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[ultron87]

Is rebuilding the colony worth it? I really don't want it to be worth it so I make myself stop doing it.

 

[Zornica]

depends on what you consider "worth it" I guess...
to me it was worth it because I love quests like that and wanted to complete the game 100%.
There are some minore payoffs if you rebuild the entire colony:

Spoiler

- endgame quests
- level 5/6 gems
- all artbooks in one place
- random collectable spawn
- at least 1 extra unique enemy
- 4th skill trees...

I am sure that I forgot something

 

[Exeunt]

depends on what you consider "worth it" I guess...
to me it was worth it because I love quests like that and wanted to complete the game 100%.
There are some minore payoffs if you rebuild the entire colony:

Spoiler

- endgame quests
- level 5/6 gems
- all artbooks in one place
- random collectable spawn
- at least 1 extra unique enemy
- 4th skill trees...

I am sure that I forgot something

Judging by his post, I don't think he would consider it "worth it." Like chaosblade said before, the actual end result isn't rewarded that well in-game; you don't get much special dialogue or even a new cutscene outside of the standard flyover for your efforts. I'd say the largest external payoff is that

Spoiler

you can get the best crystals from the Ether Mine, which is the only way to get things like Agility Up VI from gem crafting

. But that is only useful if you actually want to stick with the game and fight all the high-level enemies after the final boss. I don't know how much ultron87 is enjoying the game but if he's getting tired of

Spoiler

rebuilding Colony 6

I doubt the extra

Spoiler

quests and collectables

will be that much of a draw for him.

ultron87, if you're basically doing a run to the final boss and intend to stop there, you can probably give up on this particular endeavour without feeling like you're missing any substantial content. If you are interested in doing the "post-game" quests and fighting the really touch monsters, then it should be worth chipping away at things so you can access the additional assets that make things easier. But it's not worth doing if you're not having fun with it.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

How is your affinity with Central Bionis? I believe once you get it to four or five stars you can

Spoiler

trade with Scarlen to obtain some rank V Night Vision gems. They aren't perfect but they will help you hit Daedala and get the cylinders you need. You are also going to want Spike Defence or the appropriate skill links to take it down. Deinos Sauros will be good for you to defeat eventually since they will also drop Debuff Resist crystals that can protect you against Instant Death; you will need either that or Divine Protect if you want to defeat the hardest unique monsters

.

You can also trade for rank IV ones in Colony 6 as a last resort. I think they offer 25% or so.

Thanks guys. I'll definitely be grabbing those.

I haven't gotten to play since my last update. Urgh. I'm just glad I beat the game when I did, or else I'd be going crazy right now.

One option I really wish this game had is

Spoiler

a NG+ where you keep all of your items, gems, arts and skills, but your level resets. Or something like Dragon Quest IX where you can max level and then reset with a +1,+2,+3, etc. Oh well. I guess you can only put so much content into one game.

 

[Exeunt]

One option I really wish this game had is

Spoiler

a NG+ where you keep all of your items, gems, arts and skills, but your level resets. Or something like Dragon Quest IX where you can max level and then reset with a +1,+2,+3, etc. Oh well. I guess you can only put so much content into one game.

As chaosblade has shown us, maxed Arts (possibly) and the best equipment (definitely) seem to play a pretty large role in "breaking" the battle system. They probably would've had to balance the game differently (i.e. make weapon/armour boosts scale with level) for that to be most effective. I sort of wonder what a worst-equipment high-level playthrough would be like but somehow I doubt that would be much more engaging. I do wish that New Game+ had some more attractive options. Apparently

Spoiler

the quest log doesn't even carry over; I can understand if story quests, quests with multiple paths, or those that were completed "sub-optimally" were reset but it's a bit of a shame that all your work is gone in that area when the experience would be a negligible anyway. In New Game+ high affinity in each area from the offset doesn't sound too broken. It's a shame you can't "downgrade" your party in any way and that there's nothing really special that you can do as a result of higher level or greater skill.

I might just end up doing a new run when I do return to the game someday.

 

[Esura]

Ok, I think by tommorow night I'll be ready for the last match redux after the point of no return.

My planned team against the big baddy once I hit level 79 or 80 will be either Shulk/7/Sharla or Shulk/7/Riki. The armor I got for Shulk leaves him a bit on the weak side in terms of defense but his speed is like 202 so I'm ready. I got 7 in all Speed II armor but with a Power II head armor to boost aggro and I got Sharla with medium armor so she can get more defense. I think more than Shulk but less than 7. Riki...dunno. He is my backup just in case Sharla doesn't work out which I doubt. The fight seem almost impossible to do without a dedicated healer.

Not worried about the fights before the final fight if I get myself at a decent level. Does this sound cool?

EDIT: As of 8:20 AM, I completely finished this game...before work too! I must say I mostly enjoyed my time with this game, ridiculous amounts of worthless quests be damned. Really liked the characters and the world of this game and can't wait to see what's in store for the future of this potential series. Granted the ending was great and felt conclusive but I can't help but want this game to be milked.

