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[Adam Prime]

Sharla's healing arts. I bought the intermediate upgrade for her heal all skill, she's gotten really good as a healer and unless a better healer comes along I foresee her being a permanent member of my party.

I don't recommend that. Once you get all the members you can make a really good all-offense party with very little healing spells and you can be very effective.

... But I forgot something. Can you still attack Mechons, normally you can only with Shulk's Enchant ability, if you don't have Shulk in your party? I forget how that works.

 

[Adam Prime]

Now where did that Overside Thread MVP post go?

Man, I don't know what to feel. I haven't felt the urge to pick the game back up. Not even once. To roam the land, kill some enemies, do a quest or two, anything. It feels as if the game is just done. The ending really didn't leave me with much to desire, so it's like, "Why would I keep playing? It's over already!"

It feels great and saddening at the same time. Don't regret skipping a lot of the sidequests because then I wouldn't have seen the ending, but it's hard to think it's over.

I would say that maybe I just need more than two days to return, but that's not how I play games. I've probably replayed less than ten games in my entire lifetime.

lol I'm having that feeling now. "I already beat this game a couple of years ago, I remember it all pretty well. I know how the story ends. Do I really enjoy the combat enough to play it solely for that?"

I'm looking forward to Xenoblade X. This game has a definite end and conclusion. I've already been through it and I'm not sure I really want to go through it again when I could be playing games that I haven't replayed. I think X is going to be awesome and give you lots of reason to come back even after you finish the story missions.

 

[Shadow Hog]

... But I forgot something. Can you still attack Mechons, normally you can only with Shulk's Enchant ability, if you don't have Shulk in your party? I forget how that works.

If you Break/Topple every single one, yes.

Although there are certain weapons that can harm Mechon natively; Dunban's first non-Monado sword is an example of such.

Spoiler

They become commonplace starting around Sword Valley, although the tradeoff with them tends to be less damage or Gem slots in exchange for not needing an Enchant.

Also, AI Shulk will ignore whether your weapons can natively hurt Mechon or not and will always Enchant when fighting them.

 

[MrPanic]

Just reached Valak Mountain,

Spoiler

wasn't expecting that day to night transition, so pretty

.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

so I should move on from Sharla eventually. Hmm. I guess i better see what this bird girl and pikachu guy are all about

 

[ivysaur12]

Ugh, in the stupid Minnie quest, I need to get five collectables items from Alcamoth, but (post Core)

Spoiler

Alcamoth is overrun with enemies that far outclass me and the only character to trade no longer trades the item after the quest becomes available

MonolithSoft!!

 

[Adam Prime]

so I should move on from Sharla eventually. Hmm. I guess i better see what this bird girl and pikachu guy are all about

LOL that's great. They're the two best offensive characters in the game. But you have to know what you're doing with a specific Arts setup. There's plenty of stuff online that guides you through these setups... but it's kinda fun to discover and figure it out yourself.

I think most people would recommend using those two, and then pick your third, most recommend

Spoiler

Dunban

as your Tank guy. But honestly anyone will work as the third party member because the other two are destroying the hell out of everything so fast.

 

[MetatronM]

A lot of players feel like they NEED to use Sharla, but they really don't. The minor healing other characters can do will almost always be more than enough, especially if you're tanking with dodging and not brute defense. You do pick up a character later on that I love using as the player controlled character and he has the best spread heal move in the game.

I've rarely touched Sharla as the player unit. I'm sure you can be far more effective than the CPU at healing, but it's just not for me.

Yeah, I think people are so used to the idea that somebody in the party needs to be the designated healer that they feel it's necessary to use Sharla. It's not. At all. Shulk has heals, can block damage with Shield, has high evasion, etc. Dunban just won't even be getting hit much to begin with. Riki has heals. Melia has a regen and a sacrifice heal. I think 7 has a regen as well.

Sharla only really makes a certain degree of sense to use, at least in my opinion, if you're using Reyn as the tank, as he is just going to soak up all damage and doesn't really have anything to get that health back aside from his Last Stand ability. Otherwise, that spot in the party could be much better used by a more offensive/dynamic party member.

Of course, that's all up to you and your play style. Xenoblade's balanced pretty nicely such that just about any party combination should be viable.

 

[mgs2master2]

Besides sharla who is a good healer?

 

[chaosblade]

Besides sharla who is a good healer?

Riki. And Shulk's Light Heal is also fine a lot of the time, especially later in the game with some certain skills and links.

 

[Wichu]

Besides sharla who is a good healer?

