Character Recruitment w/ Reference Card

How to recruit all eleven optional party members, including a spoiler-free reference card.

About

To commemorate the announcement of Star Ocean: The Second Story R, I created a one-page reference card to remind myself of all of the party recruitment paths.

The card is written in a deliberately vague way, only indicating the time, location and a clue on what to do to recruit them, as well as indicating exclusivity.

The remainder of the guide is written with some more clear instructions, ordered chronologically.

In SO2R, fewer actions are required to begin the recruitment process. Essentially, some of the Private Actions are no longer Private Actions, and trigger automatically when you walk in the area.

Otherwise, recruitment steps are believed to be identical to the original PS1 game and the 1st remake on PSP.

※ Corrections will be made as I continue further in SO2R and confirm differences.

v1.2: Fixed the window info for several chars.
v1.3: Added and corrected precise cutoff times.

Conditions

There are generally two conditions to recruit a character: Doing some personal actions, and window of opportunity. The windows are probably a bit more open than actually written here, but it's easier to remember it around major story events for the sake of convenience.

Reference Card

Claude & Rena

After running into each other several times, the main characters will commit to travelling together after meeting Allen and leaving the starting village.

• No actions are required, as both are important to the main story.

Celine

You will always run into Celine in Cross/Krosse as she appears in the main plaza on your way out during the main story.

1. She will join as a guest when you accept her side-quest.
   
2. Upon completion, she will ask to join permanently.

‡ On a Claude game, she will rejoin as a guest later, but this is not a second chance to recruit her.

Opera & Ashton

Both of these characters require some backtracking in the world after you arrive at Herlie/Harley, and are mutually exclusive. If you recruit one, the other person's quest will fail automatically.

Ashton is lost when you enter Lacour/Lacuer for the first time.
Opera is lost when you enter Lacuer after completing Linga.

Opera

When walking up to the castle in Krosse, a strange man will run past you. In previous versions, this was a Private Action, but is now an unmissable scene during the main story.

1. After finishing Lacour, return to Hilton and meet her in the pub.
   
2. Backtrack to the castle in Krosse and ask the king about her.
   
3. Follow the king's clues to find her in the mountains.

‡ After recruiting her, you should consider backtracking to Arlia to continue her story.

Ashton

1. When entering Harley for the main story, there is someone at the entrance talking about Salva.
   
2. Backtrack to the Salva Mines and find him there.

‡ If you have entered Lacuer, they will still talk about Salva but the side-quest is already lost.

Welch

This character was only added in the 1st remake, Second Evolution.

1. Have at least 4 people in your party (ie. recruit two other people)
   
2. After completing the main story events of Lacuer, re-enter the city as a Private Action and simply head towards the castle.

Getting Welch early (ie. immediately after finishing Lacuer) requires you to get the hidden characters, Ashton, Opera, and/or Precis.

If you don't do this and only get the main story offers (Celine & Bowman), the Welch PA will be temporarily locked, since Lacuer is in a cutscene state after recruiting Bowman from Linga. Finish the scenes for the second Lacuer visit and simply walk out to the world map and go back in.

However, this is your last chance to get her, as Welch is lost when you finish Hoffman.

Precis & Bowman

These two characters are mutually exclusive. If you recruit one, the other will simply never ask.

Precis is lost when you enter Lacuer after completing Linga.
Bowman is offered during the main story.

Precis

1. After entering Linga, you will run into her in a short event.
   
2. IMMEDIATELY LEAVE TOWN and re-enter as a Private Action.
   
3. As Claude, go to Bowman's House. As Rena, go to Precis' House. She will ask to join.

Precis is available early if you skip the city and visit Linga before the main story tells you to, and she has dialogue in Lacuer. She is also available for longer than expected, but this is the most common time to get her.

Bowman

1. Bowman will ask to join you permanently when you complete Linga.

If you refuse Bowman, there is still a small window to get Precis.

Ernest

You must have Opera in your party.

Ernest is lost if you don't complete his conditions before passing a main story event.

1. Right after recruiting Opera, you should conveniently be near Arlia.
   ‡ Completing the mountains is optional, but there is an extra scene there.
   
2. Enter Arlia and go into the forest, to learn Opera's history. This is not a Private Action.
   
3. Continue the main story as per normal.
   
4. On the way out of Hoffman after completing the area, you will run into Ernest.

If you reject Ernest during the offer, Opera will also leave. You can prevent this by avoiding the Arlia event so he would never appear.

Leon & Dias

These two members are mutually exclusive to your starting character.

• Leon is only available in Claude's playthrough.
  
• Dias is only available in Rena's playthrough.

Both characters are offered during the main story.

Leon

Leon will join as a guest member for the main story in Hoffman.

1. After completing the Hoffman area, Leon will leave and you will go to the 'Frontlines'.
   
2. After finishing that area and seeing the events, Leon will be in the area after that, 'Eluria'.
   
3. Continue the story and you are given a choice to keep him with you.

Dias

Dias will join as a guest member for the main story in Marze and leaves several times.

1. After completing the Hoffman area, Dias will appear in the next main story area, the 'Frontlines'.
   
2. You will run into him as part of the main story, and given a choice to ask him to join.

Noel & Chisato

These characters are not mutually exclusive. However, it is very common to have a party of 7 at this point, so it is a very common misconception.

With the addition of Welch from the 1st remake, it is also possible to have a full party, blocking both.

The opportunity for both is lost when you complete the 'Red/Crimson Caves'.