 

[McNum]

Hmm, I'm getting the idea that I kind of want to replay Xenoblade now, even if it took a couple of months, more or less, to complete it the first time. But if I do, I want to play it in a somewhat different way, which means not as much Shulk as last time. I played him a lot.

But do I do a clean restart or not? The game is nicely balanced as is, so just rushing through it seems kind of anti-climatic. Also, if I don't play Shulk, then who should I give a go? Melia? I seem to remember that there's a guide to playing her in this thread somewhere... Is it safe to leave the Monado to the computer?

Also, when I copy my save file to an SD card, what is its folder called? For the PAL version. I want to back up my saves to my PC before I overwrite any of them. Three save slots max is a little rough in a game this huge.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

As chaosblade has shown us, maxed Arts (possibly) and the best equipment (definitely) seem to play a pretty large role in "breaking" the battle system. They probably would've had to balance the game differently (i.e. make weapon/armour boosts scale with level) for that to be most effective. I sort of wonder what a worst-equipment high-level playthrough would be like but somehow I doubt that would be much more engaging. I do wish that New Game+ had some more attractive options. Apparently

Spoiler

the quest log doesn't even carry over; I can understand if story quests, quests with multiple paths, or those that were completed "sub-optimally" were reset but it's a bit of a shame that all your work is gone in that area when the experience would be a negligible anyway. In New Game+ high affinity in each area from the offset doesn't sound too broken. It's a shame you can't "downgrade" your party in any way and that there's nothing really special that you can do as a result of higher level or greater skill.

I might just end up doing a new run when I do return to the game someday.

Yeah I suppose you're right. It just seems so dull starting a new game at level 99. Chrono Trigger's NG+ was like that and I never got very far before losing interest. I wonder if your characters would still be broken if all skills and arts were reset, your level was reset, but you got to keep your gems? And as for your gripe:

Spoiler

Yeah, that's why I'm going to get all of the 4th and 5th skill trees before I (maybe) decide to start a NG+

.

 

[SecretMoblin]

Hmm, I'm getting the idea that I kind of want to replay Xenoblade now, even if it took a couple of months, more or less, to complete it the first time. But if I do, I want to play it in a somewhat different way, which means not as much Shulk as last time. I played him a lot.

But do I do a clean restart or not? The game is nicely balanced as is, so just rushing through it seems kind of anti-climatic. Also, if I don't play Shulk, then who should I give a go? Melia? I seem to remember that there's a guide to playing her in this thread somewhere... Is it safe to leave the Monado to the computer?

Also, when I copy my save file to an SD card, what is its folder called? For the PAL version. I want to back up my saves to my PC before I overwrite any of them. Three save slots max is a little rough in a game this huge.

Do a clean restart. It's much more interesting to play through the game with a clean slate knowing what you know from your previous playthrough.

I think the best advice for character/team selection is still to switch it up frequently throughout the course of the game. The AI is far from perfect when it comes to Monado control, but it's not abhorrent and you don't even really need Shulk in your team for most of the game. The guide for Melia is linked in the OP; here's the link if you don't want to try and find it. I really enjoy playing as Melia, but you should definitely give the others a shot, too. They all have some fun moves.

I believe the folder for the PAL save is SX4P, but I could be wrong.

 

[Exeunt]

Yeah I suppose you're right. It just seems so dull starting a new game at level 99. Chrono Trigger's NG+ was like that and I never got very far before losing interest. I wonder if your characters would still be broken if all skills and arts were reset, your level was reset, but you got to keep your gems? And as for your gripe:

Spoiler

Yeah, that's why I'm going to get all of the 4th and 5th skill trees before I (maybe) decide to start a NG+

.

It would still be rather lame if all the AP, SP, and Art books that you amassed were for nothing though... But I suppose it's a non-issue at the end of the day since we're stuck with the system that's in place. Regarding your comparison to Chrono Trigger, at least that game offered different endings based on when you decided to confront the final boss. As far as I can tell, there isn't much to Xenoblade's New Game+ unless you really want to see endgame armour in all the cutscenes. Oh well.

Do a clean restart. It's much more interesting to play through the game with a clean slate knowing what you know from your previous playthrough.

I think the best advice for character/team selection is still to switch it up frequently throughout the course of the game. The AI is far from perfect when it comes to Monado control, but it's not abhorrent and you don't even really need Shulk in your team for most of the game. The guide for Melia is linked in the OP; here's the link if you don't want to try and find it. I really enjoy playing as Melia, but you should definitely give the others a shot, too. They all have some fun moves.

I'd agree with the clean restart idea, since it would really let you play differently while still maintaining a sense of progression. Did all the quests last time? Pick and choose which ones are worth it this time around, or do none of them at all. I did a quasi-completionist run last time so I'll likely be doing very few quests when I return to the game.

