing is needed and 2 sword weaknesses + 1 light weakness is in the cup. Granted she's not the best at any of them

[@ShizukatzCotC]

The main reason I decided to exclude Eliza over some of the other characters I showed in the video is because they do what Eliza does but better. While she is a Sword character, Edea and Kouren are better for damage purposes, and even Sigrid and Trish are better for multi-hitting. Even though she's a healer, she doesn't offer additional defensive utility that other healers like Millard, Ramona, and Hasumi all offer. She just doesn't do enough for entry-level Varkyn comps. Later on down the line when people are much stronger, you can start forgoing backup attackers altogether to maximize DPS and kill speed, and THEN Eliza becomes a good unit to bring, but even then probably only for her backline passive to boost damage on units like Sofia or Cyrus.

[@empressfrozentoes5285]

@@ShizukatzCotC this is what I thought and its why i had kouren and edea at the top of my secondary warriors list before eliza; on the surface it just seemed like she'd be constantly hopping between sub par breaking or sub par healing and I have great units to fill both of those. thanks for the reply 👌

[@marcea01]

I get stuck in the step 4 of Agnès banner, but I only have 10 Rubíes 😭

[@TheZetamx]

How did Viola have 4k in health with only A1?

[@ShizukatzCotC]

Oh, I might've taken that screenshot with JP equipment. lol Lategame weapons that sacrifice all offense in exchange for more HP can do that.

[@1SecondToLight]

Hm, so considering I have Fiore, Sofia, Kouren, Viola, Cardona, Haanit, Scarecrow, Millard, Hasumi, Theo and Lynette, who would be the best 3 options to leave out from this fight? Probably 2 bow users are bit excessive, and it is either Hasumi or Theo (regen or full heal), and the last one I am not sure even about.

[@zenkichihitoyoshi9513]

Legit gonna skip Varkyn if Cyrus doesn't show up. My entire team Comp revolves around him as the DPS just like Odette was the tiki slayer.

[@driesverhaag8955]

I'm fine, my heartbeat isn't at 200 right now, I'm not getting my hopes up... But could he? This is day 88 of playing COTC without Cyrus...

[@xmatelianx]

We don't have a free Agnes sadly 😞

[@akinamori1615]

Ha'anit: "So you want Bow, Sword, or Spear weakness?"