chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
If that was available in English I'd do whatever it takes to get it. Damn you NoA 
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Xenoblade Chronicles |OT| Man, what a bunch of jokers.
- Thread starter Sadist
- Start date
Dwight Schrute
Member
And believe me, pics don't do justice to the book. It's a beauty.
Ehh,
I think Shulk did do stuff about the world (we see the Bionis' ruins), I personally think he decided to give Fiora her body and not much else. Remember, Alvis was basically an input device, he just decided to not be a god while in the world but it doesn't mean he didn't "create" it.
Though, reading that there's a heart to heart about it, maybe the Machina doctor did discover how to do it, but remember that Zanza's universe was unstable/collapsing so that's why Alvis "helped" Shulk despite being neutral. That's why I believe Shulk "created" this world.
Though, reading that there's a heart to heart about it, maybe the Machina doctor did discover how to do it, but remember that Zanza's universe was unstable/collapsing so that's why Alvis "helped" Shulk despite being neutral. That's why I believe Shulk "created" this world.
Tribes of Trusty
Member
What there is a French guide of Xenoblade ?! Where did you buy it JonStark ?
it`s an art book called "Xenoblade - the secred files. Monado Archive", and was given away to french pre orderers, but only 1000 copies. You can't buy it... but you can buy the japanese one.
btw: I was bored so I "translated" all the names on the alcamoth and frontier village map
Alcamoth
Frontvil1
Frontvil2
Tribes of Trusty
Member
Welp, can't read moonspeak, and I wanted more to read what the books contained than looking at pretty pictures.
Guess I just have to hope for a reprint then.
Guess I just have to hope for a reprint then.
Elfforkusu
Member
Avalanche Abaasy. Jesus Christ, this game
That was the first one I got. I think. I'll have to double-check these things when I get home.
Elfforkusu
Member
Wow, in all my Googling I didn't see anyone mention that.
I'm sure it makes sense in story terms, but it has been a while since I was around that part of the world.
Edit: Gah, and now I can't find
. This is not going well. I hope these last few quests aren't my last actions with the game.
I'm sure it makes sense in story terms, but it has been a while since I was around that part of the world.
Edit: Gah, and now I can't find
Zain at the Three Sages area
SecretMoblin
Member
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
Colony 6 might not be worth it if you're not doing it as you make your way through the game, but going after the really high level uniques might.
I mean, they're practically stationary so it's not hard to find them, and all 4 are relatively close to a landmark IIRC.
I mean, they're practically stationary so it's not hard to find them, and all 4 are relatively close to a landmark IIRC.
Elfforkusu
Member
I'm hoping to get some unbiased opinions here. I know that is going to be tough in the OT for a game, but I don't know where else would be a good place to ask.
I haven't enjoyed a JRPG since the original Playstation. The JRPGs I've played over the last 2 generations have been filled with stories that I just couldn't bring myself to care about. I'm fine with JRPG combat, whether that is the classic menu style or the more active stuff like in FF12. I just want a good story to go with it. I'm afraid to look too far into a game that has essentially been out for a year and a half though, so I'm just going to ask a very broad question.
Should I buy this game, knowing that I haven't enjoyed a JRPG in over 11 years?
I haven't enjoyed a JRPG since the original Playstation. The JRPGs I've played over the last 2 generations have been filled with stories that I just couldn't bring myself to care about. I'm fine with JRPG combat, whether that is the classic menu style or the more active stuff like in FF12. I just want a good story to go with it. I'm afraid to look too far into a game that has essentially been out for a year and a half though, so I'm just going to ask a very broad question.
Should I buy this game, knowing that I haven't enjoyed a JRPG in over 11 years?
The story isn't the 'best story ever', but it's definitely pretty good. The characters are all likeable - I really doubt there'll be anyone you can't stand. However, the game shines in regards to gameplay rather than plot - the huge environments, great music, and streamlined systems (e.g. there's menu options to warp to anywhere you've already been and change the current time of day). It's the most fun I've had with a game for ages.
Have you seen the trailer yet?
This video shows off the game really well... by showing you each of the areas in the game, so don't watch it all the way through if you don't want area spoilers.
