Octopath Traveler CotC Primrose EX Detailed Guide

I want to share with you, dear travelers, a detailed guide to Primrose EX.

The reason for working on this guide before other travelers' is simple. Although Primrose EX's banner was released on November 22, 2023, she joined the Chance Encounters banner along with Aedelgard, Sarisa, Yukes, and Tressa EX.

This means that she will be a traveler who will accompany the adventures of many of us much more frequently. Knowing her strengths and capabilities in detail will be helpful to many who have chosen to seek out this traveler again now that she is available on the permanent banner.

This will also change the overall strategy in our reroll guide, as starting a journey in Orsterra will be much easier in the company of Primrose EX.

Let's go into detail with the guide!

Traveler Trailer

Lore

Careful. If you haven't played Octopath Traveler I or watched "Primrose the Apotechary - Enchanting Treatment" log, you might find some story spoilers in the following excerpt of this article.

We could certainly talk about Primrose's background as a dancer. However, what is up to us is to share how Prim decided to learn to be an apothecary by Theo's hand.

Without delving too deeply into the subject, those who know about the events behind Octopath Traveler I know that Prim's story begins by searching for those responsible for her father's murder.

This quest takes Primrose to the town of Sunshade, where she is taken by Helgenish and fashioned into a dancer. It's during his time working for the owner of the Sunshade tavern that the events of "Primrose the Apothecary - Enchanting Treatment" take place.

It all begins when we see Helgenish question Prim, who had informed him of how all the dancers and bartenders in the tavern had fallen ill. Also, the disease responsible for this had spread throughout the town, the reason why customers were not coming to the tavern either.

Helgenish entrusts Primrose to do something about it because she looks healthy and without signs of the disease. It is there that Prim decides to go out in search of help and runs into Theo in the streets of the town. She recognizes his job - "Oh, an apothecary... Have you come to help?"

Theo lets Prim know that he is indeed in Sunshade to help, as he has heard that the Shade Fever is very active in the village. The illness causes a high fever but is not serious if you take the right medication and get proper rest. Prim offers her help to Theo. This lets you know that the disease is easily avoidable if you wash your hands properly after touching things and if you avoid sharing dishes or towels in addition to taking care of your interactions with others (sound similar?)

In Theo's eyes, Primrose seemed to understand the hygiene necessary to avoid getting sick, so he gladly accepted the dancer's help. Together they go to where Theo treats some patients and points out the symptoms of the disease, which are redness in the throat and bloodshot eyes. (It is from this moment where we already see Prim with the apothecary's clothes) If both of them showed up, it was necessary to give the patient the medicine that Theo prepared.

Moments after Theo tends to a woman, Prim approaches another sick person and notes the symptoms of the illness, but as she does so she realizes that the man is one of the tavern's regular customers. Primrose is scared when she realizes that this person's heart is beating quickly. Theo mentions that it's strange, but Prim quickly and diligently gives the man the medicine. - "Some medicine... It's bitter but you'll have to bear with it" to which the man replies " -"You say bitter, but... It's so sweet..." before falling asleep.

After Theo points out that the man is sure to be fine, he lets Prim know that he has talent as an Apothecary and to continue trying hard as he had while asking him for help with the other patients. In a scene change to the tavern, we see the customer whom Prim had served thank her for taking care of him while letting Prim know that she is even more in love with her because of this.

Finally, one of the waiters approaches Prim in the company of Yusufa, the only friend Prim had been able to make while working with Helgenish. The waiter lets Prim know that Helgenish has contracted Shade Fever. Although Primrose mentions still having some medicine with her, Yusufa suggests that they should serve him later, since they had customers waiting to be served.

Prim agrees with Yusufa, pointing out that the master would surely be angry if they did not entertain the clients. This leads to the farewell of this little story, showing a dance scene on stage that Prim and Yusufa are a part of.

Seiyū

We know that one of the most careful details in Octopath Traveler: CotC are the characters' voices. The Seiyū who voices Primrose is ​​Hōko Kuwashima. Below I share some of its most famous characters.

