Octopath Traveler 0: How to recruit Heidne

Heidne is one of the best characters in Octopath Traveler 0, especially as it pertains to the Thief archetype. While it’s going to take a significant amount of effort to unlock her, you can begin it pretty early in the game. The steps I describe below are the points in the game where I found her in specific locations, but that doesn’t mean she cannot show up earlier. I just wanted to highlight where she appeared for me.

Even if you aren’t going out of your way to unlock characters, Heidne is one of the best in Octopath Traveler 0, and synergizes well with being in the back row behind the main character. If you’re interested in this pink-haired Thief, here’s what you need to do.

---

How to recruit Heidne in Octopath Traveler 0

Heidne is one of the hardest characters to unlock in Octopath Traveler 0, that’s for sure. The vast majority of characters unlock after completing one quest (Encounter), while others unlock from story-related content. This pink-haired Thief, however, requires a bit more effort.

You may not be ready to fight Heidne the first time you meet her (Image via Square Enix)

Steps to recruit Heidne

• Survive fight with Heidne near Sunshade (~Master of Fame Chapter 2/Kindlers of the Flame Chapter 2)
• Fight Heidne again near Flamesgrace (~Before Master of All Chapter 1)
• Complete One’s True Worth sidequest (After Kindlers of the Flame Chapter 5/Master of All Chapter 3)
• Defeat Heidne again in Wishvale
• Complete Heidne and the Man-Eating Miser (Requires boat)

Heidne’s stats

• Health: 43,624
• Vulnerabilities: Spear, Axe, Bow, Ice Magic, Holy Magic

Enemy attacks

• Defense Breaker: Deals damage and lowers defense.
• Offense Breaker: Deals damage and lowers offense.
• Four-Fold Throw: After boosting, hits four characters at random with dagger throws.
• Energy Thief: Throws a dagger and increases her Magical/Physical damage for two turns.

The first time I encountered Heidne in Octopath Traveler 0 was on the way to Sunshade, during Master of Fame Chapter 2 and after I completed Kindlers of the Flame Chapter 2. The first time you encounter her, she is trying to steal your Flamebringer Ring. You don’t have to win the fight, but you do need to survive long enough to drop her to about half health.

I did this around level 23, though I did have several characters get resurrected frequently. After this fight, she’ll swear to meet you again and steal the ring. Her most dangerous attack is Four-Fold Throw, which she does after boosting. If you can hit her with Blindness or Poison, it makes these fights a bit easier.

The second fight is for real, and it's in the snows of Flamesgrace (Image via Square Enix)

The next time we saw her was near Flamesgrace before Master of All Chapter 1. At this point, my party was on average level 31 and we defeated her easily. She’ll be standing outside near the Save Point next to the Blue Chest. When you interact with her, it will lead to yet another battle. She will tell a little story first, about a powerful ring. We won’t spoil the story for you, so you can watch it yourself.

Thankfully, her health nor weaknesses nor health change! This time, you actually have to defeat Heidne in Octopath Traveler 0, and not just take her to half health. She hits harder though, with Offense Breaker smashing some characters for around 2K damage if she’s buffed.

This quest is moderately painless, to be honest (Image via Square Enix)

The next step to recruiting Heidne is to keep a lookout for the One’s True Worth sidequest. For me, this happened when I had completed the Wishvale quest Kindlers of the Flame Chapter 5, and after Master of All Chapter 3.

This makes sense, because Ludo factors into the story at least briefly, and he’s a part of the Kindlers of the Flame quests. My party was around level 37, this time. This quest starts outside of Sunshade, and will require you to defeat a couple of relatively weak Slave Traders.

The quest will conclude in Wishvale, and you can begin an Encounter with Heidne in Octopath Traveler 0. She’ll ask you how many people are in your village (for me, it was 31), and she’ll also ask what you’ll do if someone tried to hurt them. This is the last fight against Heidne. She’s essentially the same as the last time you fought her, so just beat her down once again.

One of your last stops on the Octopath Traveler 0 Heidne World Tour is the Man-Eating Miser Island (Image via Square Enix)

After your conversation with Heidne, you can leave Wishvale and go pick up Heidne and the Man-Eating Miser. Here’s where the boat comes in, because you need to be able to sail to Vaughner’s hideout. Either fast travel there if you can, or sail there by boat and get ready for another boss fight.

Fight your way through Vaughner’s minions, and after another cutscene, you’ll fight Vaughner, the Man-Eating Miser and his guard. Heidne shows up as a guest for this Octopath Traveler boss fight.

Vaughner's stats

• Health: Will update
• Vulnerabilities: Sword, Spear, Dagger, Lightning Magic, Holy Magic

Unfortunately, I didn’t Analyze this boss, so I missed his total health. I will update this soon. You need to deal with his guard first, because they’re just going to take hits for him. The most annoying part of this fight is when Vaughner the Man-Eating Miser stands ready, because he’ll inflict SP Sap, Terror, and Bleeding on your front row alongside damage, with Bloody Impaling Thrust. The first time this may be unavoidable, because he has around 20 Shield, and his guard can take hits for him.

It's time for Heidne to get justice. (Image via Square Enix)

The rest of his attacks aren’t really anything impressive, so just make sure you break him anytime he starts to boost. Other than that, take him down, and you’ll be rewarded with Heidne joining your party at the end of this Octopath Traveler 0 quest.

Just speak to her outside of Wishvale, and she’ll be a permanent member of the party! Heidne also comes equipped with the Man-Eating Miser’s Ring in Octopath Traveler 0, which has a chance to inflict Bleed with her attacks.

---

Octopath Traveler 0 is an incredible new JRPG from Square Enix that takes the story from the mobile game Champions of the Continent, and expands it into a brilliant, tragic story. You can learn more about it in our in-depth review.