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[SecretMoblin]

Any suggestions for what gems to equip Shulk with? I'm gonna try swapping him out for

Spoiler

Sharla so the team's gonna be Melia as party leader with Shulk and Dunban. I'm currently at Sword Valley near the Ether storage area at level 58.

That was my team through that area and the next two areas.

Shulk just can't take hits very well, so I loaded him up with agility gems and gems that kept his aggro down; arts stealth is good, as well as aggro down if you can find some. I haven't seen any numbers, but my guess is auto-attack stealth gems are essentially useless.

Beyond that, I just put agility gems on him so he avoided more hits and strength gems so he hit harder. I was so frustrated that I had to use him through that area. I was so glad when I was able to switch him out again.

 

[pelicansurf]

Im really surprised by the fact that people were struggling with boss battles. They really arent all that tough at all. If you're really having trouble just toss

Spoiler

Sharla

in your party for some major heals.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

just finished the long chain in Frontier Village about the

Spoiler

Red Pollen businness

I was like

I mean, they went there.

Spoiler

A drug cartel??!

...with Nopons??!


that was :-O.........

 

[Bel Marduk]

Somehow I managed to make an order with shop to (FFS, can this be unbanned now?) now and it wasn't working a couple hours ago. Payment went through fine. Cancelled from Zavvi. Suck my dick lol.

I heard people ended up importing it from shopto and got it ridiculously fast (like 6 days). Hoping it's the same thing here.

 

[Hiltz]

That was my team through that area and the next two areas.

Shulk just can't take hits very well, so I loaded him up with agility gems and gems that kept his aggro down; arts stealth is good, as well as aggro down if you can find some. I haven't seen any numbers, but my guess is auto-attack stealth gems are essentially useless.

Beyond that, I just put agility gems on him so he avoided more hits and strength gems so he hit harder. I was so frustrated that I had to use him through that area. I was so glad when I was able to switch him out again.

I also have had trouble with Shulk not being able to take hits well. Thanks for the help.

 

[mt1200]

I hope that it they release the US version, they'll add gamecube controller support

 

[Man God]

That was my team through that area and the next two areas.

Shulk just can't take hits very well, so I loaded him up with agility gems and gems that kept his aggro down; arts stealth is good, as well as aggro down if you can find some. I haven't seen any numbers, but my guess is auto-attack stealth gems are essentially useless.

Beyond that, I just put agility gems on him so he avoided more hits and strength gems so he hit harder. I was so frustrated that I had to use him through that area. I was so glad when I was able to switch him out again.

Depends on if you have full double attack and haste, then auto attack becomes more or less the best/worst aggro generator in the game. Especially when you link up all double hits become crits.

 

[SecretMoblin]

Depends on if you have full double attack and haste, then auto attack becomes more or less the best/worst aggro generator in the game. Especially when you link up all double hits become crits.

Ah, this makes a lot of sense.

 

[Man God]

Ah, this makes a lot of sense.

I still wouldn't ever equip auto atk stealth as weapon slots are the most valuable slot possible and you'd rather have element up for the aoe-ers and crit/double attack/daze up/topple up/haste/whatever else for your melee.

Reyn and Sharla though can really play around with those slots.

 

[SecretMoblin]

I still wouldn't ever equip auto atk stealth as weapon slots are the most valuable slot possible and you'd rather have element up for the aoe-ers and crit/double attack/daze up/topple up/haste/whatever else for your melee.

Reyn and Sharla though can really play around with those slots.

Honestly, by this point I'm kind of surprised when Reyn shows up during a cutscene. I kicked him out of my party so long ago that I keep forgetting he exists. If I have the energy for a New Game + after this (I'm still around level 66-67 at 92 hours in, at the

Spoiler

Central Factory

), I'll try to main Sharla for a while. I think that might be interesting.

 

[MechaX]

Good God, why is Melia's AI so terrible.

 

[LionFranco]

GAME's website shows that the game is out of stock again, but i got my re-order in yesterday afternoon, so hopefully that was before they were out of stock. If they have to cancel my order again i'm gonna scream.

 

[SlipperySlope]

Good God, why is Melia's AI so terrible.

I play as her.

 

[Gvaz]

Wait what link is banned now?

