Poll of the Day > Xenoblade Chronicles

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm replaying it in anticipation of Xenoblade 3. On the way out of Colony 9

I wish the Tales of Devs would look at this game and learn how to tell a decent story with good music along side it

MechaKirby posted...

I'm replaying it in anticipation of Xenoblade 3. On the way out of Colony 9

I wish the Tales of Devs would look at this game and learn how to tell a decent story with good music along side it

Thats what my buddy was doing. He played a ton of the first one. And now, hes playing he second. I usually see hes on at night

I'm already on chapter 4-5 and I'm still on Guar Plain.

I guess it is kinda easy to miss that this is a short or medium length game if you go straight for the story

I was getting into the 2nd one, but my girlfriend played Animal Crossing for the first time in months when I just put it on sleep mode after doing like 30 mins of side quests and I haven't been able to go back to it.
I know I should've saved, but she didn't play the Switch in like 3 or 4 months, so I thought she wasn't going to touch it again.
Now the 3rd one is coming out on the same day as Digimon Survive, so that's not getting picked up for a while.

I'm also taking this opportunity to play through the Definitive Edition, which I've had for a little while but haven't touched yet. I just finished Makna Forest. It's a good time.

MechaKirby posted...

I guess it is kinda easy to miss that this is a short or medium length game if you go straight for the story

When X was coming out, I blitzed through the game's story with an overpowered NG+ build (100% crit for Shulk, maxed out move speed, first attack damage, and back attack damage, and a few other pieces here and there that made it easy to zip through everything and one-shot anything I did have to fight), and even that that took like 20 hours. I believe the cutscenes alone total like 10 hours, so it's pretty substantial.

lihlih posted...

I was getting into the 2nd one, but my girlfriend played Animal Crossing for the first time in months when I just put it on sleep mode after doing like 30 mins of side quests and I haven't been able to go back to it.

Back when I was playing through the first game for the first time, my Wii stopped working after playing for 5 hours straight. I saved exactly once in that time frame, at roughly the 4.5-hour mark. Losing that half hour of random side questing (also in Makna, actually) was a pain, but I can't help but feel relieved that I saved when I did. It also makes me very glad the DE has an autosave feature.

MechaKirby posted...

I'm replaying it in anticipation of Xenoblade 3. On the way out of Colony 9

I wish the Tales of Devs would look at this game and learn how to tell a decent story with good music along side it

i wish the Xenoblade devs looked at tales of games to learn how to make a game that's fun to play

I would play through it since I got the Switch version recently, but I'm into P5R right now.

Made it to Frontier Village and Melia joined.

I don't normally use the more complicated characters in games, but Melia's pretty involved and super fun in combat.

Xenobulge Chrowonicles

I wouldnt say Melia is complicated

Just throw Poison/Ice Boost Gems on her, and make sure she lets off her DoT after a bit of a streak in a Chain Attack and her poison will suddenly melt a quarter sized portion of the boss health bar every 3 seconds.

I haven't played XB2 since 2018, so I'm playing through that game again.

Maybe I'm just dense or something, because I never understood how to play Melia effectively, even after someone explained it to me. I'll have to try again with my next playthrough.

PK_Spam posted...

I wouldnt say Melia is complicated

Just throw Poison/Ice Boost Gems on her, and make sure she lets off her DoT after a bit of a streak in a Chain Attack and her poison will suddenly melt a quarter sized portion of the boss health bar every 3 seconds.

Bonus points where talent arts are a wild card in chain combos, so it's super easy for her to get to that sweet, sweet 15x multiplier. Less bonus points where AI-controlled Melia is terrible, so you're really only ever going to have her be #1, 4, or 7 in a chain attack and getting the 15x bonus from a 5-chain takes some luck with chain links.

I will say, I'd forgotten just how long it takes her poison/ice DoT's to show up. With expert mode turned on and generally trying to keep everyone roughly at level with the story enemies, I'm just starting Valak Mountain and I still don't have them. Other playthroughs, I've done so many side quests that I'm pretty sure Melia had her full kit (at least, the whole kit that matters) by now, but here I am with only Flare/Bolt to lean on.