I had not watched the trailer. Honestly the part at 59 seconds of the first video (screaming I'll kill you) makes me think I have a shot of actually liking this game. The JRPGs I've played recently have been all very campy with characters whose personalities don't match the situation they are in. Their world is threatened with mass genocide and they respond with some Scooby-Doo "we can do it gang!" enthusiasm. It seems like forever since I've seen a JRPG character that was actually pissed off.
There's more moments like that - I think the game does a very good job of making the characters believable in their interactions with the antagonists. Some of the bad guys are real dicks, and the characters react accordingly
I think it's pretty hard not to enjoy this game. Pretty much everyone in this thread loved it. There have been exceptions ofc, at least 1 or 2 people on gaf didn't like it, or not that much at least.
I was in a similar situation, hadn't enjoyed a single rpg since... ~2001, but this one blew me away. I'd recommend you give it a try.
I was in a similar situation, hadn't enjoyed a single rpg since... ~2001, but this one blew me away. I'd recommend you give it a try.
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I really feel like I don't understand the whole 'chain' system, or what it is they want me to do in boss battles. I'm at Xord, and my party drops in like a minute and a half. I'm constantly using Enchant so the others can do damage, then trying my breaks as soon as I get them hoping for some kind of chain. I've felt so frustrated about the battles in this game to the point that I've felt like stopping many times.....
Chain system: fill up the Party Gauge in the top-left of the screen by using loads of arts with bonus effects (e.g. Back Slash from behind) and successfully hitting the Burst Affinity prompt when someone dodges or deals a critical hit. When this is full, choose Chain Attack from the palette (go to your Talent Art and press up), and use your Break arts then.
Tip: Before the boss battle, warp somewhere else in Tephra Cave, build up the Party Gauge there, then quickly warp back so you start with it almost full.
are you lower than lvl ~26? if so, gain some lvls, it's way easier after
in that fight,
you are supposed to fill up your party gauge (blue bar). you do that by hitting (without arts) or using arts from the correct position (behind, side, etc). Ignore Xord until you are ready (you can also fill your bar before you entered the cut scene). It's not about killing his minions as fast as possible, it's all about filling the bar. As soon as it is full, switch your target to Xord, and start the chain. Use the pink art with shulk, and the green art witz reyn. after that -> damage, damage DAMAGE! It's not that hard, when you know how to do t.
btw: stop wasting your monado arts, enchant has a duration of ~50+ seconds.
ajim
Member
Honestly, it's a really refreshing JRPG, and game in general. The story was good to me, the characters memorable and I was able to develop an emotional connection with them (took me forever to like Riki, but now I love him <3 HEROPONNN! <3), however, it really shines with the fantastic open worlds (some are just truly spectacular), the beautiful music and engaging gameplay.
I should have prefaced that by saying I too have been in a similar boat to you.
Two more months to go. I'm not planning on getting any other RPGs until I get my hands on Xenoblade due to the time it will take up. Another benefit as it gives me more time to work through my backlog. I was so close to caving on Kingdoms of Amalur in the end until I remembered I had this preordered and after Skyrim and Zelda I don't need another long RPG-ish game to take up my time. I do wish we'd get some of the extras but guess I'll just have to deal with the bone NoA is throwing.
lunchtoast
Member
Around level 36 right now and really enjoying the game. It's really nice to play a current gen RPG that's so good and did so many things right. It's just fun to play. I love exploring every corner of the areas and finding secrets and collecting all the items. The only nitpick is the menu system doesn't have a good layout. It's annoying to equip armour and I wish you could see the the the char stats when you pick them up. The quest menu is kind of clunky too, having to constantly sort it everytime you go in it, plus I wish you could track quests of display points on the map.
Was wondering about this as well or at least an OT2 since this one has gotten pretty big.
Extra Sauce
Member
Is this why this thread is now on the Community tab? Because it got so big? Took me awhile to find it again, I had to google it.
Extra Sauce
Member
Cool, didn't know about that feature.
Also, I finally got to the final boss (I think) last sunday, but I think I'm going to grind to level 80 before I take another go at it. 81 hours in, man this game is long.
There will need to be a new thread at some point, so it might be a good idea to start a fresh one for the North American release.
