Current Events > Need help getting back into Xenoblade Chronicles 2 *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Stopped a while back around 5-6 hours in. I was going to watch the scenes, but it's like 2 hours worth and I would rather just read a bit lol. What I remember:

• Rex is a salvager who gets hired to salvage an old ship to find the red Blade chick (I'll remember her name when I play more lol), who is supposed to be super powerful. Gets murked by the mysterious crew he is with, then brought back to life by the Blade.
• Rex takes them on and Nia betrays her crew, getting involved in some mysterious ancient war. His Titan buddy bails him out, dies, and is reborn.
• After, they meet a Nopon that helps them hide from the Empire. At this point I think Nia is captured when the Imperial inquisitor type chick rolls up with her blue flame Blade.
• They bust Nia out of prison taking on the Imperial chick. There is a conspiracy going on between the criminal Nopon that hired you for the salvage job in the first place and the incompetent ruler of Gormott.
• You're now on a quest to help your red Blade get somewhere to save the world from sinking into the Cloud sea (or prevent the Titans from dying, or something along those lines). Nia has nothing better to do and the Nopon also has nothing better to do so they're along for the ride.

That basically it? Spent an hour yesterday running around doing some dumb fetch quests lol.

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ProfessorKukui posted...

Yes. That's it.

I'm pretty sure when I took this break you said you would finish your current playthrough before I got back into the game. Did that come true? lmao

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her name is pyra

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I'm trying to remember the general flow of the game. I remember switching between Blades to use different abilities off cooldown. I can't remember how to heal party members lol. After a few hours of play I'll learn more about the RNG mechanics, but I remember people saying that there are a handful of characters that get good story Blades so you might want to save your better stones (or whatever they were) for those characters that didn't.

Edit: Also the destination was some kind of mythical place of milk and honey.

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Alright a gameplay question: should I be somewhat conservative with who I give the "better" Blade drops? I have a bunch from the dlc and idk exactly what to do in terms of how I should use them. With the Gacha system I figure I should just use them whenever I feel like.

Also is there good reason to work on more Blades than you can have in battle per character? I'm worried being too stingy will be annoying in the long run.

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Ended up using some crystals to get good secondary blades on Nia and Rex. Online advice and to emphasize getting good blades as early as possible rather than saving crystals too much.

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Been doing some side quests around Gormott to get used to the game again. Aside from the resolution it looks quite nice.

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Played some more today. Got eaten and have been progressing the story with Vandham, just fought Zeke. Having a couple good blades really helps make this combat make sense/be fun. There's still bizarre audio mixing though, where the music is blaring over quiet voices.

The big thing I don't understand is idea levels. They seem to affect your blade pulls somehow, but I don't really get how. Also don't really understand what gives me idea levels. It feels like they may have added one too many rpg systems to this one lol.

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Good luck. It was a struggle for me to get through when I tried. I'm try again at some point if it gets discounted below like 35 bucks.

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Finished up chapter 3. Boy the ending here was cliche city lol.

• Ahkos: My power sucking field makes you powerless! Boy I love being evil.
• Guy I barely know: I will sacrifice my life that you may LIVE!
• Pyra: this isn't even my final form.
• Mythra: Now I will explain how foresight works as if I'm explaining a function in an excel sheet.
• Malos: Yes! YES! The true final form!
• We're going to exterminate all humans! For reasons that may be surprisingly understandable later in the game of course.
• Rex: No! Not the guy I just met! ;_;

Still having fun though.

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And mythra is that "tsundere"? >_>

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They all live on titans. Titans are growing old and dying. Rex and Pyra want to go to the legendary World Tree because there's a legend about those who can climb to the top of it can get a wish granted or something. Rex believes the answer to the Titan problem lies there. Pyra is a special blade called the Aegis who is from there. Been a while but I think that's about it

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I keep thinking I should go back and finish the game, but as much as I liked the combat and thought it was good I hated how even regular ass monsters took forever to kill.

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codey posted...

I keep thinking I should go back and finish the game, but as much as I liked the combat and thought it was good I hated how even regular ass monsters took forever to kill.

How far did you get?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8P7KhFSA2w

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DeathVelvien posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8P7KhFSA2w

I wish I knew about the pity system earlier lol

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Jabodie posted...