I've found Riki's healing art is plenty. It heals himself and one or both other party members for a fair amount and has a pretty short cooldown. Riki is an awesome support character with his healing, buffs/debuffs and damage over time arts.

 

[toadsworth]

Are there ways to raise party members affinity outside of combat? I want to increase Reyn's affinity with some characters but he doesn't really fit my playstyle.

Also, when do you get new arts? Is it a set level, or is there something I'm missing? Really need Melia's summon copy art.

 

[Rich!]

just reached level 99

beat all the superbosses apart from the level 120 bastard in valak mountain

finished the giants quests

74 hours of awesome

 

[MetatronM]

Are there ways to raise party members affinity outside of combat? I want to increase Reyn's affinity with some characters but he doesn't really fit my playstyle.

Heart to Hearts and Gifts. Can't remember if there's anything else.

EDIT: Oh, and completing some quests with the character in your party. So if you've got a bunch of side quests to turn someplace, switch Reyn into the party first.

 

[toadsworth]

Heart to Hearts and Gifts. Can't remember if there's anything else.

Hmmm, I've only found like 2 heart to hearts that i can actually watch, most seem to require a higher affinity level or further progress in the story....

 

[Beren the Empty-Handed]

Hmmm, I've only found like 2 heart to hearts that i can actually watch, most seem to require a higher affinity level or further progress in the story....

MetatronM's tips are right on. Another option is to go up against a high-level enemy that likes inflicting statuses that don't hit the whole party at once or drain HP (since that would render this strategy useless) and you can either hold out against for a long time or not kill too quickly. When one of your party is inflicted with a status like Daze or Topple you or the other AI can run over and Encourage them with B, which will remove their status and promote affinity. If the enemy keeps using these sorts of attacks over and over again, it can skyrocket really quickly. In a previous playthrough I found one later in the game (kind of small spoilers I guess)

Spoiler

(in Tephra Cave)

that let me do just that. My team went from all lowest affinity to the highest in about 15 minutes before I was wiped out. Obviously this situation requires more experimentation than others, but once you find that sort of setup it's by far the fastest route. An advanced strat sure, but it could come in handy.

 

[Adam Prime]

Besides sharla who is a good healer?

Yeah any character with a single HP Art will do fine.

Again, this game is really about being offensive, and winning as quickly as possible so you don't have to worry about healing.

 

[chaosblade]

Yeah any character with a single HP Art will do fine.

Again, this game is really about being offensive, and winning as quickly as possible so you don't have to worry about healing.

Melia laughs at this statement

 

[Shadow Hog]

Melia laughs at this statement

Technically, she has two!

I mean, neither is all that great from my experience - Summon Aqua's Regenerate is weak and the amount of HP you get back from the enemy is so-so, and Healing Gift is obviously a double-edged sword since it takes HP from Melia to give to a party member - but at least she has 'em!

 

[StarStabbedMoon]

Are there ways to raise party members affinity outside of combat? I want to increase Reyn's affinity with some characters but he doesn't really fit my playstyle.

Also, when do you get new arts? Is it a set level, or is there something I'm missing? Really need Melia's summon copy art.

Arts are learned at set levels. Melia learns summon copy at level

Spoiler

38

.

Also, though you can raise affinity outside of battle with gifting, it's easier and faster to simply farm affinity off a unique enemy with a debuff/status effect spike. One of the early enemies you can do this against is Flabbergasted Jerome in Eryth Sea.

 

[Overside]

Story q after the "Core" (also, I've beat the game before, just something I didn't quite get):

Spoiler

When Zanza says that they hid his body in Prison Island and his soul in Ose Tower, what did they find in Prison Island? The body of Arglas? But it was still Zanza because it unlocked the power of the Monado?

And Zanza needed a body... but why couldn't he use the body of the Bionis? Because he wasn't ready?

Spoiler

Zanza couldnt use the body of the bionis because he had expended too much energy in his fight with meyneth, and existing in general. He needed to replenish his energy, the way he does this, is he has beings he created with a set amount of his energy, procreate over a period of time, and then he harvests them all for a net profit of ether energy.

The high Entia were created with a genetic code that he could activate, to turn them into telethia, which would harvest all life on bionis as fuel for zanza.

Arglas was zanzas last host, he was the last cycles shulk. He did not possess the capability to understand programming logic, and was thus unable to fight back against zanzas will and use of the monado, which was so technologically advanced it may as well have been magic.

Interstingly enough, Egil DID understand programming logic, and HAD he managed to get his hands on a monado, either shulks, or meyneths when it was inches away.....