We should write a FAQ based on the weird stuff that keeps coming up with a lot of players.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
SecretMoblin
Member
All of these are good, but the big one that I'm consistently shocked by is the lack of knowledge about fast travel. It makes the game so much smoother, and yet nearly every week since the game's EU release we've gotten people who are frustrated because they don't want to walk all the way back to Colony 9 to talk to the Gem Man.
If there's a new OP, it really has to be in huge font, bolded, and circled.
This is the big worry I have about the game as I tend to do side-quest in RPGs. Usually they don't amount to much in leveling characters if I'm recalling correct but that it's possible to overlevel in Xenoblade makes me worry. Just how much of a problem is this really in the end? Would you end up one shoting creatures in areas where you clearly shouldn't or is it more you end up being level 15 in an are when it's designed for you to be level 12 or 13?
Starwolf_UK
Member
The problem with quick travel is there were those who half got it so would warp to the start of an area, go to previous area then proceed to do that each area. Map screen only takes you to landmarks in that area, menu then area maps takes you to any landmark.
Erm what else hmm, trhis one is a bit non-essential more of a keep at the back of your mind; how does character affinity raisen, what do the hearts actually mean, what does it do?
That post is a lazy starting ground but needs a few extra bits like. Should probably emphasis you won't max everyone with everything during a normal play (or end up really burnt out) and what it does is increases chance of extra chain attack turns and gives you access to more Heart to Heart.
Erm what else hmm, trhis one is a bit non-essential more of a keep at the back of your mind; how does character affinity raisen, what do the hearts actually mean, what does it do?
That post is a lazy starting ground but needs a few extra bits like. Should probably emphasis you won't max everyone with everything during a normal play (or end up really burnt out) and what it does is increases chance of extra chain attack turns and gives you access to more Heart to Heart.
I vote for "sorry I kept you waiting" as the title.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
Currently rewritting and editing this into a new FAQ/information dump. It's a work in progress, so bear with me and feel free to comment in the active NA Xenoblade topic or PM me.
Some quick comments regarding a few things first off -
This post is going to be split up into three sections, and once it's more ready I'll add a general table of contents. The first will be intended for newcomers with general questions about the game. The second will explain how some gameplay mechanics work and give some examples that are more in-depth than what the game tells you. The third will go into some advanced tactics and nitty-gritty details about the game.
Regarding Spoilers, the first section of this guide will be completely unspecific and only relate to general questions about the game. There are no spoilers in the first part of this post what-so-ever.
The second and third sections will delve into various gameplay mechanics. There will be some "gameplay spoilers," obviously, and they will refer to characters that aren't obtained until up to around halfway through the game, and various location name drops. However, there are no story spoilers.
Part 1 - Xenoblade for Dummies - Here are some pointers and answers to questions that people often have when first starting out, or ask when planning to start the game.
1. Controller Options.
Xenoblade has two controller options - the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, and the Classic Controller(/Pro). The Gamecube controller is not compatible with this game.
As for which control scheme is better, each option has it's pros and cons, and different people will have different preferences.
The Classic Controller Pro offers better camera control, but at the cost of being able to select arts as easily while moving. On the other hand, the Wii Remote and Nunchuck make it easy to move and select arts, but the camera control is worse. Neither issue is game-breaking by any means, you can't go wrong with either choice.
2. Quick Travel
Xenoblade is a vast game, and running from place to place can be very time consuming. Fortunately, by taking advantage of the Xenoblade's quick-travel mechanic, you can instantly teleport to a previously visited landmark. This can cut down travel times to most locations in the game to just a couple minutes at most.
There are two ways to use quick-travel. The + button acts as a shortcut to the map of your current area, and from there you can select a landmark. Alternatively, you can use the map in your main menu to get a list of previously visited areas, and from there you can select a landmark within one of those areas.
3. Mixing up the Party
This is vague tip, most of the details will come later. But as a rule, you want to change up your party somewhat regularly, rather than getting stuck in a rut with one particular group. Using different party members allows you to raise affinity between different characters, which provides you with several bonuses than can make the game easier (which I'll get into later). Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses, and while it might seem difficult or crazy at first, essentially any party can be successful.
Don't be afraid to experiment, no party member is completely useless, nor is any party member 100% essential.
4. Dealings with NPCs
Sometimes you will need to locate specific, named NPCs. NPCs in Xenoblade have their own schedules and will only be available between certain times, and in certain locations.