How far did you get?

Chapter 5, I think.

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Fucked around doing side quests yesterday. About to get this kid who stole Roc. You get a shit ton of bonus xp in this game it seems. I avoid a lot of enemies and have like 5 levels in reserve despite using them once in a while lol.

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Interesting thing about Vandham, he used to have a son. Not sure what happened to him exactly, but he mentions him in some post-battle dialogue. That might explain why he took such a liking to Rex.
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That kinda makes sense. Tbh I wouldn't be surprised if he was introduced earlier in a different version of the script. Feels like his role was truncated a bit considering how he's a mentor figure and gives you the mercs.

Later I'll ask where to park some of these special crystals. I have a couple from the DLC bonuses as well.

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I hate how complicated and uninteresting the systems in that game are.

Like why throw a weird gacha system in and then a bunch of items called things like "sprogle essence" or "flitwater crystal" and expect me to have any fucking clue what that will do

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Oh yeah, and also that comment Malos made about Rex's eyes back when you first met Pyra, it's some kind of symbolism that got lost in translation a bit. It's supposed to be significant but doesn't get brought up again, at least concerning Rex himself.
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Replying to pinky:

I kinda agree but I'm starting to get it more now. The collecting of random items is something I got used to in the first game lol. I also think the DLC boosters are making the systems much more accessible and understandable. But the Blade system itself is really starting to make sense to me. I would prefer for all the blades to be obtainable through non rng means, but it is what it is. With the pity system, the special story+DLC crystals (I have a total of 4 so far) and a couple lucky pulls I don't think I'll have much issue using decent Blades. And you get 12 overdrive keys with the DLC. And now loading up on common blades makes a lot of sense with the mercenary missions and field skills. It's nice that they develop idea levels for better drops.

Having said all that, it's definitely more complicated than it needs to be lol.

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BakonBitz posted...

Oh yeah, and also that comment Malos made about Rex's eyes back when you first met Pyra, it's some kind of symbolism that got lost in translation a bit. It's supposed to be significant but doesn't get brought up again, at least concerning Rex himself.

What was the comment? It's been a while.

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Jabodie posted...

What was the comment? It's been a while.

He says something like "And your eyes...I should have known." while their swords are clashing.
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Got to Mor Ordain. I'm starting to figure out the whole blade system more. I'm really glad these overdrive keys are provided by the dlc lol. It makes me feel comfortable developing blades on the "wrong" characters because I know I can change many of them later.

I'm starting to get building a team around move set (weapon type) synergy, elemental synergy, and to a lesser extent field skill synergy. Merc missions are nice for developing blades in the background. I'm starting to "get it."

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Jabodie posted...

Got to Mor Ordain. I'm starting to figure out the whole blade system more. I'm really glad these overdrive keys are provided by the dlc lol. It makes me feel comfortable developing blades on the "wrong" characters because I know I can change many of them later.

I'm starting to get building a team around move set (weapon type) synergy, elemental synergy, and to a lesser extent field skill synergy. Merc missions are nice for developing blades in the background. I'm starting to "get it."

Yeah, pretty much. Despite the RNG element it's easy to find a build you like and run with it. Maxing out affinity charts through Merc Missions is great, time spent on Merc Missions don't matter, you can actually spam the quickest one to get the same affinity results as one that lasts several hours...there are certain affinity nodes that are not affected by Merc Missions though. Maxing out Common Blade charts is excellent for getting your Drivers' Arts leveled up since those give you "Manuals" that you can use at the Arts screen with...I believe it's X. Those manuals boost AP.

And those Overdrive Protocols, there's a limited amount of them on an initial playthrough even with DLC, but if you ever plan on doing New Game +, you can outright buy them in special shops. Requires a ton of grinding, but they won't be a limited resource anymore.
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That's some good info.

Right now I'm tracking down Lila. Just fight Morag. Digging the game as I understand the systems more.

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Played a ton today. Put a bunch of blades in Morag, and just got to the place with Rex's home down before running off to do side bull shit. I got Mythra/Pyra, Agate, and Roc on Rex, Dromarch/Frolen/Cossette on Nia, and Brighid/Corvin/Common on Morag. Didn't get a good tank in those pulls lol, but I did get this snooty king guy.

