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Xenoblade |OT| Sorry I Kept You Waiting!

So I got this game a couple of days ago and just finished the first cave you go in to get these...uh...tube things. I had a crazy amount of trouble facing some of the "mini bosses" like the big lizard and the giant caterpillar. I feel like I'm doing something wrong with the battles cause I kept getting destroyed. Is there a way to block or dodge attacks? Is there a way to heal aside from Light Healing? Any other random tips you can give me?
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
So I got this game a couple of days ago and just finished the first cave you go in to get these...uh...tube things. I had a crazy amount of trouble facing some of the "mini bosses" like the big lizard and the giant caterpillar. I feel like I'm doing something wrong with the battles cause I kept getting destroyed. Is there a way to block or dodge attacks? Is there a way to heal aside from Light Healing? Any other random tips you can give me?

Getting destroyed by those is normal for a new player. They are a lot stronger than their level suggests.
 

Dunbar

Member
So I got this game a couple of days ago and just finished the first cave you go in to get these...uh...tube things. I had a crazy amount of trouble facing some of the "mini bosses" like the big lizard and the giant caterpillar. I feel like I'm doing something wrong with the battles cause I kept getting destroyed. Is there a way to block or dodge attacks? Is there a way to heal aside from Light Healing? Any other random tips you can give me?
At your level, any enemy that is above your level, even one level above, is likely going to kick your ass. This lasts quite a ways into the game. Just be patient.
 

JulianImp

Member
At your level, any enemy that is above your level, even one level above, is likely going to kick your ass. This lasts quite a ways into the game. Just be patient.

Yeah, the game's pretty unforgiving. At around 5+ level differences, your attacks begin missing really often, which drops your character's tension, therefore making them even less acurrate.

I still remember that time when the spider boss thing showed up on the hill and I was about ten levels behind it (pro tip: I wasn't supposed to go there yet). At least it wasn't the hairy spider kind, since that'd have been a lot worse.
 

PKrockin

Member
Yeah, the game's pretty unforgiving. At around 5+ level differences, your attacks begin missing really often, which drops your character's tension, therefore making them even less acurrate.

I still remember that time when the spider boss thing showed up on the hill and I was about ten levels behind it (pro tip: I wasn't supposed to go there yet). At least it wasn't the hairy spider kind, since that'd have been a lot worse.
I probably would have shat my pants there had I not encountered it on a return trip through the area to check out more of the map. I was a good 4 levels above it so I breathed a sigh of relief after I hit Z but that's the kind of stuff that makes exploring fun in this game.
 
How far am I into the game? I just reached Eryth Sea. I feel like I'm close to the endgame but I've only clocked in 16 hours so far :/

you're not close at all

spoiler warning so you don't highlight the spoilers out of curiosity:
although you are physically close to the final area of the game at least.....lol
 

PKrockin

Member
looool. Not even close. Not even halfway. Maybe a quarter.
lol, I just finished Eryth Sea and moved on to the next major location and I'm at 36 hours somehow.

Is it normal for Melia to just stand around for long periods of time in battle? She doesn't have any debuffs. Melia pls
 
lol, I just finished Eryth Sea and moved on to the next major location and I'm at 36 hours.

Is it normal for Melia to just stand around for long periods of time in battle? She doesn't have any debuffs. Melia pls

Melia's AI is pretty bad, She's extremely powerful if controlled by player, though.
 

JulianImp

Member
you're not close at all

spoiler warning so you don't highlight the spoilers out of curiosity:
although you are physically close to the final area of the game at least.....lol

Sorry if it comes off as being part of the NFAPD (you know, No Fun Allowed) but, honestly, I don't get why you'd post a spoiler specially for him which he isn't meant to look at. >_>

Still, I like how this thread still keeps most plot-sensitive stuff concealed despite the game being a bit old by now. Being LTTP myself, it was nice to see that most posts weren't already discussing late-game stuff out in the open back when I was just getting started with the game.
 
lol, I just finished Eryth Sea and moved on to the next major location and I'm at 36 hours somehow.

Is it normal for Melia to just stand around for long periods of time in battle? She doesn't have any debuffs. Melia pls

Melia's AI is bad....although as long as you occasionally direct the party to attack I don't find it that awful
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
I found Melia to be basically useless when the AI is controlling her. She'll put up elements to serve as buffs and just... stand there. It might depend on what arts you have on her though, maybe there are setups that work well under the AI. Even if there are they aren't going to be nearly as good as what you can do controlling her yourself, so do that or just stick with a character that the AI is at least semi-competent with.
 

