Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Finished this game today. Yeah I actually finished a game!

All I can say is, Wow! Tears. Sad tears, happy tears. This game was so good. I was glad to find out I wasn't over leveled for the Ch. 9 bosses and the Ch. 10 boss. I was actually on the same level as them, but even then I only died once to the first one in Ch. 9.

The one thing I an say I didn't like about the game was the randomness of obtaining rare blades but once you find enough blades that work for you it's okay.

Nia's voice. OMG I love Nia's voice. Seriously I want to go pick up some Welsh girls right now. Who's coming with me, man?

Alright I gotta go shave and wash clothes and other stuff I've been neglecting around the house. (I'm not a gaming addict, I swear.)

I was finally able to clear away a few sidequests tonight. Also, Adenine does indeed cause those Krabble at the Mor Ardain port to drop even more core crystals than they normally do.

@AlternateButtons it's hard for me to remember how hard this fight was.. but do you understand the combat well? Getting the elemental orbs and breaking them with a chain attack?

@AlternateButtons Bolster Rex and Nia as much as you can. Equip Nia with a full team of healers. Same applies to Rex but attackers. I'm sure you know this already, but just for clarity: Their stats get buffed when you set multiple Blades. Rigid Shield should be set on Tora, and he should have aux cores that draw aggro, while Rex and Nia should be stealthy. If you don't mind swapping out your lead for Tora, you can spam moves to ensure he maintains aggro.

Some additional points: Make sure Tora has the highest block rate possible. If you have a critical absorb accessory, equip it to Rex and give him a core chip that increases his critical rate. This makes him almost infallible. Nia should have accessories that boost ether, healing, or stealth. Whatever you choose, follow through with the aux cores to stack the effects.

@AlternateButtons also put some good pouch items in

^

If you're having issues with maintaining the party gauge, the pouch items that boost party gauge gain are pretty much broken.

@AlternateButtons the game provides a good challenge at times.. when you know what you're doing the difficulty is pretty balanced.. what level are jin and malos?

You should bee able to keep tora alive long enough to get chain attacks off.. what accessories do you have equipped on tora and is he holding aggro?
Also are you spamming anchor shot?

@AlternateButtons You'll be faced with some difficulty spikes that'll force you to jump your understanding of the gameplay mechanics. It's nothing you can't deal with if you use the tools that are available. The bitball and ring weapons should be prioritized with Nia (whatever you have). Those have healing arts. Also, be sure to include the arts that spawn potions. The spear weapon has an art to reduce aggro, so be sure to take advantage of that when your attacker is targeted.

As for Tora, just scroll through your chips and see which has the highest block rate. It's pretty easy to get Poppi's block rate up. You can also go play a few games of Tiger Tiger to get her some aux cores that boost aggro and block. If you have the Ultimate Shield aux core available, you should gun for that and put it on Poppi. It has a 50% chance to eliminates any damage sustained from a block, essentially transforming Tora into a super tank. For example, a 50% block rate on Poppi will make her invincible 25% of the time. This is how I built Tora and Poppi for the post-game, and it makes them pretty OP.

I don't remember if the combat's minutiae was covered to this degree anyway. Regardless, there needs to be a manual readily available. I figured out most of this on my own through trial and error. It can be rewarding, but it can also cause some frustration. Maybe this will be addressed in later updates.

Whew! Made it through the epic, epic, EPIC chapter 7.

That was incredibly tough. And epic. Did I mention it was epic?

Gosh dang... I'm winded. I just had to put the console in sleep mode, set the controller down and reflect on everything that just happened. Wow. The sense of accomplishment after that chapter, brutal field skill requirements and all... is beyond words. There are other factors that make this chapter particularly difficult but I won't get into those for spoiler reasons.

All I know, is I feel incredibly connected to the characters now. Even more so than before.

@AlternateButtons

Set a healer with good healing arts and upgraded chip for their weapon in Rex's 3rd blade slot. That way you have a 2nd healer when fighting. You can try sticking with them the whole fight if you want. Might take a little longer but it might keep you alive too.

Set reduce aggro accessory on Nia, and the biggest Health Boost core you have (percentage usually yields higher than flat number). Probably want to use health accessories for at least one slot for Rex and Tora as well, then strategically use aux cores for the Blades. Stock up on the best pouch items, and maybe level up at an inn with bonus XP. I remember that difficulty spike, but I think was leveled up enough that I won on my first try. Can always level up a few too. It'll save you time leveling up later and make the journey a little easier.

Useful tips these. I need to sort out some of my gear and point allocation obviously. Especially on tora as he dies a bit anyway before putting stealth on the others and taunt on him. I’m actually on the same battle, end of chapter 3. Only had one go so far but failed miserably. These tips are good generally though.

@Tsurii @AlternateButtons
That's fine in theory, but you can't avoid getting hit. And when you do, having an extra 1,000 can mean the difference between staying alive long enough to heal up.

I can't stress how much every last bit of health on Nia has helped. And Rex.

I'm sure there's more than one way to approach winning, but after trying various accessories, I had the hardest time when I wasn't boosting health.

Yeah, the Malos & Ahkos boss fight is one of the most annoying (mandatory) battles in the game. If I could add a couple of things, they'd be:

1) Try to having at least two Earth-type Blades in this fight. When used at the end of a Blade Combo, Earth seals the target's ability to cast "Shackle Driver", which is really the only thing that makes this fight the pain that it is. Mega Eruption (the Earth-Fire-Earth combo) is the easiest one to pull off, relatively speaking.

2) Get Nia a Knuckles Claws-using Blade, they give her an Art (Comet Punch) that Launches the enemy after they've been Toppled.

3) I think it's the Amethyst Chip that turns Dromarch's Chakrams into "Rings of the Maiden" which reduces the aggro Nia draws from auto-attacks by 50%.

4) Malos' Chakra Burst attack is one the few attacks you can dodge just by moving out of the way. When you see/hear him charging it, just back off for a moment and get out of range until he fires it.

@Tsurii
600 hours for me in XCX. 132 hours in XC2.

It's not a problem. IT'S A LIFESTYLE.

I've just reached chapter 4, loving this game

@AlternateButtons Unless you want to invest in anti-Taunt accessories, it may be best to just focus on him from the start. May seem like you're playing right into his hands as the tank, but the way you win fights in this game is eliminating enemies one after the other as efficiently as possible. I've yet to see to any notable healing enemies up to where I'm currently at (the beginning of chapter 5), so that's your main advantage over them, along with the ridiculous power of blade combos and chain attacks.

I’ve just won this battle at the second attempt. My party were all level 27 though. I nearly fell just before the end but managed to scramble to a potion in time.

The interminable cutscenes at the end of the chapter were more of a chore!

Onwards!

I finally managed to get every rare blade!!! Feels so good!

gah this game has so much to do... still sidequesting my ass off like 8 hours later... I finally got my quests down to 1 page where I have 2 quests I didnt finish in Leftherium and a TON of affinity chart monsters to kill there..... So Im like, "well, I only have 1 monster I need to kill on Termperantia so Ill do that first then wrap up on Leftherium"

.... dude Termperantia is huge... this game just rushed you to the boss battle then scurried you off... it took me like a couple hours to explore the whole thing... and honestly I didnt even remember this as a separate titan... I thought this was part of Mor Ardain.... can someone refresh me on the story how the game plants you onto Termperantia?

@iLikeUrAttitude you been playing this game like a lunatic since christmas lol