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[chaosblade]

Took a break for a while to focus on some shorter games and tried to yet again get back into Xeno but jeez am I having a hard time with one of the early bosses. Colony 6:

Spoiler

Does anyone have any tips for beating Xord? I just can't seem to make it past his second wave of summons.

You shouldn't need to focus on his minions a whole lot. Use them to build up your party gauge (since you can't really build it up on him), then once it's full switch your focus to him and use a chain attack to break/topple/daze him.

That's about the extent of the fight.

Fastest way to build up the party gauge at that point is to use proper directional attacks with Shulk, along with well timed b-button QTEs mid-battle (always hit them on or after the static circle, if you hit it early you get no bonus). Critical hits help too, but you probably don't have weapons with any noteworthy critical rates at that point.

 

[Exeunt]

Yeah, it's worth noting that the enemies will continue to spawn indefinitely; this is actually a good thing because you need them to fill up your party gauge like chaosblade explained above. I don't believe the boss noticeably changes tactics throughout the fight so don't worry about "waves" of enemies. Make sure you know the break-topple sequence at least (

Spoiler

Shulk can break whereas Reyn inflicts topple

) so you can inflict damage. Also, make sure you don't get pushed up against a wall by the enemies so that you can move to other party members if need be and make sure to switch your target to the boss before you initiate a chain attack!

 

[Karsticles]

I don't really think it's worth it for a number of reasons, unless you're topple locking since criticals build the party gauge up.

Agility > Everything else, so +50% to both evasion and accuracy easily makes it the best aura in the entire game, and +75% at low health is pretty insane too. I mean, he was dodging a good number of Abaasy's attacks... at level 55...

Spirit Breath should deal more damage than Heat Haze in the end, since criticals only add +25% damage (+45% with a proper skill link). Peerless would also be better for damage, with a maximum 145% strength increase.

Battle Eye and Heat Haze are the only two of his auras I really don't like. Peerless just loses points for it's worthless secondary effect, and Jaws of Death is very situational.


As for Reyn's, Berserk is awesome. Rage is alright, boosts defense and adds spike damage. I'm not sure if I'd use it much outside the beginning of the game though. And Last Stand is like Jaws of Death, but not as good.

Damn, that's how I felt about Reyn's. I was hoping you had super secret knowledge I didn't, haha.

Question time!
1) I am at

Spoiler

Junk

, and I see my next "event point"

Spoiler

at the tip of a finger, which leads to Mechonis Field apparently

. Is it safe to go past this point without it being the point of no return?

2) I spent the last 3 days doing sidequests. I now have 5 stars of rep with 3/5 villages, but I want to be sure I am able to do everything I can before passing the point of no return. Is there a way to make sure I've gotten all the time-restricted quests done before I move on? A spoiler-free guide, or something?

3) Riki is pretty damn good it seems. The AI made me think he's bad because it never uses most of his moves. Am I right in playing him as an ether user/debuffer?

4) I have all 7 characters, but some Heart-to-Hearts are still ?? to me. Why?

5) I read something about giving characters gifts...how do I do that, and what's all that about?

6) Related to 5, maybe: some of the Heart-to-Hearts end on a "I'll give you one of those some day" note. Should I follow through on those promises, or is it inconsequential?

 

[chaosblade]

Damn, that's how I felt about Reyn's. I was hoping you had super secret knowledge I didn't, haha.

Question time!
1) I am at

Spoiler

Junk

, and I see my next "event point"

Spoiler

at the tip of a finger, which leads to Mechonis Field apparently

. Is it safe to go past this point without it being the point of no return?

2) I spent the last 3 days doing sidequests. I now have 5 stars of rep with 3/5 villages, but I want to be sure I am able to do everything I can before passing the point of no return. Is there a way to make sure I've gotten all the time-restricted quests done before I move on? A spoiler-free guide, or something?

3) Riki is pretty damn good it seems. The AI made me think he's bad because it never uses most of his moves. Am I right in playing him as an ether user/debuffer?

4) I have all 7 characters, but some Heart-to-Hearts are still ?? to me. Why?

