Star Ocean: The Second Story R

By asm3a November 15, 2023

Thanks to Specialties in Star Ocean: The Second Story R, the party can level up fast; here’s how it’s done.

Star Ocean The Second Story Opera leveling up fast

Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a traditional JRPG with an action-based combat system that set it apart from its rivals in the 1990s and early 2000s, like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. The series is similar to the Tales games as several developers that worked on Tales of Phantasia left to form tri-Ace to work on the Star Ocean games.

However, its customization and role-playing elements in Star Ocean are more flexible, allowing players to build the characters they want and even manipulate the speed at which they level up. The same is true for Star Ocean: The Second Story R, and this guide will show players the best methods to level up fast.

IC/Specaties To Level Up Fast In Star Ocean: The Second Story R

The path to leveling up early in Star Ocean: The Second Story R is improving the party’s IC/Specialties. Use the following steps to improve the correct skills to level up fast in Star Ocean: The Second Story R:

Increase EXP Skills

Press the Camp menu button with the triangle on the PlayStation or X on the Switch.
Select Improve.
Increase Determination. This lowers the amount of SP needed for each skill.
After leveling up the Determination skill, increase Effort to contribute to the Train specialty and lower the EXP needed to level up.
Increase Resilience to raise DEF and increase the Train specialty.
Increase the Train specialty to level 4 and above for all party members.

Increase Scouting Skills

Press the Camp Menu.
Highlight and select Improve.
Increase Scouting to raise the Danger Radar skill.
Level Scouting up to 4.

Activate The Train IC/Specialty

Press the Camp menu button.
Highlight and select IC/Specialty.
Press the R1 button on the PlayStation or the R button on the Switch to navigate to the Specialty menu.
Highlight and select Train.

Star Ocean The Second Story increasing EXP with Train

Select Turn All On to lower the party’s attributes – ATK, DEF, and INT – but increase the amount of EXP gained after every fight. The higher the level of the Train specialty, the higher the percentage of EXP added.
Players can lower the battle difficulty of Star Ocean: The Second Story R without compromising trophies or any gameplay elements.

Activate The Scouting Specialty

Press the Camp Menu button.
Highlight IC/Specialty.
Select Scouting.

Star Ocean The Second Story - the Scouting skill to increase or decrease enemies

Have the lead party member Look for enemies.
This will increase the number of enemies encountered on the field and in dungeons.

Activate The Bodyguard Super Specialty

Ensure that at least two party members have their Scouting specialty at level 4 and at least one member has the Train specialty at level 1.
In the Camp menu, highlight and select IC/Specialty.
Press the R1/R to open the Super Specialty menu.

Star Ocean The Second Story - switching on the Bodyguard specialty

Select Bodyguard and switch it on.
This specialty allows party members to kill monsters before the fight starts to earn FOL, SP, BP, and EXP.
However, in tight spaces – like the Salva Mines – monsters can sneak up on the party.

Activating the above specialties and skills in Star Ocean: The Second R will rapidly increase the rate at the party increases level. These methods are particularly beneficial when a new party member like Precis joins at a lower level than the rest of the team.