Ophilia's story begins in Flamesgrace, in the appropriately-named Flamesgrace Cathedral. She'll speak to one of her friends, Lianna, for a short while, then be briefly turned over to your control. Head down the hallway and you'll automatically be sent to the chapel to speak with Archbishop Josef and learn some of the ancient history of Orsterra.
After the cut scene you'll immediately jump into another one as a Boy becomes separated from his mother. This will lead you into a brief discussion of Ophilia's special ability.
Guide
Ophilia's Path Action is Guide. As far as Path Actions go this one is pretty simple: Ophilia can guide citizens around. Use Guide on specific NPCs and they will follow Ophilia around. Guide can be used to complete quests, such as right now, but Guided characters can also be called into battle to help the party fight enemies. Each NPC has two actions that they will use whenever Ophilia completes her turn. The more powerful the NPC, the higher Ophilia's level must be before they'll join her. Followers can be dismissed at any time outside combat, and you can only have one Guided character at a time.
Choose to Guide the Boy. Take him outside the Cathedral, to the south, and head down the first set of stairs you see. The Mother is waiting, and will give Ophilia a bit of happy news - though it's quickly offset by the fact that the Archbishop has collapsed. Watch the scenes through until you regain control of Ophilia.
Go up the stairs on the west side of town and Ophilia will spot Lianna on a nearby hill. A sad cut scene will follow, and Ophilia will decide to help the Archbishop in Lianna's stead. Once this is done you can now explore Flamesgrace. Head south of the Cathedral and you'll enter the town. There are a few things to see:
- First off, many of the NPCs here - and in the Cathedral, for that matter - can be Guided by Ophilia. All of them can be useful in the battle to come. One in particular is the Townsperson 'hiding' on the right side of town, between two buildings. His Wisdom of the Church Skill is quite handy, as it buffs Ophilia.
- On the west side of town are the Provisioner and the Inn. No need for the Inn, but making some purchases from the Provisioner can't hurt. Unlike many characters in Octopath Traveler Ophilia can heal herself with her magic, though only if she has SP. You can either buy some Inspiriting Plums to keep her SP high or grab a bunch of Healing Grapes and just not use Ophilia's healing magic until you have a larger party. (Or you can get a mix of both.)
- Just south of the Tavern is the Armorer. If Ophilia is alone you might want to get her a few of the cheaper pieces of armor to upgrade her defenses for the trial ahead.
- This only applies to people coming here later, but the Merchant beside the Armory has a Peacebringer's Garb on him that you can Steal. This piece of equipment is great for this early point in the game, especially if you throw it on Ophilia.
When you're ready to go, head east. You'll find the Path to the Cave of Origin.
Path to the Cave of Origin
A wintery wonderland of beauty and danger, the Path to the Cave of Origin is Ophilia's first major trial. She's not exactly an offensive brute, so having Ophilia Guide someone here will make the trip much easier if she's coming through on her own. You'll fight the following monsters on the Path to the Cave of Origin:
- Ice Lizardman I - Weak to Axe, Staff, Fire, and Lightning. A melee fighter. Dark Stab kinda hurts...? Not a major threat. Whack it with Ophilia's staff.
- Ice Lizardman II - Weak to Axe, Staff, Fire, and Lightning. An upgraded version of the Ice Lizardman. Not much else to say.
- Ice Lizardman III - Weak to Staff, Lightning, and Dark. Similar to the other two, though this third variant has stronger melee Skills and can buff itself. A fair threat, and worth killing first.
- Snow Marmot - Weak to Bow, Staff, Lightning, and Dark. They typically just attack, and are no major threat. Stun them with Ophelia's staff and let her companion do the rest.
- Snow Fox - Weak to Bow, Fire, and Light. Pretty basic foe that occasionally uses ice magic. No major threat.
- Frost Fox - Weak to Bow, Fire, and Light. An upgraded Snow Fox that will use Ice Blast on the whole party. A little more dangerous, but not too bad.
- Wolf - Weak to Axe, Staff, Fire, and Lightning. A pretty standard canine. No huge threat here.
- High Wolf - Weak to Axe, Staff, and Fire. A more advanced version of the Wolf. Can use Horrific Claw to lock away a character's Boost ability for a while. Worth killing early.
