In Octopath Traveler 0, Auguste the Playwright is arguably the toughest of the three main antagonist boss fights between Wealth, Fame, and Power. Not only does he have two phases that don’t autosave if you reach the second phase (I learned this the hard way), but he has an ability that can cause a death countdown on your party members.
Even if you’re at the correct level for this boss fight, you can easily fumble it in the second phase if you aren’t using the right party members who can exploit his weaknesses. We’ll help you figure out how to beat Auguste once and for all in Octopath Traveler 0.
How to defeat August the Playwright in Octopath Traveler 0
Auguste has two phases. Here’s how to tackle each of them.
Phase 1
During the first phase of the Auguste fight, he has 13 shields that you can break by exploiting his weaknesses of Sword, Polearm, Axe, Ice, and Dark attacks. Celsus is great for those Sword attacks, as he can also increase his speed to help destroy shields faster. Alexia is another great character to use as she deals Dark damage, but I typically used her when his shields went down, and she could deal more damage.
One tricky thing about this phase is that Auguste will use a move called Fatal Sentence that puts a 6-turn countdown on a character that will kill them when it reaches zero. The good news is that you can easily break his shields within 6 turns, which causes the timer to disappear.
Phase 2
Phase 1 isn’t exactly the issue with this boss. It’s when he gets to phase 2 that you need to lock in. Auguste will turn into the Prince of Thieves, a grotesque monster who can also spawn a Ruinous Rancor that makes a deadly zone appear, which in turn causes Fatal Sentence.
Luckily, Ruinous Rancor is quite weak, so I recommend you focus your attacks on killing it first, which in turn gets rid of the deadly zone. The Ruinous Rancor is weak to Sword, Axe, Staff, Ice, and Dark attacks.
Meanwhile, Auguste will swap weaknesses every time you break his shields, and he recovers them. Not only that, but he gains even more shields each time he recovers. At the start, his weaknesses are the same as before: Sword, Polearm, Axe, Ice, and Dark attacks. When he switches weaknesses, they change completely, making it difficult to follow.
The best way to not fall behind during this part is by testing all new weaknesses that are different from his previous ones. You can also use the Analyze ability that Alexia has, which can reveal any of his new weaknesses.
Before going into this fight, you should stock up on healing items that can cure poison, as Auguste uses Noxious Breath to poison your party members. If you can, you should also use healing items or equipment that cure or prevent getting silenced, as he has another move that can silence your party members, preventing them from casting any skills.
You should also prioritize breaking his shields before he can perform his most deadly attack. When you see him ready up for a powerful attack, that’s when you know you have to break his shields to stop this attack that can wipe out your party. If he has too many, the best you can do is defend and boost your front row’s physical defense.
Those are all the tips that you need to know for taking down Auguste the Playwright! In the meantime, you may be interested in learning about some tips and tricks for beginner Octopath Traveler 0 players.
