Each character can have as many as 20 links provided you have enough affinity coins.
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Xenoblade |OT| Sorry I Kept You Waiting!
- Thread starter SecretMoblin
- Start date
Each character can have as many as 20 links provided you have enough affinity coins.
Joei
Member
Really? It's letting me put the bundle in my cart at nintendo.com and is asking for my payment info. Must not have the site updated or something.
It's fluid and command-driven, like FFXII, and shares some of the UI elements: Little visual indicators of which character enemies are targetting, for example. On the other hand there is no option to pause to issue commands (except under special circumstances); you must act and react in real time. The game supports this by somewhat reducing the number of total abilities available to a given character in a given battle (though you start out with a fuller slate than with FFXII) and by making those abilities clearly visible and quickly selectable across the bottom of the screen by round icons. Most abilities operate strictly on a cooldown system, similar to games like World of Warcraft; a "mana" type resource is more or less disposed of here. Also, almost all abilities fire off immediately; the concept of "cast time" sort of disappears into very short animations.
There are multiple other bars that fill up or drain down, roughly similar to "Quickenings" or limit breaks in FFXII in function; they fill up as you successfully perform in battle, and then can be expended to cause powerful effects, or activate "chain attacks" that effectively stop time and allow the player to select an ability from each character in the party for one massive offensive or to buff up and heal. Outside the chain attacks you only directly control one character; the others use their particular abilities intelligently. There is nothing equivalent to FFXII's unique Gambit system, unfortunately, but the AI characters are generally pretty smart.
Like FFXII, buffs and debuffs play an important role in success. You must know what type of attacks (physical, magic, and so forth) will be effective against an enemy and beat down their defenses with debuffs if necessary; you must cleanse debuffs from your own party (or allow the AI to do it with one of the other characters). Unlike FFXII, positioning around an enemy is very important. One of the first characters specializes in backstabs and side-attacks, and gains bonuses if you're standing in the correct place for the correct attack. The game provides escalating debuffs in the form of Break > Topple > Daze, which gradually disable an enemy and make them vulnerable while halting their attacks on you.
Finally, the game uses a unique "prophetic vision" feature. Against many named enemies and almost all bosses you will be granted "visions of the future" before the most devastating attacks occur. They show you what attack will happen, who they will happen to, and a countdown timer. You have to figure out how to stop, avoid, redirect, or straight-up survive the attack before the timer runs out... sometimes easy, and sometimes not. It's a great strategic addition to the already frantic battle system.
The number of skills you can link up is related to affinity. Improve affinity between two characters, and those two can share more skills between them. At maximum affinity, a character can link, I believe, 5 skills from each other party member. Let's say Shulk has maximum affinity with both Reyn and Dunban, while Reyn's affinity with Dunban is currently blue. Shulk can get 5 skills from Reyn and 5 skills from Dunban, and likewise Reyn and Dunban can each get 5 skills from Shulk. However, Reyn and Dunban would only be able to get 3 skills from one another.
Obviously, as your full party racks up affinity with one another (and this is another good reason to mix up your combat teams), your party becomes quite robust towards the end of the game as they begin to really seriously share each other's skills.
Some people swear by
lavishing attention on the testicles first, because they are sensitive to the lightest touch. But eventually, you have to focus on the center to finish it off.
Oh, God, I feel so dirty.
Depends on your level. I was five levels above the boss,
so I just focused on the core. If you're not quite to that level, you probably want to focus on the tentacles so you can survive longer, as the core has more hit points. Shielding yourself with the monado's power will help if you're taking massive damage from the enemies arts
Trancetronic
Member
Thanks for the info. I just made it to the Ether Mine(lv.22), and I usually grind until I'm strong enough to fight higher level things(except those level 70s walking around on the overworld)
Just how big is this game? i've heard it's pretty huge when it comes to JRPG standards. I heard all these things like "if you can see it, you can go to it" but I haven't really come across any points of interest that often yet like lets say Skyrim. Maybe I'm just too early in the game?
Just how big is this game? i've heard it's pretty huge when it comes to JRPG standards. I heard all these things like "if you can see it, you can go to it" but I haven't really come across any points of interest that often yet like lets say Skyrim. Maybe I'm just too early in the game?
You still have probably about 80+% of the game ahead of you, if that helps give any indication.
It still doesnt compare to Skyrim when it comes to "if you can see it, you can go to it". Still pretty good considering the hardware though.
ipitydatfu
Member
do your characters level up if they arent in your active party?
