Best Characters to Recruit in Star Ocean The Second Story R

With almost a dozen recruitable characters in Star Ocean The Second Story R and limited slots, players are advised to meticulously craft their party before each playthrough. Here are Star Ocean The Second Story R’s best characters to recruit.

The Best Characters in Star Ocean The Second Story R

If you plan on having only the strongest in your party, you better start making some hard choices right from the beginning. These are some of the best options you can find throughout the game.

Opera

Recruitable quite early into the game, Opera is more than a mere decent unit for the long run. With access to ranged attacking tools paired with some melee potential, she’s one of the most devastating units to have and can make a huge difference in your team. She even gets some healing arts later, so you can even slot Rena out for more damage if you feel like it.

One of her downsides is having to dismiss the also powerful Ashton, who’s a powerhouse by himself too—that and being slightly more fragile than most characters. But you possibly can’t go wrong with her, and she even enables recruiting Ernest if you’re interested in him.

Chisato

Since she’s literally the last character to be unlocked, we thought it would be nice to mention her early so you can start considering her. And you definitely should, as she’s one of the best melee fighters in the game. Second Story R makes her even better with more accessory options that make up for her fragility.

With a wide range of multi-hitting skills, she’s great for wiping the field out of enemies quickly. You should definitely keep a slot for her as she’s one of the strongest characters available by far. Earlier portions when you can’t get her should still be a breeze if you’ve not been neglecting your other characters.

Celine

Celine’s the very first character you can recruit, and this updated version of the game made her even better with the changes made to combat. There’s no delay for spells to come out anymore, so she’s way more dynamic in combat than ever, and the overall rebalancing also did her some justice. She’s also available early, which is great.

The biggest advantage is how easier the early stages are with her by your side. She sets you up for success, and while Leon will doubtlessly out-damage her, she’s still the game’s second-strongest caster, and her utility buffs/debuffs can keep her always useful, even if only as an Assault assist.

Bowman

Often overshadowed by other characters, Bowman is still a menace by himself. His many Pellets attacks are quite helpful in many situations, and he does a nice job of being a frontline once you give him enough levels. He’s not a Chisato or Dias fighter, but he does a great job at breaking enemies back and forth.

His main downside is not being that great from the get-go, and even later, some of his stats are nothing impressive. He’s no true master of anything, but he does most of his jobs more than fairly well, so I’d say he’s worth a spot on your team.

Dias

You cannot list the strongest characters without mentioning this guy. This absolute beast of a unit is still considered by many to be Star Ocean The Second Story R’s best character for a good reason. His moves are almost like a direct upgrade to most of Claude’s, and his overall progress is also better.

There’s no way to go wrong with picking him whenever you’re in a Rena playthrough (as he’s exclusive to her), and he’s still arguably better than Claude’s exclusive character. But if you’re playing the blonde boy as the protagonist, you should still be fine even without him.

Leon

Just like Celine, Leon was greatly favored by the changes in Second Story R and is now even more powerful as a mage. His spells are even stronger and feel smoother to use, so he’s even more desirable for Claude (the only protagonist where you can get him). Even if you already have Celine in the damage department, he’s still superior.

The bad part is waiting a while until you get him for real, and he also takes a bit longer before going full online mode. But he’s even more unstoppable with the right setups, and you should pick him whenever you can.

Ashton

The second available character, Ashton, is immediately recruitable when you’re ready to leave for Lacuer. He’s one of Star Ocean The Second Story R’s best characters. And being available early also makes those portions easier on the protag duo (and Celine, if you got her). His moves are some of the best in the game, but it might take a while before you get to the point of actually using them.

He’s a late-game beast, but getting him means forfeiting Opera and Ernest. He’s definitely more offensive than the three-eyed woman so his gameplay might be more your thing. We personally prefer Opera, but you might give the dragon-boy a go for a change.

As it goes without saying, every character is viable and can tackle any content in the game, but you might find yourself having an easier time if you pick at least some of these. A few of them can’t be paired, of course, so choose wisely.

Who Should I Recruit First?

You should Recruit Opera first in Star Ocean The Second Story R. Opera is the best-ranged damage dealer in the game. On top of that, she comes with a godlike clutch-heal called Healing Star, which can turn the tables in some fights. Opera can also decimate flying enemies, which become a real hassle later on in the game. She’s who we beeline to recruit every time we this play this game.

We hope you enjoyed our guide on Star Ocean The Second Story R’s best characters. We can’t tell you enough to pick Welch at least once solely because of her PAs. Seriously, she’s totally worth a slot for that. Check out our review for the game as well!