The game does a poor job giving you specific locations, but using the affinity chart you can see what times an NPC is active, and what area they're in. If you're returning to them for a quest, you can see the nearest landmark to the NPC in the quest information.
Named NPCs are colored blue on the minimap, and key NPCs are colored orange. Unnamed NPCs are not displayed.
You can trade with any named NPC. Trading allows you to gain items that might otherwise take a while to collect or farm from monsters. You can often use this to your advantage when doing quests. As your affinity with an area increases (more on this later) you can trade for more, and better, items and equipment.
5. The Game Clock
Xenoblade has a realtime day/night cycle that is constantly active. In the main menu, you can select the clock from the second menu on the right and select an hour.
This has a number of uses. First of all, you can meet with NPCs rather than waiting for the time of day that they're active. Additionally, some monsters only appear during the day or night. Others only appear during certain weather conditions, and changing the time also changes the weather at random.
Tip! When changing the time to attempt to change the weather, you do not have to change the time of day. You can select your current hour and still have a chance at changing it. This is useful when working with night-specific skills and gems.
6. Side Quests
Xenoblade has a ton of side-quests along with the main story. Most of them are fetch quests or hunts, but there are some interesting quest lines mixed in as well. The total number of quests approaches 500, and not all of them can be completed on a single playthrough. Some quests are exclusive to one another based on choices you make throughout the game.
Side quests are a great way to level up, often more efficient than grinding against monsters. It's not a bad idea to pick up every side quest you come across, even if you don't intend to complete them all. You'll find that you finish many of them through the normal course of the game.
For the completionists, however, if you seek out and complete every quest available at any given time, you'll likely end up overleveled.
Some side quests are timed. These quests have a set termination point in the story, and if you miss out on them you can't complete them unless you start a new game (or NG+). There are only a handful of points that side-quests expire, and all but one has a warning at some point shortly beforehand. Timed quests generally give you ample time to complete them - they won't expire for at least a few areas at minimum, most last much longer than that.
In general, if you're concerned about when the quests will expire, feel free to ask if you're getting close.
7. Items and Inventory
First, I'll make a quick mention of the Collectopedia. You'll find this in your item section of the main menu. By filling it with the collectables (the blue orbs) you find in each area, you'll get rewards for filling each row, and a greater reward when you complete the entire page. Rewards range from new equipment to gems, and it's often worthwhile to try and fill it in.
Xenoblade has a limited inventory, and you'll quickly find that it's too small to hold everything you come across throughout the game. As a result you'll have to sell off items (particularly equipment, materials, and crystals) in order to make room for more.
As for what you can and should sell:
Materials with small bag icons are common items and can safely be sold, particularly older ones or those with low values. Even if you end up needing them for a quest later, they can be obtained quickly and easily. Avoid selling the other materials with large bags or stars if possible, as those are uncommon or rare items that can be more difficult to find.
Crystals are used for gem crafting (more on that later). Gem crafting is largely useless early on in the game; gems you get from quests and for filling the collectopedia are sufficient for the majority of the game. Once you start collecting IV ranked crystals, gem crafting begins to show it's value.
Collectables should never need to be sold to free up inventory space, but they tend to be worth a fair amount of cash compared to materials if you find yourself in need of cash.
Equipment and Gems
There will be more detail on each of these later, but there's no reason to keep old, weak weapons and armor or weak gems that no longer provide meaningful boosts, so you can safely sell those.
8. Missables
Xenoblade doesn't have any major missable content. Missables include:
-Timed side-quests are missible if you don't complete them before certain points in the story.
-You can miss out on fighting some unique monsters, meaning you can miss some affinity coins.
-There is at least one optional character development scene that you can miss.
-Some NPCs cannot be added to the affinity chart after a certain point in the game.
None of these are crucial, and you won't miss anything significant if you happen to skip something.
Part II - Game Mechanics
1. Chain Attacks
Chain attacks are a simple mechanic on the surface, but there are a lot of intricacies the game doesn't explain, or hides in optional tutorials.
The simple explanation of a chain attack is that you spend a full party gauge to get three (or more) "free" attacks on an enemy, with each attack being a link in the chain.
