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?
It's hard to say. There are so many different ways to gain XP in Xenoblade that there's a lot of wiggle-room.
I did quite a lot of side-quests and found as many secret areas as possible, and I was only really troubled by certain boss battles. I died quite a bit, but often it was falling off high ledges that did me in.
Combat with regular enemies is pretty snappy regardless of whether or not you are a few levels below or above the enemy, but you probably won't one-shot anything unless there's a huge level discrepancy.
I might the wrong person to answer, though. I'm perfectly happy with an easy ride.
I'm exactly the same way. I was overleveled for literally every major fight in the game. I completely understand why many want to struggle during combat, but I was quite content to play through the game the way I wanted, even if it meant I could handle everything with ease.
I think the game was designed with the idea that the player wouldn't do literally every quest they could as soon as it was available. If you're just going through and doing quests as you explore and make your way through the story at a regular pace, there shouldn't be much of a leveling issue. Besides, there are a few enemies and bosses for which the level is much less important than the strategy/gem setup.
Fellow American importers, is anyone importing The Last Story? I don't know enough about that game so I'll wait on impressions from yurop. And is anyone double dipping with the NA Xenoblade version?
I still have no idea about gem-crafting. I did it a few times, but I don't know how I would choose which components I would need to combine to create a specific gem.
Fellow American importers, is anyone importing The Last Story? I don't know enough about that game so I'll wait on impressions from yurop. And is anyone double dipping with the NA Xenoblade version?
I'm importing The Last Story and double-dipping on Xenoblade. I think you'll have enough time to decide whether you want The Last Story or not; NoA's decision to bring Xenoblade over makes the chances of The Last Story being released over here much greater.
Fellow American importers, is anyone importing The Last Story? I don't know enough about that game so I'll wait on impressions from yurop. And is anyone double dipping with the NA Xenoblade version?
What do you get for doing all the side quests? Because they never seem to end!
An achievement? But the reward you may not want is that you'll end up overleveled if you do them all as soon as possible. Unless you want to be able to breeze through all the enemies in the game, including most bosses, you're best off just taking on quests as you come across them rather than seeking them out.
Maybe you should also point out that most people do the sidequests all at once, which makes them overleveld, however: most of them tend to be severely underlevelt @
Agniratha
and everything that comes after. Some balance tips would be nice.
Oh god, all my timed side quests just disappeared. How the hell was I supposed to know that was going to happen?!
There are only a few points where timed side quests end or areas end up off limits (points of no return, basically). Each time one is coming up, you'll be greeted with a question asking if you're sure you want to continue, or if you want to travel to a new area. In most cases when these pop up, it's a good idea to take care of any unfinished business like timed side quests.
Not sure if it's worth mentioning that nothing of any importance happens at the yes/no choice when you leave Alcamoth? Because it's the only exception to the rule, IIRC
I've never read people complaining that their quest have disapeared, but I've read tons of posts worrying about the clockmark thats stuck on the quests. maybe this question should go more in that direction? Like "Oh my god! Some quests have time limits? When will it run out? It doesn't even tell me how much time is left! Will I be able to do it again if time runs out? I feel so stressed all of a sudden!"
Go for it. I didn't intend to do the whole FAQ myself, just went ahead and got it started and threw some things together. If anybody wants to add a question, change a question, change an answer, or whatever go for it.
Good suggestions though, especially on the timed quest one. I was trying to think of a better way to word it but wasn't too concerned about it since it would probably get changed anyway.
Not sure it's worth putting strategies for multiple bosses in there though. In most cases, solving a boss is a matter of using chain attacks (especially for some of the early bosses), switching your lead character/party members, or optimizing gems/equipment/skill links. But if others like your idea we can do that, I just think that's getting a bit detailed and long-winded for a general FAQ. Even the Melia question is going a little far there, but I think it's a good addition since so many people skip over her because they can't use her properly.
Edit: Removed the quote tag so it would be easier to quote it. Didn't think about that yesterday.
I'm not sure if it is mentioned anywhere, but the faq should also point out that agility is BY FAR the most important stat in the game.
Character #5 Tutorial: Melia
This tutorial will contain spoilers, if you haven't met Melia yet, you should not continue on reading from this point.
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Melia is the only real mage in the game and as such her main atribute is ether. Furthermore, Melia is is a damage dealer - and should be played exclusively as one. There are ways to play her as a simple supporter/weak healer which seems very inefficent to me. This tutorial will teach you how to play as a Nuker and at the same time support your party with auras (= status boosts).
