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Xenoblade |OT| Sorry I Kept You Waiting!

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
Do you get anything for 100%-ing a map or am I swimming in the Eryth Sea for nothing?

You get experience for finding landmarks and locations. You basically just need to find all of those and the full map will be revealed. Eryth Sea is a pain though :(
 

Edgeward

Member
Ah, much thanks. Only two more to go then... and they are on opposite ends of the map. My wiimote ran out of juice too so I gotta wait for it to charge lol.
 

tinders

Member
So I played through Xenoblade when it first hit PAL regions, logged about 150 hours, lvl 95 for all characters, finished a bunch of quests - the works. Loved it. Game of the Forever, and all that good stuff. I put it down, cause I was a little burnt out, and I had other games to play - but I told myself that I'd redo it sometime in the future.

Over 12 months later, I'm scratching that itch, so I started NG+. After being thoroughly bored for 3 hours, I deleted my NG+ file, and started fresh from Lvl 1. While I love the world, and the story and all the systems and mechanics, the game is simply zero fun when you are that overpowered. It was literally just run from point A to point B to trigger the next cutscene. Even accepting quests was a chore, as I'd either fulfill the requirements right away with already collected items, or I'd have to chase down a bunch of shitty enemies who didn't want to fight, and I'd just one hit them.

6 hours into my new game, I am much happier, and can't wait to lose another month or so of my life.

So in summary, Xenoblade is awesome - but NG+ sucks.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Been saying that for a while, I really hope they flesh that and the post-game out in X. They could have done a lot with NG+ with extra options and difficulty levels.
 

Mr.Mister

Neo Member
Hehe, that skill of Seven that increases tension by one level when using the Talent Art sure is nice on Melia.


Oh, and on anyone who reeeeeeeeally wants to level-up for endgame content: there's a lone nebula after the first bridge on the jungle that drops EXP plus V crystals. While that means you can get a +200% bonus to battle EXP, that won't apply to AP or SP (AP up V crystals... well if you can get the, you don't need more levels anyway), so it's a trade-off.
 

Kenka

Member
So I played through Xenoblade when it first hit PAL regions, logged about 150 hours, lvl 95 for all characters, finished a bunch of quests - the works. Loved it. Game of the Forever, and all that good stuff. I put it down, cause I was a little burnt out, and I had other games to play - but I told myself that I'd redo it sometime in the future.

Over 12 months later, I'm scratching that itch, so I started NG+. After being thoroughly bored for 3 hours, I deleted my NG+ file, and started fresh from Lvl 1. While I love the world, and the story and all the systems and mechanics, the game is simply zero fun when you are that overpowered. It was literally just run from point A to point B to trigger the next cutscene. Even accepting quests was a chore, as I'd either fulfill the requirements right away with already collected items, or I'd have to chase down a bunch of shitty enemies who didn't want to fight, and I'd just one hit them.

6 hours into my new game, I am much happier, and can't wait to lose another month or so of my life.

So in summary, Xenoblade is awesome - but NG+ sucks.
Amazing how much fun it is to begin the game anew from scratch. You learn so much throughout the game that you can't help but imagine how you would have played if you had all your experience behind the pad from the get go.

Hehe, that skill of Seven that increases tension by one level when using the Talent Art sure is nice on Melia.


Oh, and on anyone who reeeeeeeeally wants to level-up for endgame content: there's a lone nebula after the first bridge on the jungle that drops EXP plus V crystals. While that means you can get a +200% bonus to battle EXP, that won't apply to AP or SP (AP up V crystals... well if you can get the, you don't need more levels anyway), so it's a trade-off.
Urgh, I kept killing him to impress myself with how cool I am to defeat a lvl. 96 enemy while being only 79. He never droped anything but element dusts that sick bastard.
 

dangeROSS

Member
I recently started playing this and I'm enjoying it so far. I can't remember the last time I actually really played a JRPG. Alot of times the JRPG genre seems to strike me as a bit odd in nature. But the storyline, dialogue and voice acting seem to avoid much of that strangeness I seem to get from some Japanese games.