I need to get Monado Eater this playthrough, since I accidentally sold it 1st playthrough

PK_Spam posted...

I wouldnt say Melia is complicated

Just throw Poison/Ice Boost Gems on her, and make sure she lets off her DoT after a bit of a streak in a Chain Attack and her poison will suddenly melt a quarter sized portion of the boss health bar every 3 seconds.

Her Summon Bolt is decent, too. And ice/poison aren't available early on.

keyblader1985 posted...

Maybe I'm just dense or something, because I never understood how to play Melia effectively, even after someone explained it to me. I'll have to try again with my next playthrough.

She summons elementals, and can store up to 3. While stored, they have a passive buff for the party or in an area around Melia (Bolt raises Ether damage, Earth raises defense, etc...).
When you use her talent art (center), she will discharge her summons in reverse order to how they were summoned, for an effect (water heals the party, the rest all do damage to enemies). Say you summoned Bolt, Earth, Ice (in that order). You would discharge (in order) Ice, Earth, Bolt if you did it 3 times in a row.

Generally, it's suggested to use summons that you like the passive buffs for first (Bolt or Earth, mainly), then the ones you want to attack with. Discharge the last 1 or 2, keep the first 1 or 2, summon new ones to attack with, and repeat.
When her talent gauge fills, you enter "Elemental Burst" or whatever and all her summons will do a lot more damage. At this point, sometimes just spamming discharge is worth it for lots of damage quickly (if the summons' cool down is done, you can even immediately summon and discharge more), but it will draw shit loads of aggro to her. When all your summons are off cool down is also a good time to unload all of them since you can just re-summon at that point.

Of course, the main time to unload summons is a chain attack. Melia is the best character in a chain attack, because talent arts (discharge in her case) count as any color. So you can have her discharge, other two use a pink (Break) art, Melia use a discharge, then they switch to red, and the multiplier keeps increasing. For example. Since she can use her talent art up to 3 times in a row and basically have it usable at will while as most others only can use it once before it drains and need to slowly fill it up, she excels at keeping the max damage multiplier going.

Her best summon discharges are Earth (AoE poison damage over time), Ice (AoE ice damage over time), and Bolt (single target instantaneous electric damage), in that order.
Her best summon passive buffs are Bolt (Ether +20% per summon), Earth (defense %15% per summon), and Ice (magic defense +15% per summon)

Melia can pump out crazy damage, the issue is being picky about when to do it so you avoid aggro and quickly dying. Damage over time (DoT) is nice b/c it draws way less aggro than doing the damage in one shot. You should play as Melia (computer is bad w/ her) and have Riki in the party (lots of art color and DoT synergy), and 3rd person either Sharla or Seven. People call this the "Ether party" since it's focused on magic attacks mostly.

@keyblader1985

Controlling Melia and having Riki and... I think it was Sharla... to round things out.

Was such a busted team until near the end. After that, Shulk, Seven, and I think Dunban. Could replace Dunban with... I want to say Reyn, but no need. Literally destroy all Superbosses. Seven needs only 4 attacks equipped and she can be AI controlled.

My usual regular rotation with Melia starts with Bolt>Copy (2x Bolt buff)>Earth>Discharge>Ice>Discharge>Flare>Discharge, then leaving the two Bolt buffs active while cycling between further Bolts, Wind (if everything else is on cooldown), and whatever DoT's need refreshing as cooldowns permit. Depending on the fight, I may opt for a different buff (Bolt>Earth>Copy will give a smaller Ether boost plus a physical def boost and flow into the same rotation, Wind>Copy>Etc is a very nice agility boost if you're against something much higher level, etc.), but that's the basic gist of it. When the target's almost dead, I'll throw out those remaining bolts to finish it off, since there' no point hanging on to them.