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Basic Gameplay
To play as Melia someone must first understand how she works.
As a mage, most of her arts are ether based spells (light blue). which have two effects each. These effects we call for simplicity "aura" and "nuke" effect.
Once a spell is cast, an orb in a corresponding color appears above Melia's head. This orb signalizes that the spell is ready, and the aura is taking effect now. The aura itself differs from orb to orb ofc (more about buffs see below) and is limited by range (!).
The big white button in the middle is called "Elemental Discharge", and that's exactly what it does: It fires your floating orbs at your target. This is the second use each Spell has - in mmorpg terms this is called a nuke. Depending on the spell, there are again some differences: All of them do damage, most are singletarget, some are AoE(area of effect) which can hit multiple targets, others have a DoT (damage over time) bonus, a few have both. Once an orb is discharged, your party looses the aura.
At the same time there is a maximum of 3 orbs that can be active (which results in 3 auras). If you decide to discharge them, they will be fired backwards, that means the orb which was summoned first will be discharged last. This is very useful in several ways because it allows for strategies: Logically, the orb with the best and most usefull aura should be summoned first, so it lasts the longest - even if you discharged your 2nd and 3rd orb, the effect of your first one will keep boosting your stats. If the spell/art of that last orb is still on cooldown, keep it and summon 2 others, if it is ready, discharge it and immediately summon again.
"Reflection" is the only exception to that rule. It doesn't have an aura nor a nuke. Like the name suggests its for reflecting stuff, to be precice it reflects everything except "talent arts"(the white attacks during visions) for 5 seconds, thus making Melia more or less invincible for heavy hits. This is particularly important for parties without Shulk because it allows you to counter almost every vision. Furthermore it doesn't take up an orb space, so you can use it while having 3 orbs on standby!
As described reflection does not help against talent arts ("white vision"), but thats no problem for Melia, because she can simply erase those with Hypnose (doesn't work against sleep imune enemies). Hypnose can destroy all kinds of visions(red, blue and white), but should only be used against white ones because it's cooldown is long, and other Characters (except for sharla and shulk) can't defend against those. If hypnose is not available, and you happen to be in "Elemental Burst state" (more on that below), you can use Mindblast to seal all enemy arts at once, which also cancels out all visions (but it is NOT 100% accurate, especially if your lvl or your arts lvl is low).
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Here's a list of all Arts and some insight on them
Elemental Discharge
This is Melias Talent Art (like Shulks Monado abilities), and is pretty unique in it's function. Like most of Melia's arts, it has 2 functions: 1.) It discharches your orbs fireing them at your targets causing damage 2.) It fills up slowly using all kinds of magic and when it's full it let's you enter into Burst state. Melia then glows bright in all rainbow colors and deals twice the damage. Burst state also allows exclusivly the use of 2 of her arts (more below). Burst state seems to end at random, but it always ends with you discharging an orb OR using one of 2 special arts (see below). There are some rumors which indicate that higher tention would prolong burst state. It has not been proofen yet.
Burst End [can only be used while in Burst state]
This is the first of Melias 2 special arts. It deals no damage at all but lowers an enemies defences (ether def -25%, phys def -10%) and may end Burst state.
Mind Blast[can only be used while in Burst state][AoE]
This is the second of Melias 2 special arts. She will recive this one after a certain point in the main storyline. It is one of Melias most powerfull arts and deals heavy damage to multiple targets in front of her. It also removes enemy auras and seals their arts (and spikes!). When used it can instantly end Burst state (but not always will).
Summon Bolt[Ether up 20%]
This spell is by far the strongest, and with the right equipment it's probably the most powerfull art in the entire game. It should be the art of choice when it comes to dealing some serious damage. Its aura increses the parties Ether attribute by 20% (which makes the Spell itself 20% more powerfull when discharged!). If you decide to use this spell don't forget to craft some Electric Plus gems (not Electric Attack!). Those can improve your damage output up to 100% - which means your spell will do twice the damage. Rember Burst state from earlier? When it kicks in, combined with the 100% Electric Plus gems your orbs will do 4 times the damage than usual!