PKrockin

Member
Would it be incredibly stupid to have a party of Shulk, Reyn and Dunban? With Melia's stupidity is getting her kicked out of the battle party for now, I don't really like Riki and Sharla seems unnecessarily focused on healing. I'd probably never be in danger of dying again with her in the party.

Manado speed
seems ridiculously overpowered as well.
 

JulianImp

Member
Would it be incredibly stupid to have a party of Shulk, Reyn and Dunban? With Melia's stupidity is getting her kicked out of the battle party for now, I don't really like Riki and Sharla seems unnecessarily focused on healing. I'd probably never be in danger of dying again with her in the party.

Manado speed
seems ridiculously overpowered as well.

I'd say Reyn and Dunban both take on the same battle role. Reyn tanks with high defenses and HP, and Dunban with agility. I singlehandedly won a boss battle against three assassins while playing as Dunban and using his dodge/agility up aura, and then seeing enemies miss over and over and over.

You should also try Melia out sometime, because she's the kind of character that shines the most when you're the one controlling her.
 

PKrockin

Member
I'd say Reyn and Dunban both take on the same battle role. Reyn tanks with high defenses and HP, and Dunban with agility. I singlehandedly won a boss battle against three assassins while playing as Dunban and using his dodge/agility up aura, and then seeing enemies miss over and over and over.

You should also try Melia out sometime, because she's the kind of character that shines the most when you're the one controlling her.
I noticed, just from all the "DUNBAN! NICE DODGE!"s. Then I immediately gave him +50 in agility gems. Dunban and Reyn both look like they have some options on the offensive side too though.

I figured the game making me actually play as another character, Melia, for once was a hint to try playing as her more. Maybe I'll re-read the in game tips relating to her and try again. I didn't really understand how summoning worked. Shulk is still my go-to guy because the angle of attack based moves are much more satisfying and being in control of Monado powers is useful. I'll switch when I get bored of combat, which is going to happen pretty soon I'm sure. Haven't got any new artes for Shulk in a while besides the shitty sacrifice half your life for some Monado gauge one.
 
Shulk/Reyn/Dunban is perfectly viable, but

I don't really like Riki

boo_this_man_half_baked.gif
 

PKrockin

Member
Shulk/Reyn/Dunban is perfectly viable, but



http://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/boo_this_man_half_baked.gif[IMG][/QUOTE]
lol, I was expecting that. They introduced Melia and Riki in quick succession who remind me of Tales of the Abyss characters Natalia and Mieu... and it's hard for me to get over something that reminds me of Mieu. The mascot character with an annoying voice tagging along for no real reason. OK, I guess. There's nothing to his backstory or personality and he kind of sticks out like a sore thumb in cutscenes. To be fair though I'm not finding any of these characters to be very good. The protagonist not being an unlikeable whiny idiot with self esteem issues is cool for a JRPG though.
 

JulianImp

Member
I noticed, just from all the "DUNBAN! NICE DODGE!"s. Then I immediately gave him +50 in agility gems. Dunban and Reyn both look like they have some options on the offensive side too though.

I figured the game making me actually play as another character, Melia, for once was a hint to try playing as her more. Maybe I'll re-read the in game tips relating to her and try again. I didn't really understand how summoning worked. Shulk is still my go-to guy because the angle of attack based moves are much more satisfying and being in control of Monado powers is useful. I'll switch when I get bored of combat, which is going to happen pretty soon I'm sure. Haven't got any new artes for Shulk in a while besides the shitty sacrifice half your life for some Monado gauge one.

Well, Shulk only learns new Monado arts and gets little to no customization due to those arts taking up a different art palette, while the other characters all have lots of interchangeable ones you can play around with.

Melia's all about stacking summons (they work like a literal stack, as in the last summon you call is the first one you discharge). When she reaches burst mode after enough elemental discharges, some extra arts of hers become available, but that's exactly when discharging summons deals some nice extra damage, with the only downside being that there's a small chance that her burst mode ends right after each use.

Sleep is a great status effect for shattering visions, but you should remember to have your party NOT attack the target so that it stays asleep for as long as possible.