The overall presentation is much better then what I was expecting. And I think that's helped to keep my interest. The battle system is somewhat confusing for someone like me who hasn't played too many of these kind of games. But it's not too bad yet.

I hear it's a somewhat epically long game. I'd like to think I'd see it all the way through, but I know chances are I won't. Overall I'm glad I'm getting a chance to play this. It's kind of cool to see the Wii getting such a high quality game.
 

Terra

Member
I have decided to give this game another go this upcoming weekend, and try to get back into it. I will finally get that Wii back up and running, trying to get a bite out of my backlog.

I remember that I quit at the Eryth Sea more than half a year ago. Other than that, I don´t remember too much of the story or my save game file.

Any tips on how and what to do when I start again? Just continue onwards?
 

Deku Tree

Member
Ok, I got to the final boss just now. And sadly I don't know if I will ever finish this game.

Seriously I died a few times straight away fighting Zanza's first form. Then I read a bit about the final fight online. So he has three forms? I am level 79. And I have to go to sleep now, and go to work tomorrow. And the last possible place to save anywhere was before the Dickson boss fight? Terrible... don't have a save anywhere system and then prevent me from saving anywhere right before the most crucial spot.

So if I wanted to go back and finish the game I would have to play for an hour just to get to Zanza (again not being able to save along the way). Don't have the time to invest in getting back to Zanza and either spamming the chain attack trick or grinding a bit more first..

I guess I'll just watch the youtube video to see the ending...
 

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
I have decided to give this game another go this upcoming weekend, and try to get back into it. I will finally get that Wii back up and running, trying to get a bite out of my backlog.

I remember that I quit at the Eryth Sea more than half a year ago. Other than that, I don´t remember too much of the story or my save game file.

Any tips on how and what to do when I start again? Just continue onwards?

Bit of a late response, but yeah. I'd just continue on a bit until you get into the swing of things. Maybe do some sidequests to refamiliarize yourself with the various locations?

Ok, I got to the final boss just now. And sadly I don't know if I will ever finish this game.

Seriously I died a few times straight away fighting Zanza's first form. Then I read a bit about the final fight online. So he has three forms? I am level 79. And I have to go to sleep now, and go to work tomorrow. And the last possible place to save anywhere was before the Dickson boss fight? Terrible... don't have a save anywhere system and then prevent me from saving anywhere right before the most crucial spot.

So if I wanted to go back and finish the game I would have to play for an hour just to get to Zanza (again not being able to save along the way). Don't have the time to invest in getting back to Zanza and either spamming the chain attack trick or grinding a bit more first..

I guess I'll just watch the youtube video to see the ending...

Did you not keep a save before you entered the last area? If so, just go back and grind. Honestly, you should be able to finish even without gaining more levels. Try different teams too. Who are you using?
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
I was 79 when I beat it the first time. 77 the second. 55 the third :)lol).

And it's definitely not an hour worth of content after the point of no return up to the final boss.
One boss fight, three or four very easy fights, and some linear paths between them.

Might add some tips when I'm not posting from my phone.
 

Deku Tree

Member
In my party, I was using Shulk, Reyn
and Rikki
. They are my wrecking crew. They can demolish any normal (non boss) monster in the game even 5-6 levels above me without breaking a sweat.

What is the good strategy to beat the final boss at level 55? What are other good strategies to beat the final boss? What is the best team to use (and how do you use them)?

Comparison to Xenosaga:
I feel like Alvis reminds me a lot of MOMO. Not sure exactly why.
.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
Ok, I got to the final boss just now. And sadly I don't know if I will ever finish this game.

Seriously I died a few times straight away fighting Zanza's first form. Then I read a bit about the final fight online. So he has three forms? I am level 79. And I have to go to sleep now, and go to work tomorrow. And the last possible place to save anywhere was before the Dickson boss fight? Terrible... don't have a save anywhere system and then prevent me from saving anywhere right before the most crucial spot.