Yes. They do earn "less" than the active battle party, but the difference is pretty small, and there are character skills that eliminate the difference entirely.
By the end of the game, my characters were all within a 2 level range.
ipitydatfu
Member
thanks guys
dyreschlock
Member
well, according to Gamestop.com every store near my location has the game and controllers in stock, so I think I'm just going to cancel mine and go to the store
maybe Nintendo.com is just out of the controllers.
nevermind that. my Nintendo.com Game/Controller combo has shipped.
I think I've somehow managed to over level which is depressing. I just finished the
.
I am just not sure how it got to this point since I've been going out of my way to avoid a lot of side quests and in most zones I only fight what I aggro while walking through the zone. Pretty much the only side quests I've done are the Challenge ones to fight the named mobs and a few affinity related ones since those are the only ones I've found compelling. Hopefully it will balance out by the time I make it to the next area but I am really surprised it happened at all.
High Entia Tomb and all the mobs were around level 35 to 38 while my party is level 41. The boss at the end was an absolute pushover and I don't even think I had to use a heal despite Reyn tanking
I am just not sure how it got to this point since I've been going out of my way to avoid a lot of side quests and in most zones I only fight what I aggro while walking through the zone. Pretty much the only side quests I've done are the Challenge ones to fight the named mobs and a few affinity related ones since those are the only ones I've found compelling. Hopefully it will balance out by the time I make it to the next area but I am really surprised it happened at all.
Yes. Many people overlook trading, but it can give you access to tough to find field items.. not to mention some powerful equips and gems.
You can't blame people for missing it. It's only mentioned briefly in one tutorial at the beginning of the game. The game doesn't even tell you how to trade. I accidentally figured out how to trade about 55 hours into the game when I played it.
How do you trade?
In accordance with this, since I'll start the game today, does GAF have any just general tips or rules of thumb? I saw mention of selling items here and that it's good to sell the bag icon items and weapons/armor, but hold onto other various good.
So GAF, any other tips for those just about to start the game?
RedRedSuit
Member
I'd put it in stronger terms than that. It is outstanding considering the hardware. Game's got PS2 level graphics but 360/PS3/PC level scope.
DragonGirl
Member
This is my one big complaint about the game. Do studios just not test their games on crt sets anymore? I have to make do reading the tiny text. At least it is readable. I returned my rental of Skyrim the same day I got it because the text was completely undecipherable.
Find NPCs on the mini-map that are a blue icon and press Y. (Or X. I don't remember. It was one or the other. Whichever doesn't open the main menu.) I was using the Classic Controller, so I don't know what it is if you're using the Wiimote and nunchak.
Go to the Item menu, find the tab for the common forage items (the "glowy blue things" you pick up running around the world). Select an item and pick "Present". You can choose who is giving and who is receiving. The response will depend on how well the receiver likes the particular gifted item; each character has their own preferences.
The game tells you how, it's one of the first things it tells you in the tutorial screens when you reach the first town.
With the classic controller, you hit the y button near a named character.
SafeinSound
Member
Hoping I can get some time to play this today. Have been so busy with work/gym and other stuff. Only two more days till I'm off and I can put some serious time back in!
Basically you should hold onto ANYTHING for as long as you possibly can, with the exception of old or excess weapons and armor and crystals, or if you manage to get a hold of an awful lot of a particular item (if you've got more than 20 of something and it's not a collectible that you can give to your party members, you can probably sell off a bunch of it). Items you might pick up at the start of the game, even common ones, might actually get used for a quest 60 hours later, even if they're not necessarily marked as quest items right away. You also can sell off any excess art manuals you find, since each character can only learn from any given manual once.
Money is of relatively little importance, with only occasional equipment and art manuals to buy, so most items are likely going to be put to better use by trading, using them for quests, or gifting them to your party members to boost affinity.
Well, the option is there when you walk up to a unique character. PRESS A TO TALK, PRESS Y TO TRADE. Most people just don't notice.
I tend to start mashing the A button long before I even reach the NPC in question :>
Starwolf_UK
Member
The problem is then finding who has what you want (outside of the spoiler google doc).
Also higher level affinity for those peoples means a larger selection of stuff to trade. Then overtrades as well. It would have been nice if the game could tell you those things (like highlight the NPC in the affinity chart and up comes the trade stuff as well as the description)
Another trading tips. Gems can have randomised stats for their level (fake example; 60-75 in stat x). So for higher levels its best saving beforehand as the difference tends to be larger (though honestly, its best crafting your own...)