Protip (lvl~45+ Spoiler)
You can get a Master Art book of this spell very early in the game. It is hidden in a secret room inside the highentia tomb (after you fought the tomb guards with shulk and his party)
Summon Fire [Strengh up 20%] [AoE] [DoT]
This spell has an AoE and a DoT, which makes it perfect for fighting against enemy groups. It's basic damage isn't anywhere near some of the other singe target spells, but out of all AoE based arts, it is probably the strongest, at least over time. The AoE has a very tiny range, it will only effect enemies standing right next to the target, but its DoT(Blaze effect) lasts for 20 seconds!. Its aura boosts the parties Strengh, which results in stronger physical arts and attacks in general. The nuke damage can be improved by using Blaze Plus gems (up to 100%) (I think it will also boost the DoT - not sure about that)
Summon Ice[Ether Damage Down 15%] [AoE] [DoT]
This spell is a multi target DoT(chill effect) attack. It only effects the area around Melia - the ground will freeze in a circle and hit everything inside it(about 2 meters in diameter). This does medium damage, however its DoT is pretty strong but only lasts 10 seconds. Its aura improves the parties ether defence by 15%. Its damage can be increased with Chill Plus gems.
Summon Wind[Agility up 10%] [AoE]
This is a pretty basic Spell. It does good damage to multiple targets (they have to be close to the main target) but got no DoT. It's damage can't be boosted by gems, however it's one of the most usefull spells due to it's aura. It boosts Agility by 10%, which doesn't sound like much, but those 10% can make a big difference! Agility is by far the most important stat of the whole game, you can never have enough of it. It allowes you to kill all 4 lvl 100+ uniques without nightvision gems.
Summon Earth[Physical Damage Down 15%] [DoT]
This is a single target DoT. Its damage is ok, and its DoT is weak (but lasts over a very long time - 30 seconds!). This is the only spell where a gem exclusivly boosts the DoT damage. You can do that by using Poison Plus gems (I am not entirely sure, it may also boost the nuke itself?). Its aura improves the parties physical defense (something you won't need if having high agility or/and using Wind summon)
Summon Aqua[Regenerates HP]
Summon Aqua is my least favorite spell of all, and I'd advice you to ignore it. It's a waste of space because its damage is weak, its healing is minor, and its not very effective overall. Melia is not a healer and this spell is something I'd call a newbie trap.
Summon Copy
This spell is very usefull and crucial for maximum damage output. All it does is simply copy the last used spell, with all its effects. If you use Summon Bolt and Summon Copy afterwards, you get a second Bolt orb (this is btw how it should be used). The aura will be copied too, which results in an increase of it's basic bonus.
Reflection
This one was described in the long text above. There is nothing left to say... except: USE IT! (when fighting heavy uniques of bosses)
Spear break
Spear break is mediocre physical attack which pushes a single target slightly back (this is used for exploiting) and wouldn't be worth it, however it is the build up for the next art ...
Starlight Kick
When Spear break was the preliminary, Starlight Kick is the pay off. When used directly afte Spear break, it will cause an instant topple. This works 100%, all the time, It can't fail (but you can miss if your agility is not high enough!). It won't work on most birds! Every Melia player should have this in his favorite art selection (together with Spear break). Topple lasts for 3 seconds, this time can be doubbled with gems (Topple Plus)
Hypnose
This one also was described in the long text above. Parties without Shulk or Sharla should have this ready to use.
Shadow stitch
Another minor art. It binds surrounding enemies to the ground, so they can't move for 15 seconds. Its usefull if your Melia is low on Agility or without a party (-> Mainstory). You can use it but in my opionion it's not worth it.
Healing Gift
This is another Newbie trap. By using this, you can heal someone, but it will cost 20% of your own HP. It would work well in combination with Summon Aqua, but as I said, Melia is a Damage Dealer and no Healer, so don't treat her like one.
Power Effect
Another "Melia as Supporter" art. It widens the range of Melias auras. Not really woth it though as you stick close together most of the time anyway.
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Equpment
Melia usually wears Light Armor, which has the most ether defence and agility. However, her 4th Skilltree (Reticence) contains a skill which negates the biggest flaw of heavy armor (low ether def). With some intelligent skill linking, it is possible, and recommended, to wear heavy armor with Melia. The weight difference of the armor(which results in lower agility) can be counteracted with a link to Shulk (reducing the weight by 10), which makes weaing heavy armor almost penalty free. (To use heavy armor in the first place you need to link with Dunban, Riki or Reyn. Linking with reyn costs twice as much coins!)