Melia is probably my favourite character to control and she's quite potent when you figure out how to use her (the linked guide definitely helps with that). I relegated Shulk to the AI for roughly the entire second half of the game and since you can still warn him after a vision if you really need to use a Monado Art, you should be fine in a pinch. I did switch to him in a couple battles when I wanted more reliable Monado support, but depending on your party you might not even need to do that.

 

[McNum]

I made it through the endgame spamming

Spoiler

Monado Armor VIII

with Shulk. Such a broken Art. There were some quests where I'd like to see the other ends of, but I missed out on a lot of them. I never got a lot of the fourth skill trees, and I think only one fifth, which was pretty much by accident.

And yes, Xenoblade's PAL save folder is "SX4P". Made a backup of the old save. Not going to throw away a 90 hour save file like that...

By the way, in case you haven't done this, I suggest you turn on your Wii, go to Data Management, the Save Data for Wii. Now find the Xenoblade save and look at the icon. Definitely not the icon I expected. Go on, check. I wonder if the PAL and US icons are the same...

I do know how I'll start the game, though.

Spoiler

I'm going to try playing as Fiora, you know, while I can...

It might be interesting to try and play Shulk as little as possible, really. Or at least only break hm out for tough bosses, and of course for Mechon.

EDIT: The one thing I loved with Chrono Trigger was the ability to face Lavos whenever you felt like it. In NG+ I jumped him with Crono solo. When you can beat Lavos with any three party members, try solo Crono. It's not easy. But you do get to pile all the good equipment on Crono.

 

[ASIS]

Guys I need your help! I finally got the game NTSC but its not playing on my Wii, everytime I put it the disc channel read "cannot read disc", does anyone have a solution to this?

P.S. I have a launch Wii.

 

[Exeunt]

Guys I need your help! I finally got the game NTSC but its not playing on my Wii, everytime I put it the disc channel read "cannot read disc", does anyone have a solution to this?

P.S. I have a launch Wii.

Well, that isn't good! Xenoblade Chronicles is a dual-layer disc like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Metroid Prime: Trilogy, and Metroid Other M. I'm assuming it's a Wii issue so if you have any of those titles, try seeing if your Wii will still read them. Allegedly a lot of launch Wiis have run into issues with dual-layer titles like the above. If you get a Wii lens cleaning kit that might solve the problem, but otherwise you would have to send your Wii in to Nintendo to get it fixed (assuming they still do that). I've heard that sometimes if you read another disc first and then put in the dual-layer, it may work. But that's not exactly a technical solution and I've never tried it myself. Likely it is a problem with the laser being unable to read the dual-layer disc. If you're lucky, it's just dirty and will be fine after a quick cleaning.

 

[ASIS]

Well, that isn't good! Xenoblade Chronicles is a dual-layer disc like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Metroid Prime: Trilogy, and Metroid Other M. I'm assuming it's a Wii issue so if you have any of those titles, try seeing if your Wii will still read them. If you get a Wii lens cleaning kit that might solve the problem, but otherwise you would have to send your Wii in to Nintendo to get it fixed (assuming they still do that). I've heard that sometimes if you read another disc first and then put in the dual-layer, it may work. But that's not exactly a technical solution and I've never tried it myself. Likely it is a problem with the laser being unable to read the dual-layer disc. If you're lucky, it's just dirty and will be fine after a quick cleaning.

I've tried that, I put SSBB to see if its working and it is. Put DKCR next, no problems, then I tried with Xenoblade again and the problem still didn't go away.

Do you think homebrew will do the trick?

 

[Exeunt]

I've tried that, I put SSBB to see if its working and it is. Put DKCR next, no problems, then I tried with Xenoblade again and the problem still didn't go away.

Do you think homebrew will do the trick?

I'm not a homebrew expert, but I don't think you can circumvent this hardware error via software. I also think the game would at least give you a firmware prompt if you needed to update to run it. It's really odd that Brawl works but not Xenoblade... I'm assuming you've checked the disc for scratches already and there's nothing visibly wrong with the disc. I did a quick Google search and the cleaning kit or Nintendo repair seem like the two best options. I read one post on Nintendo's tech support forums that someone got Xenoblade to work by flipping the Wii so it was horizontally upside-down, but that sounds like a bit of a long-shot. Other than that, I'm afraid I don't have the expertise to help you out.

 

[ASIS]

I'm not a homebrew expert, but I don't think you can circumvent this hardware error via software. I also think the game would at least give you a firmware prompt if you needed to update to run it. It's really odd that Brawl works but not Xenoblade... I'm assuming you've checked the disc for scratches already and there's nothing visibly wrong with the disc. I did a quick Google search and the cleaning kit or Nintendo repair seem like the two best options. I read one post on Nintendo's tech support forums that someone got Xenoblade to work by flipping the Wii so it was horizontally upside-down, but that sounds like a bit of a long-shot. Other than that, I'm afraid I don't have the expertise to help you out.