Later on, she gets the stab thing + starwhatever kick combo that's a guaranteed topple, which is kind of funny and useful at the same time.

lol, I was expecting that. They introduced Melia and Riki in quick succession who remind me of Tales of the Abyss characters Natalia and Mieu... and it's hard for me to get over something that reminds me of Mieu. The mascot character with an annoying voice tagging along for no real reason. OK, I guess. There's nothing to his backstory or personality and he kind of sticks out like a sore thumb in cutscenes. To be fair though I'm not finding any of these characters to be very good. The protagonist not being an unlikeable whiny idiot with self esteem issues is cool for a JRPG though.

You shouldn't doubt this year's heropon! He was a bit weird for me at first too, but later on he grew on me (note that I was using the japanese voice track, so he sounded even more like your token cutesy mascot).

Character wise, I felt like they weren't the best I've seen by far, but they still managed to be decent enough. The context-sensitive mid-combat banter really helped their characterizations, though, and I wish they'd have talked a bit more often at times, such as when discovering a new area or spotting a named enemy (you know, things that wouldn't happen all the time, so that you wouldn't get tired if they only recorded one or two variations of the dialogue).
 
Is it normal for Melia to just stand around for long periods of time in battle? She doesn't have any debuffs. Melia pls
As noted before AI plays her by keeping spells in reserve. It is a blessing during chain attacks since discharges are white artes so can be chained from and to anything guaranteeing a 3x chain at minimum (any-white-any).

How far am I into the game? I just reached Eryth Sea. I feel like I'm close to the endgame but I've only clocked in 16 hours so far :/
More than third. Less than a half. From where you are what most consider to be the halfway point is
1 city and 2 dungeons
away
 

K-A-Deman

Member
Just curious, is anyone here following along with Chugga's Xenoblade LP?

I am, last I watched he was finishing up in Satorl Marsh but Youtube is crapping on me for any video I try to watch.

Just fired up Xenoblade to run down the clock until the Smash Announcement and I decided rather than play the story, I'll use my new game to explore the world and see how they filled it out regarding NPCs and such.

So far, I have to give them some serious credit; every unnamed NPC I've talked to has given me unique information on both topics. Plus, I actually learned some new things about the world of Xenoblade; like the fact that Dickson is considered Vangarre's superior. I'm actually watching the cutscene with Shulk and Dickson in the lab that precedes the introduction of Dunban and Fiora. I'm just reminded of how the first time I saw it, my first thought was 'boy I'll bet this is a popular pairing'...then, sibling announcement, and I just burst out laughing.
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
How important is crafting in this game? I just got Melia and noticed the game is getting a bit harder.

Not very, for most of the game you can get decent gems from sidequests. If you aren't doing sidequests crafting is a bit more important (but sidequests are also the only way to get some low level gems, like critical up).

Once you start getting V crystals and high enough affinity to Megaheat, that's when gem crafting gets serious. But that's like end-game/post-game.
 

Velcro Fly

Member
I'm intrigued by everything but I'm afraid I'd struggle with combat. It all just seems complex to me. Like you get overwhelmed one moment and everything goes to shit. I'm watching chugga's LP of it.
 

Kamek

Member
I'm intrigued by everything but I'm afraid I'd struggle with combat. It all just seems complex to me. Like you get overwhelmed one moment and everything goes to shit. I'm watching chugga's LP of it.

Nah man. It's really intuitive. You learn it quickly in the beginning of the game with easy enemies and battles. It's a natural progression.
 

Mine01

Member
man i want to replay this but... 60 hours + to finish it... i dont know if i want to spend my whole sumer gaming time in this game.. (i think its awesome, but still 60 hours...)
 

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Melia is so ridiculously broken, guaranteed topples and can inflict so many status ailments

I wouldn't say she's broken, her topple is kept in check by not comboing with other topple arts and her crazy damage output is balanced by generating quite a lot of aggro.

Doesn't mean she's not really good, but Shulk is undoubtedly the most overpowered character. I'd argue Dunban is probably also better than Melia just for having Serene Heart.
 

meow

Member
I've played all the way to the city
agniratha
and I'm embarrassed to say I still don't really understand the countdown on visions. Is the number shown the second countdown? Sometimes it pauses but in terms of strategy, for example, if I'm trying to use melia's reflection, and it lasts for 5 seconds, when would be the proper time to use it?
 

