Hey, Bob here. It's been a while since my last tips and tricks blog, and you probably don't miss me. I've been drowning in homework and finishing this game. I was going to do a Mario Kart Wii blog, but I finished this game and was so moved by it, I decided to give it some gratitude. This game is extremely rare. Look at this:
http://i.imgur.com/JsMQtxU.jpg
Alright, for those of you who don't have this game, first of all, why are you reading this? Oh, second of all, Xenoblade Chronicles is a JRPG that allows for turn-based strategies, while still playing in real time. This is a cross between Final Fantasy, Zelda, and Star Wars. Anyways, there are two giant beings locked in combat. These beings eventually kill each other. At the same time. The Bionis, one of the beings, becomes an equivalent of earth. Homs (People), animals, monsters, Nopon, and High Entia all live here. On Mechonis, the other being, Mechon are being built and made. Mechon are these nasty robot things with impenetrable armor and a hunger for humans. There is now a war between the beings of Bionis and Mechonis. The only thing that can cut Mechon armor is a legendary sword, the Monado. Thought to be the very same weapon that Bionis wielded. Dunban, a Homs, battles the Mechon invasion at Bionis's wrist. He single-handedly wins, but loses the use of his right arm. That's basically the beginning.
General Combat Basics
-Turn on Enemy Tags in your options. This will cause a floating symbol over your target. Nothing means if you attack them, only then will they attack you. "!" means, "I will kill you." The colors on the tags show the monster's level.
Black=5 levels or more below you.
Blue=Any levels under you.
Gray=In your average level group.
Yellow=A little higher than your average level.
Red=10 levels or more above you.
-You can fill up your Party Bar by using Critical Hits and encouraging allies.
-If your ally is sad, why not help him out! Make him feel happy!
-Only use chain attacks if you're struggling,
-You can see the future in this game, allowing for a turn based strategy. During a battle, time will freeze and the enemy will attack and maybe kill a party member. Then time will be reverted before the vision and you can avoid or get protected from the attack. These are what moves you can use to avoid these attacks.
Red Attacks= Shield or Speed or Plague
Blue Attacks=Speed
Purple Attacks=Shield or Plague
-If unavoidable, get all the aggro on Reyn and use Last Stand.
Break! Topple! Daze!
-Use a pink art to inflict a break status. After this, you or a partner must use a green art to topple it. The monster will fall. Then a yellow art must be used. Dazing the monster makes it unable to defend, attack, or move.
-Some monsters will transfer their Daze status to you. Beware.
-Some monsters will "Resist" This means you have to Chain Attack or get lucky.
-Sharla's Head Shot move has a 10% chance of Insta-Killing a Dazed Monster.
Mechon Attack!
-Mechon have impentrable armor. There are 3 ways to get past this.
1) Use the Monado.
2) Use Monado Enchant on your allies.
3) Break Topple Daze.
-Face Mechon can only be damaged by Break Topple Daze
-Mechon might sound alarms, alerting other Mechon.
Status Effects
-Poison, Chill, Bleed and Blaze will slowly sap health.
-UMs (Unique Monsters. They have weird names.) might resist status changes.
-Try making as many Status Changes to a monster as you can, and then use Riki's "Say Sorry!"
-All Status Effects will work in a chain attack unless the monster is immune.
-Need help on what a Status Change does? Click the + button when it comes up in the corner of your screen and the battle will pause and give you info on the Status.
Party Setup
-You need at least 1 Tank in your party. They will draw the enemy's attention. Tanks include Reyn and Dunban. MAYBE Riki..
-Special Characters are what I like to call 7th (The 7th character you get, to avoid spoilers), Shulk, Riki, and Melia. They're weird, and don't fall into any class.
-Healers are Sharla and MAYBE Riki.
Tanks
-Tanks draw the enemy's attention.
-If you're a Tank, get as much damage as you can, to protect your Heavy Hitters.
-A Tank will draw the attention from you, letting you go in for moves that only work from behind or the side.
Shulk
-Can be turned into a tank with the right stats, gems, and armor.
-Level up Plague, Shield and Buster. They'll help during Visions.
-Use your break arts a lot and stay behind the monster.
Riki
-Riki's very flexible. With 9999 health at lever 60ish, he can be a Tank, with heavy damage moves.
-He can be a healer, though, because his Healing art is VERY Powerful.
Melia
-I'm not going over how to use her. That'll take years, just view the tutorial.
-Easiest way is to get a bunch of elementals over your head and shoot them using the Talent Art button. (Doesn't matter if the button's grey)
-Try using Bolt, and Copy. Don't discharge these two, and keep shooting other elementals with your last spot. When Bolt Regens, you should have 3 Bolts. They power each other up for a wicked pounding.
-When you get your Talent Art filled, use Mind Blast!
Sharla
-She's the healer and has the lowest health stats.
-Keep her protected. You might want 2 tanks if she's in the party.
I'll avoid using 7th because it'd be a major spoiler giving away her moves. Also, I'm doing Scribblenauts Unlimited next. Until next time, I bid you adieu.