5) I read something about giving characters gifts...how do I do that, and what's all that about?

6) Related to 5, maybe: some of the Heart-to-Hearts end on a "I'll give you one of those some day" note. Should I follow through on those promises, or is it inconsequential?

It's kind of weird how they treated Reyn, two of his arts have superior versions on other characters (7th has a version of Guard Shift that doesn't make you stop attacking, and Dunban's Jaws of Death is better than Last Stand). You could also argue Peerless and Berserk, but the effects go beyond the strength bonus and are reasonably different.



Going to the next area is no big deal, but at the end of that next area there is a point of no return for one minor area with some side quests (

Spoiler

Sword Valley

). And that's the only point of no return in the game that's not preceded by some sort of warning about whether or not you want to continue.

There aren't any spoiler free guides or anything as far as I know. Looking at the quest list would have location spoilers for sure, and probably story spoilers due to some quest names. If I had web hosting, I'd probably put the time into setting something up like that. But I'm cheap and lazy.

Riki can be used a number of ways, but that's about the best way to use him. Use debuffs that don't overlap with other party members, his healing art, Happy Happy for the talent gauge, and whatever else. Red arts for chain attacks would be my choice, but it depends on your playstyle.

Some heart to hearts don't unlock until certain points in the story, even if you have all the characters.

You can gift collectables just by selecting them in the item list. Lets you choose who it's from and who it goes to. If a character likes an item, they'll get a certain amount of affinity, and if they dislike it they lose affinity. There's a full list for that in the google docs spreadsheet. Has location spoilers I think, but that's it.

For 6, I didn't watch enough heart to hearts to know that even came up. It doesn't matter, but it might be a hint as to what certain characters like and will give the most affinity.

 

[Melhisedek]

Damn I'm stuck big time!

I'm on the last boss 2nd form and I get him as far as 30-40% of his health (best case) and than I die

I know the strategy and I kill his helpers as soon as I can and also only use Monado skills to block his attacks but I just get unlucky and 2 of my characters die or get hit for a lot and thats game.

Teams I tried:

Melia, Dunban and Shulk (got killed almost instantly but mostly died fast)
Shulk, Dunban and Sharla (the one I used the most and got him down to 30% HP)

My guys are lvl 79 and only have 3 skill trees.

All of them have maxed AGI and than I focused on aggro and STR for Shulk and Dunban and Ether Up for Melia and Sharla.

Any ideas folks?

 

[chaosblade]

Your setup should be fine as long as you have most of your three trees unlocked and have some decent skill links going. Melia and Sharla's agility links first and foremost, then skills that boost party gauge increases, and healing after chain attacks. I think Shulk has both of those.

Make sure Dunban has Serene Heart and Jaws of Death (sufficiently leveled, preferably). Should keep him alive pretty well, especially if you've got Sharla to heal him and extend his aura times. Have red arts on everyone for chain attacks. Sharla is kind of the weak one here since she only has one. Make her the third member so you can still get a 5 link red chain, instead of capping out at four. And if you do get a five link red chain with Dunban on the 5th attack, remember that damage over time also increases. That means use Gale Slash at attack #5 so you get the max chain bonus and can deal a ton of bleed damage.

On that note, if you have a good bleed plus gem, it would be good on Dunban as well. If you only have weak ones don't bother, you can use something better.

Might try fighting him like you

Spoiler

-Xord-

- Focus on the minions to build up the chain gauge fast, then switch your focus on the boss and use a chain attack.

 

[Melhisedek]

I'm kinda in a bad spot after a chain attack. When next I need to block art I can't

 

[chaosblade]

If you main Shulk you shouldn't have to worry about warning. I'd definitely recommend using him for that fight.

 

[Melhisedek]

Finally!
Beat it What a game... I haven't been this impressed in a looooong, long time. It was wonderful to see that producers went for broke when it comes to scope. Story, environments, loot, monsters are all really epic in scope but never overwhelming or boring which is saying a lot for such a long game.
Which brings me to another point which is pacing. I don't know about you guys but I felt it was just right. I don't know... I'm still under impressions so my opinion is certainly colored but still I don't think any game can "topple" this one

And now the biggest problem I always face after I beat such a great game... The big emptiness it leaves after you beat it. So I ask you folks for 2 things:

1. Are there any pages that list beta, cut, rumored stuff about this game? I'm sucker for such kind of things I've heard that there is a whole area that you can access which was cut but never wanted to read about it in case of spoilers.