Good God, why is Melia's AI so terrible.

You can't have everything. All the AI leaves much to be desired, but melia just summons and leaves it there, never casts.

Play as her and its all fixed

 

[Laughing Banana]

Good God, why is Melia's AI so terrible.

Because she's just too awesome to let the AI handle her.

 

[Man God]

This is the order of AI effectiveness, from most to least:

Spoiler

Fiora

Shulk De-equip self damage move
Reyn, Yep, even does the auras pretty well
Dunban, Sometimes forgets that you need to do that first move to get the others to work, but is good on toppling stuff and resetting auras.
Sharla, will sometimes FORGET TO HEAL and just AUTO ATTACK
Riki- Will not cast aoes on single targets no matter what. Doesn't spam hero time/freezinate like a motherfucker, rarely goes behind for sneaky or bitey.
Melia- Will not cast summons. Rarely self topples. Yeah.

 

[Laughing Banana]

This is the order of AI effectiveness, from most to least:

Spoiler

Fiora

Shulk De-equip self damage move
Reyn, Yep, even does the auras pretty well
Dunban, Sometimes forgets that you need to do that first move to get the others to work, but is good on toppling stuff and resetting auras.
Sharla, will sometimes FORGET TO HEAL and just AUTO ATTACK
Riki- Will not cast aoes on single targets no matter what. Doesn't spam hero time/freezinate like a motherfucker, rarely goes behind for sneaky or bitey.
Melia- Will not cast summons. Rarely self topples. Yeah.

Here's the stupidity of the AI for some of the characters that I have encountered, often many times, during gameplay:

Shulk: using Monado Buster like a crazy mofo and doesn't care a bit about strategic Monado uses.
Dunban: fighting a level 36 enemy. All is fine until he stupidly activate peerless with a level 96 elemental around. Cue level 96 elemental monster joining in the end and raped the entire team.
Sharla: controlled character: 1900/2100 hp. Dunban: 500/3000 on the verge of dead. Which one does she prioritize first to heal? Of COURSE the 1900/2100 one! YAY! I loss count on how many hard fights I lost because of this stupidity.
Melia: just standing there enchanted by the fights doing nothing like an idiot. Lovely.

 

[Tiktaalik]

I finally got my Wii back from my friend and was able to start this up tonight. The game feels utterly massive in scope and is really polished. I'm really impressed.

 

[HiddenAway]

Here's the stupidity of the AI for some of the characters that I have encountered, often many times, during gameplay:

Melia: just standing there enchanted by the fights doing nothing like an idiot. Lovely.

I do find this happens quite often. Once you tell everyone to focus on an enemy though, she'll start fighting again (usually unleashing all 3 at once).

 

[Hiltz]

Level 59
142 hours
Just arrived at

Spoiler

Galahad Fortress

It was about freaking time the game

Spoiler

let you defeat Mumkar. Man, what a jerk!

Gotta skill tree question.

Spoiler

Dunban

is finally about to finish completing his "no armor = more agility" last skill tree slot. When it is eventually done upgrading, should I take off all of his armor equipment and just keep the gems on the weapon ? Is it not worth using and/or would he still be too weak to take advantage of it at this point? His agility is currently at 193 if I remember correctly.


I may end up selling Xenoblade once I finish it. It's been terrific experience so far but just thinking about doing a 2nd play through sounds exhausting. Besides, I won't have the luxury of playing such long games in the near future anyway.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Level 59
142 hours
Just arrived at

Spoiler

Galahad Fortress

Some of you are just fucking mental, aren't you?

142 hours... my first playthrough was just 109 hours with level 80 characters across the board....

 

[Gvaz]

I have no idea why he's talking so long, he's literally taking twice as long as everyone else to do the same exact things, and asks questions that he could find out by reading the OP.

I am so confuse

actually the spreadsheet is not in the OP, Sadist wtf are you doing you lazy bum

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

haven't started this one yet...

but i'm kinda intimidated looking at some of those play times

since i'm a pretty busy dude nowadays, how long does the MAIN quest of this game take if you chose to ignore most of the sidequests? or is that really doing the game a disservice?