Hmm, I guess I'll try to play the game on different Wiis to see what the problem is.

But really, thank you very much for putting an effort into this, I really appreciate it .

 

[Zornica]

there is one thing you could try:

power on your wii with the game inside. listen if the disc starts spining. if it doesn't, hit reset. It works for most people after the 3rd try. somethimes it takes 10. just be patient

ofc thats only a temporary solution. if you've got a usb drive or a big enough sd card, you could try to homebrew your wii and rip the game on your drive/sdcard. It may work.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

I spent half an hour yesterday writing down the gems I wanted, which monsters dropped them, and the locations of those monsters on a pad of paper using this spreadsheet. (Warning: Major spoilers in there.)

I feel like such a nerd.

 

[McNum]

You know what's fun? Seeing Shulk's visions again when replaying the game... Wow, this game just throws spoilers at you rapid-fire. I mean in the first vision, before

Spoiler

the Mechon attack

you get

Spoiler

Sharla, Alacamoth, the Emperor, Metal Face with a bloody claw, Zanza as the giant, Egil(!), Melia

, and several other images I just barely caught. Something interesting, though, is that there are no visions of the endgame. But when you beat the game already, you kind of know why Shulk gets no vision of that time...

Also trying to no play Shulk as much, been playing Fiora. That's... interesting, she plays much like Shulk, but she's really fragile. You can over-aggro and get away with it with Shulk, but Fiora takes two or three hits before going down against uniques and bosses.

Anyway, I think it's going to be fun to replay. I just wonder who to play as later, I think Sharla will be an absolute bore to play, she's better left to the CPU.

 

[ASIS]

there is one thing you could try:

power on your wii with the game inside. listen if the disc starts spining. if it doesn't, hit reset. It works for most people after the 3rd try. somethimes it takes 10. just be patient

ofc thats only a temporary solution. if you've got a usb drive or a big enough sd card, you could try to homebrew your wii and rip the game on your drive/sdcard. It may work.

Thank you very much, but I've already fixed the problem and everything is good to go!

Anyway, I've played about 2 hours so far, and honestly I'm very impressed. I like the setting, the music, the story (so far, I've stopped at the fiora incident), and the combat is growing on me. Here's hoping t gets even better.

 

[vic2020]

if you've got a usb drive or a big enough sd card, you could try to homebrew your wii and rip the game on your drive/sdcard. It may work.

does just any SD card or USBdrive work for this?

 

[McNum]

Here's hoping t gets even better.

It does. Very soon, actually. The opening of the game is just to tell you that, yeah, it's going to be like that. Feel free to speculate on what happens next, it makes it all the more fun when the game throws curveballs at you.

 

[Zornica]

does just any SD card or USBdrive work for this?

as far as I know, yes.
there is a homebrew guide.
usb drive is optional, but you need an sd card. (If you want to rip the game onto it, it should be at least 8gb)

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Yeah it gets a lot better! There is no way that you'll be able to guess what's to come. Enjoy the ride!

Look who I finally took down!

I knew spending all that time to collect Topple Plus gems would be worth it. And I killed enough Deinos Sauros' last night to mega heat myself a pair of Unbeatable VI gems! I also separated a lot of good level V crystals — Debuff Resist, Double Attack, Back Attack Plus, Topple Up — so I have a lot of great gems on the horizon. Man, those Topple Plus gems make a HUGE difference...

Also, what is the best way to separate crystals? I had to save and reload several times (especially for the crystal Magnificent Digalus dropped: 54% Double Attack & 88% Unbeatable) because I kept accidentally making gems. I use 7th and Riki, and even though I have purposefully kept from building any affinity between them (so they only have 3-5 turns), the burst affinity from my other teammates keeps blasting my crystals into gems. There has to be a better way... right?

*Edit - Shit! I hope nobody beside Exeunt saw the spoiler. My bad. It's gone now.

 

[Exeunt]

Keep in mind that you are only forced to craft a gem once a certain quality is over 100%. If you want to make an Unbeatable gem but you're stuck with a gem that gives you 88% from the get-go, you can always try loading on a bunch of different crystals to get more qualities (and thus dilute bonuses among them). The highlighted crystals and cylinders are recommended because they will boost some of your existing qualities to 100 or more, but you can stack as many crystals as you want until the slots at the top of the screen are filled; you can also try crafting even if no qualities reach 100. I hope that helps; I was able to get all the cylinders I wanted with my party at max affinity, so it's definitely not impossible. I found that when you only have two qualities, about 30% is the sweet spot if you want to make a cylinder as close to 99% as possible but obviously that's not always an option.

Also, there is a part at the end of your post you may wish to put in spoiler tags.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Gem crafting. Towards the end of the game you can get away with about 130% provided you are crafting one quantity and have good affinity. I used Shulk and Dunban (maxed affinity) with the others at I think Purple (except Ryen he was Pink) and 9/10 times I was getting into Mega Heat at from 130%.

