Specialties

Master Specialties in Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. Use these non-combat abilities to improve resource gathering and item crafting.

Specialties in Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness are unique, non-combat abilities that provide various benefits, from gathering resources more efficiently to crafting powerful items. Mastering these can significantly enhance your gameplay experience, offering strategic advantages both in and out of battle. Each specialty can be leveled up by repeatedly using it or by consuming specific items, unlocking new recipes, improving success rates, and reducing resource costs.

Unlocking Specialties

Most specialties are unlocked by finding specific books or by progressing through the main story. Keep an eye out for glowing items on the ground and interact with NPCs, as they often hold the key to new abilities.

Initial Specialty Acquisition

• Harvesting: Automatically unlocked early in the game. Allows you to gather materials from glowing nodes in the environment.
• Mining: Automatically unlocked early in the game. Essential for obtaining ores and gems from mineral deposits.
• Scouting: Unlocked after recruiting Miki. This specialty helps locate hidden items and enemies on the map.
• Alchemy: Find the "Alchemy Handbook" in the Resulian Plains, near the entrance to Myiddok. This allows you to transmute materials into other forms.
• Crafting: Obtain the "Crafting Manual" from a chest in the Northern Territory of Central Resulia. Enables the creation of weapons and armor.
• Cooking: Purchase the "Chef's Guide" from the item shop in Myiddok for 500 Fol. Allows you to prepare food items that grant various buffs.
• Compounding: Acquire the "Compounding Compendium" from a chest in the Santeroule area. This specialty is crucial for mixing ingredients to create healing and support items.
• Smithery: The "Blacksmith's Tome" can be found in a hidden area within the Trei'kour Dungeon. This specialty focuses on improving weapon and armor stats.

Leveling Up Specialties

Each specialty has a level cap, typically reaching up to Level 10. Higher levels improve efficiency, unlock advanced recipes, and increase success rates for crafting-related specialties. To level up:

• Repeated Use: Simply use the specialty as often as possible. For example, harvest every glowing plant you see to level up Harvesting, or craft multiple items to level up Crafting.
• Specialty Books: Certain rare books, such as the "Master Chef's Secret" for Cooking or "Advanced Alchemy" for Alchemy, can instantly grant a level or a significant amount of experience to a specialty. These are often found in late-game dungeons or as rewards for specific quests.
• Character Skills: Some characters have passive skills that boost the experience gained for certain specialties when they are in the active party. Pay attention to character roles and assign them accordingly if you're focusing on leveling a particular specialty.

Key Specialties and Their Uses

Harvesting & Mining

These are your primary resource gathering specialties. Maxing them out early is highly recommended to ensure a steady supply of crafting materials.

• Strategy: Always gather from every node you encounter. Even common materials are useful for early-game crafting and leveling.
• Key Items: Look for "Harvesting Gloves" or "Mining Pickaxes" as accessory drops or shop purchases. These can increase the quantity of items gathered or improve rare item drop rates.
• Locations: Early game, the Resulian Plains and Myiddok Region are rich in basic materials. Later, the Northern Territory of Central Resulia and the Trei'kour Dungeon offer more valuable resources.

Crafting & Compounding

These are your core item creation specialties. Crafting focuses on equipment, while Compounding handles consumables.

• Crafting Strategy:
  1. Early Game: Focus on crafting basic weapons and armor for your party to save Fol. Prioritize items that use commonly found materials like Iron, Copper, and Animal Hides.
  2. Mid Game: Experiment with different material combinations. Higher-quality materials like Silver and Electrum will unlock better equipment. craft accessories, as they can provide crucial stat boosts.
  3. Late Game: Aim for unique equipment with desirable factors (stat bonuses). You'll need rare materials like Orichalcum and Moonstone, often found in challenging dungeons or dropped by powerful enemies.
• Compounding Strategy:
  1. Healing Items: Always keep a stock of Blackberries, Blueberries, and Raspberries. Compounding these into more potent healing items like Fresh Sage or Aquaberries is cost-effective.
  2. Buff Items: Create items like Attack Seeds or Defense Seeds to gain an edge in tough boss battles.
  3. Status Cures: Antidotes, Eye Drops, and other status-curing items are vital. Compound them regularly to avoid being caught off guard.
• Key Items: For Crafting, look for "Artisan's Hammer" or "Master Smith's Anvil" accessories. For Compounding, "Alchemist's Flask" or "Herbalist's Mortar" can improve success rates.

Alchemy & Smithery

These advanced specialties allow for material transformation and equipment enhancement, respectively.

• Alchemy Strategy:
  1. Material Conversion: Use Alchemy to convert common materials into rarer ones, or to create specific elements needed for other crafting recipes. For example, you can often transmute lower-tier ores into higher-tier ones.
  2. Gem Creation: Alchemy is essential for creating powerful gems that can be used in Smithery to add factors to equipment.
• Smithery Strategy:
  1. Factor Transfer: Smithery allows you to transfer "factors" (special properties) from one piece of equipment to another. This is crucial for customizing your gear and creating truly powerful items. For example, you can take a weapon with "+10% ATK" and transfer that factor to your preferred weapon.
  2. Equipment Enhancement: Use Smithery to enhance existing equipment, increasing its base stats. This requires specific ores and can be costly, but the stat gains are significant.
• Important Note: Both Alchemy and Smithery become incredibly powerful in the late game and post-game for optimizing your party's equipment. Don't neglect them!

Cooking

Cooking provides temporary stat buffs and healing, making it invaluable for exploration and boss fights.

• Strategy:
  1. Pre-Battle Buffs: Before a major boss fight, cook dishes that boost ATK, DEF, INT, or reduce MP consumption. "Perfect Berry Gratin" for ATK/INT or "Hearty Stew" for HP/DEF are excellent choices.
  2. Exploration Sustenance: Cook dishes that restore HP/MP over time or provide minor stat boosts for extended dungeon crawls. "Traveler's Ration" is a good all-around option.
• Ingredients: Ingredients are found through Harvesting, enemy drops, or purchased from shops. Always keep a diverse stock.

Scouting

Scouting helps you uncover hidden treasures and identify enemy weaknesses.

• Strategy:
  1. Hidden Items: Regularly use Scouting in new areas to reveal hidden chests or gathering points that are not visible normally.
  2. Enemy Intel: Scouting can reveal enemy stats and weaknesses, allowing you to tailor your party's attacks for maximum efficiency.
• Important Note: While not directly tied to crafting, the items found through Scouting can often be valuable crafting materials or rare equipment.