Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter picks up right where the 1st Chapter remake left off, and it doesn’t ease into it. Estelle is now a senior bracer, Ouroboros has been the real force behind the old coup, and the search for Joshua kicks the story into gear from the start. If you haven’t finished the 1st Chapter of this trending game, stop reading now. This guide covers everything else: A-Rank BP thresholds, the Scherazard-or-Agate choice, orbment builds, fishing, and much more you need to know.
What You’ll Read:
Know This Before You Start the Game
2nd Chapter is a direct sequel to the 1st Chapter, not a spin-off. It spoils the 1st Chapter, so finish that one first. A free demo covers the Prologue through Chapter 1, hitting Grancel, Rolent, Ruan, and bracer training at Le Locle.
Your progress carries into the full game, though Falcom warned some demo specs could still change before launch. Clear 1st Chapter’s data and you’ll unlock the Classic Style SC costumes for Estelle and Joshua.
Scherazard or Agate: Which to Recruit
This one comes down to how you want to fight. Scherazard leans Arts-heavy, while Agate is built around physical hits and CP spending.
Her signature move, Heaven’s Kiss, costs 100 CP to unleash. His is riskier: Wild Rage can drop his own HP to 1, and if you’re already sitting at 1 HP when you use it, it’ll finish him off. That’s a brutal way to lose a party member mid-fight if you’re not paying attention to his health bar first.
Neither pick locks you out of good builds later, so don’t overthink this. If you’re already running an Arts-focused team, Scherazard slots in easier. If you want a hard-hitting physical attacker who doesn’t care about MP, take Agate and just keep that HP threshold in mind.
How to Hit A-Rank (450/452 BP)
A-Rank status requires 450 BP (Bracer Points) out of a maximum of 452 available, so you’re only allowed to miss two points across the entire game. That’s a razor-thin margin, and even a completionist playthrough can miss it by messing up one bonus choice.
Here’s where the biggest BP sources show up:
| Chapter | Bonus | BP |
|---|---|---|
| Prologue | Defeat lodge Jaeger / Identify Jaegers | +2 each |
| Prologue | Choose move-to-new-base | +3 |
| Ch. 1 | White Shadow, option 2 | +3 |
| Ch. 2 | Kaldia clue | +3 |
| Ch. 2 | Wolf Fort, answer “both” | +3 |
| Ch. 3 | Child under desk | +3 |
| Ch. 3 | Gurune, option 2 | +3 |
| Ch. 4 | Coma dialogue (option 2, then 3) | +3 / +3 |
| Ch. 4 | Clean Woman-in-Black escape | +3 |
| Ch. 5 | Say “scared” | +3 |
| Ch. 5 | Make plan first | +3 |
| Ch. 6 | Survive Glorious Jaegers / Win | +2 / +5 |
Pro-Tip: The Sunday Scholar quiz in Chapter 1 alone is worth tracking closely: the correct answer order is 2-1-3-3-2-2-3-2-2.
Chapter 2 Boss Combat Guide
Falcom’s own system notes make Rage Boost sound worse than it plays out in most fights, which is saying something. While it’s active, the enemy gets attacks you can’t dodge, its delay is cut in half, and it can straight-up steal AT Bonuses off the timeline. Stack a few of those together and a boss can suddenly get two turns before you’ve had one.
Most major bosses Rage around the halfway HP mark, and many also Endure once, meaning they’ll survive a hit that should’ve killed them. Dumping a high-delay S-Craft into a boss that’s about to Endure is a classic way to waste your best turn for nothing.
Enforcer Boost is the nastier version Ouroboros Enforcers get. It lasts longer, comes with its own activation animation per character, and raises difficulty up hard.
Brave Rush is your counter-pressure tool. It costs 2 Brave Gauge points, pairs your active character with a party member, and hits a wide area for big damage in Quick Battle.
Character Builds Explained (Arts and Quartz)
Every character still runs Quartz through their own Tactical Orbment, and 2nd Chapter bumps that from six slots to seven. More slots means room for stronger Quartz, which opens up better Arts and more flexible builds overall.