So if I wanted to go back and finish the game I would have to play for an hour just to get to Zanza (again not being able to save along the way). Don't have the time to invest in getting back to Zanza and either spamming the chain attack trick or grinding a bit more first..

I guess I'll just watch the youtube video to see the ending...
C'mon if you've been playing this game up to level 79, surely a few more hours playing isn't going to ruin your life?

I mean, if you really dont feel like doing a bit of grind or whatever, thats cool, but how did you get this far in the first place if an hour of playing is too much?
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
I had NG+ stuff when I did it at 55, and to be honest the final boss at that level was actually harder than the optional superboss despite being 40 levels lower.

You can cheese just about anything with Shulk, Riki, and Sharla - all three characters have healing abilities so staying alive is easy, Riki can deal damage over time with several of his arts, and Shulk can use Monado arts to defend against visions and manage the battle. Basically an attrition party.

You can also go with a more brute force melee party, I used Shulk, Dunban, 7th most of the time and they work together pretty well. Dunban with as much agility as possible and Serene Heart is a monster avoid tank, 7th's damage adds up extremely quickly if set up right, and again, Shulk just manages the battle with Monado arts and occasionally heals.

Can also do a topple lock party with Shulk, Reyn, and 7th (others work too, but this is probably the most ideal party). Focus your skills and gems on filling the party gauge (crits, directional attacks, etc) so you can quickly do chains over and over and keep using topple/daze arts. Final boss is immune to daze and has a time resist for topple, so without Topple Plus that probably isn't an option for him. Works great against almost everything else aside from the superboss enemies though.
 

meow

Member
I still haven't finished this game so trying not to spoil too much, but I just picked this up again after...a long time. My party is level 64-65 and I just reached
Agniratha
. I noticed I'm close to maxing out the skill trees and was wondering if now was a good point to go after the additional trees? If I go look up a guide for the 4th trees, will it spoil me on anything?
 

Soriku

Junior Member
I still haven't finished this game so trying not to spoil too much, but I just picked this up again after...a long time. My party is level 64-65 and I just reached
Agniratha
. I noticed I'm close to maxing out the skill trees and was wondering if now was a good point to go after the additional trees? If I go look up a guide for the 4th trees, will it spoil me on anything?

Don't exactly remember, but at worst it might spoil you on the last few locations. Nothing major.
 

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
I still haven't finished this game so trying not to spoil too much, but I just picked this up again after...a long time. My party is level 64-65 and I just reached
Agniratha
. I noticed I'm close to maxing out the skill trees and was wondering if now was a good point to go after the additional trees? If I go look up a guide for the 4th trees, will it spoil me on anything?

Nah you should be fine.
 

Kevtones

Member
This game is overwhelming in the best possible way. It's a jrpg that basically asks you if you can handle 'these systems' in the first 10 hours and then throws double that in a huge, insanely impressive world.

The fucking SCOPE. I mean, holy shit.



Man, why did I wait.
 

meow

Member
Thanks guys!

Now that I started, I think I actually tried before and gave up out of frustration...man, some of the trees are a pain to unlock. I was at 2-star affinity with basically every region, did like 2 hrs of quests and only managed to raise Colony 9 to 3 stars.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
You pretty much have to get the maximum possible affinity with Colony 9 to get Shulk's 4th skill tree before the post-game content opens up (after
Mechonis Core
).
 

Celegus

Member
Thanks guys!

Now that I started, I think I actually tried before and gave up out of frustration...man, some of the trees are a pain to unlock. I was at 2-star affinity with basically every region, did like 2 hrs of quests and only managed to raise Colony 9 to 3 stars.

It does take a looong long time to level up town affinity. I'd suggest listening to a podcast or something, because it's pretty mindless.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
Thanks guys!

