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[Benzychenz]

They affect all weapons on the Skell. Telethia nemesis and an ares 90 is proof of this. I have neg.reflect.ether on one weapon and never kill myself from reflected ether damage.

Now this isn't true for the weapon mod augments that start with the word custom, those are that weapon only (if it did affect all weapons custom.wp.speed would be broken rather than broken if the weapon has it built in and upgraded along with the 3 augments you can equip).

Similarly having arts gain tp on a gun affects melee arts using the other weapon.

The game really needs to communicate all this better.

Ah ok, so I'm looking at them now and see they're like Custom.WP-ATK, which means it changes just the weapon attack or whatever, whereas one like Slayer.INSECTOID is just a general buff?

They really outdid themselves in how over complicated this is lol

So am I correct in the 100% cap, meaning there's no point added more than 2-3 of the insectoid ones per character to take up the bug tyrant for the archeology quest?

 

[CAAAAAAAAAAAW]

It might be more complicated than that as the ares 90 should have over 100% AttributeDmg.ETHER from its built-in augments yet adding AttributeDmg.ETHER XX to the frame does boost damage (one does at least). Searching around one theory is frame and weapon/armour are considered separate caps (source).

In terms of having varied builds though it is not unreasonable to work around the assumption of it being 100% plus IIRC you did see clear evidence of % caps when using the drive augments.

On another note that did make me look and notice how easy the PositionDmg. augments are to make and like slayer they seem very effective for how little they cost.

It should just be stat Boosts that cap at +100%. I haven't heard of or witnessed(I haven't tested a lot of skell damage stuff yet but I'm sure you've seen the 99999999999 damage videos) any limit to the +% bonuses that apply to the damage itself.

 

[Xenoboy]

I love those guys. I think there's some concept art for what you're asking though, not sure if it happens in-game.

Thanks for this, I'll make it my mission to see this art or I'll never feel complete

 

[Benzychenz]

Damn just looked up how to make a decent build and found the Galactic Knight ability that reduces cooldowns by 50% in a melee combo. That's ridiculously good!

Now I gotta grind Enforcer, Blast Fencer and Galactic Knight up lol

 

[Wiseblade]

Damn just looked up how to make a decent build and found the Galactic Knight ability that reduces cooldowns by 50% in a melee combo. That's ridiculously good!

Now I gotta grind Enforcer, Blast Fencer and Galactic Knight up lol

Doesn't that only work for moves for arts that recognise a melee combo? I remember reading that somewhere.

 

[ugoo18]

No. The only things that are Custom are the Weapon Mod Augments. You can equip cooldown reducing or fuel cost reducing (both are good for super weapons, though the both are pretty much rendered useless by Overdrive... unless you want to use them for farming or giving the AI super weapons) customs, for example, that only work for that weapon.

Also remember that any BOOST or %-modifiers are capped at 100%.

Wait what?

So if i have x amount of % modifiers on my skell they'd all cap at 100%. For example having the same boosting type Augments on all my weapons and all of them had 3 slots does that mean that if it were to hit 100% on say just 1 weapon the remaining boosts aren't applied?

EDIT: Better example is i'm planning to make 21 Slayer Ultrafauna XX augments. How does that factor in then?

 

[thematic]

any tips about getting my 1st skell purchases?
light, medium, or heavy? I'm afraid the low accuracy from heavy one will make the game harder than it should

can i keep the Lv 20 one for my 4th party member or should I buy him/her one too? (yeah I'm cheap for non-story-mode party member)

thank you

 

[Golnei]

can i keep the Lv 20 one for my 4th party member or should I buy him/her one too? (yeah I'm cheap for non-story-mode party member)

thank you

The level 20 skell is completely useless. Even if your 4th party member is below level 30; putting them in it won't be much different from keeping them on foot.

 

[Dee Dee]

The level 20 skell is completely useless. Even if your 4th party member is below level 30; putting them in it won't be much different from keeping them on foot.

I have this massive fold-out sword on my level 20 skell - the little guy completely wrecks shit with it.
Not sure if that means that I am not speccing my party members correctly or my level 30 skells... or both?