Ironically that makes gems where you have multiple quantities all at over 80% your worst enemy (you have to sacrifice a few qualities to maintain sanity).

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Yeah for separating I use as many crystals as I can. And 30% is also my sweet spot, because those bursts from other teammates often add at least 20% on to my crystals. Gives me a heart attack when I have high percentage ones. Thanks for the tips.

I'm thinking about what gem setup is best for topple locking. Right now I'm using a mixture of Topple Plus (duh), Topple Up, Daze Up, Back Attack Plus, and Haste (the latter two for Shulk; the haste is for building up his talent gauge). I'm also focusing on Strength and Agility gems for power and accuracy. It's a purely offensive setup, but then again there's no need for defense when your opponent is on lockdown.

 

[Spehornoob]

Hey, guys. I was looking at picking this game up because I need an RPG fix. I'm kind of stuck between this and Tales of the Abyss 3DS. Big fan of FFXII and this looks great. There are a few things I'm curious about though. Is there any sort of customization to your characters? I don't expect anything as free as a job system or FFXII's license board, but I would hope I have some input on what my party can do. Also, I've heard that this is sort of a mix of MMO combat and FFXII. Would that be accurate?

 

[Exeunt]

Hey, guys. I was looking at picking this game up because I need an RPG fix. I'm kind of stuck between this and Tales of the Abyss 3DS. Big fan of FFXII and this looks great. There are a few things I'm curious about though. Is there any sort of customization to your characters? I don't expect anything as free as a job system or FFXII's license board, but I would hope I have some input on what my party can do. Also, I've heard that this is sort of a mix of MMO combat and FFXII. Would that be accurate?

There is a healthy amount of customization available, but I'm afraid I can't compare it to FFXII since I've never played that game. From an aesthetic perspective, the different weapons and armour you equip will show up on your characters (including the cutscenes). Said weapons and armour will often come with slots into which different gems can be inserted; you can acquire gems from completing different objectives (typically quests) or by making them yourself out of crystals looted from enemies. Gems have different effects like boosting your character's speed or giving him or her immunity to different debuffs; you get higher ranked gems as you progress.

The "magic" system in this game involves "Arts" which are the manual attacks your characters have (more on this in a bit). As you defeat enemies—the stronger the better—you'll get Art points that can be used to upgrade whatever Arts you choose. So there is definitely customization in that regard, since you choose what Arts you want to both equip and upgrade. You will also get Skill Points which unlock a predetermined set of buffs that will always stay with your character (say, a 5% increase in max HP) but the customization there is you will be able to link select skills between characters—you can distribute more skills between characters as you use them together in battle and defeat powerful "unique" monsters. And of course each party combination will lend itself to a different playstyle, as will your choice of which character you want to directly control.

So with that I'll just quickly go over the battle system. Basically you are in control of one character and have two allies in battle. You can't really control them beyond telling them both to attack a given target or fall back, but they will use whatever Arts you equip them with—the aptitude of the AI varies slightly between characters but I found it fine for at least 60% of the game and a bit more than that just counting the main story. All characters (including yours) will automatically use melee attacks when they are within a certain range of the enemy, with your character's Arts being the main source of control you have in the battle. All battles are conducted on the field; you trigger battles either by attacking or based on enemy cues (sight, sound, etc.), and you run from them by running in realtime out of their aggro range. You can encounter level 80 enemies really early on in the game even if you don't do too much exploring, so you can't always attack everything on sight. That's about the core of the battle system, with more of it opening up as you progress through the early parts of the story.

I can't make direct comparisons to FFXII but from what I've heard I think Xenoblade Chronicles gives you far less control over your AI companions. I also can't give it a recommendation specifically over Tales of the Abyss 3DS beyond the virtue that it's an original game rather than a port; I haven't played that particular title yet either. But I can say that it's quite a fun game and well worth the price of entry. I hope this post is helpful!

 

[DragonGirl]

Hey, guys. I was looking at picking this game up because I need an RPG fix. I'm kind of stuck between this and Tales of the Abyss 3DS. Big fan of FFXII and this looks great. There are a few things I'm curious about though. Is there any sort of customization to your characters? I don't expect anything as free as a job system or FFXII's license board, but I would hope I have some input on what my party can do. Also, I've heard that this is sort of a mix of MMO combat and FFXII. Would that be accurate?

I'll just add to the above post by saying I have played Tales of the Abyss and it doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Xenoblade...and I liked Tales of the Abyss. It's just not close to the same level. Go with Xenoblade.

Edit: For that matter, I've also played FFXII. The battle system is comparable but I prefer Xenoblade's. There's less minutae to dig through and the defensive game + tactical approaches Xenoblade offers are really solid and I'd say, superior to FFXII.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Fantastic post Exeunt. Couldn't have described it any better myself.