Strengths

• Few travelers are capable of being considered a better option than Lynette. Primrose EX is one of them. Don't get me wrong, with this I don't mean that Lynette isn't a great help in many extremely difficult encounters. However, Primrose EX has been added to the permanent banner, which means that it is easy to get her to join our party when we start our adventures in Orsterra.
  
  This means that thanks to the great performance of Primrose EX as a buffer, it is not necessary to find another traveler to play this role except in very specific cases.

• In addition to its large buffer capacity, which allows it to increase the damage of our allies when using axe and lightning attacks, as well as the P. Atk, and E. Atk attributes; Primrose can fill the healer role with great efficiency.
  
  She can do this to such a capacity that unless you need a dedicated healer like Ophilia or you have Rinyuu in your party, there will be no need for another traveler in the party to fill this role most of the time.

• As if this were not enough, she can apply debuffs to enemies with his multiple lightning attacks and fill our allies' ultimate bar with her skill Shower of Roses, and her ultimate Shower of Primroses, in addition to applying life regeneration and improvement to speed or attack statistics respectively.

• The icing on the cake is his Quick Wit passive, which allows her to recover 1 BP if Prim EX's BP is 0 after the natural recovery.

Weaknesses

It's hard to think of any weaknesses for Primrose EX when she plays the roles she's capable of with such efficiency. However, I can think of a couple of things.

• Firstly, the fact that she is an apothecary means that she is not able to use the Brave Fan, an essential weapon for any dancer who is capable of applying buffs to our group.
  
  This weapon increases the duration of buffs granted by the wielder by one turn. If we wanted to increase the duration of Primrose EX's buffs, it would be necessary to take her to AIV and obtain her exclusive accessory, the Rose Sachet. This or equip her with the Maiden's Bell, Hasumi's AIV accessory. Both options are not cheap at all. Learn more about AIV accessories in our updated Tier List on the subject.

• Second. There are situations where we will need specialists in certain buffs, specific healers, or particular debuffs. In those moments, although Primrose EX may be helpful, you will probably have to give up her place in the group to other travelers. This is quite strange since Prim EX covers her three main roles of buffer, debuffer, and healer tremendously well. However, she is not the indisputable #1 in any of these categories.

Ratings

The way Prim EX provides utility makes her enter the highest tier of travelers without question.

It is capable of debuffing the attack and elemental attack of enemies and increasing it to our front row. Likewise, you can apply debuffs to defense and elemental defense and increase these as well. This makes it the most complete buffer and debuffer currently with the ability to be useful in any group and encounter.

As if that were not enough, it is also capable of increasing the speed of our front row. Thanks to Shower of Roses, granting Entire Front Row automatic HP regeneration, and filling the Ultimate gauge by 20 at the same time. (Reaches All Allies at Max Boost).

This speed increase is enough for some of the fastest travelers to be able to outspeed the fastest enemies. Her ultimate, Shower of Primroses is also amazing, making the entire front row stronger by raising physical and elemental attacks, applying HP Regen (which stacks) enabling a large amount of passive healing at the end of the turn, and filling the front row's Ultimate bar by 50 %, which is incredibly helpful.

Generalities

Class: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🔨 Job: Apothecary.

🎴 Influence: Power.

🗺 Continent: Orsterra.

📌 Location: Sunshade

💥 Attributes: Axe, and Lightning.

🎰 Obtained: Chance Encounters

General Pool: Yes.

📅 JP Release Date: September 22 2022.

📅 Global Release Date: November 22 2023.

Stats

❤ HP: 2,706

🌀 SP: 504

👊🏻 P. Atk: 240

🛡 P. Def: 230

✨E. Atk: 442

🔮 E Def: 332

🎇 Crit: 247

👟 Spd: 392

Skills

Passive Skills

• Quick Wit (1★): If own BP is 0 after natural recovery, recover 1 BP.

• SP Restoration With 75% or More HP (3★): At 75% HP or more: Grant automatic SP recovery (potency: 5).