There are a couple of ways to really take advantage of your chain attacks. The first is one the game teaches you very early on - using it to topple an enemy. This works best when your lead character has a break art, your second character has a topple art, and your third character has a topple and/or daze art. That way with a small three link chain, you can still get a good topple off on the enemy.
The other is to use it as a source of heavy damage by taking advantage of chain multipliers. By using arts of the same color, you can increase the damage multiplier up to five times. Note that the multiplier is not what is listed on the right side of the screen - that's just the number of attacks counting toward your multiplier. The multipliers work as follows:
1 art - 1x damage
2 arts - 2x damage
3 arts - 4x damage
4 arts - 6x damage
5+ arts - 8x damage
Tip! Damage over time (bleed, poison, etc) increases as well, so using an art that inflicts such a status at chain link 5 or great can result in significant extra damage!
It's easiest, and most damaging, to chain with red arts. They're common amongst most characters and a lot of red arts deal heavy damage.
Talent arts play a special role here - they are considered wild cards. By using a talent art you can continue to increase the multiplier and change the color. So, for example, if you use a blue art, then a talent art, then a red art, you'll still get the 4x multiplier. Some characters have very powerful or useful talent arts, so this is something to remember and take advantage of.
You can also use chain attacks to keep from being KOed, toppled, or dazed. By activating a chain attack while the enemy is mid-attack, topple and daze will be negated and any character that would be KOed is left with 1HP. This can be difficult to time, it's a useful tactic to keep yourself alive in some situations.
2. Gem Crafting
The in-game explanation for gem crafting is pretty poor, so another user created this gem crafting tutorial to expand on it:
Man God's Godly Guide to Gem Crafting
To summarize, in order to make the best gems you want break your crystals down into cylinders and raise them as close to 100 as possible without going over. Once you have two near-99 cylinders, you can use both of these and easily get your gem to the heat or megaheat state.
3. Affinity
In Xenoblade there are two different types of affinity. First is your affinity with each general area of the world, which is known as bonds. By doing side quests and listening to some random chatter you can build up a relationship with the people in that area. You're given a star rating for each section of the world on the affinity chart, and by increasing this rating you can improve trading and unlock more side quests. Most of the quests with bigger rewards require very high affinity with an area.
You can also build affinity between each of your party members. Increased affinity allows you to view heart-to-heart chats throughout the game, increases the chance of continuing chain attacks, improves gem crafting, and allows you to link more skills between characters.
To increase affinity between characters have them complete quests together, encourage and help each other in combat, perform chain attacks, engage in heart-to-heart chats, and gift them items they like.
4. Colored Arts
Taking advantage of colored arts in chain attacks was mentioned in the chain attack section, but the individual colors are also relevant beyond that. Each color represents either the type of art, or it's effect. The colors are as follows:
Pink - A break art. Any pink art will attempt to inflict break on an enemy. Turn Strike also inflicts break, but you lose that early on.
Green - Topple arts. All green arts attempt to inflict topple. They usually require break first, but there are some exceptions.
Yellow - Daze arts. Every yellow art will attempt to inflict daze. It's usually stacked on top of topple, but there are some arts that will inflict it directly.
Red: A physical offensive art. Almost always has some sort of additional effect. Easiest to stack with chains.
Purple: Ether-based offensive art, otherwise similar to red arts. These are useful against enemies that are resistant to physical attacks like the Nebula enemies and some certain bosses.
Blue: Support art. Always ether. These have a wide array of effects.
Orange: Auras. These last a certain amount of time and add various buffs to the character.
5. Skills and Skill Links
Skills primarily provide your characters with stat boosts and effects during combat. There are also some other non-combat skills such as a gem crafting boost and increased movement speed. As you gain SP, new skills on your selected skill tree will be unlocked. All unlocked skills are active, but each tree also provides a unique stat boost that's only active when that tree is selected.
Unless you want to unlock a specific skill, it's a good idea to change skill trees after unlocking a new skill to continue to unlock more skills as quickly as possible. Skills at the top of the tree require less a lot less SP to unlock.
You can also use skill links to share skills between characters. As you increase affinity between characters, you can link more skills. Which skills can be linked is determined by the shape of the skill on the tree, squares link to square slots, diamond to diamond, and so forth.