Now that I started, I think I actually tried before and gave up out of frustration...man, some of the trees are a pain to unlock. I was at 2-star affinity with basically every region, did like 2 hrs of quests and only managed to raise Colony 9 to 3 stars.
Tracking down all quest givers and then completing them got very tedious for me. You've got to have a Wiki by your side almost all the time and I dont know if the rewards are worth it. I did it for Colony 9 and got 4 stars in Frontier Village before I decided it was enough and just moved on.

I'm not much of a completionist either, though.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
The skill trees are worth it, everything else, not really.

That's part of the reason I hope they fix the quest quality/quantity balance in X, so the "big" rewards don't require as much of a completionist slog.
 

meow

Member
Yeah, I'm basically going down a list of sidequests and completing them in order with a wiki.

I finally got Colony 9 to 4-star affinity, but apparently that's not enough for the sidequest to unlock Shulk's 4th skill tree. I saw elsewhere online that you reach 4 stars at affinity level 6000, and you need 7000 (between 4 and 5 stars) for the quest. Where are these numbers coming from, is there somewhere in-game you can see them?
 

Dereck

Member
I don't understand how do to chain attack. Even after reading the tutorials, I'm not sure what it looks like, I see the blue links.
 

Niraj

I shot people I like more for less.
I don't understand how do to chain attack. Even after reading the tutorials, I'm not sure what it looks like, I see the blue links.

Move onto the middle selection (if you're Shulk it'll be your monado activation), then press down on the d-pad til you get to the option. I had the same problem and figured it out basically by accident, if it makes you feel better.
 

JulianImp

Member
Move onto the middle selection (if you're Shulk it'll be your monado activation), then press down on the d-pad til you get to the option. I had the same problem and figured it out basically by accident, if it makes you feel better.

You should also try to trigger it only when the triangle is fully formed (ie: all three characters are somewhat close to each other). If all you see is a line between two characters, that means your chain attack will only be carried out by those two characters. Also, I think you can immediately switch to your character's Talent Art (the white one in the middle) by pressing up or down while having any other art selected.

Also, if you use an attack that combos like Dunban's right before initiating a chain attack and use a follow-up attack as his chain move, it'll still do the bonus effects. I often used this to my advantage to inflict break and have somebody else (or Dunban himself, if I got a chain link) to go for a toppling move.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Do you guys recommend to use break and topple often?

If you want the game to be easy. And that's fine since some people run into parts where they have trouble.

On the other hand you can beat the entire game and only use topple twice (two bosses require it).
 

JulianImp

Member
Do you guys recommend to use break and topple often?

I tended to use it often without topple locking, since I didn't know it stacked until way later in the game, but then I ran into topple spike enemies and got seriously raped. Those fights often went like
  1. It's too strong, I'd better topple it!
  2. Toppled, now let's deal some damage!
  3. What is this? I take around 500 damage per hit and am currently using 7th? Run, RUN!
  4. Total party kill

About mid-game (
Sword Valley
), I got ridiculously owned by an unique with a topple spike, the
tall unique mechons
, as well as another one which I fought soon after (
the unique that shows up as you're trying to get inside the fortress, after beating Metal Face for good
).
 

Dereck

Member
Reyn with the skill tree of Spirit, which moves should I level up and which ones are not as useful?

Where can I get the intermediate Art skill book?
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Reyn with the skill tree of Spirit, which moves should I level up and which ones are not as useful?

Just depends on your playstyle. If you don't really know just start from the top and work your way down on all the trees, since the higher skills are unlocked quicker. That will unlock more total skill than just leaving it on one tree and trying to finish it.

You will probably gain enough SP to unlock most of the skills on the three default skill trees during the course of the game, especially if you don't go for any of the bottom skills. Just depends on how much optional content you do for SP.


And all the Intermediate books are sold in shops (and are the only things worth buying, with only a few exceptions). Some are harder to get than others to the point that they are useless since you could just as well get the Advanced book at that point (post-game).
 

Dereck

Member
I'm all full on crystals, is Colony 9 shopping district the only place to make gems?