• Wind Resilience: Raise own Wind Res. by 20%.

• Lightning Resilience: Raise own Lightning Res. by 10%.

Battle Skills

• Triple Cleave (Initial): Deal Phys. Axe damage to Single Foe 3 time(s) (potency: 3x55). [25 SP]

• Bolstering Smoke (Initial): Restore HP of Entire Front Row (potency: 65) and raise Phys. Def. and Elem. Def. by 15% (turns: 2). [62 SP]

• Storm of Lament (1★): Deal Elem. Lightning damage to Random Foe 3 time(s) (potency: 3x65), lower Lightning Res. by 15% with every attack (turns: 2/stacks during Max Boost) and have a moderate chance to inflict paralysis at Max Boost (turns: 2). [51 SP]

• Thunderaxe Enhancer II (2★): Raise Axe and Lightning damage of Single Ally by 15% (turns: 2-5 based on Boost Lv.) and fill their Ultimate Technique gauge by 50% at Max Boost. [32 SP]

• Thundering Refrain (2★): Deal Elem. Lightning damage to Single Foe 3 time(s) (potency: 3x65) and impart with Elem. Atk. Down 20% (turns: 2). [51 SP]

• Elevating Elixir (All) (3★): Raise Phys. Atk. and Elem. Atk. of Entire Front Row by 15% (turns: 2-5 based on Boost Lv.) and cure some status ailments. Restore Phys. Atk., Phys. Def., Elem. Atk., Elem. Def., Crit., and Speed at Max Boost. [50 SP]
  - Lv.88 | SP Saver: 50→40

• Shocking Step (4★): Deal Elem. Lightning damage to Random Foe 4 time(s) (potency: 4x45) and have a low chance to impart with Phys. Atk. Down 15% with every attack (turns: 2). [61 SP]
  - Lv.96 | SP Saver: 61→49
  
• Ballad of Thunderbolts (5★): Deal Elem. Lightning damage to All Foes 2 time(s) (potency: 2x105) and lower Phys. Def. and Elem. Def. by 15% (turns: 2). [80 SP]
  - Lv.99 | SP Saver: 80→64

• Shower of Roses (5★): Grant Entire Front Row automatic HP (potency: 150, turns: 2-5 based on Boost Lv.), raise Speed by 15% (turns: 2) and fill the Ultimate Technique gauge by 20%. Reaches All Allies at Max Boost. [77 SP]
  - Lv.100 | SP Saver: 77→62
  

Ultimate Technique

• Shower of Primroses (Lv. 1→10) Grant Entire Front Row automatic HP recovery (potency: 100→125, turns: 2→3), raise Phys. Atk. and Elem. Atk. by 20% (turns: 2→3) and fill the Ultimate Technique gauge of Entire Front Row excluding Self by 50%.
  - Uses: 1→2
  - Initial Gauge: 20%→30%
  - Gauge Increase: 15%→20%/BP

Best Builds

First Build

• Triple Cleave (Initial)
• Bolstering Smoke (Initial)
• Thunderaxe Enhancer II (2★) or Thundering Refrain (2★)

The initial build of Prim EX makes her serve as a breaker/buffer/de-buffer. This fourth breaker role is one that she will not eventually occupy frequently. However, in the initial moments he can do so efficiently thanks to the three axe hits from Triple Cleave and three lightning hits thanks to Thundering Refrain. This last skill will also reduce the enemy's elemental attack by 20%. Thanks to her big SP pool, doing these skills one after another repeatedly is not a problem.

In case breaking shields with lighting or de-buffing E. Atk. isn't necessary, the ideal would be to always use Thunderaxe Enhancer II, which will allow us to buff an ally's Axe and Lightning damage by 15% while filling their ultimate bar by 50%, something extremely useful before reaching the late stage of our adventures and give this buff to multiple travelers at the same time with Shower of Roses and Shower of Primroses.