Different skills require different amounts of affinity coins, sometimes even among similar skills like unlocking heavy armor. Coins are not spent permanently, so if you remove a skill link the coins used for it are put back in the pool.
Not only is this useful for sharing stat boosts, but you can combo skills for some great effects.
---(Unedited from the old FAQ)---
I tried using Melia, and she hardly does any damage. Everyone says she's like the best character, so what am I doing wrong?
Melia is fairly unique character, and she's pretty involving. In general, you want to summon elementals and use the talent art to discharge the element, which damages enemies. You can find a detailed guide on maining Melia here.
I can't beat [insert boss], I didn't have much trouble at all up until this point. Tell me why I suck all the sudden.
Most of the time dealing with a tough boss is a matter of using a different lead character or party - for instance, using a character that deals ether damage versus physical - and making sure your gems and skill links are set up efficiently for that fight. Level also makes a huge difference in this game, one level can often be the difference between struggling and walking away with victory.
Some quick comments regarding a few things first off -
This post is going to be split up into three sections, and once it's more ready I'll add a general table of contents. The first will be intended for newcomers with general questions about the game. The second will explain how some gameplay mechanics work and give some examples that are more in-depth than what the game tells you. The third will go into some advanced tactics and nitty-gritty details about the game.
Regarding Spoilers, the first section of this guide will be completely unspecific and only relate to general questions about the game. There are no spoilers in the first part of this post what-so-ever.
The second and third sections will delve into various gameplay mechanics. There will be some "gameplay spoilers," obviously, and they will refer to characters that aren't obtained until up to around halfway through the game, and various location name drops. However, there are no story spoilers.
Part 1 - Xenoblade for Dummies - Here are some pointers and answers to questions that people often have when first starting out, or ask when planning to start the game.
1. Controller Options.
Xenoblade has two controller options - the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, and the Classic Controller(/Pro). The Gamecube controller is not compatible with this game.
As for which control scheme is better, each option has it's pros and cons, and different people will have different preferences.
The Classic Controller Pro offers better camera control, but at the cost of being able to select arts as easily while moving. On the other hand, the Wii Remote and Nunchuck make it easy to move and select arts, but the camera control is worse. Neither issue is game-breaking by any means, you can't go wrong with either choice.
2. Quick Travel
Xenoblade is a vast game, and running from place to place can be very time consuming. Fortunately, by taking advantage of the Xenoblade's quick-travel mechanic, you can instantly teleport to a previously visited landmark. This can cut down travel times to most locations in the game to just a couple minutes at most.
There are two ways to use quick-travel. The + button acts as a shortcut to the map of your current area, and from there you can select a landmark. Alternatively, you can use the map in your main menu to get a list of previously visited areas, and from there you can select a landmark within one of those areas.
3. Mixing up the Party
This is vague tip, most of the details will come later. But as a rule, you want to change up your party somewhat regularly, rather than getting stuck in a rut with one particular group. Using different party members allows you to raise affinity between different characters, which provides you with several bonuses than can make the game easier (which I'll get into later). Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses, and while it might seem difficult or crazy at first, essentially any party can be successful.
Don't be afraid to experiment, no party member is completely useless, nor is any party member 100% essential.
4. Dealings with NPCs
Sometimes you will need to locate specific, named NPCs. NPCs in Xenoblade have their own schedules and will only be available between certain times, and in certain locations.
The game does a poor job giving you specific locations, but using the affinity chart you can see what times an NPC is active, and what area they're in. If you're returning to them for a quest, you can see the nearest landmark to the NPC in the quest information.
Named NPCs are colored blue on the minimap, and key NPCs are colored orange. Unnamed NPCs are not displayed.
You can trade with any named NPC. Trading allows you to gain items that might otherwise take a while to collect or farm from monsters. You can often use this to your advantage when doing quests. As your affinity with an area increases (more on this later) you can trade for more, and better, items and equipment.
5. The Game Clock
Xenoblade has a realtime day/night cycle that is constantly active. In the main menu, you can select the clock from the second menu on the right and select an hour.
This has a number of uses. First of all, you can meet with NPCs rather than waiting for the time of day that they're active. Additionally, some monsters only appear during the day or night. Others only appear during certain weather conditions, and changing the time also changes the weather at random.