Noel

Noel will join as a guest member for the main story in the Red Caves.

1. After completing the caves, Noel will ask to join.

Chisato

1. In Central City/Centropolis, there is a side area where you will spot Chisato and she will run away. This is not a Private Action.
   
2. When you are doing the Red Caves, find Chisato again. She will run away and drop something.
   
3. Pick it up.
   
4. Go back to her office in the city and return it to her. She will ask to join.

Extra Note: Philia & Post-Game

The non-party member Philia has a series of event triggers that is as convoluted as a party member. However, instead of recruiting a party member, this raises the power level of the final boss.

As a general rule, your party should be around 100 levels higher than it was when fighting the final boss normally. (You read that right, 100 levels higher, not level 100. The level cap is 255.)

1. Enter Clik/Kurik as a Private Action to meet her for the first time.
   ‡ The window for this is very small. Do not interact with any story NPCs in Kurik before this.
   
2. After saving at the final save point, backtrack to Central City.
   ‡ In SO2R, you need to beat the game and reload the clear save at the final point, instead.
   
3. Enter Central City as a Private Action to meet her again.

The Cave of Trials / Maze of Tribulations

The final save/clear save is also the condition for the bonus dungeon.

To access the bonus dungeon, return to the Fun colosseum and find a man who will teleport you back to the planet. Then, fly to the one marked map location you haven't been to yet.

References

As a 25-year old game, the basic notes were written by referencing guides from GameFAQs. The reference card and SO2R research is my own effort.

St.Evan Lee Yonny (1999), "How to get characters", accessed Sunday, November 5, 2023, https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/198763-star-ocean-the-second-story/faqs/4627

Greg Boccia (2012), FAQ/Walkthrough, accessed Sunday, November 5, 2023, https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/psp/939440-star-ocean-second-evolution/faqs/55635

A I e x (2006), Guide and Walkthrough, accessed Sunday, November 11, 2023, https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/198763-star-ocean-the-second-story/faqs/43189

Legal / Contact

This Steam Guide was created by Eiri Sanada.

To contact me, you can leave a comment below or refer to my Linktree.[linktr.ee]

For more of my material, you can visit my Website.[eirifu.wordpress.com]
This guide is also available there. (link)[eirifu.wordpress.com]

[Chad "The King" ThunderCuck]

"psp only" um....no, welch is in this version too.

[frUtcAk]

I READ SOMEWHERE THAT YOU COULDN'T MISS PARTY MEMBERS SO I MISSED LIKE EVERYONE KJGUIKJHMUSEGDHBF :(

[Fushikio]

Thank you for this. I haven't finished the game but once in 20+ years so my info is from 2001.

Great Guide. I am on my Claude ng+ playthrough and I will definitely go get Precis early now.


I vaguely remembered having her for the whole tournament but couldnt remember why.


Arigato gozaimas!

[Hitoshura]

Here's my ideal - only the strongest team members - party (Rena side):
1- Rena (auto)
2- Claude (auto)
X1 - Skip Celine
3 - Precis (Linga ASAP), Bowman is out
4 - Opera (after Lacour), Ashton is out
5 - Welch (after Opera) - Keep her for crafting until endgame
6 - Ernerst (Do his trigger conditions)
7 - Dias (Story)
X2 - Skip Noel
8 - Chisato (Do her trigger conditions)

Here's the - use all characters and optimize their interactions - party:
(Claude Side)
1 - Claude
2 - Rena
3 - Opera
4 - Bowman
5 - Ernest
6 - Leon
7 - Noel
8 - [Chisato or Welch]

(Rena Side)
1 - Rena
2 - Claude
3 - Celine
4 - Ashton
5 - Precis
6 - Welch
7 - Dias
8 - Chisato

Ashton teaches Precis Holo Holograph on a PA;
Precis teaches Welch Mithril Fist on a PA;
Both Ashton and Celine can only have their respective secret endings on Rena's Side;
There are lots of interactions between Opera and Claude on Claude's side.

[RandomHero]

Started playing this without doing much research, owned it on ps1 and beat it a couple times and accidentally recruited Welch trying to do all the PA's in the game lol

[EYE-FOUR]

you also have to find chisato in north city before the crimson caves, otherwise she won't appear there

[dschepler]

Thanks. I found out on my own (had forgotten it from the first time through) that Ashton automatically joins after you go through the Mountain Palace etc. quests. Luckily I kept a save file from just before the mines. And I also found that he forces his way in if you go back after seeing his "catastrophe" and refusing responsibility, and also autojoins after the quests in that case.

[Mandy]

@dschepler from my understanding you can turn Ashton down, but if you do and return back, he'll force his way onto the party. As long as you don't return before getting Opera, it should be fine. As an aside, I ended up doing the Ashton side quest, saved right before reaching the end of the mines, saw and recruited Ashton...and then just reloaded my save and left the mine. I returned once I got Opera and was able to get the two treasure chests. I was also able to fight the boss on the mountain in Krosse for some odd reason right before the mid point of no return. I was under the impression it was Ashton exclusive...but I guess not

[dschepler]

If I want to recruit Opera, can I still do Ashton's side quest and then turn him down at the end? Or do I need to avoid that altogether?

[éiri ★ えいり]

Thanks for the info. Having her disappear temporarily makes sense since Lacuer is in a lockdown state at that point. I have updated Welch, as well as Opera and Precis's cutoffs, and some other improvements. Also, I'm annoyed at how I confirmed it in only an hour by skipping all scenes and playing on Earth difficulty.....