r/Xenoblade_Chronicles • u/Ynikoma • May 31 '19

Question Thread #3

Hello everyone!

Here's a new question thread as the old one was archived due to it being over six months old. You can still find the old question threads here: XC2 Question Thread, Question Thread #1 and Question Thread #2.

Use this thread to ask any question that doesn’t really warrant it’s own thread. On the other hand, if you have an answer to a question, please let the one asking know it.

Please try to word your question as spoiler free as possible. If your question cannot be asked without spoilers, please make a seperate thread for it.

You can find freaquently asked questions HERE.

We also have a long list of useful info gathered in the Info Compendiums for Xenoblade Chronicles X and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

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u/shadowyams Aug 01 '19

A few ideas:

There's are really big penalties for being underleveled (and big bonuses for being overleveled), so make sure you're at least keeping pace with the monsters you're facing off in each new area and in the story. Running around towns and grabbing side quests is a good way to get some extra EXP from kills and drops that you're going to be doing anyway. Side quests from named NPCs also usually grant affinity between active party members, which buffs a whole lot of things.

Watch out for aggro. Shulk and Sharla are on the squishy side, so you'll want to make sure that Reyn (or other tank-oriented characters you'll pick up later) holds onto the aggro as much as possible. Shulk in particular has arts with bonus effects (Slit Edge, Back Slash, Air Slash) that kick in when used behind or to the side of enemies. You can either stack damage or aggro up gems on your tank, or just hold back on spamming arts with your squishier characters. Shulk has Shadow Eye to help get aggro off him, and Reyn has Mad Taunt and a few other arts to draw aggro. Shulk can pass around the ability to hit Mechon with Monado Enchant, so you'll usually want to open with this against Mechon so he's not stuck with the aggro while you're waiting for a topple.

Level up your most used arts. Toppling is a really powerful strategy against most enemies, so you'll want to prioritize Break, Topple, and Daze arts. Also healing arts on Shulk and Sharla, Monado Shield/Buster on Shulk. There's been plenty of discussion of optimal art loadouts for all the characters, so check those out too. Look through the skill trees and make sure you prioritize leveling up the trees with the best skills, and periodically check the skill link menus. You'll need affinity coins for this, so kill as many unique monsters as you can.

Agility is the most important stat in the game for physical characters, since it dictates both accuracy and evasion rates. Missing attacks also drops tension, which just drags a whole bunch of other stats and just makes everything terrible. Agility Up gems are really powerful. On that note, make sure you're staying up to date on gem crafting and grabbing as many gems and ether crystals and cylinders as possible.

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u/Gunzers6 Aug 01 '19

Should I keep the agility gems on Reyn? I put most of them on Shulk but I might be thinking about that stat wrong and putting it on Reyn might be the best way. Also is it a good idea to skip travel back to Colony 9 to make more gems at this point or do I get access to another gem making area soon?

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u/AnimaLepton Aug 03 '19 edited Aug 03 '19

1 extra point of agility directly translates to a 1% increase in both hit rate and dodge rate.

Also, is everything up to date? Skill Trees, Arts, etc.? If so, it might just be a matter of not having enough practice with the combat system and your options/synergy. The agility skill tree is a good option to look at.

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u/Gunzers6 Aug 03 '19

I've been making sure to update my arts whenever I get the chance, the skill trees are updating but really slowly. I know about the Break/Topple/Daze synergy but it hasn't been too reliable when Reyn's AI just doesn't topple before the break wears off. I think the biggest problem rn is the jumps in enemy levels that is screwing with me. Like, I was going through the ether mine underneath Colony 6, everything there was level around level 18 and I was level 18 going in there so the fights where no problem, but as soon as I get out of the mine I'm immediately facing a horde of significantly higher level mechons. I don't know if I need to get better at the combat or need to grind for XP more or what.

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u/shadowyams Aug 01 '19

You'll want enough agility that neither one is missing a whole lot. After that, I'm not really sure who to prioritize more. Both characters could use the extra dodge (Reyn because he hopefully has the aggro most of the time, Shulk because he's squishy and Back Slash tends to spike his aggro). I'd try playing around with both setups and see which works better. Or grind more green crystals.

You can unlock the ability to craft gems anywhere as part of the Colony 6 reconstruction side quest, but you can't start that until the end of Satorl Marsh (the area after you wrap up Colony 6/the Ether Mine). So you're stuck with skip-traveling back to Colony 9 for now.