 

[Golnei]

I have this massive fold-out sword on my level 20 skell - the little guy completely wrecks shit with it.
Not sure if that means that I am not speccing my party members correctly or my level 30 skells... or both?

Is that the G-Buster? I didn't even know you could equip that on the starter Skell. Regardless, the Level 30 models' stats are still a considerable step up, which is especially important when you're giving it to a NPC - the level 20 Skell regularly gets one-shotted by enemies even a light Level 30 frame can easily withstand.

 

[KingBroly]

Hmm...really need to figure out why I'm not making more money from Frontier Nav check-ups. I'm only making just below 90k. I need to be making more than that. UGH. I'm so low on funds right now too, which sucks.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

I went back and did some tests using Buchwald, the Guardian and now I'm even more confused about the whole boosting cap thing. I need to sit down and take notes if I do more testing but I'm starting to feel there is a global cap on % boosts regardless of type. I have Crush.APPEND XX, side and high PositionDmg. XX. with 3 theroid slayer XX I do between ~900k and ~1.1mm (it would seem the +/-10 for stability is a percentage) using the Ares 90 canon targeting its front right paw form a side and high position.

So I add DMG ether to the frame and...I do exactly the same amount of damage. I then take off one theroid slayer and again same damage. I think I was still able to hit the same damage with all 3 taken off...until I positioned myself to the front then I was doing not enough to kill it which made the tyrant a fun tug of war of 97% cooldown boost agni gatling vs its health regen.

I'll have to retest this of course starting with no boosts as I have no idea what the base damage is and are there are lots of things to test which I didn't (what happens if position is removed etc).

edit: I have draw.opening XIII too (or whatever one is in that chest in the middle of nowhere next to where it says world in the ocean).

There must be something else going on otherwise the insane damage videos would be impossible.

 

[Benzychenz]

Hmm...really need to figure out why I'm not making more money from Frontier Nav check-ups. I'm only making just below 90k. I need to be making more than that. UGH. I'm so low on funds right now too, which sucks.

Get all the sightseeing spots.

They bumped my Oblivia setup to 140k.

 

[black_clavus]

The Ether Blossom Dance just kinda change this game for me, even without really proper weapon & ground gear, it still could rekt Millesaur in one single overdrive, damn..

Trying to grind vita core from time attack was a bad idea

 

[random25]

Where do you farm for Ares parts guys? I'm almost complete with the surveys and such. Just want to have that sexy beast in my garage.

 

[Amalthea]

Where do you farm for Ares parts guys? I'm almost complete with the surveys and such. Just want to have that sexy beast in my garage.

I got most Seidr parts from lower level Seidrims in the sky of Cauldros (also nice for farming Skell equipment) and Xe-Dom pieces from the low lv. 40's Xe-Dom who patrols close to the magma cave in Sylvalum. Yggralith, Vita and Neilnail parts can be more easily bought with Reward Tickets.

 

[KingBroly]

Get all the sightseeing spots.

They bumped my Oblivia setup to 140k.

Bumped it up to 125. Haven't gotten them all though.

 

[Golnei]

I hadn't touched the player emotes until now - I had no idea they were voiced. I wonder how easy it'd have been to insert a few of those clips into cutscenes once or twice - they wouldn't be as jarring as their current facial expressions on their own, at least.

 

[Fandangox]

I hadn't touched the player emotes until now - I had no idea they were voiced. I wonder how easy it'd have been to insert a few of those clips into cutscenes once or twice - they wouldn't be as jarring as their current facial expressions on their own, at least.

Yeah, Although If they were to have the MC be voiced for a few lines in the story they might as well just have recorded a few specific lines for cutscenes depending on the voice actor then.

 

[Yazuka]

I'm about to begin chapter 8. But I'm wondering what's the best way for me to make some money? I think I get around 30k in cash from time to time, but I want to buy bigger and better skells and with just 30k it's going to take forever.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Final boss here we go.

 

[Motooni]

So I'm trying to wrap my head around overdrive. What's the counter thing and what makes it go up? Does the changing colour affect anything?

 

[Ulysses 31]

So I'm trying to wrap my head around overdrive. What's the counter thing and what makes it go up? Does the changing colour affect anything?

http://pastebin.com/EBVw7tGB

 

[Motooni]

I'm about to begin chapter 8. But I'm wondering what's the best way for me to make some money? I think I get around 30k in cash from time to time, but I want to buy bigger and better skells and with just 30k it's going to take forever.

I found this helpful, currently at over 80k/tick at level 40/Ch.8...http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=188960285&postcount=11451

 

[Yazuka]

I found this helpful, currently at over 80k/tick at level 40/Ch.8...http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=188960285&postcount=11451

That's perfect! Thanks!

 

[victreeb3l]

Chapter 11 thoughts:

Spoiler

I really thought Lao was gonna be a red herring so I'm surprised he turned out to be the traitor. I mean they were really laying it on thick. I feel bad for him and I can sort of understand his reasoning for hating humanity. Does that mean he also got his squad killed on purpose as well? Kind of messed up especially right before the mission you help one of his squad mates hook up with a girl.

 

[Golnei]

Chapter 11 thoughts:

Spoiler

I really thought Lao was gonna be a red herring so I'm surprised he turned out to be the traitor. I mean they were really laying it on thick. I feel bad for him and I can sort of understand his reasoning for hating humanity. Does that mean he also got his squad killed on purpose as well? Kind of messed up especially right before the mission you help one of his squad mates hook up with a girl.

He did -

Spoiler

his lines after you leave him in Chapter 9 seem like they were referring to it specifically, though they could also be read as relating to sending Elma's team up against the Wrothians. I agree that they were way too obvious with the foreshadowing, though - even if it's not exactly something that should come as a surprise, given how broadly the first game telegraphed its plot points. Also, did it seem to you like the cutscene in the hangar was really badly-paced, even by the established precedent? I'm not sure if it flowed better with the Japanese voice track, but there were some absurdly long pauses between lines at the end.

Yeah, Although If they were to have the MC be voiced for a few lines in the story they might as well just have recorded a few specific lines for cutscenes depending on the voice actor then.

That'd be ideal, but it'd also conceivably be a financial black hole if it were used for more than a handful of lines, especially given how many VAs were options in the Japanese game. At least the emotes were already done - using them for big dramatic moments or in place of actual dialogue probably wouldn't work at all, but using a few of the existing clips on occasion - even just as reactions in the free-camera cutscenes - could have given the avatar a little more presence without requiring much more in terms of resources.

 

[tiebreaker]

Damn just looked up how to make a decent build and found the Galactic Knight ability that reduces cooldowns by 50% in a melee combo. That's ridiculously good!

Now I gotta grind Enforcer, Blast Fencer and Galactic Knight up lol

Galactic Knight has a nice set of skills. A galactic knight and duelist combo is the best melee combination I think, and use a dual gun or ramjet rifle for a quick tp recovery.

 

[toastyToast]

The Ether Blossom Dance just kinda change this game for me, even without really proper weapon & ground gear, it still could rekt Millesaur in one single overdrive, damn..

Trying to grind vita core from time attack was a bad idea

If you have enough TP going off the bat you shouldn't have any trouble knocking it off in a single overdrive

Did you get Zero Zero? I was having some annoying TP issues without it

 

[thematic]

The level 20 skell is completely useless. Even if your 4th party member is below level 30; putting them in it won't be much different from keeping them on foot.

alright thanks
any tips about which skell type to buy? light, medium, heavy?

 

[Zareka]

What the crap am I meant to do about the Slab Cinicula in Close Encounters? The fight itself is easy but it keeps falling off the side and resetting itself. The placement is absolutely awful.

Edit: cried on twitter about it and it behaved itself, always works.

 

[ChetWilson]

They really outdid themselves in how over complicated this is lol

They fucked up in that they made a very complicated, stat heavy game, without providing a REAL summary page of all those stats for your characters/skells.

This is a larger problem overall, in that the Xenoblade's UI is trash because it doesn't communicate what's going on either in combat, or in general, that effectively.

 

[zroid]

What the crap am I meant to do about the Slab Cinicula in Close Encounters? The fight itself is easy but it keeps falling off the side and resetting itself. The placement is absolutely awful.

I haven't done this one yet but I had that problem with a Simius in some affinity mission early in the game. Super annoying.

 

[Jisgsaw]

Ok so quick tip: do NOT try to call up a character's info card in the affinity chart menu.

 

[Kiko]

Quickie: I only see the

Spoiler

Ma'Non

and

Spoiler

Nopon

in my NLA. Finished chapter 8, did a bunch of side quest but when do I get more/other Xenos. Can someone point me specific missions?

 

[Xenoboy]

I feel so sorry for that one Orphean in the residential district sitting all alone on a bench. What he says makes me so sad as well, I'm there for you buddy D:

 

[oni-link]

Is there a skell guide anywhere? I had the one I was given but I lost that and didn't realise it would be gone for good

I have 3m so can afford the ones in the shop, but I don't know which one to get, or the difference between light/medium/heavy etc

Think I'll need one soon because I'm stuck on a fight in chapter 9 that I don't think will be possible without a skell, also I really want to be able to fly

 

[Wyndstryker]

Is there a skell guide anywhere? I had the one I was given but I lost that and didn't realise it would be gone for good

I have 3m so can afford the ones in the shop, but I don't know which one to get, or the difference between light/medium/heavy etc

Think I'll need one soon because I'm stuck on a fight in chapter 9 that I don't think will be possible without a skell, also I really want to be able to fly

You don't lose a skell unless you sell it. If it's destroyed you have to go back to the barracks to repair it.

 

[CoffeeJanitor]

More like why wouldn't you? You can kill things that are basically impossible on-foot, and completely wreck anything that isn't super-OP. It's like getting an extra 20 levels all at once. The only liability is if you lose your skell and fail the Soul Challenge--and even then, just join Prospectors and get Salvage Tickets. The only time I ever fight on-foot anymore is in closed quarters.

Honestly, I feel like Skells completely changed the game for me, and not in a completely good way. Made the game world seem MUCH smaller and less wondrous while completely changing the balance of fights. Don't get me wrong--I don't dislike them, but it's kind of sad that what was the main draw of the game ended up having a somewhat negative impact on me. Anyone else feel similar?

for the combat especially

I find non skell combat to be much more deep and engrossing than skell combat

 

[random25]

Is there a skell guide anywhere? I had the one I was given but I lost that and didn't realise it would be gone for good

I have 3m so can afford the ones in the shop, but I don't know which one to get, or the difference between light/medium/heavy etc

Think I'll need one soon because I'm stuck on a fight in chapter 9 that I don't think will be possible without a skell, also I really want to be able to fly

Check the console in the barracks to implement the insurance in your skell. This will bring it back when you exit the barracks.

Light has very high evasion, but low defense. It's potential is pretty high, but the fuel capacity is pretty low.

Heavy has the highest defense and HP, plus very high fuel capacity. But it has very low evasion and has the lowest gravity attribute defense.

Mid is the in-between, as the name implies.

 

[ugoo18]

Anyone people want to do some Final menace farming with me, it gets boring doing it alone lol.

 

[oni-link]

Check the console in the barracks to implement the insurance in your skell. This will bring it back when you exit the barracks.

Light has very high evasion, but low defense. It's potential is pretty high, but the fuel capacity is pretty low.

Heavy has the highest defense and HP, plus very high fuel capacity. But it has very low evasion and has the lowest gravity attribute defense.

Mid is the in-between, as the name implies.

Yeah I didn't understand the fuel mechanics when I had the first one, also had no idea it will be back and just need repairing. Do you have to buy more fuel when it's out?

I take it the starting one is pretty bad anyway? So I might buy a new one and have two for the time being

 

[Nohar]

So... Attempted L's final quest.

I meet the boss at the end of the quest.

Usual reaction upon seeing its level:

Spoiler

Thanksfully, we just need to damage it a little before it lets us go. Otherwise I would have been pretty pissed. It's been a while since I had a "Oh crap" moment in a videogame.

 

[random25]

Yeah I didn't understand the fuel mechanics when I had the first one, also had no idea it will be back and just need repairing. Do you have to buy more fuel when it's out?

I take it the starting one is pretty bad anyway? So I might buy a new one and have two for the time being

The first one is just for bullying little critters. It won't stand a chance against higher level monsters. Level 30 skells makes a ton of difference in terms of firepower and durability.

In battle you consume fuel gradually as the fight goes on. Each art you use also consume fuel so check how much they consume when you equip the weapons in your skell. You can refuel your skell via miranium (3000 fuel = 5000 miranium) on the barracks console. Flying later on also consumes fuel.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

So I just finished the story campaign.

Spoiler

Did they expect us to grow attached to Lao and his non-existent family? Huge character development problem over here.

And why does Lin care so much about him? LOL

I thought the story went downhill after his "betrayal" (like we give a fuck about some Lao dude). I was really disappointed at the ending too, because once again he plays the central role.

Thankfully, Elma saved the story for me when she said "there's one more thing..." Wooooo, the reveal of her background story and the database.

Spoiler

BUT THEN LAO APPEARS AGAIN! LMFAO

can he please just die we dont know who he is

 

[Xenoboy]

I just did the Miralife card quest without a guide, it wasn't very hard. I thought it was sorta fun, and I got to learn some juicy info during my trade.
Just fyi, it seems that there are several ways to complete it as well.

 

[Vena]

Wait what?

So if i have x amount of % modifiers on my skell they'd all cap at 100%. For example having the same boosting type Augments on all my weapons and all of them had 3 slots does that mean that if it were to hit 100% on say just 1 weapon the remaining boosts aren't applied?

EDIT: Better example is i'm planning to make 21 Slayer Ultrafauna XX augments. How does that factor in then?

Those %-modifiers are global to the Skell unless they say Custom, but then those are local % modifiers and only apply to a weapon (and cap at 100%). The Slayer/Element modifiers are a bit hard to judge since there's no hard stat that tracks them but I see no reason why they'd be any different from any other %-modifier in the game (also I've tried stacking them, and they obviously stop working at some point).

So of 21 Ultrafauna Slayers, 3 of them would do something, and 18 of them would do nothing.

There must be something else going on otherwise the insane damage videos would be impossible.

Those vids have capped out Physical damage modifiers (for Hyper Rail), and the rest is done with Potential/M.Att/R.Att since raw stat increases have no known cap (other than probably 9999).

 

[Marcus]

ok I've seen the light, z29 battle is the best song in the game

 

[Starwolf_UK]

There must be something else going on otherwise the insane damage videos would be impossible.

Having thought about this and doing a quick calculation one thing I was missing is when all your augments stack up to around +700% damage on the opening shot removing or adding 50% is still within the 10% margin of error that the weapon stability seems to bring which makes it hard to see the difference form doing one of two tests and also the Ares 90 might be a poor testing ground due to how much it has built-in (including around 300% boost to ether...unless I also missread this).

Those vids have capped out Physical damage modifiers (for Hyper Rail), and the rest is done with Potential/M.Att/R.Att since raw stat increases have no known cap (other than probably 9999).

Yeah I think I've done enough on the % front so need to get the base stats up higher now.

Ok so quick tip: do NOT try to call up a character's info card in the affinity chart menu.

For anyone one wondering why, it can softlock the game Not sure what the conditions for cause and avoiding are.

Quickie: I only see the

Spoiler

Ma'Non

and

Spoiler

Nopon

in my NLA. Finished chapter 8, did a bunch of side quest but when do I get more/other Xenos. Can someone point me specific missions?

What are your survey rates like? For example two xenos have unlock conditions requiring 40% in Oblivia and 30% in Noctilum, respectively.

Also basic social missions leading to the normal missions for these will occur.

Yeah I didn't understand the fuel mechanics when I had the first one, also had no idea it will be back and just need repairing. Do you have to buy more fuel when it's out?

Infrequently using heavy frames (mainly the e-scythe for 50 fuel easy kills from behind), I found myself rarely needing to buy fuel. The fact that you gain fuel when outside the skell (provided it isn't trashed) and this gain seems to even happen when the game is turned off does help.

 

[TheFatMan]

After a few hours with the flying module and being able to finally get to some scenic outlooks and undiscovered locations.....

My new income is 245k a tick! Which is helpful being as my level 50 Skell costs almost 5 million to buy!