I'll say more later, I'm tied af now. Overall though I found the Bana storyline to be amusing, and it's funny to see him upgraded from a side quest character in the first game.

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It's kind of interesting how the past isn't so much hidden from us/the present party, it's more like there's just not that much reason to talk about it and Pyra would prefer not to. I kind of like that. Nobody is sitting around narrating their motives, and we get some stuff through the occasional flashback. And of course Pyra has been asleep for 500 years, so she doesn't know exactly what's going on and who's alive. And based on context, it seems like most if not all of the Torna guys are Blades for some reason, including Jin and Nia if I had to guess. So is the true villain going to be their Driver? Is Jin trying to turn everybody into Blades that live forever?

I'm pretty interested to see where this goes, and I'm interested to meet the Praetor and maybe figure out how he lost control of Malos (a guess, he could be controlling him in theory). I suppose Addam could be the villain, since his face was obscured in the flashback. If I had to guess, that means he'll be evil or he looks exactly like Rex, kinda like what happened in XC1.

And does the DLC take place some time during the war from 500 years ago?

@ProfessorKukui if you're interested in a playthrough topic. You seemed interesting in my XC1 topics and the one I first made for this game.

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Yeah, the Torna DLC takes place during the Aegis War. Specifically, more towards the end of it since by the time the game starts, the war had already been going on for a bit.

Not gonna say any more due to spoilers, I appreciate the theorizing on what might be going on though!
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BakonBitz posted...

Yeah, the Torna DLC takes place during the Aegis War.

I'll probably be playing it right after I finish XC2. It isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, and I played the epilogue for the DE of the first game right after.

BakonBitz posted...

I appreciate the theorizing on what might be going on though!

It's part of the JRPG experience haha. And tbh, I find guessing makes it a lot easier to keep track of what's happening. Tbh there are a shit ton of characters in the game already in Chapter 5, so making a log helps me remember who's who. I know the game is 10 chapters of story, so I imagine soon I'll be introduced to most of the major players at this point.

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Almost got through all these weapon requirements for Shiny New Power... just need a big mega lance guy. About to pop a bunch of crystals... wish me luck.

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Got a rare blade Finch on my first common crystal pull <_< that's lucky lol.

Opened like 35 crystals. No dice. Also can't do any more quests without more blade skills.

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Jabodie posted...

Almost got through all these weapon requirements for Shiny New Power... just need a big mega lance guy. About to pop a bunch of crystals... wish me luck.

Yeah, good luck with that. The reward for that DLC quest is pretty nice at least, you can probably tell with the thumbnail they used.
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BakonBitz posted...

Yeah, good luck with that. The reward for that DLC quest is pretty nice at least, you can probably tell with the thumbnail they used.

When I get the next party member, I'm going to unload crystals and hope I get it in that slough. If not... oh well lol. Got to Fonsett village, met Rex's parents. Not much progress, mostly did some side bullshit and worked on some affinity charts. Switch Tora pack in for a while so I can work on Poppi QT a bit. I also overleveled because I wanted to level up my merc rank to 3, thinking it would give me 3 squads >_> I probably have 4 or 5 bonus xp levels in the tank, but I'm well above the enemies around me. By chapter 6 I'll probably be in the right spot though. Next session will probably be a story session.

On the side content: everything has been improved from the first game, but in a way that isn't quite what I wanted lol. Like there are still quests to collect random bullshit, but the collecting of random bullshit is a lot easier with good field skills... but those field skills are tied to random drops. And I know I'm way ahead because the DLC dumps a bunch of crystals in your lap (which made the experience much better imo). There are fewer side quests in general, with multiple parts and events that are more interesting in the first game, but they're still not great. And are again gated by field skills a lot of the time. Although it feels like Corvin and Zenobia's ability trees are "in jokes" about the quests in the first game. Corvin really is like the lists of killing and collecting random shit you would get in XC1, and Zenobia is all about targeting unique enemies.

I do think this game would be improved by more to mitigate the RNG, especially of the gacha system. The pity system perhaps should be less strong, but never go away. It's kinda lame that it seems like the best ways to mitigate all the RNG bs is in the DLC gifts, which is obviously behind a paywall. I think if I hadn't gotten the season pass because I was so enthused by the first game, I would be much more annoyed using the ugly af common blades rn.