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Here is quick example concluding this Tutorial
Main attack: Summon Bolt Other Arts: Summon Wind, Summon Fire, Hypnose, Spear Break, Starlight Kick, Mind Blast, Summon Copy Recommended Gems (VI)for - the Weapon: 100% Electric Plus, Topple Plus 100% (or Topple Up for more damage against toppled enemies), 100% Blaze Plus - the Armor: Agility (maximum), Ether (maximum!), Ether defense / Physical defense, <context sensitiv - protection/hp/whatever is needed)
how a common encounter could look like:
the fight starts - Summon Wind -> Summon Bolt -> Summon Copy -> Spear Break> Starlight Kick> discharge orb 3(Bolt) -> discharge orb 2(Bolt) -> Summon Fire -> discharge orb 2(Fire) -> discharge orb 1(wind) -> | At this point Wind, Bolt and Copy should be ready to reause and the cycle starts again. This is just an example, you should not limit yourself be following this 1:1. It's just ment as a guide.
Good Luck
sorry for the heavy mmorpg lingo, if something reads odd, please point it out
Feel free to point out typos etc, too (there were lots of them and probably still are)
-Auras WILL stack. So having two of any Orb out will further increase the Aura's bonuses.
-Summon Ice is a short-range AoE around Melia. I thought that was kinda obvious?
-Summon Wind has AoE properties. I don't think the range is that big, but it has it.
-Burst End doesn't deal any damage nor will it instantly end Burst State (there's a chance for it to, but it's not guaranteed). Another thing that should be obvious.
-Auras WILL stack. So having two of any Orb out will further increase the Aura's bonuses.
-Summon Ice is a short-range AoE around Melia. I thought that was kinda obvious?
-Summon Wind has AoE properties. I don't think the range is that big, but it has it.
-Burst End doesn't deal any damage nor will it instantly end Burst State (there's a chance for it to, but it's not guaranteed). Another thing that should be obvious.
Regarding Summon Wind: its AoE is actually fairly big, making it perhaps the most useful of her summons. It's easy to test: get Melia far enough away from her teammates, summon Wind, and walk/run towards them until you see the "agility up" appear above their heads. As you can raise your entire team's agility for ~30 seconds with it, it's immensely useful.
Thanks for all this! I never mained Melia in my first playthrough of the game -- heck, I hardly used her at all -- except for the brief period when I had to. And even then, I had little idea what I was doing.
I just didn't take the time to learn about her skills, and I was avoiding looking online for any info when I played the game, because I didn't want to be spoiled.
This next go-round, I'll definitely have her leading the party a bunch, just to try this all out. Thanks again, Zornica (and Ultratech and SecretMoblin)!
Regarding Summon Wind: its AoE is actually fairly big, making it perhaps the most useful of her summons. It's easy to test: get Melia far enough away from her teammates, summon Wind, and walk/run towards them until you see the "agility up" appear above their heads. As you can raise your entire team's agility for ~30 seconds with it, it's immensely useful.
I don't remember the AoE for wind being very big, especially compared to fire. Similar to ice, I think. Edit: Oh, you're just referring to the effect? I was thinking AoE damage.
But yeah, all of Ultratech's corrections sound accurate from what I remember.
And I updated my post with the FAQ in it a little. Reworded some things, moved a question, and added a response for the Melia question with a link to that post. Tutorial is kind of long to link in a basic FAQ :lol
New OT will be in gaming while this one is in community, so it should get the bulk of the attention anyway. This thread is all but dead aside from the regulars.
strange that I never noticed that oO the range is small but is is defintly there.
-Burst End doesn't deal any damage nor will it instantly end Burst State (there's a chance for it to, but it's not guaranteed). Another thing that should be obvious.[/QUOTE]
Again, could have sworn it was written there oO. anyway it was pretty late yesterday, so must have imagined it. (I never used that art personally)
SecretMoblin said:
Regarding Summon Wind: its AoE is actually fairly big, making it perhaps the most useful of her summons. It's easy to test: get Melia far enough away from her teammates, summon Wind, and walk/run towards them until you see the "agility up" appear above their heads. As you can raise your entire team's agility for ~30 seconds with it, it's immensely useful.
thats not what I was writing about. what you mean is the aura. All art discriptions are based on the nuke aka "what happens if you fire it". Ofc all auras are aoe, would be pretty pointless if they don't . I thought this was clear.. (I even wrote thats one of melias best spells )
Somebody also needs to claim the OT. I nominate SecretMoblin since he has the most posts in this topic. Or second most because of RPGcrazied, but most of his were from his Zavvi adventure.