2. What the hell am I gonna play now I never played neither of Xeno games before so Xenogears is a must I think but other than that, can you guys recommend a satisfying RPG with a lot of story?

 

[chaosblade]

There is a cut area, you can explore with a code, but it but it's empty (no monsters or anything to interact with). I haven't messed with it myself though.

But there's still lots of post-game content, assuming you have a save at the point of no return. Lots of high-level side quests and enemies above level 100 (up to level

Spoiler

120, see below

) though your level caps at 99.

Or you can be crazy like me and do some challenge stuff. Even though I think the final boss was tougher, I think this is definitely the pinacle of my Xenoblade experience.

(SPOILERS up to Fa

Spoiler

llen

A

Spoiler

rm

, related videos may have other spoilers)
http://bit.ly/NB6AVU

(My only video that has an HD option, felt it was worth it!)


And the other Xeno games definitely have a lot of story, but they're unrelated to Xenoblade.

 

[jorgeton]

Finally beat this tonight. Damn, what a game. The last 15 or so hours were incredible. The story just gets more and more cray. Loved the whole ending sequence.

Spoiler

The final "twist" really cements it as a Xeno game: Earth science causing a whole new universe to be born, the nature of god and free will, etc etc

.

I gotta say, I'm a little sad it's over! I have tons of sidequests to do, so all is not lost.

Just an incredible game. The hype is totally justified. Can't wait to see what Monolithsoft brings us next.

 

[Karsticles]

Hey Chaosblade, what's keeping Dunban healed in that video you just posted?

 

[chaosblade]

Everybody has maxed double attack gems, double attack up with skills (where applicable), all double attacks critical, and all critical hits heal (Dunban has this one natively). Ends up being a 65% double attack rate plus a base critical rate of 23%, and any of that will heal some HP. And I abused the hell out of haste as much as possible, so more crits in less time = more healing.

Even though Dunban is the one tanking, it's effective for each character since it lets me heal from AoE attacks without wasting an art on it. I only use it on Shulk once before Dunban really gets aggro for the battle, and I don't think I ever used it on the other character.

Throw in some light heals and the fact that even at level 55 Dunban can dodge like crazy with Serene Heart, and he can tank anything. As I've proven here.

 

[Karsticles]

Everybody has maxed double attack gems, double attack up with skills (where applicable), all double attacks critical, and all critical hits heal (Dunban has this one natively). Ends up being a 65% double attack rate plus a base critical rate of 23%, and any of that will heal some HP. And I abused the hell out of haste as much as possible, so more crits in less time = more healing.

Even though Dunban is the one tanking, it's effective for each character since it lets me heal from AoE attacks without wasting an art on it. I only use it on Shulk once before Dunban really gets aggro for the battle, and I don't think I ever used it on the other character.

Throw in some light heals and the fact that even at level 55 Dunban can dodge like crazy with Serene Heart, and he can tank anything. As I've proven here.

It almost looks like your characters have so much haste/double attack that it's not worth using their specials. What are your thoughts on that? Do you still take the time to use things like Reyn's Bone Upper?

 

[chaosblade]

Haste doesn't last forever - all 3 character do have 45% haste gems in unique armor to free up a weapon slot, but Dunban and Shulk only get extra-hasted after burst affinity, and 7th has Speed Shift which adds 95% haste, plus the burst affinity haste. I don't know why I don't have 3x haste on burst affinity... either forgot about trying to fit it in there or I didn't have a space for it on a character. I know I've done three of them before though, and I think each adds 15%. Would have to double check.

Anyway, it's definitely worth throwing arts out inbetween. During "haste mode?" Probably still is, since arts have damage multipliers based on their rank. And all mine that I use are at max for that fight due to the AP gained over two playthroughs. Standard attacks seem to do about 800 damage or less (Edit: more like 200-500 most of the time it looks like), aside from maybe Shulk thanks to Back Attack Plus (+100% damage).

