Bravely Default/Intro

Before you begin, you have to decide on the difficulty and autosave settings, which can also be changed any time you want at a later point. A cinematic will then play introducing the four main characters.

Caldisla, Land of Beginnings
Tiz awakes in an inn and is greeted by Owen. After the conversation, you now have control of Tiz. First, inspect one of the tables beside the beds for a free Potion, then go downstairs and inspect the plant near the entrance to get an easy 50pg. Exit the inn and explore the town. The townspeople don't have much to say, but you can get a few hidden items if you search thoroughly. An Antidote can be found around the exit of the town. Head up to the left until you reach the graveyard. The foliage at the east of the graves hide a Phoenix Down, while the tree beside the church can be inspected for a Potion.

Now, head to the top of the town and enter the palace. Speak to the King of Caldisla. Tiz tells the King that he is going to Norende Village to search for survivors, and he tells you to use the canyon trail to the west. While in the palace, inspect the left statue to obtain Eye Drops, then look in the right torch near the king for 100pg. Make any preparations you need at the shops and exit the city. A brief guide popups and Tutorial Quests become available. Head west to the cave and enter Norende Ravine.

Norende Ravine
As your first dungeon, Norende Ravine is pretty easy to navigate, being a mostly straight path. Enemies in here include Goblins and their variants, which should be no trouble to take out. The trail splits in the middle, with the bottom leading to a treasure chest containing a Potion. Take the top trail to the Climb. Double back down the lower trail to reach another treasure chest containing 200pg. Continue west to the Vista. At the end is the Adventurer where you can save and buy any items you need. He will give you a Strange Hourglass. A guide then pops up explaining Bravely Second and Sleep Points (SP). When ready, continue on to the ledge overlooking the chasm.

At the top Agnès is praying and Tiz confronts her. The Knights of Eternian Sky attack with cannons and Tiz and Agnès flee. Agnès joins your party. Go back down the trail and you will have to fight three battles, two battles with a single Sky Dueler and one battle with a Sky Dueler and a Sky Archer. Sky Duelers are a bit stronger than Goblins and will focus on lower HP targets, while Sky Archers may inflict Poison status with Poison Arrow. Once all of them are defeated, the Sky Knights leave to resupply. Exit the cave and go back to Caldisla and speak to the King.

Boss: Barras and Holly
Back at the palace, the king makes Tiz the chairman of the reconstruction project of Norende Village. You can now access the Norende Village minigame. Additionally, he mentions that the Eternian forces are besieging Caldisla until they surrender the wind vestal. This prompts Agnès to give herself up to the Sky Knights, but Tiz offers to accompany her. Before you head southwest to the lake where the Sky Knights resupply, it's wise to train up a bit and get some better equipment for Agnes. When you think you're prepared, head southwest from Caldisla to the lake. At the lake, the two are attacked by Barras Lehr the Monk and Holly Whyte the White Mage.

This is your first asterisk battle. As you can tell from their appearances, Barras is the main damage dealer of the duo while Holly is responsible for casting buffs and healing. Barras will often use Brave to utilize Invigorate and attack consecutively, increasing the damage he deals. Occasionally, Invigorate may backfire, hurting him and your whole party. Meanwhile, Holly will use Protect to increase her or Barras's defense, as well as cast Cure when one of their health is low. She rarely attacks, and her strikes are weak compared to Barras. However, she may also use Aero, which deals much more damage.

Your focus should be on Barras, as he is the one that can hurt you the most. However, with Holly's Cure spell, you'll have difficulty wearing him down. Use Default to soften Barras's attacks and build up BP, then use multiple Braves to increase your damage output per turn. Your goal is to chip off Barras's health faster than Holly can heal. Barras may even quicken his defeat if his Invigorate backfires. After Barras is down, Holly is less of a threat. Again, use Default then Brave to deal damage faster than she can reverse with Cure, and you will eventually defeat her.

After winning the boss battle, you will gain two asterisks, expanding your job options. Barras's asterisk gives you the Monk job, a glass cannon attacker that doesn't require much armor, which can save you some gold this early in the game. Holly's asterisk gives you the White Mage job, which can learn many supportive spells. It is highly recommended that you have one party member switched to a White Mage, as having a healer is a great help in battle.