I got my Back Attack Plus VI gems last night. Now I'm fighting those big ass turtles in Eryth Sea for their Topple Up crystals.

 

[ASIS]

dammit! I had to leave my Wii cause I had to go with my family away for a while, but damn this game is interesting.

Spoiler

the faced mechon can talk

One nitpick that is pissing me off though, is the constant use of the word "monado". it just bugs the hell out of me. The combat is getting good though, I don't know why its satisfying, but it is. Chain attacks are awesome!

 

[AniHawk]

One nitpick that is pissing me off though, is the constant use of the word "monado". it just bugs the hell out of me.

it gets a lot worse.

 

[Seanspeed]

One nitpick that is pissing me off though, is the constant use of the word "monado".

Ha! Yea.

The names of a lot of things in the game are just staggeringly awful.

 

[Metroid Killer]

I walk around all day just saying 'the monado!, zanza!, telethia!, what a bunch of jokers'. It pisses off my girlfriend to no end

Just did the (around lvl 70) M

Spoiler

echonis

C

Spoiler

ore

event. Pretty crazy how much the story just advanced in a few hours, when pretty much all I did for the last 40 hours was looting and gemcrafting XD. Also after the dust settled and there were no more story related snippets, it kinda dawned on me that for the first time in the game the whole (game)world just got updated at once. What I mean is that previously you progressed from one area to another and more or less tackled quests and what in a slight order, but it's like every area opened up new quests(and other stuff) at once after this event. Suddenly it feels very daunting to me, eventhough I've been to all those areas so many times already. It's the most non-linear feeling that I've been given so far.

 

[McNum]

One nitpick that is pissing me off though, is the constant use of the word "monado".

Oh there's a reason for that name, it's not grabbed out of thin air.

No, I'm not going to tell you what the reason is, it's a fairly major spoiler. Not that the game will tell you either, the meaning is only ever implied.

 

[ASIS]

Oh there's a reason for that name, it's not grabbed out of thin air.

No, I'm not going to tell you what the reason is, it's a fairly major spoiler. Not that the game will tell you either, the meaning is only ever implied.

It's not the name that's bugging me per se, it's how they say it's name more than 10 times in each dialogue (obvious hyperbole but you see what I mean).

It's a very minor nitpick.

 

[McNum]

It's not the name that's bugging me per se, it's how they say it's name more than 10 times in each dialogue (obvious hyperbole but you see what I mean).

It's a very minor nitpick.

Eh, it's a fair point. Some of the cutscenes do have a very high "Monado"s per minute rate. It gets both better and worse as you go through the game...

And here's an endgame spoiler, so don't highlight it. It concerns a cool little detail on the Monado.

(Full game spoilers)

Spoiler

So, you know that symbol that appears on the Monado when Shulk switches it on in the prologue? That's a real symbol, I think it's one of the Japanese typesets. Anyway, it says "Machine". When you get the Monado II upgrade, the symbol changes. It now says "Person". At the end of the game, during the final boss fight, you get the Monado III. It has a third symbol: "God". Now what's the name of the final boss music again? "The god-killing Sword". So, the Monado's symbol shows what it can kill. Cool little detail.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

(Full game spoilers)

Spoiler

So, you know that symbol that appears on the Monado when Shulk switches it on in the prologue? That's a real symbol, I think it's one of the Japanese typesets. Anyway, it says "Machine". When you get the Monado II upgrade, the symbol changes. It now says "Person". At the end of the game, during the final boss fight, you get the Monado III. It has a third symbol: "God". Now what's the name of the final boss music again? "The god-killing Sword". So, the Monado's symbol shows what it can kill. Cool little detail.

Heh, that is really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

[The Awesomest]

Regarding the Monado... (post-game stuff)

Spoiler

The ending left me totally puzzled as to what a Monado even is. So, there's more than one? Only the gods get one? Shulk becomes a god? Is a monado like the key for the experiment, and when Shulk gets one it means he's now in charge of the experiment? I'm so confused! What the heck is a monado?

 

[McNum]

Regarding the Monado... (post-game stuff)

Spoiler

The ending left me totally puzzled as to what a Monado even is. So, there's more than one? Only the gods get one? Shulk becomes a god? Is a monado like the key for the experiment, and when Shulk gets one it means he's now in charge of the experiment? I'm so confused! What the heck is a monado?

Whoo boy. I think we did this earlier in the thread, but I can't quite find it.

(Endgame spoilers)

Spoiler

Look up the word "monad" (wiki link). It represents both the primal aspect of God in Gnosticism. That is, it refers to the wholeness of God himself AND it's a programming concept defining how several different functions are chained together.

Spoiler

Now, something that is both the prime aspect of God and a programming tool? Yeah. That's the Monado. So named because it's a monad in more ways than once. The ending does not come from nowhere at all. It's right there in the name of the sword from the very beginning of the game. A Monado is a divine tool that can both read the programming of the world and rewrite it. Resulting in visions and the ability to change otherwise predestined outcomes.