Somebody also needs to claim the OT. I nominate SecretMoblin since he has the most posts in this topic. Or second most because of RPGcrazied, but most of his were from his Zavvi adventure.
I appreciate the kind words, folks, but I don't know if I'm up to the task of making an OT. I haven't even made a single thread on GAF yet. If anyone else wants to do it, please, go right ahead. If nobody else wants to, I'll pull things together.
As for the OT generally, I think it would be best if it were lean, easy to follow, and took up a single post. We can always make extended guides (for Melia, gem crafting, affinity, etc) in this thread and just post links in the OT as necessary.
I'm kind of surprised the hype train is hitting me again. I very rarely succumb to the pre-release chaos, but Xenoblade had my eye since it had been announced in Japan and importing it was a no-brainer. Even though I've done nearly everything there is to do in the game, I'm still excited to see the reactions of my continental peers when the game finally comes out. It's been far too long.
don't worry, everytime I see her my rifle is getting hotter.
secretly I am a Melia fan-boy, though
@SecretMoblin: I agree that it should be a single-post. Things like the Melia FAQ can be linked, etc. It should be very streamlined and minimise the hassle. Kind of like Xenoblade.
I can understand your reluctance, though. I haven't started my own threads either.
I'm kind of surprised the hype train is hitting me again. I very rarely succumb to the pre-release chaos, but Xenoblade had my eye since it had been announced in Japan and importing it was a no-brainer. Even though I've done nearly everything there is to do in the game, I'm still excited to see the reactions of my continental peers when the game finally comes out. It's been far too long.
Yeah, I put 150 hours into the game just a few months ago and I'm itching to play it again. Some friends will probably pick up the NA release and experience it for the first time, so I'll probably end up playing it again so it's all fresh.
And I wouldn't be against making the OT, but I've never made one before (or a topic at all for that matter). That's why I nominated someone else, but I didn't know he'd never posted a topic before either :lol
They are quite the opposite of each other... really hard to compare. but overall xenoblade is definitely the better game.
I just went through my save files on my wii when I spotted riki eating the xenoblade one... I wonder if it can be found as an animated gif or something somewhere on the internet? I searched but couldn't find it :/
The story was incredibly ambitious and imaginative. There were some redundant lines of dialogue here and there, but overall it was very compelling. The ending was satisfying and blew my mind at one point.
...why? With quick travel, you could get pretty much anywhere you wanted to go in the entire game in under a minute. And exploring the big areas wasn't much of a pain, especially when you got experience for roaming around.
Fellow American importers, is anyone importing The Last Story? I don't know enough about that game so I'll wait on impressions from yurop. And is anyone double dipping with the NA Xenoblade version?
I'm importing The Last Story (already preordered), but not double-dipping on Xenoblade. The game is identical, so I don't see the point. And I don't think NoA deserves a $50 double dip at this time. But either way, both games are getting ripped off my Wii and played mostly in Dolphin.
...why? With quick travel, you could get pretty much anywhere you wanted to go in the entire game in under a minute. And exploring the big areas wasn't much of a pain, especially when you got experience for roaming around.
Throughout my 90 hours of play, I eventually got burnt out on running around the very large maps to discover every corner. Having a fast mount would have made the exploration more fun and less of a chore.
The whole map is revealed once you visit all the landmarks in an area. So you don't really have to search out every nook and cranny.
And between maxed quickstep and some movement speed skill links, you can get almost 50% faster. Considering the characters don't run that slowly to begin with that's not a bad boost.
Throughout my 90 hours of play, I eventually got burnt out on running around the very large maps to discover every corner. Having a fast mount would have made the exploration more fun and less of a chore.
Alright, I think I'll work on some NA OT templates over the next few weeks and post them here. I need to make sure it's legible, coherent, and - most importantly - credit is given where it's due.
Glowing... star? Materials that have either a white or a red exclamation point (in the upper-left, I believe) are necessary for quests. Most everything else can be sold, unless you want to keep an old weapon or piece of armor for some reason. Often, materials/items that don't have an exclamation point will be used for future quests; the white exclamation point merely points out that
you've seen a Monado vision telling you the item is necessary.
The vast majority of items in the game can be gotten as drops, and the drop rate even for rare items isn't nearly as brutal as it can be in some RPGs.