 

[SolicitorPirate]

So I've just arrived at the

Spoiler

Imperial Capital and the game has turned into Anime Game of Thrones.

I wonder if

Spoiler

Melia

is aware there is treachery afoot or if

Spoiler

she

is blind to it?

On a gameplay point, I've been completely ignoring side quests up to this point. Should I start paying attention to them? Also are the time limited quests worth it or can I just ignore them until they expire?

Also, how do I money? I can scarcely afford new skill tomes, let alone gear and

Spoiler

rebuilding Colony 6.

 

[Voror]

So still in Colony 9 needing to investigate Tephira Cave. Just trying to get as many of the citizens registered and get a good number of quests either activated or done.

So planning to get a few more of those done before moving on with things, but curious whether I should use what AP I have now or save it for a bit later when Shulk gets the Monado? I also seem to have enough for a few of the Talent books so would those be good to purchase now?

Also, is cycling leaders out good for building affinity or does that happen independently?

 

[HeisenbergLannister]

Is it ban worthy to talk about wanting an HD WiiU version?

 

[Ventara]

So I've just arrived at the

Spoiler

Imperial Capital and the game has turned into Anime Game of Thrones.

I wonder if

Spoiler

Melia

is aware there is treachery afoot or if

Spoiler

she

is blind to it?

On a gameplay point, I've been completely ignoring side quests up to this point. Should I start paying attention to them? Also are the time limited quests worth it or can I just ignore them until they expire?

Also, how do I money? I can scarcely afford new skill tomes, let alone gear and

Spoiler

rebuilding Colony 6.

I found the quests in Alcomoth gave a lot of money.

 

[MrPanic]

I'm around lv50 and I just found out you can upgrade the Monado arts...

gg wp. :|

 

[WarAdept]

I'm around lv50 and I just found out you can upgrade the Monado arts...

gg wp. :|

The only one worth upgrading initially is Shield anyway. Rest give rubbish bonuses (ie duration time when it's more simple to just use the correct ability a few seconds before a vision hits).

 

[ramyeon]

Is it ban worthy to talk about wanting an HD WiiU version?

Probably not but it's also a conversation that's been done to death and isn't really interesting.

 

[StarStabbedMoon]

On a gameplay point, I've been completely ignoring side quests up to this point. Should I start paying attention to them? Also are the time limited quests worth it or can I just ignore them until they expire?

Also, how do I money? I can scarcely afford new skill tomes, let alone gear and

Spoiler

rebuilding Colony 6.

I recommend ignoring them, even as they expire. The game is more interesting the first time around being slightly under leveled, which means avoiding sidequests. There are some good quests but in my opinion, New Game+ is ideal for going through those and taking your time as you explore more of the world.

Art books are really the only things worth buying early, good armor can mostly be picked up through battles. And there shouldn't be too much of a rush to get those books, since building up art points will take a while. You'll amass a fortune over time, which will help with Colony 6. If you need more money quick you can sell old armor and collectibles not used for quests or the collectopedia.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

I recommend ignoring them, even as they expire. The game is more interesting the first time around being slightly under leveled, which means avoiding sidequests. There are some good quests but in my opinion, New Game+ is ideal for going through those and taking your time as you explore more of the world.

Art books are really the only things worth buying early, good armor can mostly be picked up through battles. And there shouldn't be too much of a rush to get those books, since building up art points will take a while. You'll amass a fortune over time, which will help with Colony 6. If you need more money quick you can sell old armor and collectibles not used for quests or the collectopedia.

Cool, thanks.

Would I be missing anything interesting/useful by ignoring the sidequests, or are they all as superficial as they appear to be?

 

[StarStabbedMoon]

Cool, thanks.

Would I be missing anything interesting/useful by ignoring the sidequests, or are they all as superficial as they appear to be?

There are some good sidequests, some that even add to the story slightly, but the benefit of experiencing the story with fast pacing and a bit of challenge in battles is worth saving the sidequests for your next playthrough, if it comes to that.

This is just based on my experience, and how I enjoyed playing the game for the first time. I feel like I've seen a few people drop the game because they tried to take on a ton of sidequests which really drags out the game if you're a completionist. They still enjoyed the game, but finishing it can be overwhelming with all the content it has.

 

[Overside]

Cool, thanks.

Would I be missing anything interesting/useful by ignoring the sidequests, or are they all as superficial as they appear to be?

You lose nothing from skipping no names.