In the end, with some arts I guess the worst case scenario is that I used a slow art instead of fast normal attacks and ended up doing about the same damage. But the arts should do more than double in most cases. And things like Worldly Slash and Gale Slash are nice regardless, bleed damage and reducing defense.

I've never really used that on Reyn, so I can't speak for your example. Bone Upper fill the talent gauge right? I probably wouldn't bother with it.


And something I didn't mention, I have max tension for most of that battle and that increases the critical hit rate. Not sure how significantly, but it does mean more healing in the end.

 

[Karsticles]

Does Back Attack Plus affect all attacks at an opponent's back, or just attacks that are "anti-back"? I thought it was the latter.

 

[chaosblade]

Shulk's skill only works for arts with effects from behind. The gem works for everything, arts and auto-attacks.

 

[Samyy]

so I'm around lvl 16 and about to chase after that Juju kid (hes heading to Colony 6) and im getting stomped on my way their. So I guess this is the first part where im actually going to have to grind a couple levels. Do you do that through fighting monsters or is it better to do quests?

 

[chaosblade]

Fighting unique monsters and discovering secret areas are the best ways to get experience.

Quests are okay, and just grinding against mobs is probably the slowest way to do it most of the time.

But level 16 should be okay for that, I think the "boss" you're going to face is 18.


There are some unique enemies around your level you should be able to kill. A few of those tirkin things - one south of the entrance, one at the Tirkin lair, which is northwest of the "Oasis" where you first saved Juju, and another one a bit further passed that, northeast of Spiral Valley, which should be where you're headed now.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

Man, I haven't played in almost 2 weeks. I just completely lost my steam because the only thing I really have left to do is grind SP for my new skill trees, and that got really boring. I haven't fought Abaasy or Belgazas either, but for some reason I kind of lost interest. :\

But then again, I think I'm at 180 hours played, so I think it's safe to say I got my money's worth! Such a great game while it lasted. I'll definitely be back to do a NG+ runthrough one day.

Before I unsub from this thread, I just wanted to thank all of you that helped me by posting links and answering my questions. That goes especially to chaosblade and Exeunt — you guys were great.

 

[Karsticles]

so I'm around lvl 16 and about to chase after that Juju kid (hes heading to Colony 6) and im getting stomped on my way their. So I guess this is the first part where im actually going to have to grind a couple levels. Do you do that through fighting monsters or is it better to do quests?

Honestly, I never had to grind in this game. I think you might want to review your strategies.

 

[Exeunt]

Man, I haven't played in almost 2 weeks. I just completely lost my steam because the only thing I really have left to do is grind SP for my new skill trees, and that got really boring. I haven't fought Abaasy or Belgazas either, but for some reason I kind of lost interest. :\

But then again, I think I'm at 180 hours played, so I think it's safe to say I got my money's worth! Such a great game while it lasted. I'll definitely be back to do a NG+ runthrough one day.

Before I unsub from this thread, I just wanted to thank all of you that helped me by posting links and answering my questions. That goes especially to chaosblade and Exeunt — you guys were great.

I can see how grinding for SP could be a chore... I suppose that the skill system slightly favours players who are at a lower level in relation to the monsters in the later bits of the game, since they might gain enough SP to complete the skill trees without having to grind. But then the experience you get from quests isn't as significant either... It's not the perfect levelling system, I admit. Thanks for the mention, but I didn't think I did anything out of the ordinary!

Honestly, I never had to grind in this game. I think you might want to review your strategies.

I think the game might be balanced such that you will be at the right level if you fight a fair few of the monsters in your way and complete a handful of quests. However, my level was mostly maintained by the quests in the game, so I can't say this for sure. I can say I believe that unless you are consistently missing your attacks, a change in strategy is more effective in this game than just levelling up. I think chaosblade noted that your equipment boosts are more significant than raw level (until the accuracy penalty is too significant). In any case—especially once you get later in the game—I think a smart strategy, equipment and party set-up, and skill links are more important than just level anyway.