I also feel there's just a bit of overkill on how many systems are in the game. Regular levels with bonus xp, weapon skills, blade affinity levels, affinity tree nodes that have unique requirements, merc missions, gacha unlocks, salvage system, pouch system, aux cores, blade combos, chain attack mechanics, idea levels (and boosters), gathering/field skills, day-night cycle, development levels, etc. I realize you don't really have to fully engage with all this stuff, but a lot of it feels unnecessary and makes the beginning more confusing than it needs to be.

Obviously I'm enjoying it overall though, but I felt like mentioning the things I don't like while I'm here. Compared to the first, I fine the gameplay of this one to be more engaging/interesting, and several of the RPG systems I mentioned earlier keep me thinking about how to handle my blades from moment to moment. I don't really like the characters as much, but the environment design is a lot better than the first imo. They kind of consolidated and made more interesting places that you get familiar with. A bit of quality over quantity I would say. As an aside, I've definitely become numb to the voices lol. They don't bother me nearly as much now. I'm tired af rn so I'm gonna go ahead and sleep, but I may have more thoughts in the morning.

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Yeah, I agree about the area design and the combat. XC2's battle system keeps getting better as time goes on and I love the idea that the difficulty is hugely dependant on your knowledge of the game and your build, so that you can potentially fight enemies 10+ levels above you without having to wait for end-game. XC1 had an artificial difficulty barrier with the huge penalties attributed to the one who is merely a few levels below. Enemies are either way too easy or way too hard in XC1 unless you make sure you're at the exact same level, and I kinda hated that. At least Definitive Edition makes it easier to keep your levels where you want if you want a challenge. XC2 has the same penalty system but it's way more subtle and toned down.

XC2's area design is definitely more interesting and compact. I've got 400+ hours and I still occasionally find secrets I didn't before. I wish field skill checks weren't reliant on an RNG system (something that Torna fixed by completely removing the gacha element, so you see the true potential of the field skill system), but I love that it's a little more compact and has loads of secrets you could find with more interesting locations. XC1, while gorgeous, has a ton of vast, empty space. Looked impressive at the time, especially on the Wii, but you can definitely see the area design's age through Definitive Edition.
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I think sheer scope in terms of expanse was more impressive back when the first came out. In this they've clearly responded to issues from the first game.

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You thought I was a dumb ass... but I am actually a bad ass! Lol

Anyway I started using some gold salvage tubes and holy shit these things print money. Farming rn to buy that crystal in torigoth. Might do this once in a while to boost my dev levels too.

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Jabodie posted...

Might do this once in a while to boost my dev levels too.

A trick you can do is that, once you get max dev level in an area, buy as many Gold Cylinders as you can in that area, and then sell them at other areas to raise their dev level, rinse and repeat. You won't be losing any money with this method since areas at max dev level have prices as low as the selling price of those items.
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That's a good tip. I might do that once in a while, doesn't seem like there's much reason not to tbh.

Also the Praetor seems to be mind controlled by Malos or something... I'll be interested in seeing what that's about. It also hit me that a Titan could very well be a villain in this have... idk if that's all that likely but I thought of it lol. So much intrigue lol.

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nia voice good

Some more scenes, of to see Jin in his WMD giant turtle tank. Feels like this chapter will be a big context dump if I had to guess.

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I've gotten 3 rare blades trying to pull a giant mega Lance blade >_>

Apparently Perceval is a pretty good one too. Nice

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Did another round of rng to get a brute mega lane... got 2 rares. That's a total of 5 rares pulls going for this. Got plenty of brute knuckles though.

I just got past the attempted assassination by Bana. A fair bit of info was dropped, but it seems like my guess that these blades were once people is wrong. Interesting that Jin wants to kill the Architect, and I'm interested to see what Amalthus is really up to.

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Tf are shulk and fiora doing here? Lol

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Jabodie posted...

Tf are shulk and fiora doing here? Lol

Lmao, I take it you stumbled onto the Challenge Mode. The cameo appearances from that mode aren't canon, but they're nice to see.
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