JulianImp

Member
I've played all the way to the city
agniratha
and I'm embarrassed to say I still don't really understand the countdown on visions. Is the number shown the second countdown? Sometimes it pauses but in terms of strategy, for example, if I'm trying to use melia's reflection, and it lasts for 5 seconds, when would be the proper time to use it?

It's the time that remains before the vision becomes a reality. For example, toppling an opponent will freeze the timer, which resumes counting down once the enemy gets back up, while inflicting sleep on an enemy will shatter the vision instead. When the timer hits zero, the action happens, but you also have the ability to alter it by having the enemy focus on another character by manipulating aggro, for example.
 

meow

Member
Ok, so I like playing as melia but I've fitted her with the ether and electric gems (whichever it is that boosts summon bolt) so she does major damage but has low HP. As a result, unless I just stand around with her not doing anything for like 5 seconds, the aggro is almost always on her (and then returns to her on the next hit) and she's always on the verge of dying against the tougher opponents. I don't remember exactly why I took the sleep art out of her moveset, it might have been a combo of really long cooldown and that some enemies kept resisting it maybe? So I want to use reflection but I just don't really know how to time it.

Or do I just need to boost the other chars more to attract more of the aggro? She just does so much damage. I don't think the moves are considered spoilers but if anyone does, lmk and I'll change it.
 

JulianImp

Member
Ok, so I like playing as melia but I've fitted her with the ether and electric gems (whichever it is that boosts summon bolt) so she does major damage but has low HP. As a result, unless I just stand around with her not doing anything for like 5 seconds, the aggro is almost always on her (and then returns to her on the next hit) and she's always on the verge of dying against the tougher opponents. I don't remember exactly why I took the sleep art out of her moveset, it might have been a combo of really long cooldown and that some enemies kept resisting it maybe? So I want to use reflection but I just don't really know how to time it.

Or do I just need to boost the other chars more to attract more of the aggro? She just does so much damage. I don't think the moves are considered spoilers but if anyone does, lmk and I'll change it.

You'd probably need somebody with aggro-manipulating arts, such as Dunban or Reyn (also, remember to equip them with those arts).

I never played around with reflection myself, but did abuse the sleep-inflicting art, as well as the topple combo, which are both quite good. You should remember to have your party focus fire on enemies you haven't put to sleep to avoid waking them up by accident, though.
 
Ok, so I like playing as melia but I've fitted her with the ether and electric gems (whichever it is that boosts summon bolt) so she does major damage but has low HP. As a result, unless I just stand around with her not doing anything for like 5 seconds, the aggro is almost always on her (and then returns to her on the next hit) and she's always on the verge of dying against the tougher opponents. I don't remember exactly why I took the sleep art out of her moveset, it might have been a combo of really long cooldown and that some enemies kept resisting it maybe? So I want to use reflection but I just don't really know how to time it.

Or do I just need to boost the other chars more to attract more of the aggro? She just does so much damage. I don't think the moves are considered spoilers but if anyone does, lmk and I'll change it.

You do have Summon Copy right?
if not, it's probably too early in the game for Melia to be a killing machine
 

meow

Member
You'd probably need somebody with aggro-manipulating arts, such as Dunban or Reyn (also, remember to equip them with those arts).

I never played around with reflection myself, but did abuse the sleep-inflicting art, as well as the topple combo, which are both quite good. You should remember to have your party focus fire on enemies you haven't put to sleep to avoid waking them up by accident, though.

I don't usually use Reyn in a party, but I'll take another look at dunban.

You do have Summon Copy right?
if not, it's probably too early in the game for Melia to be a killing machine

I don't currently have access to the game, but I think the arts I had on her were: Summon Flare, Summon Earth, Summon Bolt, Summon Copy, Spear Break, Starlight Kick, Reflection, and one more (Mind Blast?). If the others are supposed to have higher dmg outputs than her at this point, I've fudged something up in how I'm using them. Shulk does pretty high damage, too, and I like Dunban and Riki. Sharla is just slow and I don't like playing as Reyn or 7th.

I've been playing this game in short spurts ever since it came out in the US, I'm finally going to try to finish it up before school starts again in September. I'm not exactly low level, my party must be either around low 60s or 70s (can't remember) but I've picked up and put down this game so often it's just hard to keep things smooth.
 
hmmm
typically for max damage I roll with Summon Bolt+Copy to start, then summon and discharge the DoT elements before summoning a 3rd Bolt and discharging all of them, with the occasional reflect (if you get the aggro on you)/topple thrown in

of course this is for longer fights, the average generic enemy dies far too quickly for me to do all of that
 
i put this game down probably two years ago after dying to
lorithia
and picked it back up and beat her this evening. that felt awesome. no idea why it took me so long since i knew all along i was going to have to use melia, who i had barely used to that point. took a little time since i had to remember how to play.

are any of the remaining bosses that hard? i figure im off to do some side quests and so on for a while, probably get a few levels from that, but will there be any more walls? i would hate to play for another several hours and then not be able to finish. i assume im going to have to fight
dickson
and
zanza
, perhaps a few others. will i be able to beat them or will i have to grind/not suck at the game?
 

Soodanim

Gold Member
i put this game down probably two years ago after dying to
lorithia
and picked it back up and beat her this evening. that felt awesome. no idea why it took me so long since i knew all along i was going to have to use melia, who i had barely used to that point. took a little time since i had to remember how to play.

are any of the remaining bosses that hard? i figure im off to do some side quests and so on for a while, probably get a few levels from that, but will there be any more walls? i would hate to play for another several hours and then not be able to finish. i assume im going to have to fight
dickson
and
zanza
, perhaps a few others. will i be able to beat them or will i have to grind/not suck at the game?
If you're near the end (the point of no return is very clear, and it gives you the option of going or staying) you're probably good to finish the game if you've been doing side quests as well, but I can't say for sure what the recommended levels are because I was 99 by the time I finished it.

I went round all of the areas that were unlocked by the late game events and went round beating all of the enemies I passed throughout the game that were too much for me before. I don't think there's a clear place to level up at that point, you will be underlevelled for a while but you get there in the end.
 
If you're near the end (the point of no return is very clear, and it gives you the option of going or staying) you're probably good to finish the game if you've been doing side quests as well, but I can't say for sure what the recommended levels are because I was 99 by the time I finished it.

I went round all of the areas that were unlocked by the late game events and went round beating all of the enemies I passed throughout the game that were too much for me before. I don't think there's a clear place to level up at that point, you will be underlevelled for a while but you get there in the end.

i am only level 73 or 74, which i suspect is too low to proceed right now (i know people beat the game at low levels, but see above: i suck) so i am going to go back through each location for more quests, and maybe beat some of the high level monsters wandering around. when i was struggling with
lorithia
i did a couple of google searches and it seems like that boss is a stumbling block/difficulty spike for a lot of people and i was just wondering if the population at large felt similarly about any of the remaining bosses.
 
i put this game down probably two years ago after dying to
lorithia
and picked it back up and beat her this evening. that felt awesome. no idea why it took me so long since i knew all along i was going to have to use melia, who i had barely used to that point. took a little time since i had to remember how to play.

are any of the remaining bosses that hard? i figure im off to do some side quests and so on for a while, probably get a few levels from that, but will there be any more walls? i would hate to play for another several hours and then not be able to finish. i assume im going to have to fight
dickson
and
zanza
, perhaps a few others. will i be able to beat them or will i have to grind/not suck at the game?

Normally, you'll find it really hard to beat
Zanza
if your level is lower then
77
. And for other bosses, some gems will be useful, like
Paralysis Resist
and
Spike Defence
.
 

meow

Member
hmmm
typically for max damage I roll with Summon Bolt+Copy to start, then summon and discharge the DoT elements before summoning a 3rd Bolt and discharging all of them, with the occasional reflect (if you get the aggro on you)/topple thrown in

of course this is for longer fights, the average generic enemy dies far too quickly for me to do all of that
I do the opposite to keep the buffs up, I just wondered what to do in the case I get a vision that would knock out Melia other than run around and hope that someone else draws aggro. I thought I had read reflection would take care of anything but talent arts but I'm just unclear on when the time to cast it would be.
 
thanks for all the help guys. after all this time its a bit tough to pick it back up, so advice is really helpful.

If you want some quick EXP, make sure to pick up all the secret areas that open up.

use a guide to find them or should their locations be obvious? or does being obvious contradict their being secret?

Normally, you'll find it really hard to beat
Zanza
if your level is lower then
77
. And for other bosses, some gems will be useful, like
Paralysis Resist
and
Spike Defence
.

77
seems achievable. i plan to revisit all or most areas currently open to me to clean up a bunch of quests, so those should get me part of the way there. then fighting though the final area(s?) should take care of the rest.
 
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