Bravely Default 2: Salve-Maker Guide

In Gambler’s nature, the Salve-Maker is an optional Job you can find in Bravely Default 2, but no less useful than all the others you find through the story. In fact, they are a great support-type Job, much like the Oracle that we discussed in our previous guide. In contrast to them though, Salve-Makers are not fan of casting spells. They prefer using the player’s consumables, from within the inventory. Let’s talk about this and more in our Salve-Maker guide.

Salve-Maker guide and overview

Salve-Makers are the only Job in the game that specifically take advantage of the gathered items from your adventure, or whatever you bought from the shop. Their Compounding skill is their signature ability, which makes your character pick a couple of items and mix them to create one, way stronger item to use in battle, that being a healing item or a throwing projectile to inflict damage and other effects.

Salve-Maker abilities

• Compounding: Combine two items together for a range of interesting effects.
• Survey: Scrutinise all enemies closely, revealing their HP, vulnerabilities and family – 32 MP cost
• Widen Area: Use an item on multiple targets instead of one – 55 MP cost
• Philtre: Attempt to charm a target – 22 MP cost
• Revive: Revive a knocked-out target with 50% of their HP restored – 25% HP cost
• Status-Conscious: Increases the chance of inflicting status ailments – Passive/ 1 Slot
• Heartbreak: Perform a physical attack that’s extremely effective on charmed targets – 1 BP cost
• Thrust and Parry: Reduces damage received by 15% x the number of weapons equipped. Damage is reduced by a further 20% if the Highwind or Dual Wield passive abilities are in effect – Passive/ 1 Slot
• BP Tonic: Mix up medicine that increases BP by one, and administer it to a target – 7500 pg cost
• BP Depleter: Mix up a medicine that reduces BP by one, and administer it to a target – 9000 pg cost
• Analysis: Perform a quick physical attack on a target that will reveal their vulnerabilities. For the next three turns, any attacks on monsters of that family will deal vulnerability-exploiting damage – 30 MP cost
• Healing Item Amp: The effects of all healing items are increased by 50% – Passive/ 1 Slot
• Advanced Compounding: Combine three items together for a range of exciting effects.
• Double BP Tonic: Mix up a medicine that increases BP by two, and administer it to a target – 15000 pg cost
• Multimix Elixir: Make five copies of an item and administer them to a target at regular intervals.

Salve-Maker Specialities

• Speciality I: Master Medic – One healing herb and one magic herb are received after every battle. Also, items will occasionally not be expended when used.
• Speciality II: Unencumbered – All item effects are increased when the user is empty-handed. Any effects earned from compounding will also be intensified, and the BP cost of all abilities will be reduced by one.

Salve-Maker Weapon Affinity

• Swords: C
• Daggers: A
• Axes: A
• Spears: E
• Bows: C
• Staffs: C
• Shields: B

Salve-Maker Overview

As you would imagine, if you decide on using a Salve-Maker, you better stock up on potions and ethers as you will need a lot of them. Their gimmick is to fuse those items to better versions of them, resulting to absurd amounts of healing and support over the course of a battle. I mentioned healing, since that is what they are best for. They can provide the same amount of burst healing as a White Mage, when equipped with the correct passives and their unique Specialities. Advanced Compounding lets you fuse three items instead of two, further improving this item-fusing feature.

While Compounding should be the number 1 reason you want to use a Salve-Maker, don’t let this distract you from the rest of their very handy kit. They have great passive abilities, with Thrust and Parry being one of the best, if not the actual best, defensive skill in the game when you dual wield, essentially reducing the overall damage you receive by 50%. Any character in your party that is dual wielding, should have this ability all the time equipped. By doing so, you will realize you can wear much lighter armor, with greater effects than heavy armors tend to have, but have the same defensive prowess.

Salve-Makers are packed with handy abilities. Almost every single one of them has its uses, and all they need to pair them with, is what you lack the most in your team. If you decide using a White Mage as a sub-job, which pairs very well with them, make sure to enable their 2nd Speciality through passives like the Bravebearer’s Sub-Job Speciality 2 passive skill. This will let them used Advanced Compounding to the whole team. Which in result means, you can use Elixirs and their upgraded versions to the whole party, which will refill their HP and MP back to full. If this isn’t something tempting, I don’t know what is. If you decide going the more offensive way, make sure to have the Thief’s Attack Item Amp ability equipped, as it is mandatory to make items do significantly more damage.

There is no shortage to Job combos you can do with a Salve-Maker. Easily one of the most versatile Jobs in the game, and with efficiency that never drops until the very late post-game, this class is one of my personal favorites. The usefulness they bring to a fight is undeniably huge, and I would advise to unlock them as soon as possible, which is at the very start of Chapter 3.

As this Salve-Maker guide comes to an end, we will be finally be looking at the Job Asterisks that the Generals of Holograd hold, starting with the impervious Bastion.

Bravely default 2 is exclusively available on the Nintendo Switch.