 

[Laughing Banana]

haven't started this one yet...

but i'm kinda intimidated looking at some of those play times

since i'm a pretty busy dude nowadays, how long does the MAIN quest of this game take if you chose to ignore most of the sidequests? or is that really doing the game a disservice?

Eh I imagine it would cut down the gameplay time very significantly if you are ignoring the sidequests, since in my case most of those hours are really spent on scouring the areas looking for drops, collectibles, monsters, etc etc.

My suggestion is just take whatever sidequests you can find while you're strolling the main path and finishing it as you go if you can. If you can't, then don't sweat it.

 

[Hiltz]

Maybe just a little crazy. I originally wanted to take my time with the game but now it's getting a bit tiresome to find all the landmarks in each map and level grind. Hopefully, the amount of sidequests later on will also be smaller.

Currently have 1 sidequest left

Spoiler

Shimmering Forte in Makna Forest

and have Colony 9 at 4 stars,

Spoiler

Colony 6 at 3, Central and Upper Bionis at 5, and Alcamoth at 4. Everyone's affinity is at max except for Rikki which I won't bother doing.

 

[Rich!]

50 hours in, level 68, fighting

Spoiler

egil

absolute fucking bastard. arghgh. Every time the giant spider mechon is summoned, I just die. Goddamnit.

And I've just found out I've still got at least two more areas to go to after this! haha. Haven't done ANY sidequests or affinity/heart to heart locating...and I don't even know how to get stars in an area. I'm just blazing through the story - I should slow down and explore for a bit though, I guess?

 

[weeaboo]

lvl79, 85 hours, final boss time!

Spoiler

and he's raping my ass I'm using Shulk-Sharla-DunDun, any advice?

 

[ramyeon]

Levelled up a few times and then went back to the boss that was troubling me in Sword Valley and it was a breeze. Post Galahad Fort spoilers!

Spoiler

Man, this story just keeps going. I love it. This is why I find it hard to apply myself to side quests, it's just more fun to see the story unfold for me. Fiora reminds me so much of Aigis with her basic armour haha, but after switching it in the Hidden Village she looks straight out of any random mecha anime. She seems pretty powerful too. Do many of you use her in your party? Most parties I see don't include her so... I think I'll keep her in with Shulk and Reyn for now, I want to try using Reyn more now as his HP is so crazy. I've been using Dunban, Shulk, Sharla for most of the game so this is a nice change.

 

[_Alkaline_]

Just reached the

Spoiler

Nopon Village

. 28 hours.

So yeah, I take back what I said about the game being ugly.

Spoiler

Gaur Plains was a step up visually, especially during storms, but Satorl Marsh and now the Nopon Village have really changed my mind. I guess it was just Colony 9 that was hit by the ugly stick, thus far anyway.

Also, just putting that out there even at this early stage, this is a possible game of the generation for me. I'm not putting that lightly either. I'll write more once I'm done, I'm trying to avoid this thread due to fear of spoilers. But some thoughts I just needed to get across.

 

[Sadist]

actually the spreadsheet is not in the OP, Sadist wtf are you doing you lazy bum

I'm a busy man

What spreadsheet?

 

[mclem]

I'm not sure how many original Nintendo-owned properties received sequels after not being released in the world's largest market, but I'm sure the number isn't very big.

Well, er, *Mother*?

Sin & Punishment? (was that strictly Nintendo-owned?)

Rhythm Tengoku?

Starfy?

Glory of Heracles?

Fire Emblem?


Admittedly, none of those were released in Europe either.

 

[SecretMoblin]

I'm a busy man

What spreadsheet?

I think he's referring to this, though I'm not entirely sure.

Well, er, *Mother*?

Sin & Punishment? (was that strictly Nintendo-owned?)

Rhythm Tengoku?

Starfy?

Glory of Heracles?

Fire Emblem?


Admittedly, none of those were released in Europe either.

Every day I'm reminded of Mother. ;_; I'm certain Nintendo owns the rights to Sin & Punishment and not Treasure (so you wouldn't see it ported on a non-Nintendo system), so that would count in my mind. Regardless, the list is quite small, given Nintendo's historical penchant for releasing its franchises in North America. It meant a lot that they chose not to release Xenoblade Chronicles here.

But if a sequel is in the works, I'll be ecstatic along with the rest of you. I'm still not done with the game yet, and I want it to keep going forever.

 

[jgwhiteus]

So, at lv. 72 or so I cleared the

Spoiler

Mechonis Core - whoa at the plot revelations at the end of the area -

and now I'm spending some time doing sidequests and leveling up. I'm up to level 80.

What's the fastest way to level up at this point in the game? While the sidequests are starting to give hefty experience, it seems like fighting monsters slightly stronger than you are is still quicker (plus you can use EXP III gems), and also gets you more AP and SP points.

But there appears to be an unofficial "cap" on the strongest monsters you can fight - generally if you try to fight "red" monsters you'll miss most of your hits (their agility stat is too high?); you really only have a chance against "yellow" monsters, about 3-5 levels above you.

Anyone know of any quicker ways to level up? I don't want to grind too much, but it seems like to complete some sidequests you have to face off against mobs of lv. 85-90 monsters.

 

[donkey show]

So, at lv. 72 or so I cleared the

Spoiler

Mechonis Core - whoa at the plot revelations at the end of the area -

and now I'm spending some time doing sidequests and leveling up. I'm up to level 80.

What's the fastest way to level up at this point in the game? While the sidequests are starting to give hefty experience, it seems like fighting monsters slightly stronger than you are is still quicker (plus you can use EXP III gems), and also gets you more AP and SP points.

But there appears to be an unofficial "cap" on the strongest monsters you can fight - generally if you try to fight "red" monsters you'll miss most of your hits (their agility stat is too high?); you really only have a chance against "yellow" monsters, about 3-5 levels above you.

Anyone know of any quicker ways to level up? I don't want to grind too much, but it seems like to complete some sidequests you have to face off against mobs of lv. 85-90 monsters.

Going to that giant cave like area (Windy Cave or something like that) on the lower level of Bionis leg has several level 70 ish monsters for you to grind on that won't be too hard. Using Melia makes it much easier to fight higher level monsters because the ether arts will generally not miss and the chill/burn/poison properties will ensure consistent damage. You can also try rocking those Dark Hoxes (mid 70s) on the raised circular platforms over Raguel Lake on Bionis Leg as well. Careful though because they will swarm like crazy if you're not careful.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

Just reached the

Spoiler

Nopon Village

. 28 hours.

So yeah, I take back what I said about the game being ugly.

Spoiler

Gaur Plains was a step up visually, especially during storms, but Satorl Marsh and now the Nopon Village have really changed my mind. I guess it was just Colony 9 that was hit by the ugly stick, thus far anyway.

Also, just putting that out there even at this early stage, this is a possible game of the generation for me. I'm not putting that lightly either. I'll write more once I'm done, I'm trying to avoid this thread due to fear of spoilers. But some thoughts I just needed to get across.

Like I said, Zelda will have a lot to prove against this one

 

[Rich!]

haha oh for fuck sake

Spoiler

just beat egil, now he's jumped into his mechon, yaldabaoth. and yeah, this is fucking impossible

 

[donkey show]

LOL triple monitor setup for Xenoblade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Py7McYUPvw&feature=related

 

[Aveyn Knight]

Anyone know of any quicker ways to level up? I don't want to grind too much, but it seems like to complete some sidequests you have to face off against mobs of lv. 85-90 monsters.

I had a hard time at Level 80ish as well. I remember training at Kromar Beach (Level 80ish enemies) at Eryth Sea for a while. Then I did some quests at

Spoiler

Alcamoth involving killing several Telethia.

Have you fought the Level 70-80 unique monsters at the Bionis' Leg?

When I got to Level 90ish, I farmed EXP V shards (crafting them to MEGA HEAT gives you +100% EXP on two EXP VI gems) from the Level 90ish Nebula (watch out, the guy explodes at low HP like the others) at the fiery beacon landmark in Makna Forest, which made the rest a breeze.

 

[Effect]

How much of a problem is the over leveling if you happen to be a completionist?

 

[Gvaz]

How much of a problem is the over leveling if you happen to be a completionist?

95vs80 endgame mobs.

There's a newgame+ however so if you went and played that you'd be overleveled as well when you start that

There are level 100+ optional boss mobs though (highest being 120 and level cap is 99) so if you want to beat those you pretty much have to get near the level cap.

 

[Dead Prince]

LOL triple monitor setup for Xenoblade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Py7McYUPvw&feature=related

that's ugly he needs 3 more monitors on top to even it out.

 

[cacildo]

getting tired. sometimes the big and empty eviroments seem pointless.

Yeah, that snow area.

 

[Gvaz]

The snow area has like 15 quests tops

it might as well not even have anything in it by comparison

 

[RPGCrazied]

Spoiler

I think Archer Hodes can be found at Showdown Cliff. If not, try Hode Refuge.
Reef 4 at night where the light house is for Chrloro Laias and Lateal Shore for Lunar Gradys.

Thanks dude. Some of these monsters are hard to find.

Like this one that comes only out at night, when shooting stars are happening. I always get rain at night, never shooting stars.

 

[Gvaz]

Thanks dude. Some of these monsters are hard to find.

Like this one that comes only out at night, when shooting stars are happening. I always get rain at night, never shooting stars.

flip the clock back and forth about 5 or six hour changes during the night until you see them. They're hard to miss, makes noise, etc

 

[The Hermit]

Playing 26 hours, level 32 everyone

Spoiler

(starting to get Colony 6 on its feet again)

... I am getting a very Diablo-esque vibe with all those unique monsters and loot.
I wasn't sure why I was enjoying a JRPG so much, but the dynamic here is great...

 

[jgwhiteus]

Going to that giant cave like area (Windy Cave or something like that) on the lower level of Bionis leg has several level 70 ish monsters for you to grind on that won't be too hard. Using Melia makes it much easier to fight higher level monsters because the ether arts will generally not miss and the chill/burn/poison properties will ensure consistent damage. You can also try rocking those Dark Hoxes (mid 70s) on the raised circular platforms over Raguel Lake on Bionis Leg as well. Careful though because they will swarm like crazy if you're not careful.

That's a good tip re: Melia; I'll try it out. Missing hits for monsters 5+ levels above has been the biggest annoyance - I'm pretty sure I could tough out the fights, especially with a healer, it's just that nothing connects so there's no point.

I started off with those Hoxes in Raguel Lake - their most frustrating move by far is the swinging tail knockback that can send your main character flying off the platform and into the lake, with no way to go back to the fight.

I had a hard time at Level 80ish as well. I remember training at Kromar Beach (Level 80ish enemies) at Eryth Sea for a while. Then I did some quests at

Spoiler

Alcamoth involving killing several Telethia.

Have you fought the Level 70-80 unique monsters at the Bionis' Leg?

When I got to Level 90ish, I farmed EXP V shards (crafting them to MEGA HEAT gives you +100% EXP on two EXP VI gems) from the Level 90ish Nebula (watch out, the guy explodes at low HP like the others) at the fiery beacon landmark in Makna Forest, which made the rest a breeze.

Thanks, yeah I fought the lv. 75-77 Gogols wandering around the lake in Bionis Leg, and currently I'm fighting the lv. 81-85 Gogols in Satorl Marsh. I didn't know where I could get further EXP+ gems (right now I have one free EXP III gem, and two others embedded in armor), so I'll try farming and crafting some of those when my levels are higher.


EDIT: Oh, separate question. Are there some Arts where the mid-level books just aren't sold in shops? I tried revisiting every shop in the game to see if I'd missed something or they'd updated their inventory, and I did find some new books, and - spoiler for around lv. 70+ -

Spoiler

the two merchants on the Junks after you clear the Core also had new books

but some characters are still missing their mid-level Arts. Also - major spoiler for those who haven't reached Fallen Arm yet (lv. 55+?) -

Spoiler

where do you get Fiora's mid-level Arts books? I have some of her Arts at advanced from monster drops, but everything else is maxed out at 4.

 

[Wiseblade]

So, I just bought this game and I can't decide if the dub is terrible or amazing.

 

[LPC]

For every game, I usually put the Japanese voice, but I give the English voice a try for this one... I absolutely loved it! I'm playing the game with English dub and I'm completely in love with it!

 

[RPGCrazied]

Dunban has the best VA in the game.