Spoiler

So, is it the key to the experiment? Nah, but close. It's root access to the code. The ability to change variables on the fly. When you master the Monados, you become a god within the world.

Spoiler

Which brings us to Alvis. He, on the other hand, IS the key to experiment. Or rather, he's both the overseer and input terminal for a Monado wielder. That's why Shulk had to go through Alvis to make the new world. Shulk had the access, but Alvis did the coding at Shulk's request.

It sort of makes sense, but it's a Monolith Soft game. The Xeno- prefix should have been ample warning.

 

[Siaynoqq]

I really don't understand how you guys get by without using Sharla. I can see how battles with enemies on a lower or same level can be won without a healer, but for tougher enemies and bosses, I find Sharla indispensable.

I tend to see a lot of people use (along with Shulk) either Dunban/Melia or Dunban/Seven, but I just cant quite seem to defeat tougher enemies without Sharla. Am I missing something?

 

[The Awesomest]

Whoo boy. I think we did this earlier in the thread, but I can't quite find it.

(Endgame spoilers)

Spoiler

Look up the word "monad" (wiki link). It represents both the primal aspect of God in Gnosticism. That is, it refers to the wholeness of God himself AND it's a programming concept defining how several different functions are chained together.

Spoiler

Now, something that is both the prime aspect of God and a programming tool? Yeah. That's the Monado. So named because it's a monad in more ways than once. The ending does not come from nowhere at all. It's right there in the name of the sword from the very beginning of the game. A Monado is a divine tool that can both read the programming of the world and rewrite it. Resulting in visions and the ability to change otherwise predestined outcomes.

Spoiler

So, is it the key to the experiment? Nah, but close. It's root access to the code. The ability to change variables on the fly. When you master the Monados, you become a god within the world.

Spoiler

Which brings us to Alvis. He, on the other hand, IS the key to experiment. Or rather, he's both the overseer and input terminal for a Monado wielder. That's why Shulk had to go through Alvis to make the new world. Shulk had the access, but Alvis did the coding at Shulk's request.

It sort of makes sense, but it's a Monolith Soft game. The Xeno- prefix should have been ample warning.

Ah, okay.

Spoiler

What I meant by "key" is like the key to a car, providing access to the thing that actually does stuff. So I guess we agree?

I really don't understand how you guys get by without using Sharla. I can see how battles with enemies on a lower or same level can be won without a healer, but for tougher enemies and bosses, I find Sharla indispensable.

I tend to see a lot of people use (along with Shulk) either Dunban/Melia or Dunban/Seven, but I just cant quite seem to defeat tougher enemies without Sharla. Am I missing something?

Shulk + Riki can handle healing duty sufficiently. Melia shouldn't be drawing aggro, and Dunban and 7th should have enough Agility to avoid getting hit most of the time. Plus, Sharla doesn't really do much damage. A fight would theoretically end faster without her because there are more people to do damage with, and Dunban and 7th should dodge enough to survive.

But you're right; whenever I got into a fight where I felt completely outclassed, I had Sharla there as an insurance policy.

 

[wsippel]

Regarding the Monado... (post-game stuff)

Spoiler

The ending left me totally puzzled as to what a Monado even is. So, there's more than one? Only the gods get one? Shulk becomes a god? Is a monado like the key for the experiment, and when Shulk gets one it means he's now in charge of the experiment? I'm so confused! What the heck is a monado?

I'm slightly drunk, but I'll try to explain:

Spoiler

The Monados are basically just symbols. A monad is the transitional stage from something undetermined to something determined, from zero to one - look it up, it's an actual philosophical and metaphysical concept. The omnipotent god is Alvis, neither you nor Klaus nor Mayneth are really gods. But Alvis is a computer designed to analyze an experiment the whole universe is part of, he can't really decide anything by himself. He builds and observes, but he's not an architect. After Shulk kills Klaus and becomes a "monad" (he never really existed as a character in the first place - doesn't get much more "undetermined"), Alvis aknowledges him as new master and asks him for input on how to continue the experiment, and Shulk requests a universe without gods.

At least that's how I understand it.

 

[chaosblade]

I really don't understand how you guys get by without using Sharla. I can see how battles with enemies on a lower or same level can be won without a healer, but for tougher enemies and bosses, I find Sharla indispensable.

I tend to see a lot of people use (along with Shulk) either Dunban/Melia or Dunban/Seven, but I just cant quite seem to defeat tougher enemies without Sharla. Am I missing something?

Sharla essentially allows you to turn any battle into a battle of attrition. If you can't win without Sharla, you need to rethink your strategy - both what you're doing in battle (arts, topples, chains), and how you're setup going into the battle (gems, skills, skill links).

Any party is viable for most of the game, but you will have a lot of points where one party might be more effective than others.