Slots themselves can also be enhanced, letting you equip higher-tier Quartz than the base slot would normally allow. When you’re picking Quartz, don’t just chase the flat stat bonus; check what Arts it unlocks and how it fits your elemental line, since a slightly weaker stat boost with the right element access usually wins out.
There are five high-tier Arts in the game: Blue Ascension (Water), Sylpharion (Wind), Abyss Fall (Time), Lost Mobius (Space), and Zodiac (Mirage).
Fishing Guide
The controls are simple once you know the rhythm: pick your cast spot, press the button at the right moment to hook the fish, then use the button plus your stick to reel it in. Stronger fish fight back harder during that last step.
There are 26 fish varieties in the game, and your rod matters (obviously!). Better rods give you more options to catch and make reeling easier. A few catches are worth planning around specifically: Blue Marlin and Gigangora show up on the Ruan coast, and the last fish at Valleria Shore won’t bite unless you’re using Lakelord II. Four varieties also require revisiting spots in Chapter 8, so don’t assume you’re done fishing once the main story wraps up.
Every catch gets logged in the Fishing Notebook, and filling it out completely pays off with item rewards, not just bragging rights.
Cooking and Attack Food
Cooking runs through the Recipe Book, and you can only make a dish once you own the ingredients. Succeed, and you get the usual perks such as stamina recovery, status-ailment cures, and temporary stat boosts.
But if you screw up the recipe, though, you don’t just lose the ingredients; the failed dish becomes Attack Food! This is a throwable item that damages enemies in battle. It’s a nice safety net for bad cooking rolls.
The real trick worth knowing is the buff carryover. Some dishes can be activated from the menu mid-Quick Battle, and if you transition into Command Battle while that effect is still ticking, it stays active for up to two turns. That means you can pop a damage or healing buff in Quick Battle right before a tough encounter and walk into Command Battle already buffed. Use this before boss pulls.
Viewer Mode Explained
Viewer Mode is a new feature that lets you pose characters, pick backgrounds, and set costumes for photo-style scenes outside of normal gameplay. It’s not unlocked all at once. Locations and characters open up gradually as you progress through the main story.
Customization draws from two pools: stuff you earn naturally through play, and items tied to bonus DLC, the Season Pass, or other paid content.
Note: if you’re planning photo-mode shots around a specific costume, check whether it’s an earned unlock or a DLC-only item before you go hunting for it in-game.
Trails in the Sky Trophy Checklist (100% Completion)
The PS5 trophy list has 49 trophies total: 38 bronze, 7 silver, 3 gold, and 1 platinum. Getting all of them means clearing a long list of grind targets, not just the main story.
| Category | Target |
|---|---|
| Enemy types defeated | All 410 |
| Treasure chests | All 566 |
| Senior Bracer rank | A-Rank |
| Orbment slots | Maxed for all 12 party members |
| Weapon/armor/accessory/quartz enhancements | 15 of each |
| Zemurian Ore weapons | At least 3 |
| Mira earned (cumulative) | 1,000,000 |
| S-Crafts used | 200 |
| Follow-Ups | 400 |
| Chains | 200 |
You’ll also need every dish, peculiar dish, fish, and book-page entry logged, plus specific boss trophies for beating Nightmare difficulty, Loewe, and the Lv.175 Angel Weissmann Final Form. This isn’t a weekend platinum. You have to put serious hours into the enemy and chest counts alone.
That’s everything you need to learn to get started on Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter. Have you finished Chapter 1 yet? Do you think the sequel is better or worse? Let me know what you think in the comments.
FAQ
How long does it take to beat 2nd Chapter?
Estimates vary by reviewer and playstyle, but it is roughly around 60–100 hours depending on optional content and a completionist all-quest playthrough.
Is the game fully voiced in every language?
No. English and Japanese include full audio with interface and subtitles. French, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean only get interface and subtitle support, without full voice acting.
Do old Trails in the Sky SC save files unlock anything extra?
Only the Classic Style SC costumes for Estelle and Joshua are officially confirmed.
Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter
