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[SecretMoblin]

Last thing, can someone clarify the difference between haste and agility?

As far as I know, Haste affects the speed of auto-attacks, and that's it. Agility affects the accuracy of your hits and evasion.

 

[chaosblade]

Ok, going back to Melia for a second...I must be playing this character wrong and am clearly missing something.

So, the only elementals I have at her disposal are the ones to buff stregnth, agility and ether. I'm not seeing any elemental attacks! On top of that, that middle button (talent art to summon elemental?) rarely fills up and is available to use even when she unloads standard attacks.

What am I missing here? (yes, well aware this makes me read like newb atm).

Lvl 45

Last thing, can someone clarify the difference between haste and agility?

Read the in-game tutorial, it explains how the elementals work. It's basically use summon -> use talent art.

And haste only affects the speed of your auto-attacks. Agility affects dodging and accuracy.

What's good advice on doing or ignoring sidequests? I've done every single one so far and at the 29 hour mark I'm level 39/40 and after just unlocking the

Spoiler

rebuilding of colony 6 with Juju

I decided to go ahead a little with the story and it seems like every single enemy is 8-10 levels below me. I perhaps mistakenly decided to comeback to colony 9 when I hit level 33 and gank all the level 35-40 monsters hidden there and now I'm over-leveled and over-equipped. Did I just screw myself out of having fun with the story progression? Can I come back to help Juju out much later in the story? Or would the quest rewards only be useful if I help out now?

If you do as many sidequests as possible at any given point, you'll be overleveled. You're better off just doing the ones you find and giving timed ones priority (even though you usually have plenty of time to do them). Unless you don't mind breezing through the story enemies, that is.

You can also balance it out a bit by just not fighting many enemies when roaming around. You'll still probably be overleveled though.

 

[Bel Marduk]

Just wanna quote this again. Also, where is Ruthan in Alcamoth?

South of Imperial Palace at 20:00.

Btw, you can find NPC locations using this FAQ:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/wii/960564-xenoblade-chronicles/faqs/62867

or this Wiki:

http://xenoblade.wikia.com/wiki/Dedeba

I prefer the Wiki though it doesn't have 100% of all NPCs.

 

[Ashes]

Might have to buy this game after all the reviews.

 

[Oxx]

The animation for Starlight Kick is amusing enough to be a reason to play as Melia no matter what.

 

[SecretMoblin]

The animation for Starlight Kick is amusing enough to be a reason to play as Melia no matter what.

Especially when she's turned away from the enemy, so she goes flying in the opposite direction. The enemy still falls over!

 

[Hiltz]

The animation for Starlight Kick is amusing enough to be a reason to play as Melia no matter what.

It's also the cause of accidental deaths by performing it too close to the edge of a cliff or platform

 

[Meier]

Might have to buy this game after all the reviews.

I would definitely recommend it if you enjoy JRPGs. It took about 5 weeks for me to actually get my copy but the wait was worth it. I ended up playing it for a solid 15 hours this weekend.. that's probably more than I've used my Wii in the last 3 years.

 

[kagete]

Thanks for the info re: quests. I guess I'll ignore them until I hit a wall with monsters i can't kill.

Yo BUY THIS GAME! It is SO GOOD

 

[Ashes]

I would definitely recommend it if you enjoy JRPGs. It took about 5 weeks for me to actually get my copy but the wait was worth it. I ended up playing it for a solid 15 hours this weekend.. that's probably more than I've used my Wii in the last 3 years.

I like jrpgs, even ones, that doesn't have all that good of a rep on gaf.* cough* ff13 was good and I'm looking forward to its sequel *cough*

 

[Hiltz]

Okay, you guys have made Riki sound too cool so I plan on swapping Sharla out for him so he'll be with Dunban and Melia as party leader. What gems should he be equipped with?

 

[Man God]

Just wanna quote this again. Also, where is Ruthan in Alcamoth?

SHE WANTS TO TALK TO A HIGH ENTIA.

Okay, you guys have made Riki sound too cool so I plan on swapping Sharla out for him.
What gems should he be equipped with?

Ideally? Chill/Poison/Blaze Up, Ether Up, Agility Up, Spike Up, Strength Up.

 

[ivysaur12]

SHE WANTS TO TALK TO A HIGH ENTIA.



Ideally? Chill/Poison/Blaze Up, Ether Up, Agility Up, Spike Up, Strength Up.

Bah, didn't see that. Thanks guys.

 

[chaosblade]

SHE WANTS TO TALK TO A HIGH ENTIA.

Also need that area at 4-5 star affinity, I think. I had problems with that too because talking to her with Melia wouldn't get me a quest either.

 

[Gvaz]

I like jrpgs, even ones, that doesn't have all that good of a rep on gaf.* cough* ff13 was good and I'm looking forward to its sequel *cough*

I'm almost done playing ff13 and I want to stick forks in my eyes

 

[Man God]

except for a very few times when someone wants to talk to shulk because he can repair things, if an npc says they want to talk to someone specific it means you have met the requirements for a skill tree quest, which have almost nothing to do with affinity and everything to do with filling out quest lines.

 

[Dascu]

Okay, you guys have made Riki sound too cool so I plan on swapping Sharla out for him so he'll be with Dunban and Melia as party leader. What gems should he be equipped with?

I put gems on him to buff up his special attacks. Back Attack Plus, Bleed Plus, Freeze Plus are good picks.

 

[iamaustrian]

It's also the cause of accidental deaths by performing it too close to the edge of a cliff or platform

she also looks a "bit" goofy when you jump off a higher cliff. She falls on the ground, straight face, like she is drunk as fuck.

strange that she doesn't have a bitchy outfit like Sharla and Fiora. No bras, no tangas...wtf?

 

[EvilMario]

Okay, you guys have made Riki sound too cool so I plan on swapping Sharla out for him so he'll be with Dunban and Melia as party leader. What gems should he be equipped with?

I swap between Riki and Shulk leading the party, mostly. If I'm fighting tougher battles, Riki's 'area heal' is so valuable. Given all the status he uses too (bleed, poison, bind, topple) and that fact that I have him up to 9,999HP, he's very useful in a battle that might take a while.

If I'm just running around though, Shulk does a lot more immediate damage with his back attack, and the 'First Attack' gems I have on him. Just walk around OHKOing things under me.

 

[Temrer]

Can anybody tell me how far I am before the next Point of No Return? I'm at

Spoiler

Valak Mountain

and haven't touched any of the timed sidequests. Playtime is about 46 hours

Also, the daytime music here is probably one of my most favourite pieces so far. Reminds me of Layton, oddly enough.

 

[chaosblade]

Can anybody tell me how far I am before the next Point of No Return? I'm at

Spoiler

Valak Mountain

and haven't touched any of the timed sidequests. Playtime is about 46 hours

Also, the daytime music here is probably one of my most favourite pieces so far. Reminds me of Layton, oddly enough.

You have a ways to go before the Alcamoth ones expire. The ones on Bionis Leg could expire as soon as you're ready for them to -

Spoiler

They expire when you start rebuilding Colony 6.

And yeah, the music there at night is really fantastic.

 

[Temrer]

Aaaah, thanks! I'll probably get my party to the next story part

Spoiler

Sword Valley?

and then go back and do some level-grinding.

Spoiler

I already got all of the Colony 6 quests tho now at level 2 reconstruction!

 

[Hiltz]

Aaaah, thanks! I'll probably get my party to the next story part

Spoiler

Sword Valley?

and then go back and do some level-grinding.

Spoiler

I already got all of the Colony 6 quests tho now at level 2 reconstruction!

Just a heads up, Once you've finished passing through

Spoiler

Sword Valley as well as the next story area are after it, you won't be able to go back to those two locations.

I made good progress today.

Lvl 97 (Shulk's the only one at lvl. 99)
234 hours

Spoiler

- Seems like there's gonna be less than 4 new quests left to do but still need to complete current quests like Replica Monado 4 & 5
- Upgraded Colony 6 affinity to l five stars
- Unlocked Rikki's 5th skill branch (got the first 3 skills completed)
- Killed the unique monsters in Tephra Cave and flying monster at Distant Fingertip
- killed those lvl. 98 giant bipedal dinosaurs in Makna Forest
- About to go to the warehouse in Tephra Cave and finish any remaining quests for Shura
- Still need to Defeat Shimmering Forte in Makna Forest
- Not gonna raise affinity any further for Riki except with Dunban(at purple status) because its such a pain. I tried looking for that

 

[ivysaur12]

I think the Colony 6 reconstruction is one of the best things about the game. I'm only halfway through level 3, but I love just walking through it and seeing it come to life.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

I think the Colony 6 reconstruction is one of the best things about the game. I'm only halfway through level 3, but I love just walking through it and seeing it come to life.

you're making me feel bad for never touching Colony 6

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

Might have to buy this game after all the reviews.

forget the reviews sir, this thread is full of people navigating in their own foam. It's THAT good


report: level 95, clocked 142 hours and I think I've finished all the possible quests I could do. Checked and rechecked everywhere, no "!" marks, every place with five stars, Colony Six 100%ed with 150 inhabitants, all the ancient Treasures found, Collectopedia completed, unlocked all five Skill trees for everyone, endgame awaits

but it was not a cakewalk, nossir. I've actually just had the most WTF fight ever:

Spoiler

Firework Galdesia

. Everytime you hit her, she gives you Daze. everytime she hits you, she gives you Daze. It was surreal somehow, and after 15 minutes of slow motion crap Riki delivered the final blow, as always, because he's the Heropon





Shulk looks really good with

Spoiler

Asura's armor

, is it the best in the game?

 

[Laughing Banana]

Shulk looks really good with

Spoiler

Asura's armor

, is it the best in the game?

The Glory Equipment sets bestow the highest possible defense/ether defense boost, if I am not mistaken. Too bad they are uniques and so... plain looking :\

I'm liking Rex Armor for Shulk myself.

And yeah the Spider and the T-Rex were so annoying with their automatic daze/topple effects :\

you're making me feel bad for never touching Colony 6

If anything you should strive the complete the Nature category since it can give you access to Rare Crystals very easily. Some of them, like Rare Wind Crystals with Agility up effects, are crucial for fighting high-level enemies later on.

 

[bh7812]

I know gem crafting's been talked about quite a bit over the course of the thread and I have a question about it. Now, I understand the basics behind it and how to craft the gems. My question shouldn't be a spoiler, at least I sure hope it's not! I'm finally about to the end of the game but have some map areas still left to fill in. What gems do I need or would be ideal to make Speed Up gems? I've put about 150 hours into the game and have done everything that's open to me at least, so now all that's left is to fill in the few remaining map sections. Thanks in advance to anyone who could give me some idea what gems are needed to make speed up gems!

 

[Man God]

Lancelot Armour is generally considered the best, with Glory Gauntlets for the non weaponed haste.

 

[Laughing Banana]

I know gem crafting's been talked about quite a bit over the course of the thread and I have a question about it. Now, I understand the basics behind it and how to craft the gems. My question shouldn't be a spoiler, at least I sure hope it's not! I'm finally about to the end of the game but have some map areas still left to fill in. What gems do I need or would be ideal to make Speed Up gems? I've put about 150 hours into the game and have done everything that's open to me at least, so now all that's left is to fill in the few remaining map sections. Thanks in advance to anyone who could give me some idea what gems are needed to make speed up gems!

Speed Up? You mean Quickstep?

You can get quickstep crystals from the following enemies: the Tokilos in Bionis' Leg, Quadwings in Satorl Marsh (look for the level 80s for higher level crystals), and Babeli Barg/Wind Elemental enemies in Prison Island.

As to what crystals are needed, you need at least two crystals with quick step properties on the same level. Don't combine them if you desire the best results; they can be combined with any other crystals on the same level. The aim for the first step of the gem crafting is not to create gems but rather create a cylinder of your desired property at a level that is as close to 100% as possible.

Those with good/great medium flames as Engineers are great for this (such as Sharla or the 7th member... Melia too IIRC). Riki is very good too if the percentage of your desired property on a crystal before crafting is already high (say... 80% or 90%) since his terrible attributes will rarely add value but will allow you to create a number of cylinders for you to choose.

Once you have two cylinders of the same property with high percentages, just use someone with Good/Great strong flame properties as Engineers (Dunban and Reyn--Reyn is the best) and you'll pretty much set on getting the best result possible (MEGA HEAT).

It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it, although a liberal use of save/load is pretty much required since a good deal of luck is involved to get the ideal results.

 

[bh7812]

Speed Up? You mean Quickstep?

You can get quickstep gems from the following enemies: the Tokilos in Bionis' Leg, Quadwings in Satorl Marsh (look for the level 80s for higher level gems), and Babeli Barg/Wind Elemental enemies in Prison Island.

As to what crystals are needed, you need at least two crystals with quick step properties on the same level. They can be combined with any other crystals on the same level: the aim for the first step of the gem crafting is not to create gems but rather create a cylinder of your desired property at a level that is as close to 100% as possible.

Those with good/great medium flames as Engineers are great for this (such as Sharla or the 7th member). Riki is very good too if the percentage of your desired property on a crystal before crafting is already high (say... 80% or 90%) since his terrible attributes will rarely add value but will allow you to create a number of cylinders for you to choose.

Once you have two cylinders of the same property with high percentages, just use someone with Good/Great strong flame properties as Engineers (Dunban and Reyn--Reyn is the best) and you'll pretty much set on getting the best result possible (MEGA HEAT).

It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it, although a liberal use of save/load is pretty much required since a good deal of luck is involved to get the ideal results.

Thanks for the info good sir! I did mean quickstep sorry bout that! I'll give this a try tonight, it's just been very tedious to fill in some of the bigger map areas. I've managed it but I sure wished I'd crafted the quickstep gems sooner!

 

[Laughing Banana]

Thanks for the info good sir! I did mean quickstep sorry bout that! I'll give this a try tonight, it's just been very tedious to fill in some of the bigger map areas. I've managed it but I sure wished I'd crafted the quickstep gems sooner!

I am sure you have realized that the game will fill the maps automatically once you found all the landmarks/locations right?

 

[ivysaur12]

The Valek Mountain night soundtrack is like nothing else I've heard in a game.

God damn.

 

[Oxx]

The night version of almost every area's soundtrack is awesome.

 

[Bel Marduk]

The Valek Mountain night soundtrack is like nothing else I've heard in a game.

God damn.

Not one of my top favorites but that one's good. Sounds nothing like the day music though (not a bad thing though).

ACE+ totally destroyed this soundtrack.

Spoiler

Fallen Arm

sounds really nice at night too.

Also the track at Prison Island when you go to it during the Alcamoth part fits the mood really well.

 

[ivysaur12]

Why does it take so long to find these Colony 6 items?

Finding an Ice Cabbage in Valek Mountain is taking forever. Online trading would be snazzy.

 

[Gvaz]

Why does it take so long to find these Colony 6 items?

Finding an Ice Cabbage in Valek Mountain is taking forever. Online trading would be snazzy.

Hrm I think you can find it at ummmmm near the altar maybe? I'm not sure

 

[Hiltz]

I'm gonna beat this game in the next day or two. It's just time for it to end and time for me to go to sleep earlier.

That Gadelsia giant spider in Tephra Cave sure was a pain in the butt. The constant daze effect on my party killed us the first time despite coming close to beating it and having some gem resistance. It went done faster the second time even though Dunban got knocked out and couldn't be revived.

 

[dock]

Playing Dark Souls a lot over the last week, I've started to feel that it and Xenoblade are two sides of the same coin. Cohesive seamless world, plenty of high level enemies amongst the low level content, a grand scope and freedom for how you progress.

Of course, Dark Souls is much more punishing, but I love both games.

 

[M-PG71C]

Let me be blunt, I'm far into the game and I'm wondering, are there secret skill books? Especially for the Monado but for anything else too? I just feel like those are a bit missing...

 

[Laughing Banana]

Let me be blunt, I'm far into the game and I'm wondering, are there secret skill books? Especially for the Monado but for anything else too? I just feel like those are a bit missing...

For Monado there are two and for everything else... nah, just advanced skill books.

There are

Spoiler

additional skill trees

though.

 

[CrankyKong]

Its a shame that the soundtrack that came with the game has so few songs.
Colony 9s music is great

 

[SecretMoblin]

Why does it take so long to find these Colony 6 items?

Finding an Ice Cabbage in Valek Mountain is taking forever. Online trading would be snazzy.

Hm. It looks like you can only trade for it after a certain part in the story, which you're nowhere near. So if you really want to keep building Colony 6, searching is your only option.

 

[Jethro]

Finish it after 156 hours. What a Journey. Besides the Level 100+monster, I feel there isn't much left behind. My Charas are all on Level 99.

 

[mclem]

For Monado there are two and for everything else... nah, just advanced skill books.

There are

Spoiler

additional skill trees

though.

I did find an advanced skill book in (spoiler for around L35)

Spoiler

High Entia Tomb

; there's a chest you can access hidden in a side alcove from the first time you get in there, and I'm not sure you're meant to be able to, given it gave an advanced skill book a long time before I got any others.

I get the feeling it's meant to be obstructed by one of those (endgame spoiler, technically, although you'll see them earlier)

Spoiler

high entia glyph doors

As a result, given that was the first advanced skill book I encountered, I started off thinking that all of them were hidden away like that.