 

[Zornica]

I really don't understand how you guys get by without using Sharla. I can see how battles with enemies on a lower or same level can be won without a healer, but for tougher enemies and bosses, I find Sharla indispensable.

I tend to see a lot of people use (along with Shulk) either Dunban/Melia or Dunban/Seven, but I just cant quite seem to defeat tougher enemies without Sharla. Am I missing something?

you are probably missing some agility gems. They make everything a lot easier.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

My postgame crystal collecting and gem crafting adventure is going quite well. I just mega heated my second pairs of VI Topple Up, Topple Plus, and Aura Heal gems. And with that, I'm pretty much finished in Eryth Sea. Now I'm headed back to Makna Forest for the HP Steal crystals from Korlba Pterix, and the Debuff Resist and Double Attack crystals from Deinos Sauros/Magnificent Digalus.

you are probably missing some agility gems. They make everything a lot easier.

Listen to this man. Load up on Agility gems and you'll be much better off. HP Up gems are great too if you're using squishy characters.

Other than that, make sure you're being smart with your skill links and it should be smooth sailing with any enemies around your level. Once you get to the endgame and you acquire level V and VI gems and the best gear/skills, you'll be able to take out enemies well above your level with relative ease.

Case in point: I just killed that level 97(?) Korlaba Pterix with a level 89 team, and it barely scratched us.

 

[chaosblade]

I'm not sure if topple gems are worth it, then again I've been essentially going with no-topple tactics. Topple up is probably okay in situations where you know you'll topple lock the enemy, but topple plus doesn't seem worth it unless you're not confident in your ability to topple lock. (Edit: Or you're dealing with enemies that have topple time resist, like Abaasy or Despotic Arsene)

Too many other good gems for weapon slots. Double Attack and Haste (at least until you get Glory Gauntlets) are must-haves. Night Vision in some situations. If you're level 99 you should really only need it for Blizzard Belgazas and Avalanche Abaasy. Naturally for lower level combat against higher level enemies those are invaluable.

Plus there are other good situational gems. Bleed Plus has led to some pretty amazing bleed damage, even at level 79 I saw Dunban dealing over 8000 bleed damage on occasion. HP Steal can be good when combined with a boatload of haste. Back attack is awesome since it doubles any damage from behind.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

I'm not sure if topple gems are worth it, then again I've been essentially going with no-topple tactics. Topple up is probably okay in situations where you know you'll topple lock the enemy, but topple plus doesn't seem worth it unless you're not confident in your ability to topple lock. (Edit: Or you're dealing with enemies that have topple time resist, like Abaasy or Despotic Arsene)

Yeah, I'm still a bit new to topple locking so Topple Plus just makes me feel more comfortable. The Topple Up gems are mostly for farming Deinos Sauros/Magnificent Digalus, as they are still too strong to me to fight head on. And in general it's just nice to have a topple lock gem set.

Too many other good gems for weapon slots. Double Attack and Haste (at least until you get Glory Gauntlets) are must-haves. Night Vision in some situations. If you're level 99 you should really only need it for Blizzard Belgazas and Avalanche Abaasy. Naturally for lower level combat against higher level enemies those are invaluable.

Yeah I have my Haste VI gems and I'm working on Double Attack VI. I saw that Night Vision VI comes from a really high level unique so I haven't even bothered yet. Though I did get a Night Vision V gem from a quest, so that was nice.

Plus there are other good situational arts. Bleed Plus has led to some pretty amazing bleed damage, even at level 79 I saw Dunban dealing over 8000 bleed damage on occasion. HP Steal can be good when combined with a boatload of haste. Back attack is awesome since it doubles any damage from behind.

Yeah I got my Back Attack VIs, and they kick ass. I'm going to be giving HP Steal to 7th to use along with Aura Heal and Dunban's crit heal skill; I'm really looking forward to seeing the end result. I hadn't thought about Bleed Plus but I'll definitely check it out. I'm also going to get VI Blaze, Chill, and Poison Plus for Melia and Riki. I already mega heated Electric Plus VI.

 

[aceface]

I really don't understand how you guys get by without using Sharla. I can see how battles with enemies on a lower or same level can be won without a healer, but for tougher enemies and bosses, I find Sharla indispensable.

I tend to see a lot of people use (along with Shulk) either Dunban/Melia or Dunban/Seven, but I just cant quite seem to defeat tougher enemies without Sharla. Am I missing something?

Level ~60 I just started using Shulk, Reyn, Dunban on tough battles and it's working great! Topple lock is surprisingly effective. That is, go into a chain attack and Topple Topple Topple Daze Daze Daze, keeping the enemy down for most of the battle. By the time they get up usually I'm just about filled up for another chain attack.

For huge battles with lots of enemies (like, 5 or more) I still use Shulk, Dunban, Sharla since I still need her healing in battles that have a long duration.

For just exploring and wiping out enemies quick I use Shulk, Dunban, seventh.