Chain attacks get a bit trickier, because you want to engineer them so discharging Earth happens as late as possible in the chain. Earth's DoT lasts a whopping 90 seconds (75 without the duration-boosting skill, iirc), and if you've got the damage boost from a chain attack when you apply it, that boost lasts for its entire duration, dealing an absolutely insane amount of damage if you get the 4-chain or 5-chain boost (12x and 15x damage, if memory serves, which can very easily give you ticks of 15-30k). You can get a pretty reliable 4-chain by having Earth second in line, then opening the chain attack by discharging #1, having your other two party members use arts of the same colour (anything), then discharging Earth on Melia's second turn (if you get it). If your affinity is high enough to expect Melia to get a third turn, you can try to get a 5-chain leading into it, but that requires some luck and/or high affinity.

Using Summon Copy on Bolt just feels like such a waste, since Bolt's cool down is so fast.
Earth's takes really long, so I always try to use Copy on that (or Ice, which has moderate cool down)

Bolt -> Earth -> Copy (Earth) -> discharge (Earth) and then Bolt (which probably has recharged by then on its own) would be better
Or do Earth and Copy first, then Bolt, then discharge all but the first Earth and re-summon Bolt and whatever else...

And do chain attacks really go to 15x? I could've sworn in maxes at 5x and then just stays there (which is still massive)...

Other arts:
Reflect is great, it will save your ass (it works on all except talent arts).
Spearbreak + Starlight Kick is nifty until late game when it's tough for her to hit w/ it. Auto-topple, great for disrupting visions.
Mind Blast is only usable when she's in Elemental Burst and has huge cool down, but it does good damage and is the only thing other than Shulk's Monado Purge that can remove auras (like the damn Telethia's soul read). On the plus side, it's available in chain attacks even while on cool down, that's how I get more use out of it...

streamofthesky posted...

Using Summon Copy on Bolt just feels like such a waste, since Bolt's cool down is so fast.

It's mostly for the sake of getting the double ether buff set up before applying the DoT's, so they do as much damage as possible (they snapshot your damage stats at the moment they're applied, regardless of what happens after that).

streamofthesky posted...

Earth's takes really long, so I always try to use Copy on that (or Ice, which has moderate cool down)

The DoT doesn't stack, though, so there's no point in discharging Earth more than every 30/45 (with the skill) seconds. It starts out with a 90-second cooldown (I mixed up the duration and cooldown in my last post), but that's reduced to 49.5 by max rank, which isn't much downtime. Similarly, Ice lasts 16 seconds with the skill and has a cooldown of 16.7 at max rank.

That's not to say there aren't cases where you'll want to reapply Earth before the cooldown's up (namely long fights before maxing it, fights with multiple enemies, or fights where you want to keep the defense buff active as much as possible), but for burning down regular enemies quickly, a single application is generally going to be good enough. Adapting to those situations is where the strategy of using Melia comes in: You very much need to think several moves ahead to use her to her fullest potential.

There's also the option of exploiting chain attacks to re-summon it early. If you're running, say, Melia/Dunban/Riki and have half-decent affinity, you can pretty reliably do Summon Earth>Blinding Blossom/Final Flicker>Happy Happy>Discharge Earth and apply a very powerful DoT without ever having to worry about the cooldown, and including Happy Happy in there means chain attacks come pretty frequently.

streamofthesky posted...

And do chain attacks really go to 15x? I could've sworn in maxes at 5x and then just stays there (which is still massive)...

It maxes at a chain of 5, but that gives a 700% damage bonus, now that I actually look it up and find that 15 is mistaken (15 is the max number of possible attacks, so maybe I'm thinking of that). 1-chain is regular damage, 2 is +100%, 3 is +300%, 4 is +500%, and 5 is +700%. Either way, given that DoT damage snapshots based on that bonus, it's a really good idea to try and apply DoT's with a chain bonus.

Made it to Eryth Sea

I spent several hours filling out the map by swimming on my 1st playthrough <_<

By the time I was done, I found out discovering everything completes the map, too

MechaKirby posted...

Made it to Eryth Sea

I spent several hours filling out the map by swimming on my 1st playthrough <_<

By the time I was done, I found out discovering everything completes the map, too

I swam around my first time, too

Way better to island hop and just leap off into the water to reach places

At least the DE has an auto run option...