 

[gamingeek]

I'm 90 hrs in, having a problem with excess items.

I know quest items have the ! mark on them, but a lot of items have a star next to them. I sell the ones with no star and I keep everything else on the notion that I will need them for colony 6 at least.

But I'm running out of room. I checked the manual and the star marks are not explained at all.

Also, sometimes the items you do need for colony 6 don't always get marked with ! marks.

So what are the stars for on the menus and should I just sell them all or what?

Also, does strength just effect the weight of armour you can wear?

 

[Laughing Banana]

I'm 90 hrs in, having a problem with excess items.

I know quest items have the ! mark on them, but a lot of items have a star next to them. I sell the ones with no star and I keep everything else on the notion that I will need them for colony 6 at least.

But I'm running out of room. I checked the manual and the star marks are not explained at all.

Also, sometimes the items you do need for colony 6 don't always get marked with ! marks.

So what are the stars for on the menus and should I just sell them all or what?

Also, does strength just effect the weight of armour you can wear?

Stars? They just indicate items gotten from silver/golden chests, i.e. rare items. Not all of them are useful except for selling. Just sort the items based on sales price and sell the items on the last page--generally this is safe and you don't have anything to worry about.

Strength doesn't affect the weight of armor you can wear. All characters can equip light, medium, and heavy armor (except for machina armor since it is only for one particular character only) provided you give them the appropriate skill links. Strength has nothing to do with it.

 

[gamingeek]

Stars? They just indicate items gotten from silver/golden chests, i.e. rare items. Not all of them are useful except for selling. Just sort the items based on sales price and sell the items on the last page--generally this is safe and you don't have anything to worry about.

Strength doesn't affect the weight of armor you can wear. All characters can equip light, medium, and heavy armor (except for machina armor since it is only for one particular character only) provided you give them the appropriate skill links. Strength has nothing to do with it.

Thanks.

Skill links is the one area of the game I don't understand and don't use. Can anyone give me the idiots guide?

I have come across some armour which is heavy and not equippable to any character. Then Reyn levelled up and he can wear it now.

Also, even though my Sharla has better physical defence and HP than my Shulk, she gets killed far more easily. Anyone know why? She has a 0% block rate compared to my Shulks 10%. Her agility is better than Shulks too.

 

[Anasui Kishibe]

The Glory Equipment sets bestow the highest possible defense/ether defense boost, if I am not mistaken. Too bad they are uniques and so... plain looking :\

I'm liking Rex Armor for Shulk myself.

And yeah the Spider and the T-Rex were so annoying with their automatic daze/topple effects :\

oh god, don't tell me I have to hunt 100+enemies for the Glory armour now. Never ever seen a single piece of it. Is Marcus a viable way to farm it, or do I have to prepare to get mauled by those 110+ ones?
Because first time I met Marcus I went like

 

[SecretMoblin]

Thanks.

Skill links is the one area of the game I don't understand and don't use. Can anyone give me the idiots guide?

I have come across some armour which is heavy and not equippable to any character. Then Reyn levelled up and he can wear it now.

Also, even though my Sharla has better physical defence and HP than my Shulk, she gets killed far more easily. Anyone know why? She has a 0% block rate compared to my Shulks 10%. Her agility is better than Shulks too.

Well, the idiot's guide would probably be the in-game tutorials, so I would check there first. But basically:
Every character in your regular party can "share" a skill with every other member. So if one character has a skill that raises agility by five points, another character can link the skill and also raise their own agility by five points. This allows characters to get skills they don't have on their normal skill trees. Generally, you want to emphasize the particular abilities of each character - agility or defense for tanks, ether for healing characters, etc. - but there are also several skills that offer a general advantage in battle and are worth having. You can link and unlink skills at will, so it's not a one-use thing. Feel free to experiment.

There are three restrictions, though:
1.) You can only link skills that have the correct shape; if your tree has a slot for a square-shaped skill, you can't put a circle-shaped skill in it. This is mainly done to force balance.

2.) The number of links you can make between two characters is dependent on the affinity between the characters; a higher affinity means more skills can be linked.

3.) Each skill requires a certain number of "Affinity Coins" to be linked. Affinity Coins can be obtained by leveling up or by defeating unique monsters. Powerful skills, like ones that benefit the entire party or raise stats by great amounts, generally require more coins.