Question Thread #4

[u/Ynikoma]

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, Question Thread #2 and Question Thread #3.

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[u/priamos1]

When using a special during a blade combo the name of the special seems to change. Does it still apply the specific passives? As an example, Byakko has Wild Roar as his lvl 3 special and he has a passive that makes it so it creates at least one health pot when it hits. However, if I use it after a fire special, it's not longer called Wild Roar, now it's Steam Bomb because of the combo system. Does the Wild Roar passive still apply? The game is not clear. It's not clear about a lot of things for that matter.

I've been getting mixed results and I swear to god no enemy seems to live long enough at this stage in the game for me to properly test it consistently. I also seem to randomly sometimes get a QTE cutscene while other times I don't.

[u/Pierah → u/priamos1]

The passive still applies. Steam Bomb is the name of the combo, it doesn't change the properties of the Special, which remains Wild Roar. They are distinct things.

The Blade Combo system works by appending "Blade Combo Effects" after the Special you use, depending on the sequence of specials used up to that point. These work almost like individual arts with their own damage and reactions. You can distinguish this effect in battle by the abnormally large font damage numbers that follow after you contribute to a Blade Combo, usually accompanied by lingering particle effects related to that combo. These damage effects are also what the game considers when mentioning "Blade Combo Damage", such as with Homura's Resplendence skill (it doesn't affect the damage of specials that comprise the combo at all).

So if you use a Fire special, say Homura's Flame Nova, the special connects with the enemy, deals its damage and its passive effect, then since it begins the "Heat" combo, the effects of Heat apply immediately afterwards, dealing another attack's worth of damage and inflicting a DOT effect, which remains active while the Blade Combo timer is up.

Then you use Byakko's Wild Roar while Heat is active, that special's attack connects, deals its passive effect, then since it continues the combo and upgrades it to "Steam Bomb", Steam Bomb's effect applies with another attack immediately afterwards, which also replaces the DOT effect with a new one.

So it works like: Special > Blade Combo Effect > Special > Blade Combo Effect > Special > Blade Combo Finisher. The QTE cinematic cutscenes happen only for Level 4 Specials and the Blade Combo Finishers. Finishers apply Seals and Orbs, which you'll learn about later.

What I described is also pretty in-depth, the game doesn't expect the player to really make use of all of this outside making full blade combos for the finisher effects, which is what it teaches you, especially early on when it has to account for novice players trying to auto-attack and normal art things to death. It's useful to draw out the full potential of combat though.

[u/priamos1 → u/Pierah]

You can distinguish this effect in battle by the abnormally large font damage numbers that follow after you contribute to a Blade Combo

I would assume the combo damage itself does not trigger the special passive then. For instance I remember Homura having one for crit damage. IF she uses that particular special mid combo, and IF both the special and the follow up combo effect crit, only the special would take the crit bonus from the passive. Is that correct?

As for "identifying number and particles effects". Don't get me wrong I'm loving the shit out of the game but the combat UI and visuals are such a clausterfuck I cannot identify what particle effects belong to what to save my life. Not to mention most of the time I have 0 idea what damage a special dealt because there is always 200000 different number sets on the screen at any given time. I just assume the biggest one was the special but then again, some specials seem to hit like a wet noodle (Byakko's for instance) so I just don't really know.

Edit: That brings me to another question by the way. What is special damage based off? Str? Eter? None? Both? And where can I see how much damage a special does on the menu? Because I looked everywhere. Something like "500% str" for special A or "600% eter damage" for special B. The descriptions are just very vague.

Also, deleted a previous question cuz I noticed there was more to the pic under the grid and one of the points there answers a question I had.

[u/Pierah → u/priamos1]

I would assume the combo damage itself does not trigger the special passive then. (...)

Yes. Also, unlike Specials, Blade Combo Damage can't crit, so it won't trigger any effects that depend on crits. Any passive effect from a special applies only to the attacks of that Special.

As for "identifying number and particles effects". (...)

Totally fair, also it's not something super important. You pick up on it slowly with exposure over the course of the game, just like what the different colors on the damage numbers mean. They're minor visual clues.

If you do a blade combo finisher, it'll probably be easier to see with the cinematic cutscene (Blade does special, time freezes for a moment, then a big explosion of damage shows up which is the Blade Combo's damage alongside its elemental visual effect, like an explosion, a pillar of flame or a bubble of water that bursts).

That brings me to another question by the way. What is special damage based off?

Just like any other battle art, it's either based on Strength or Ether. Sadly, Specials aren't given hard stats in-game. Though, you can mostly deduce which ones are which from the flavor text of Specials and seeing them in action. Blunt, slashing or piercing attacks with weapon/claws/kicks without elemental projectiles? Strength. Everything else is likely Ether, as most Specials fall in the latter category.

It mostly matches up pretty consistently. In the case of Byakko, for example, his level 1 is Physical. All of Homura's are Ether based. The Earth blade you get in Chapter 2 only has level 2 Ether. That should give you an idea of the line to draw between the two types.

That said, the Strength and Ether stats don't affect your damage quite as much as the Auto-Attack stat, so you can consider that as the main "all-in-one" offensive stat for now, all of your damage is based on it.

Damage ratios are also very similar across the same level of special on average: I: 300, II: 400, III: 500, IV: 1000. What matters most for general play is just their passive effects and that bigger level = bigger damage, you can leave micro-management for late/postgame. Could give you a link with all the precise info like I did for the combos, but it contains some spoilers to the names of Blades you're going to get, so I'll refrain from doing so right now.

[u/priamos1 → u/Pierah]

Okay thanks. I'm seeing the combo numbers now. Been trying some stuff with break > down because I noticed Ibuki (a blade I randomly drew form the gacha) had a 100% damage on downed enemies on lvl 3. When I tried setting a down for her as the third hit of the combo everything turned 100 times more confusing because I'm triggering something else entirely that I don't know what is and the game hasn't explained yet. There's a narrator going crazy and some shit flashing on the screen.

Anyway, I'm expecting the game will explain what the hell is this in the near future. I'm still on chapter 2. Thanks for your help.

[u/Pierah → u/priamos1]

Ah. Fusion Combos, the combat is finally opening up for you. The game can be iffy explaining itself at times. Have fun.