Tip! When changing the time to attempt to change the weather, you do not have to change the time of day. You can select your current hour and still have a chance at changing it. This is useful when working with night-specific skills and gems.
6. Side Quests
Xenoblade has a ton of side-quests along with the main story. Most of them are fetch quests or hunts, but there are some interesting quest lines mixed in as well. The total number of quests approaches 500, and not all of them can be completed on a single playthrough. Some quests are exclusive to one another based on choices you make throughout the game.
Side quests are a great way to level up, often more efficient than grinding against monsters. It's not a bad idea to pick up every side quest you come across, even if you don't intend to complete them all. You'll find that you finish many of them through the normal course of the game.
For the completionists, however, if you seek out and complete every quest available at any given time, you'll likely end up overleveled.
Some side quests are timed. These quests have a set termination point in the story, and if you miss out on them you can't complete them unless you start a new game (or NG+). There are only a handful of points that side-quests expire, and all but one has a warning at some point shortly beforehand. Timed quests generally give you ample time to complete them - they won't expire for at least a few areas at minimum, most last much longer than that.
In general, if you're concerned about when the quests will expire, feel free to ask if you're getting close.
7. Items and Inventory
First, I'll make a quick mention of the Collectopedia. You'll find this in your item section of the main menu. By filling it with the collectables (the blue orbs) you find in each area, you'll get rewards for filling each row, and a greater reward when you complete the entire page. Rewards range from new equipment to gems, and it's often worthwhile to try and fill it in.
Xenoblade has a limited inventory, and you'll quickly find that it's too small to hold everything you come across throughout the game. As a result you'll have to sell off items (particularly equipment, materials, and crystals) in order to make room for more.
As for what you can and should sell:
Materials with small bag icons are common items and can safely be sold, particularly older ones or those with low values. Even if you end up needing them for a quest later, they can be obtained quickly and easily. Avoid selling the other materials with large bags or stars if possible, as those are uncommon or rare items that can be more difficult to find.
Crystals are used for gem crafting (more on that later). Gem crafting is largely useless early on in the game; gems you get from quests and for filling the collectopedia are sufficient for the majority of the game. Once you start collecting IV ranked crystals, gem crafting begins to show it's value.
Collectables should never need to be sold to free up inventory space, but they tend to be worth a fair amount of cash compared to materials if you find yourself in need of cash.
Equipment and Gems
There will be more detail on each of these later, but there's no reason to keep old, weak weapons and armor or weak gems that no longer provide meaningful boosts, so you can safely sell those.
8. Missables
Xenoblade doesn't have any major missable content. Missables include:
-Timed side-quests are missible if you don't complete them before certain points in the story.
-You can miss out on fighting some unique monsters, meaning you can miss some affinity coins.
-There is at least one optional character development scene that you can miss.
-Some NPCs cannot be added to the affinity chart after a certain point in the game.
None of these are crucial, and you won't miss anything significant if you happen to skip something.
Part II - Game Mechanics
1. Chain Attacks
Chain attacks are a simple mechanic on the surface, but there are a lot of intricacies the game doesn't explain, or hides in optional tutorials.
The simple explanation of a chain attack is that you spend a full party gauge to get three (or more) "free" attacks on an enemy, with each attack being a link in the chain.
There are a couple of ways to really take advantage of your chain attacks. The first is one the game teaches you very early on - using it to topple an enemy. This works best when your lead character has a break art, your second character has a topple art, and your third character has a topple and/or daze art. That way with a small three link chain, you can still get a good topple off on the enemy.
The other is to use it as a source of heavy damage by taking advantage of chain multipliers. By using arts of the same color, you can increase the damage multiplier up to five times. Note that the multiplier is not what is listed on the right side of the screen - that's just the number of attacks counting toward your multiplier. The multipliers work as follows:
1 art - 1x damage
2 arts - 2x damage
3 arts - 4x damage
4 arts - 6x damage
5+ arts - 8x damage
Tip! Damage over time (bleed, poison, etc) increases as well, so using an art that inflicts such a status at chain link 5 or great can result in significant extra damage!
It's easiest, and most damaging, to chain with red arts. They're common amongst most characters and a lot of red arts deal heavy damage.