 

[Karsticles]

Does the

Spoiler

5th skill tree

take a lot of points to unlock or something? I almost have all

Spoiler

4

of my trees filled up on characters. Just so this doesn't make my "no grinding" comment questionable, I just recently got done doing every quest available to me that I could find, so it's fair to say I've recently been "grinding" in some sense. My previous comment about grinding was about how I've never had to grind to kill anything in the game. Until now, all I've ever done is complete quests that were coincidental to where I was.

 

[chaosblade]

Yeah, the exp gain in this game pretty much keeps you at the right level. Unless you're just outright not doing quests or killing monsters, it will keep you'll have a hard time being significantly underleveled.

That's why a lot of people who mess with exp multipliers tend to set them at less than 1, rather than increasing the exp rate. I, unfortunately, never got them to work properly, so I had to go with disabling exp to keep my level low.


SP and to an extent AP, on the other hand, can be a chore. You only gain SP through combat and discovering locations, not with quests. Both optional trees have the same SP requirements - and it's lower than the three initial trees. But if you get them late, it's easy to run out of things to do in the game before you actually unlock everything. Especially since the SP scaling curve is kind of harsh.

I think chaosblade noted that your equipment boosts are more significant than raw level (until the accuracy penalty is too significant). In any case—especially once you get later in the game—I think a smart strategy, equipment and party set-up, and skill links are more important than just level anyway.

And this this this. The further you get in the game, the more preparation outclasses your level. I mean, that's the whole theory behind my low level Abaasy kills (and beyond that, my entire low level post-game run).

Though the equipment bonus is primarily only for strength and defense. Especially defense! No equipment will natively improve agility (there is the weight factor, but that's it) or ether without gems.

 

[BocoDragon]

I thought this was interesting. Apparently they are selling Xenoblade at Best Buy now (in Canada at least). Looks like the Nintendo.com/Gamestop exclusive has ended.

 

[flyover]

I thought this was interesting. Apparently they are selling Xenoblade at Best Buy now (in Canada at least). Looks like the Nintendo.com/Gamestop exclusive has ended.

Phew. I was avoiding playing it because I couldn't figure out how to install it. Thank you, Geek Squad!

 

[jimi_dini]

Oh god, I had this on my backlog for several months and just started it yesterday. Such a great experience. Reached the 2nd bigger area and it's immense in size. I went back to colony 9 to do more sidequests. I love this game.

 

[TheMan]

just started playing yesterday

1. camera is starting to piss me off, really don't like it
2. overall, game is alright but not really grabbing me. seeing as how this is supposed to be the best RPG of the generation, I may have just outgrown them. i hope not.
3. daytime/nighttime stuff is silly. If i can switch between them at will, what's the point of making certain events/NPCs appear only at night or during the day? just cut the bullshit and make that stuff accessible all the time.

 

[chaosblade]

1. camera is starting to piss me off, really don't like it

There are several options for the camera. I'd definitely recommend setting the speed to fastest and turning off the option that resets it to the landscape.

 

[flyover]

Yeah, tweaking the camera is key. Definitely set it to fastest.

 

[Alchemy]

just started playing yesterday

1. camera is starting to piss me off, really don't like it
2. overall, game is alright but not really grabbing me. seeing as how this is supposed to be the best RPG of the generation, I may have just outgrown them. i hope not.
3. daytime/nighttime stuff is silly. If i can switch between them at will, what's the point of making certain events/NPCs appear only at night or during the day? just cut the bullshit and make that stuff accessible all the time.

It isn't even close, especially if you consider DS/PSP part of this generation. Game is beyond over hyped.

 

[ultron87]

So I just played for about 4 hours straight. I went from (what I assume must be near end-game spoilers)

Spoiler

fighting Egil at the Meyneth Shrine

through about a thousand plot twists and revelations and craziness to

Spoiler

Shulk coming back from the dead to fight off the Telethia and now being ready to head into the Bionis chest.

That was a collection of truly incredible hours. I couldn't stop playing.