That moment when you first run in the giant spider in Gaur Plains and have a fucking heart attack

I need to go back and actually kill that spider. I stole the mirror at like level 18, so obviously I wasn't in a position to fight it (not with Shulk/Reyn/Sharla, hardly any skills between them, and level-appropriate gear, at least. Pulling it off with endgame setups would probably be fine), but now I'm pushing 60 and might as well grab the coin.

Currently, I'm running around to grab as many of the 4th skill trees as I can before I continue to Mechonis Field. I'd forgotten about the Fallen Arm heart-to-heart where Riki offers to adopt Shulk, so there may have been a few manly tears shed there.

keyblader1985 posted...

That moment when you first run in the giant spider in Gaur Plains and have a fucking heart attack

Oh God, this.

Just finished Prison Island

The events that take place there is definitely a highlight of the game. And the music sells it all. It so good.

Just before Sword Valley, and I finally got Monado Eater

I've just about finished the final area now, though just before the final boss I'll peel off to go finish off sidequests and collect all the gems/items I want. I figure I'll stop using Expert Mode then, since while I've been enjoying keeping pace with the story levels and the challenge of trying to do some optional stuff while pretty underlevelled (took down Territorial Rotbart at 68-69, which was wild), it'd really slow down the endgame farming to stick to that. I also want to get to 90ish for easier affinity farming, since that will make crafting gems much easier.

streamofthesky posted...

Her best summon discharges are Earth (AoE poison damage over time), Ice (AoE ice damage over time), and Bolt (single target instantaneous electric damage), in that order.
Her best summon passive buffs are Bolt (Ether +20% per summon), Earth (defense %15% per summon), and Ice (magic defense +15% per summon)

I don't use bolt simply because it generates so much aggro. It does do fuck-loads of damage, though.

Melia (computer is bad w/ her)

Yeah, never have Melia in the party if you aren't controlling her, her AI is absolute garbage.

I use Bolt pretty sparingly, but it does make its way in there from time to time. Even with Riki tanking (Melia/Riki/Sharla to take advantage of ether attacks being less affected by level differences), I find I can often get one or two in there and there without pulling aggro for longer than Reflect lasts. Granted, I still don't have a Back Attack gem doubling all the damage I do, but I also don't have a rank VI Aggro Up gem for Riki, so there's room for improvement on both fronts.

pretty much the best.

Finished Fallen Arm made it to Mechonis Field, some of the coolest areas in the game.

Mechonis Field is probably a top 3 song in the game, brought the games soundtrack from good to great for me single-handedly

Is gadolt supposed to be one of the harder bosses, cuz he nearly beat me even tho I was gemmed up the ass.

Also beat Egil, and if I remember correctly I got about 2 dungeons left

I dont remember the second battle with him being all that difficult. The first one can trip you up, and you have less leeway if Sharla isnt in your party because he always immediately aggros onto her, giving you some time to reach his ass

you also have 3 areas left. Technically 4

MechaKirby posted...

Is gadolt supposed to be one of the harder bosses, cuz he nearly beat me even tho I was gemmed up the ass.

First battle, just use the cover and advance...
2nd battle I don't recall any trouble

Also beat Egil, and if I remember correctly I got about 2 dungeons left

When you say you beat Egil, you mean Mechonis Core, in his mech? If so, then 2 dungeons are left. Plus some other stuff that isn't "dungeons".

Since he mentioned Gadolt before Egil, I assumed he wasnt at the Mechonis Core yet

For whatever reason, I had a rough time with the first Gadolt fight this time around. I picked up a ton of aggro from the extra enemies that made everything more complicated than it needed to be, and I feel like something was glitching out and causing him to fire off his big laser more frequently than he should have. I still beat him on the first try, but it was very much not a smooth fight. Second fight was no problem.