End Game Build

• Thunderaxe Enhancer II (2★)
• Elevating Elixir (All) (3★)
• Ballad of Thunderbolts (5★)
• Shower of Roses (5★)

This build allows Primrose EX to keep our party's ultimate bars filled frequently. This situation is quite favorable and enables strategies based on the group's ultimates that without Primrose EX would be difficult to execute.

Additionally, thanks to Elevating Elixir we can increase the attack statistics of the entire front row by 15% while being able to reduce the physical and elemental resistance of enemies by the same amount thanks to Ballad of Thunderbolts.

To all this, we add that thanks to Shower of Roses we can increase the speed of the entire front row (or the entire group if the skill is used maximized), which is very useful against certain particularly fast enemies.

Equipment

Weapon

Fortune Weapon: Not being a damage-focused traveler, it would be best to give Prim an axe focused on maximizing E. Atk. This will make the automatic HP regeneration provided by Shower of Roses and Shower of Primroses more powerful. A weapon like this would be also useful for Alfyn or Sofia EX.

E. Atk Fortune Axe: P. Atk.: 179, P. Def.: -80, E. Atk.: 666, E. Def.: 20, Crit.: 90, HP: -100, SP: 10

Any apothecary with healing abilities will be better off using a fortune axe like this one regardless of the area in which the encounters take place.

Accessories

Awakening Accessory:

Rose Sachet:

• 20 E.Atk, 20 Spd, 100 SP
• Extend the duration of augmenting effects granted by Self by 1 turn. (Does not stack).
• Start of battle: Raise BP recovery amount by 1 (turns: 3). (Does not stack with support skills and equipment effects).
• AIV Accs. Tier List.

The main reason for equipping Prim EX with its accessory is the passive effect of extending the duration of the buffs granted by the wearer of the Rose Sachet. Not being a dancer prevents him from using the Brave Fan for this purpose. However, as I'll point out later, prioritizing getting your Ultimate to level 10 will take precedence over obtaining this accessory.

Other useful accessories are:

Maiden's Bell:

• 60 E.Atk, 40 P.Def, 40 Spd
• Raise Light damage dealt by 15%
• Extend the duration of augmenting effect granted by self by 1 turn (Does not stack)

The only other accessory in Orsterra with the effect of maximizing the duration of buffs granted by the wearer. Thanks to Hasumi's AIV accessory, Maiden's Bell, Prim EX could obtain this valuable passive in a different way, which could allow us to prioritize getting her ultimate to level 10 instead of seeking to obtain the Rose Sachet.

Awakening Stones

Synergies and Comps

Offensive Groups

Thanks to the buffs and debuffs that Primrose EX can apply to the group and enemies, she is an excellent support to accompany groups centered in offensive tactics. Also, thanks to the speed buffs, she can enable amazing strategies around out-speeding our enemies.

Lightning Groups

Since Primrose EX can reduce enemy resistance by 30% on her own, pairing her with attackers capable of dealing damage with this element is a good idea. Good examples would be Cyrus, Therese, or Elvis.

Should You Pull?

Since Primrose EX is now part of the general traveler pool and has been added to Chance Encounters, getting multiple copies of this traveler will become natural over time.

I know there are people who decided to do some pulls on the general banner to get Primrose EX for the first time. This isn't a bad idea if you don't have Lynette, or Rinyuu in your party. If you have travelers capable of filling the roles of buffer, debuffer, and healer, the ideal would be to wait for Primrose EX to appear in your pulls naturally.

Farewell

I hope this hard work is useful to the CotC community that so kindly gives me feedback on Reddit.

Thanks to the entire community for your opinions about the Eltrix guide as well as the Tier List of AIV accessories. It is thanks to the aforementioned feedback that this work can be better every day.

See you soon in another guide! Don't forget to check our latest Tier List and our Reroll Guide if you are a new traveler around Orsterra. Thank you for leaving any opinion about this guide in the comment section below, or on my Twitter, surely everything will help me to make the next guide much better. Remember to stop at the gate often. And till then, my friend, farewell; May your travels through Orsterra be marvelous!