Most all named quest lines end up fleshing out the world lore, showing entire areas you would otherwise never see, fleshing out and even changing npc relationships, appearences, and routines, unlocking character traits as skill branches, and unlocking secret doors throughout bionis.

 

[TheMoon]

Also, is cycling leaders out good for building affinity or does that happen independently?

From "Beginner Tips" in the OP ->

Play as everyone!

You might be fooled into thinking it's perfectly normal to just play Shulk throughout the whole game because he has the Monado and stuff but you'd be, for one, wrong and also deprive yourself of some of the pretty cool variety, depth and fun of the combat system and especially the affinity system. So, switch out your party members and especially your party leaders you play as everyone and get to know everyone's Arts and what they're good at.​

Affinity! It's important!

This connects to the "play as everyone" part. Affinity between party members is built-up by fighting together (and also while completing quests). This means your two active party members will build affinity with you, the party leader. This means you're encourage to try all the different character combinations so everyone builds up affinity with everyone else. And if you know you're about to finish a sidequest and need to build affinity between certain characters, make sure to add them to the party in the needed configuration. It's all about dem <3​

Is it ban worthy to talk about wanting an HD WiiU version?

Yes.

Spoiler

Also, you'll go blind and your hands may or may not fall off.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

So, i fucked up in not bringing

Spoiler

Melia to Leone Telethia fight

didn't i? It doesn't help that it's at level 36 while my party is at level 31. I finished the first part (which took foreverrrrrr), saw the cutscene, whittled it down to half its health in the second stage of the fight only for it to regen 5k health every second and completely negate any damage i had done. I guess i should just keep spamming Monado Purge and hope for the best?

 

[chaosblade]

So, i fucked up in not bringing

Spoiler

Melia to Leone Telethia fight

didn't i? It doesn't help that it's at level 36 while my party is at level 31. I finished the first part (which took foreverrrrrr), saw the cutscene, whittled it down to half its health in the second stage of the fight only for it to regen 5k health every second and completely negate any damage i had done. I guess i should just keep spamming Monado Purge and hope for the best?

Purge should work. Getting a couple levels would also make a pretty big difference.

Wait, that's a different boss. You're still fine with Purge though.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Purge should work. Getting a couple levels would also make a pretty big difference.

Wait, that's a different boss. You're still fine with Purge though.

yeah, i figured as much. My main issue is that since i'm too many levels below the boss like 60% of my attacks are misses, making this fight a war of attrition. I guess that's what i get for slacking off, but hey i'm going to get a nice level up once this hour long fight is over.

 

[El Odio]

So, i fucked up in not bringing

Spoiler

Melia to Leone Telethia fight

didn't i? It doesn't help that it's at level 36 while my party is at level 31. I finished the first part (which took foreverrrrrr), saw the cutscene, whittled it down to half its health in the second stage of the fight only for it to regen 5k health every second and completely negate any damage i had done. I guess i should just keep spamming Monado Purge and hope for the best?

Probably not as fucked as the time I had shulk as my character in the fight against

Spoiler

the high entia assassins

or a party of Riki Reyn and Melia against metal face on

Spoiler

prison island

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Probably not as fucked as the time I had shulk as my character in the fight against

Spoiler

the high entia assassins

or a party of Riki Reyn and Melia against metal face on

Spoiler

prison island

my biggest issue is that there's no way to just back out of the fight. I knew almost immediately i fucked up in having Sharla in this particular fight and needed Melia but you're trapped in a dome and there's no way to escape the fight. So it's either grind this out or reset the game. And since i didn't remember the last time i saved, resetting wasnt an option.

i guess i could've just let myself get killed but now i'm like a good 40 minutes into the fight. Rather just see it through.

 

[thomaszyj]

yeah, i figured as much. My main issue is that since i'm too many levels below the boss like 60% of my attacks are misses, making this fight a war of attrition. I guess that's what i get for slacking off, but hey i'm going to get a nice level up once this hour long fight is over.

I defeat it when I am Lv31. You need lv3 purge. Lv2 purge will be possibly resisted. You need agility gems for every party member when you are 5 levels lower than the enemy unless you reach lv50.

 

[Squishy3]

I have a sword that can see the future and cut through countless Mechon like they're butter but I need to collect materials to make a bomb to blow through a vent covering... because reasons.

 

[Incitemaybe]

So, I hope I'm overlooking something but my camera has decided to start rotating around without any input from me and I can't initiate battles. A monster will just come up and kick my ass and I hit the button to initiate a battle and the sound plays but I don't enter the battle. I then die.

I turned off the game and restarted and it is still doing it

Edit: tried Smash to see if the analog nub was stuck and that game works fine.