I puttered around for a bit gathering gear and rank VI gems, then went ahead and beat the game before tackling the superbosses (aside from Marcus, who I barely count) so I could go ahead with Future Connected. I'm solidly into that now, then once that's done I'll head back to my main game file to polish off the last few time attacks and superbosses and maybe see if I can complete the cosmetic armor list for maximum Fashionblade Chronicles. Then that'll probably be it for this game. I'm thinking I may buy the DLC and do a NG+ playthrough of XB2 as well, just so it goes faster and I don't have to spend as much time grinding various blades up (especially Ursula. That was rough). There's a fair chance that will take me up until 3 comes out.

Fwiw, you can use Ursula (s quests) to grind the blades for you. Its the quickest method provided you get her early lol

I'm currently doing the Golden Land DLC for the first time. is it just me, or is the party stronger in this version of the combat system?

PK_Spam posted...

Fwiw, you can use Ursula (s quests) to grind the blades for you. Its the quickest method provided you get her early lol

I think I remember hearing something about this.. Anyway, I forgot how to play the game, or where I am exactly. I think I might start a file on my second account to relearn how to play and stuff...

Phantom_Nook posted...

I'm currently doing the Golden Land DLC for the first time. is it just me, or is the party stronger in this version of the combat system?

Its that enemy HP values are less inflated and Elemental Orbs come whenever you use Blade Specials instead of only at the 3rd attack in the elemental tree.

In the base game you need a Common Blade with the Orb Master ability to even get the chance for an Orb to show up right away.

Its also possible that you didnt gear everyone correctly there. If battles last more than a few minutes, its likely that theres a problem with your setup. Once youre finally allowed to fully outfit your gang, you /should/ be able to throw out Blade Specials and Driver Combos like theyre candy

LinkPizza posted...

I think I remember hearing something about this.. Anyway, I forgot how to play the game, or where I am exactly. I think I might start a file on my second account to relearn how to play and stuff...

Just watch Enels guide

https://youtu.be/GEksqxaML58

PK_Spam posted...

Fwiw, you can use Ursula (s quests) to grind the blades for you. Its the quickest method provided you get her early lol

Yeah, she was like the third-last Blade I got, when I was close to the end of the game and just farmed crystals for the remaining few blades. It would have been fine if I'd just worked on her missions gradually throughout the game, but the way it worked out, absolutely all of her development was purely an endgame completionist thing for me, which was kind of miserable.

adjl posted...

Yeah, she was like the third-last Blade I got, when I was close to the end of the game and just farmed crystals for the remaining few blades. It would have been fine if I'd just worked on her missions gradually throughout the game, but the way it worked out, absolutely all of her development was purely an endgame completionist thing for me, which was kind of miserable.

Yeah, I got her in the last chapter.
No way in hell was I going to bother w/ her sidequests and missions at that point.
Put it off for NG+
But I kinda quit the game halfway thru NG+, lol
STILL didn't have Kos-Mos by that point!

KOS-MOS was a late find for me (possibly right after Ursula), but I had no troubles finding all the Blades from a single round of Smash-farming that Armu you can raise (I forget the details, exactly, but spamming Smash on it gave me a full stack of 99 legendary crystals pretty quickly, and I don't think I needed more than 40 to find everyone).

streamofthesky posted...

STILL didn't have Kos-Mos by that point!

Yeah Shes a tricky one to get

Ok I beat the game again.

Still great fun 8.5.

I think the games weakest aspects is enemy variety, exploring most of the world (Valak mountain, Eryth Sea, and Guar Plains are kinda too big and empty), and a flood of generic fetch quests from npcs you gotta seek out

I finished Future Connected last night. A fun little epilogue, though going from becoming stupidly powerful by exploiting complex systems to having a more streamlined combat system that dramatically limited me was a bit of a shock. Nothing about it was particularly hard aside from the end of the Ponspector questline, but it was still definitely a step down from what I'd gotten used to. Having dramatically less ability to stack agility to make up for level differences was particularly rough. A lot of the Quiet Moments were... longer than they needed to be, shall we say, but overall it was a nice bit of character development for Melia.

Now I just have the last few time attacks to hammer out, a few more gems to craft, some superbosses to kill, and probably a bit of puttering around to try and fill the cosmetics list before I call this playthrough finished.