It'll balance itself out from enemies staying away from you. Also, I found next section pretty tricky.
The game tells you right at the beginning that you can trade and how you can trade. It's not the game's fault that some people apparently don't read the tutorial pop-ups.
Searching for people that trade the stuff you need was too much of a hassle to me, though. If Monolith should do a Xenoblade 2 I hope that they'll expand the affinity chart with trading lists and other stuff.
Liferebooted
Banned
Basically power level the lightning bolt spell, at the start of battle cast it once, then use copy to get a 2nd one instantly. Keep these 2 as a buff since they stack, cast a third one and unleash the 3rd on the enemy only, use fire\water while you wait for the lightning to get off of cd then unleash the 3rd one again. Just never use the first 2 since they buff your bolts so much. She hits really hard with that. kabooom
For high-level stuff (e.g. postgame optional uniques), use Wind to boost your agility (and therefore your hit/dodge rate). If you just want to do as much damage as possible, do what's in the quote.
Muffdraul
Member
My copy arrived on Friday. That evening I went home and played it for a couple of hours, haven't touched it since. I guess my tastes have really changed in recent years. JRPGs in general were a huge part of my diet since 1994. FF was always my favorite, but Xenogears/-saga were right behind it. I know Xenoblade is "Xeno in name only" but it's still Takahashi, whom I've had a mancrush on for 14 years. I dunno, I guess FFXIII traumatized me even more than I realized.
You still in colony 9?
My bad. I haven't been to the first page in ages, haha.
Muffdraul
Member
Irrelevant. It's not the game, it's me. Seriously. In the two hours I played, there was nothing to make me think "This game is not good." Honestly. I have no reason to doubt that it's truly the best JRPG in years. It's just that here in 2012 that doesn't mean much to me, I guess. And that surprises me.
RedRedSuit
Member
But this game is the anti-FF XIII. Except a couple of things (regenerating health = recover health after each battle), it's like someone played through XIII and decided to make a game that is exactly the opposite but still a JRPG.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
You're just not in the mood. Come back to it later. No, you're not the same kid who would have devoured RPGs like in the SNES days, but that doesn't mean you can't find that attitude again.
I'm completely new to this type of RPG, which is to say one with a MMO-esque battle system. I'm just getting around to understanding the roles that characters play in combat, and it's pretty cool. But I do have one concern. I'm very early in the game, Tephra Cave, and I'm not sure if I should be grinding or something. Something attacked my party that was level 9, which I am equal with. However, my team got pounded. Should I be a much higher level than I am now? It just seemed too early in the game (a couple hours) to be grinding, but maybe I'm not playing properly. Any advice would be great.
Don't grind, ever. Fight monsters if you want, but don't force yourself to grind for levels. You will run across unique monsters from time to time that will be very powerful, even if you're equal in level. Unless it's a story fight, you can just skip the monster and come back later if you're having issues. If you need to beat it, inside of grinding via fighting, complete some sidequest. Sidequest will give you more experience, generally faster than fighting monsters.
Later on in the game, when you have access to more equipment, gems and powers, fighting monsters higher level than you becomes a lot easier. Early on, you will probably have tough fights with the unique monsters (like the two in Tephra Cave), unless you're exceeding them by a couple of levels.
TDLink
Member
I know exactly the enemy you are talking about. That would be a unique enemy...they are essentially optional bosses. You aren't expected to beat them at level. You should come back and try to kill that guy again later. You definitely are -not- under-level if you are 9 at that point.
Starwolf_UK
Member
If the battle started with this music (try not to pay attention to related videos or comments etc) that means it was a unique enemy. Think of them as bosses. They are stronger than their level implies. Killing them for the first time earns you an affinity coin (for skill linking).
RedRedSuit
Member
Yes. Use the runaway option if you've already started your attack, but want to run away. If the monster has spotted you, but you didn't start your attack, just running away and out of its range will end the battle too.
Muffdraul
Member
It is indeed likely, and it wouldn't be the first time. When Metroid Prime 2 came out I played it for a few hours and thought "Pfft, this is a lazy, boring MP1 expansion pack" and shelved it. Over a year I tried it again and it ended up in my top 3 Metroids. And I have no such ill feelings towards Xenoblade.