Octopath Traveler 0: How to attack from the back row

Diverging from the previous two mainline games, Octopath Traveler 0 expands to an 8-person party system in combat, with four pairs of two characters, one in the front row, and one in the rear. At any time during that pair's turn, the characters are able to swap places freely, with the back row being typically safer and allowing that character to rest at the expense of being able to attack. However, some Action Skills, such as "Reckless Strike Mastery" or "Windblast Mastery," state that they gain some benefit if attacking from the back row. So how exactly does that work?

Here's the thing, it doesn't. You actually can't attack or use skills from the back row, which makes skills that mention it a bit confusing. How these work should read something along the lines of "more potent if starting their turn from the back row" instead. So that's the trick to getting these bonuses, they are earned if the character using them started out the turn from the back row, swapped into the front, and then uses the skill.

This little clarification should help you take full advantage of those skills, and take full advantage of what this new battle system has to offer. Check out all of our other guides for Octopath Traveler 0 we have, including where to find all the Battle-Tested gear or all the Path Action spots!  Or if you just want to know what we thought of this latest tale to Orsterra, check out our review.