Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition

@Dezzy, I think I have Colony 6 up to Level 3, and one of the NPCs said it seemed about halfway rebuilt, so it looks like I have awhile to go before completing it.

So are you saying I really shouldn't worry about scrounging through old towns looking for new quests unless the story takes me back to one?

@RR529

I'm not saying that necessarily. You can do it however you want. Although it's worth bearing in mind that most of them can be done at any point during the game, so you can always go back and do them closer to the end.
There's only 1 major point in the game where a bunch of sidequests become unavailable (the ones with a clock icon next them in the menu) , and that's when you reach the Mechonis' head later on. That's quite a way off though yet, so you'll have plenty of time.

Valak Mountain overall is a meh area...in the daytime. There's some decent eye candy there at night, and the music is decent (as in most areas of the game lol). But as for things to do? Not too much.

@Tyranexx The music in the area makes it worth exploring both day and night, but when I played the game on Wii (and even on the Switch) I tended to explore at night, not only because of the mesmerising crystalline lights and the purple skies, but also because of slightly higher-level enemies.

@theJGG The enemies are another perk I forgot to mention; I spent a bit of time grinding in the area outside of quests since some of the more powerful enemies had pretty cool designs and handed out some decent experience.

For anyone in the UK, this is currently £30 on amazon for some reason. You'll almost never find it that cheap. Buy it now if you're at all interested!

@Tyranexx Yeah, I feel like Valak Mountain is one of the few areas in the game that feels a little too stretched out, though I think the music, endgame monsters, and occasional ice physics more than make up for it.

@MonadoBoy Very true! I'd forgotten about the ice physics; THOSE could be quite fun.

@MonadoBoy There were some areas, particularly during the second half of the game, that were marked by a cutscene at the start, middle, and then the end. They had very little story significance, in short. That made the areas feel a bit dull story-wise.

Any advice for levelling up post Mechonis?

I'm currently level 77 (which seems to be just right, if not a little high, for where I'm at in the main story), but a new quests popped up in Colony 9, Colony 6, & Frontier Village that are sending me to areas with enemies in the high 80's-90's, and I'm wondering if there are any quests closer to my level to sort of bridge the gap, outside of going to the next story area (which I'm not sure I'll be able to return from if I go).

@RR529 I believe the game will tell you when you reach the last point of no return. If your next story area is going back into the Bionis Interior, you should be fine. I don't know specifically of quests that are within your current level range. I mainly grinded at the Bionis Leg when I was in that range from the various Gogols.

That's pretty much what I ended up doing as there's a significant gap between some of the level ranges for the end-game quests and the levels of my party at that point. I was able to do some quests while the monsters/bosses had yellow windows/indicators, but those took some strategy and patience.

I was overleveled to the point that when I did tackle everything after the point of no return, it was a cakewalk. I technically could've skipped some of the fights.

@I-U, yeah, I grinded some of the more powerful enemies on Bionis' Leg before the big fight with Egil (used their drops to upgrade a few areas of Colony 6 as well), so I think I'll just go ahead into the next area & when I get to the cutoff point see if I'm strong enough to start taking on the endgame quests before taking the plunge.

Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to finish Colony 6 as I need one more flower from Mechonis Field, which I can't access any more.

Dumb ingredient requirements for that upgrade, as you need enemy drops from Bionis' Interior, which you can't access until the previously referenced ingredient's area is locked off.

You can easily get to LV99 before fighting the boss by doing all the sidequests, but that's not recommended as the final boss will be very easy then. I know this because I completed the game about five times now. I think LV80 is more than enough to try to engage the final boss.
I would complete the rest of the game afterwards.
Also, don't overwrite your game data and select a different save slot for a New Game+ file.

@RR529 Pretty sure all collectibles from Mechonis can be obtained by trading.

@RR529

Here's a good place to start:

https://xenoblade.fandom.com/wiki/Unique_Monster_(XC1)

Trading might be a chore for a couple Mechonis items. If you want to complete the game faster make sure you 100% Mechonis before advancing to "the point of no return to Mechonis". Many of the items you can find there are needed for rebuilding the colony and other sidequests.

Been grinding those white Gogols (the ape monsters) in Satorl Marsh today and have my party at levels 83 (Shulk), 82 (Reyn), & 81 (Sharla) now. I managed to complete a couple of the sidequests that had me fight enemies in the low to mid 80's, including the level 85 unique Gogol that's on that pedestal in Satorl Marsh.

Hopefully I'm close to being strong enough to take on the the powerful enemies that have popped up in Alcamoth & Eryth Sea, since I have a few quests in those areas.

At this rate I may have it finished by the time SM3DW + BF releases, though I still have Future Connected to do as well.

@RR529 Did you manage to get your revenge on Territorial Rotbart? He roams the Gaur Plains area, when your party is at least LV12, and he is LV81. I've never gotten attacked by him but Chuggaaconroy's reaction when HE did was pretty priceless.

I love this early levelling trick. You're probably a bit too far to need it now though @RR529