How to Attack From the Back Row in Octopath Traveler 0

Octopath Traveler 0 is full of mysteries, secrets, and dangers that you will need to solve and overcome. If you want to rebuild Wishvale, you will need all the help you can get, and this comes in the form of multiple playable characters who can join your party in this modern JRPG.

Combat is interesting, as you can have up to eight characters on your team at one time, with four of them occupying the front row and four occupying the back row.

How do you attack from the back row? What is its purpose? Let's break down everything you need to know about the back row and switch combat order in Octopath Traveler 0.

Can you Attack From the Back Row?

No. In Octopath Traveler 0, you cannot have your characters attack from the back row, as they are not actively in the battle while they are standing in the back. If you want them to participate, you will need to move them to the front row.

While in the menu, you can tell which of your characters are currently in the back row and which ones are in the front row. If you don't have your entire back row filled, only some of the front row characters will have a companion behind them in battle.

How to Attack With Back Row Characters

If you wish to attack using a character who is in the back row of your party, you can do so by pressing the prompt that appears at the bottom of your screen. This prompt, which is ZR on Switch 2, only appears when you are actively using a character who has someone behind them in battle.

In the image above, I have a character behind Alexia in battle, meaning I can actively switch between them whenever it is Alexia's turn. Pressing the prompted button will allow me to switch which of these characters is currently active, allowing me to move the back row character to the front and vice versa.

Moving your characters during battle can help you exploit enemy weaknesses and save allies from attacks. For instance, if Alexia is low on health, I can switch to the back row character to give her some time to heal and stay safe from incoming attacks.

I recommend having characters in the back row that act differently from your front row characters. For instance, if you have a strong warrior in the front row, it is good to have a magic user in the back row who can handle elemental weaknesses.

How to Change Party Formation

As you meet the different party members in Octopath Traveler 0, they will automatically be added to your party until it is full, but you can switch the formation of your party at any time.

To do this, open the menu. From here, you will see a prompt for party formation in the bottom right corner of the screen. On Switch 2, this button is Y.

When you follow this prompt, you will open the party formation menu, allowing you to move your party members around. You can do this to change who is behind whom in battle, and to move characters from the front row to the back row.