 

[Malvingt2]

I love this game.. I enjoyed the whole ride.. Great characters, plot and Battle system.. The side quests system has issues but when you get to the great side quests the reward is amazing..

 

[Murrah]

Hey so, been slowly playing through this the past few weeks. Enjoying it a lot, but looking for advice/tips/help on the

Spoiler

Jade Face fight. I've tried four or five times now and haven't even been able to start fighting the actual boss. I know about hiding behind the walls for cover as well as pressing down on the d-pad to call party members to you, but one way or another I just end up dead anyway; the last time I tried Shulk died on the way but the game wouldn't let me revive him and I just decided to give it a rest for today

This is the first major problem I've had in the 41 hours I've played, and my characters are all level 60-61 so I don't think I'm underleveled. Any suggestions or advice in regard to anything would be much appreciated

 

[Karsticles]

Stuff

Add some spoiler tags.

 

[Zornica]

Hey so, been slowly playing through this the past few weeks. Enjoying it a lot, but looking for advice/tips/help on the

Spoiler

Jade Face fight. I've tried four or five times now and haven't even been able to start fighting the actual boss. I know about hiding behind the walls for cover as well as pressing down on the d-pad to call party members to you, but one way or another I just end up dead anyway; the last time I tried Shulk died on the way but the game wouldn't let me revive him and I just decided to give it a rest for today

This is the first major problem I've had in the 41 hours I've played, and my characters are all level 60-61 so I don't think I'm underleveled. Any suggestions or advice in regard to anything would be much appreciated

I am not sure what kills you so here is an allround strategy

Spoiler

there are enemies behind each wall. I always chose to fight them, so everyone stayed behind the wall. don't rush it, take your time and progress slowly. it's not that hard if you are patient. There really isn't more to it.

 

[chaosblade]

Spoilery video of that boss:

http://bit.ly/OHqygc

 

[Murrah]

I am not sure what kills you so here is an allround strategy

Spoiler

there are enemies behind each wall. I always chose to fight them, so everyone stayed behind the wall. don't rush it, take your time and progress slowly. it's not that hard if you are patient. There really isn't more to it.

Haha yeah...I'm not sure why I was having such a problem with it now either. Beat it on my first try doing the exact same thing I was doing the other times I tried, but oh well, thanks for taking the time either way

Spoilery video of that boss:

http://bit.ly/OHqygc

Huh, that was interesting to watch. I sub'd you so I can watch all of the other ones once I'm done with the game

 

[chaosblade]

To be honest most of the videos from the first half of the game or so aren't very interesting since I had so much defense enemies couldn't hit me. But bosses from about Valak and onward (and the bonus fight videos) started getting more interesting.

 

[ZombiePlatypus]

So I finally started playing this. This is gonna sound like a total newb question, but I do not understand how to hurt Mechon. Something about Topple and Break but it doesn't seem to be working. (I've never really played MMORPG's so this basic concept is totally new to me.) Any help shedding some light would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Silent_Ocarina]

So I finally started playing this. This is gonna sound like a total newb question, but I do not understand how to hurt Mechon. Something about Topple and Break but it doesn't seem to be working. (I've never really played MMORPG's so this basic concept is totally new to me.) Any help shedding some light would be appreciated. Thanks.

Mechon must be Toppled before weapons can harm them. Furthermore, you must inflict Break on the enemies before you can actually Topple them.

Arts like Stream Edge inflict Break. It's denoted by two pink squiggly lines. Once that occurs, someone must use a Topple attack, such as Wild Down, to Topple the enemy. This is denoted by a green arrow.

 

[ZombiePlatypus]

Got it thanks. For whatever reason Reyn just wasn't doing Topple in a timely manner whenever I'd do a Break attack, but somehow it's working better now.

I can't believe how much this game has to sink your teeth into in terms of what to do and all the various systems offered.

I thought this was interesting. Apparently they are selling Xenoblade at Best Buy now (in Canada at least). Looks like the Nintendo.com/Gamestop exclusive has ended.

ROFL. I would very much like to see what their offered service of "installing" Xenoblade looks like and how much it would cost.