Talent arts play a special role here - they are considered wild cards. By using a talent art you can continue to increase the multiplier and change the color. So, for example, if you use a blue art, then a talent art, then a red art, you'll still get the 4x multiplier. Some characters have very powerful or useful talent arts, so this is something to remember and take advantage of.
You can also use chain attacks to keep from being KOed, toppled, or dazed. By activating a chain attack while the enemy is mid-attack, topple and daze will be negated and any character that would be KOed is left with 1HP. This can be difficult to time, it's a useful tactic to keep yourself alive in some situations.
2. Gem Crafting
The in-game explanation for gem crafting is pretty poor, so another user created this gem crafting tutorial to expand on it:
Man God's Godly Guide to Gem Crafting
To summarize, in order to make the best gems you want break your crystals down into cylinders and raise them as close to 100 as possible without going over. Once you have two near-99 cylinders, you can use both of these and easily get your gem to the heat or megaheat state.
3. Affinity
In Xenoblade there are two different types of affinity. First is your affinity with each general area of the world, which is known as bonds. By doing side quests and listening to some random chatter you can build up a relationship with the people in that area. You're given a star rating for each section of the world on the affinity chart, and by increasing this rating you can improve trading and unlock more side quests. Most of the quests with bigger rewards require very high affinity with an area.
You can also build affinity between each of your party members. Increased affinity allows you to view heart-to-heart chats throughout the game, increases the chance of continuing chain attacks, improves gem crafting, and allows you to link more skills between characters.
To increase affinity between characters have them complete quests together, encourage and help each other in combat, perform chain attacks, engage in heart-to-heart chats, and gift them items they like.
4. Colored Arts
Taking advantage of colored arts in chain attacks was mentioned in the chain attack section, but the individual colors are also relevant beyond that. Each color represents either the type of art, or it's effect. The colors are as follows:
Pink - A break art. Any pink art will attempt to inflict break on an enemy. Turn Strike also inflicts break, but you lose that early on.
Green - Topple arts. All green arts attempt to inflict topple. They usually require break first, but there are some exceptions.
Yellow - Daze arts. Every yellow art will attempt to inflict daze. It's usually stacked on top of topple, but there are some arts that will inflict it directly.
Red: A physical offensive art. Almost always has some sort of additional effect. Easiest to stack with chains.
Purple: Ether-based offensive art, otherwise similar to red arts. These are useful against enemies that are resistant to physical attacks like the Nebula enemies and some certain bosses.
Blue: Support art. Always ether. These have a wide array of effects.
Orange: Auras. These last a certain amount of time and add various buffs to the character.
5. Skills and Skill Links
Skills primarily provide your characters with stat boosts and effects during combat. There are also some other non-combat skills such as a gem crafting boost and increased movement speed. As you gain SP, new skills on your selected skill tree will be unlocked. All unlocked skills are active, but each tree also provides a unique stat boost that's only active when that tree is selected.
Unless you want to unlock a specific skill, it's a good idea to change skill trees after unlocking a new skill to continue to unlock more skills as quickly as possible. Skills at the top of the tree require less a lot less SP to unlock.
You can also use skill links to share skills between characters. As you increase affinity between characters, you can link more skills. Which skills can be linked is determined by the shape of the skill on the tree, squares link to square slots, diamond to diamond, and so forth.
Different skills require different amounts of affinity coins, sometimes even among similar skills like unlocking heavy armor. Coins are not spent permanently, so if you remove a skill link the coins used for it are put back in the pool.
Not only is this useful for sharing stat boosts, but you can combo skills for some great effects.
---(Unedited from the old FAQ)---
I tried using Melia, and she hardly does any damage. Everyone says she's like the best character, so what am I doing wrong?
Melia is fairly unique character, and she's pretty involving. In general, you want to summon elementals and use the talent art to discharge the element, which damages enemies. You can find a detailed guide on maining Melia here.
I can't beat [insert boss], I didn't have much trouble at all up until this point. Tell me why I suck all the sudden.
Most of the time dealing with a tough boss is a matter of using a different lead character or party - for instance, using a character that deals ether damage versus physical - and making sure your gems and skill links are set up efficiently for that fight. Level also makes a huge difference in this game, one level can often be the difference between struggling and walking away with victory.
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