Is fast traveling from landmark to landmark the fastest way to get back?
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
I'm all full on crystals, is Colony 9 shopping district the only place to make gems?

Is fast traveling from landmark to landmark the fastest way to get back?

Didn't read the FAQ in the OP? ;) If you go the map in the menu you can select any landmark from any area. Using the map hotkey (- or +, forgot which) just gives you the current area.

And if you get Colony 6 to level 1 in each category you get an item that you can give to the gem crafting guy for a portable gem furnace allowing you to make gems anywhere.
 

Rhapsody

Banned
Bought this game at launch and took my time going through the game. Just beat it tonight and loved it.
During the summer I'm going to have fun doing another playthrough and exploring every area I haven't been to or rushed through.
 

meow

Member
Is there a tutorial somewhere for the 7th character like this one for Melia? I like switching my leads around and I feel like I have a pretty good idea of how to use them strategically except for 7th.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
I don't think there is anything that in depth since none of the other characters are as unique as Melia.

7th is a pretty self-sufficient character, and doesn't really do much for party synergy. Auto-attacks with the occasional art interspersed is the best bet.

Speed shift is a great aura since it not only adds haste but also double attack. Cooldown is pretty long, but once you get the art level up you should be ending battles before it runs out.

Power Drain is also a cool art because it has an effect much like an aura, but doesn't count as one so you can stack it with Speed Shift or Healing Energy. Also, once you get it to max level, the effect lasts longer than the cooldown making it effectively permanent as long as you keep using it.

You have both a topple and a daze option, and the topple attack is area of effect AND doesn't require break. So both of those are worth using, unless you're fighting an enemy where daze is useless.

Other than that, I'd say roll with the red arts of your choice. But due to how this character works auto-attacks are your best overall source of damage. Good to use haste and double attack, and if you have the affinity coins for it you can link Dunban's Critical Drain for some pretty cool self-healing.
 

meow

Member
Ah, thanks so much!

I felt like I was just kind of spamming random damage arts and then auto attacking while waiting for the cooldowns. I have the Power Drain/Speed Shift but I will take another look at the topple art.

Was just wondering if there was something I was missing because I wasn't doing so well using 7th in some battles with uniques and those giant, lumbering mechon.
 

Mononoke

Banned
Just started playing this game for the first time. I said this in another thread, but my brother actually had a copy of this in his TV stand. He bought it at release and never played it. So it was basically brand new.

I was really happy, because I was looking at the prices on Amazon/Ebay and didn't think I could get to play this. But I randomly lucked out by having one in my house already! Anyways, playing this on my Wii U. Sucks that I have a 60 inch 1080p TV, I feel like the textures/resolutions kind of suffer for that.
 

poweredbykimchi

Neo Member
Just started playing this game for the first time. I said this in another thread, but my brother actually had a copy of this in his TV stand. He bought it at release and never played it. So it was basically brand new.

I was really happy, because I was looking at the prices on Amazon/Ebay and didn't think I could get to play this. But I randomly lucked out by having one in my house already! Anyways, playing this on my Wii U. Sucks that I have a 60 inch 1080p TV, I feel like the textures/resolutions kind of suffer for that.

If you have a strong PC rig, try it on the Dolphin emulator. In my opinion, the game benefits heavily from being outputted at 1080p.
 

flyover

Member
Or, at the very least, use component cables. Makes a big difference with this game. Looks better, and the text is way easier to read.

In any case, I think the art direction makes up for a lot of what the Wii can't do. Hope you enjoy the game.
 

upandaway

Member
Can you play it with a regular wired 360 controller? Or do you need some bluetooth something-or-other to talk to a Wii-remote?
Not only can you use a regular 360 controller, but there's even a patch that changes all the button prompts in-game to the 360 layout!

If only my computer could run Xenoblade, I'd go crazy with the emulator. But I'm a couple years away from that still.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
360 controller works great for this game. For some reason the button prompt patch never worked for me, but the game itself runs great as long as you can use LLE audio (requires quite a powerful PC).
 
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