Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles 2

@Fujin, I'd say keep any common Blades you can unless you can't hold any more and have to let some go.

Some may have an ability you need to get passed one of those field puzzles (I can't remember what they're called, but they're roadblocks that show up that require your Blades to have certain skills, at certain levels, to pass). Like, let's say you need level 5 of a certain skill to pass, but only one of your rare Blades has it (and at level 3), you can equip two common Blades that each have the skill at level 1 to add up to 5. Hope that makes sense.

You can also send common Blades on merc missions, which net you goodies, and can be used to level up their skills.

@Fujin

Yeah don't release them until you absolutely need to. Or unless you have a lot of repeats of the exact same blade.

In the Merc Missions that unlock later, you need to fill criteria like having 3 Fire Blades, or 4 Female Blades, or 4 Animal Blades.
So it's better to have too many rather than too few.

Thanks RR529. . I have another question. I'm trying to trigger a blade combo as I read by getting Pyra's special to level to one or higher. After I did the special I see colored diamonds appear on the top right corner. At that moment I'm confused on what to do and I fail the combo. I have blades on the left of my battle screen that have different elements so do I have to match those elements with the elemental color of the diamond on the top right to trigger the combo. Problem is what if I have the wrong element blades to correspond with the diamond's element. Also even if I switch to a different blade in battle the other blade resets it's blade special level.

Yes you need to match the elements of your blades to the combo tree on the top right. But bear in mind, it's a different combo tree depending on which element goes first. So all you really need to do is have 3 different elements (and have your teammates have 3 different elements) and you should often have one of the correct elements available.

Also, you can definitely keep your current special level after switching blades. Although maybe that's an ability you unlock at some point, I can't remember.

You really don't NEED all of this until a bit later in the game though, so you should just progress further.

I was wondering guys why is one of my common blades trust condition 0/10 instead of other blades who have 0/ thousands?

@Fujin

Probably because the total increases as you unlock higher levels in the affinity chart.

@Dezzy Thanks for all the help Dezzy.

What is the difference between common crystals and rare crystals? I got a rare blade from a common crystal but aren't you supposed get rare blades from rare crystals. Are my idea levels supposed to be higher because they are about 3 each.

@Fujin it is my understanding that the difference is in the chance of the rare blade, with rare crystals giving you a better chance of a rare blade. But you can get a rare blade from any crystal.

This is correct. Rare crystals have a higher chance, not guaranteed. Legendary crystals are an even higher chance.
Your own luck stat plays a factor in it as well. Blades with luck boosts on them are rare, so hold onto any you may get.

@Cotillion @PHDragoon There are also equipment pieces you can get to boost your luck and thus your chance for a rare blade.

There is a great spot in Mor Ardain to grind for Crystals as well.

Thanks guys . I also forgot that idea levels are for getting specified elements more often.

Loving the Torna expansion. Except for the fact that it essentially forces you to do all of the sidequests before you can continue the main story. Blatant padding method, that completely undermines the whole point of sidequests in that they're optional.

I need to restart this game. I missed so much in my first play through, over a year ago. I want to get all the blades, and master all the affinity charts etc. And also play Torna after my play through.

I am going to be doing a full fresh play through of XC2. I will do a main play through then a NG+ play through to finish off all the extras. With that in mind, is there a good guide(s) out there that are pretty complete with everything and maybe a decent checklist with all the DLC added in? Thanks in advance!

The IGN guide seems fairly good.

The one thing I'd say about the Torna expansion is that it's slightly over-priced, relative to the main game.
It's about half the price of the main game, or even more if you buy the retail version. But it's noway near half the size of the main game. It's more like 1/4 of the main game. Of course the main game is absolutely massive though.

@Dezzy me too. Im about 40 hours in and i think i like it better. The fighting for sure.

Finished Torna Expansion!

Great stuff overall. I enjoyed the characters more than those in the main game. Mostly because there's less cutesy comic relief, and they're just more adult and serious. Lora and Addam were both very likeable and interesting. The story was good and well-told too. It really made you appreciate why Jin turned out the way he did.

The Torna titan is also one of the best areas they've designed. Possibly my favourite of all the titans in the game. I loved how many different types of environment they fit onto it, whereas other titans felt like just 1 big environment.

The only real criticism is the price and length. This was clearly meant to be a DLC. Not something to be sold as a separate retail game. The Gormott section was obviously included just to beef up the runtime. There was no good reason for that to be included! Same with forcing you to do loads of the "community" sidequests. Purely to lengthen the game. No other reason for that.

Overall 8/10

How do I do driver combos? I'm so confused and I need to know how to do them to clear some affinity nods for certain rare blades.

So I can change the default character weapons to other ones in order to match the symbols for a driver combo. How do I do that and will the default weapon still have of the upgraded artes when I switch them back again.