- Frost Bear - Weak to Polearm, Axe, and Wind. A beefy, powerful enemy that you almost certainly won't see during this trip. Its Rampage attack can really hurt your party. Kill first if one does show up.
Follow the eastbound path until you see a small side path with a chest. The chest contains a Healing Grape. Continue the eastbound trek until the path veers north. On your right you'll see another chest, though this one is purple. You'll need a party member named Therion to open it. The chest contains 600 leaves.
Keep following the path and you will, shortly, come upon the Cave of Origin. There's a save point out front, as well as a chest containing an Herb of Clarity. There are also a pair of Knights Ardante, guarding the cave, and either one of them would make a great companion for Ophilia. The one on the right has the Prayer Skill, which provides extra healing to Ophilia, while the one on the left has Repeated Strike, an attack Skill. Ophilia will need to focus on fighting when he gets to the end of the Cave of Origin, assuming she's by herself, so the Knight with Prayer is the better choice in the long run.
Cave of Origin
Your destination. There are a few new enemies in here, alongside the Wolves from the previous area:
- White Bat - Weak to Polearm, Bow, Staff, and Dark. Can use Drink Blood to steal HP from a target. Annoying, but pretty weak otherwise. A staff whack will quickly stun one.
- Albino Bat - Weak to Polearm, Bow, Staff, and Dark. Can also Drink Blood, but is more dangerous thanks to several Skills capable of putting your team to sleep. A priority target.
- Shadow Wisp - Weak to Fire and Light. Uses Skills that target single and multiple targets with dark energy. Ophilia can swiftly deal with them once she learns Luminesence, assuming they showed up in a pack. Holy Light will do otherwise.
Head east from the entrance, checking the side path to the south for the obvious chest containing a Healing Grape. The path will split again ahead, leading you to an Inspiriting Plum. Further north you'll see another chest on your right; pay attention to the track on the ground and it will lead you to some stairs that are hidden by the camera. The chest contains a Shadow Soulstone.
Follow the path north until it bends west. There's a heap of rock on your right that's hiding a path from your sight. Walk through it and up onto the ledge above to find a purple chest containing a Silver Hairpiece. Return to the main path and keep following it west until you hit an intersection. The southern path will bring you to another purple chest, this one containing a Refreshing Jam.
At the end of this path you'll come upon a save point and a Traveling Peddler. You'll need to use Ophilia's SP for attacking in the battle that's to come - assuming she's alone, anyway - so stock up on Healing Grapes and one or two Inspiriting Plums. Save up, then head north. Boss time!
Guardian of the First Flame
Weakness: Sword, Dagger, Staff, Ice, Wind
This guy's a toughie. The Guardian of the First Flame uses normal attacks and a Sweep attack to hit one character or your whole party, and has a Pyre attack that will strike a single character for higher-than-average damage. When the game tells you that the Sacred Flame is gaining in strength, it means that the Guardian will use Flame of the Heavens to inflict a heavy amount of damage on everybody in the party, something you really want to avoid. Partway through the fight the Guardian will also begin summoning Dark Wisps - how many depends on the size of your party, with as many as three appearing if you have four party members - and each will begin a countdown. When the countdown reaches zero the Dark Wisps will use Self-Immolation, destroying themselves and doing a ton of damage to the party. If all three go off at once, well... bad news.
If Ophilia is fighting alone she'll need to go on the offensive. Call in the Knight Ardente, then use Ophilia's staff to smack the Guardian until it breaks. She can then use a Boosted Holy Light to heap on some damage. Use Holy Light on any Dark Wisps that come out until they're defeated, then go back to pummelling the Guardian. Keep calling in the Knight Ardante as needed, and have Ophilia heal herself if the Knight decides to attack instead. This fight gets a decent bit harder with a party in tow unless they can easily target the weaknesses of the Dark Wisps, though Ophilia's Luminescence Skill works in a pinch. Otherwise, leave the healing to Ophelia while everyone else in the party attacks the enemy. So long as you break Flame of the Heavens and kill the Dark Wisps before they immolate you can make it through the battle intact.
You'll earn an Inspiriting Plum Basket for defeating the Guardian of the First Flame. In the aftermath of the fight Ophilia will receive Aelfric's Lanthorn, and she'll officially become the bearer of the First Flame as it makes its way around Orsterra. Your first destination: Saintsbridge.