 

[vareon]

So, I hope I'm overlooking something but my camera has decided to start rotating around without any input from me and I can't initiate battles. A monster will just come up and kick my ass and I hit the button to initiate a battle and the sound plays but I don't enter the battle. I then die.

I turned off the game and restarted and it is still doing it

Edit: tried Smash to see if the analog nub was stuck and that game works fine.

I wish they improved targeting. I don't like it when a huge-ass monster is engaging right in front of me yet I need to cycle through R targeting just to target *that* monster.

 

[Overside]

So, I hope I'm overlooking something but my camera has decided to start rotating around without any input from me and I can't initiate battles. A monster will just come up and kick my ass and I hit the button to initiate a battle and the sound plays but I don't enter the battle. I then die.

I turned off the game and restarted and it is still doing it

Edit: tried Smash to see if the analog nub was stuck and that game works fine.

Dude that sucks so hard.

 

[OMG Aero]

I just got Riki in my party and since this is my second playthrough I've been thinking about what happens later, so am I forgetting something or does Riki

Spoiler

have no impact on the story whatsoever?

Spoiler

Every other party member either has their own arc, a relationship with a villain, or does something to save another key character but Riki doesn't really do anything. The only scene involving Riki I can really think of is when he has dad chat with Dunban on the Fallen Arm and while that's a great scene you could pretty much remove Riki from the game and nothing would really be different, whereas if you removed any other character you would have to make substantial changes to the story.

 

[Renewed]

I just got Riki in my party and since this is my second playthrough I've been thinking about what happens later, so am I forgetting something or does Riki

Spoiler

have no impact on the story whatsoever?

Spoiler

Every other party member either has their own arc, a relationship with a villain, or does something to save another key character but Riki doesn't really do anything. The only scene involving Riki I can really think of is when he has dad chat with Dunban on the Fallen Arm and while that's a great scene you could pretty much remove Riki from the game and nothing would really be different, whereas if you removed any other character you would have to make substantial changes to the story.

Just seems like he was delegated to mascot status.

Spoiler

After introduction and establishing his character, there wasn't much else. Just chimes in as support and is there for Melia, especially after Lorithia. I was wondering if it was also apparent in his gameplay usage (with absurd HP for no reason I could discover at first) because he just provides support but I don't think there's anything there that credits to him being inconsequential.

 

[foxuzamaki]

I have a sword that can see the future and cut through countless Mechon like they're butter but I need to collect materials to make a bomb to blow through a vent covering... because reasons.

vidja games

 

[ZeroX03]

The Frontier Village is underneath the Eryth Sea. Holy shit I never realized. I just thought it was a weird geographical thing but this is so much more trippy.

 

[Beren the Empty-Handed]

I just got Riki in my party and since this is my second playthrough I've been thinking about what happens later, so am I forgetting something or does Riki

Spoiler

have no impact on the story whatsoever?

Spoiler

Every other party member either has their own arc, a relationship with a villain, or does something to save another key character but Riki doesn't really do anything. The only scene involving Riki I can really think of is when he has dad chat with Dunban on the Fallen Arm and while that's a great scene you could pretty much remove Riki from the game and nothing would really be different, whereas if you removed any other character you would have to make substantial changes to the story.

Just seems like he was delegated to mascot status.

Spoiler

After introduction and establishing his character, there wasn't much else. Just chimes in as support and is there for Melia, especially after Lorithia. I was wondering if it was also apparent in his gameplay usage (with absurd HP for no reason I could discover at first) because he just provides support but I don't think there's anything there that credits to him being inconsequential.

The Heropon is so awesome that he doesn't even have to do anything to earn that title. He just is.

Heropon Riki is here! YAHHH!

 

[Snacks the sober sea lion]

It's one of the only scenes Dunban gets, either. Kind of annoying considering he has potential to be the most interesting character.

I haven't played through this game since it came out on Wii and didn't go too deep into the combat or exploration. What's the secret, aside from "play as Melia," to making the combat not simply play as Shulk, Slit Edge then Back Slash?

 

[OMG Aero]

It's one of the only scenes Dunban gets, either. Kind of annoying considering he has potential to be the most interesting character.

I haven't played through this game since it came out on Wii and didn't go too deep into the combat or exploration. What's the secret, aside from "play as Melia," to making the combat not simply play as Shulk, Slit Edge then Back Slash?

Dunban at least gets a badass cutscene when he joins the party and one of the best cutscenes in the game when you are about to leave Valak Mountain.