 

[Zornica]

Got it thanks. For whatever reason Reyn just wasn't doing Topple in a timely manner whenever I'd do a Break attack, but somehow it's working better now.

The Art has a fairly long cool down. Usually reyn uses it when needed, but sometimes it's already on cooldown, other times he's performing an art which takes too long and then misses the time window.

I've noticed that reyn always starts the fight with a red art for building up some aggro. that means, you shouldn't use your break arts first. use anything else, followed by a break art. this should work 90% of the time. And don't worry, the mechanic gets way easier when leveling up the arts, which shortens the cool down phase.

 

[chaosblade]

Yeah, once you've leveled it up, Wild Down has a very short cooldown. Like 10 seconds. Steel strike has the second shortest so those are the best ones to combo if possible. And don't forget to daze (Shulks Shaker Edge, Reyns Shield bash).

 

[ultron87]

Man, being 5 or 6 levels below everything is making these fights in (what I assume is) the last dungeon

Spoiler

Prison Island, I'm level 71/72

take awhile.

I guess I could go do sidequests to level a bit, but I haven't actually had an RPG that was hard at the end in a really long time, so I might try and power through until I hit an actual brick wall.

 

[chaosblade]

Congrats on beating the previous boss at that level, a lot of people struggle with that even a few levels higher than that :lol

Assuming you don't have an agility deficiency causing you to miss (likely at 6 levels below) just pump your strength higher with gems/skill links and that should speed things up nicely.


You'll definitely need to level up before the next boss(es) though. The next one is 7/8 levels higher than you so you probably won't even be able to hit it consistently, and after that point you don't really get an opportunity to level up, and the enemies you'll have to kill after that are even higher level.

If you really want a challenge,

Spoiler

be about level 76/77 when you get to the end of the area you're in.

And good luck!

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I just returned to the game after a little while, and things have gotten really intense.

(Super late game spoilers)

Spoiler

I got passed all of the stuff on the Mechonis and the Telethia attacking Colony 6 with Shulk returning, and my mind has definitely been blown a few times. It's kind of crazy just how much the story has ramped up in the last few hours of the game. So, I'm at the point now where I can go into the Bionis Interior.

Is this the point of no return? I just want to be sure before I potentially lock myself out of additional content.

 

[chaosblade]

Nope, the game will explicitly tell you when you're at the point of no return. Literally, it tells you straight up, in a cutscene, "We can't go back, are you sure you want to go on?" and you get a choice.

I like that it's so blatant, it seems impossible to miss. You can't even skip the scene, if you do it just takes you back and the scene comes up again.

 

[McNum]

Nope, the game will explicitly tell you when you're at the point of no return. Literally, it tells you straight up, in a cutscene, "We can't go back, are you sure you want to go on?" and you get a choice.

I like that it's so blatant, it seems impossible to miss. You can't even skip the scene, if you do it just takes you back and the scene comes up again.

And to top it off, you can't even save after it. Xenoblade is so wonderfully blatant about the point of no return.

 

[MisterHero]

I had to grind a tiny bit at the end, but it was because I was ignoring the quests in lieu of maintaining the feeling of the story's urgency. Urgent moments usually involving Shulk and Co. chasing the Mechons/

Spoiler

the Trinity

kept me wanting to just see more of the story and I gleefully skipped over many of the quests.

The grinding wasn't even hard. I only did a few quests and some rebuilding of Colony 6 and BOOM I was around Lv84 and stomped

Spoiler

Dickson and Zanza

HARD.

My rebuilding of Colony 6 has halted because I apparently have no Red Frontiers. I have a crapton of the other items but I only need 2 Red Frontiers and they apparently don't drop in Colony 6 (I got to Level 5 Special). Does anyone know if someone trades them?

Also there are a couple items I don't know if I'm screwed on. I killed the Tirkin chief early in the game and probably sold/dropped the medal and I'm assuming the dragon from Prison Island (or the one from Three Sage Summit?) drops the Demonic Everflame, which I didn't get (didn't fight the ice dragon yet). It's funny I completed

Spoiler

the other 4 Monado quests

, I hope they weren't missable.