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[ozfunghi]

Does the battle system get better?

I stopped playing it because it was super boring, like bad mmo combat.

Honestly, i thought it got more interesting when the more difficult battles started occuring. To me it was boring in the first part of the game, because there was little to no challenge. After a while you don't get by with just attacking wildly, but you need to put more thought into your active party members, leveling up, and strategy in taking down specific enemies.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

The only boss battle I found chaotic and shit (and would have been better if it have never had left the drawing board) was the one where you are surrounded by "lava". People who have beated the game will now which one im talking about.

I don't recall something like this at all - though if it's what I'm thinking (towards the end game), I had no issues at all with that fight. But I rarely ever used Shulk once I got most of the party members and more of their arts unlocked.

 

[ag-my001]

I don't recall something like this at all - though if it's what I'm thinking (towards the end game), I had no issues at all with that fight. But I rarely ever used Shulk once I got most of the party members and more of their arts unlocked.

That was the fight that made people realize they had played 90% of the game and had never seen the party commands to either come to your position or focus on your target.

 

[Gunslinger]

Xenoblade combat is MMO lite. If you ever played a MMO then the combat should be second nature. But like others said if you haven't played MMO before read the tutorial.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

The only boss battle I found chaotic and shit (and would have been better if it have never had left the drawing board) was the one where you are surrounded by "lava". People who have beated the game will now which one im talking about.

I don't recall something like this at all - though if it's what I'm thinking (towards the end game), I had no issues at all with that fight. But I rarely ever used Shulk once I got most of the party members and more of their arts unlocked.

That was the fight that made people realize they had played 90% of the game and had never seen the party commands to either come to your position or focus on your target.

I didn't have any issues either, but so many people complain about it in the Xenoblade OT. Maybe we got lucky.

As ag-my001 said, it's one of the only fights in the game where it's basically essential to use party commands. When your idiot AI teammates go lavaether pool swimming, you need to call them to you or else they will die and you'll wipe.

 

[Zebetite]

Mess around with characters other than Shulk to find someone you like playing as. I found

Spoiler

Dunban

,

Spoiler

Melia

and the last character you unlock (there are seven total) particularly fun. Read up on your abilities and remember that you have more abilities than you can fit on the bar. Put the abilities that seem most useful on the bar and use them at the right times. Don't forget to use chain attacks-- the bar fills quickly.

 

[DAG Tables]

All attacking arts are inherently more powerful than your auto-attack. Try to use them more and take advantage of their positional bonuses (such as Air Slash and Slit Edge's side attack bonuses).

You do get more characters later on that will greatly change how you play, so keep that in mind.

Try experimenting as people other than Shulk. Shulk goes well with Reyn or

Spoiler

Dunban

taking away Shulk's aggro allowing him to get his art bonuses, but there are many different ways to play this game.

 

[Parakeetman]

my main issue with it is that the AI is a shitty tank and can't hold enemies properly. But I feel obligated to play Shulk because of his monado abilities.

This is a big reason I'm looking forward to the next one, I can just have myself take care of the tank role, which is what I'd prefer to play anyways.

sounds like most tanks in mmos that have "real people" controlling them.

 

[Kenai]

Maybe it's because I am an MMO player, but I quite enjoyed the combat. once I got the hang of it The AI, however...eheh. As an example, I had no idea how powerful characters like Duban evasion tank or Melia Mindblast x 2 or 7th were until i controlled them myself. Some characters have decent AI though like Reyn and Sharla and Riki but I'd never call it good, just passable.

Basically just use the skills on CD or as needed for their effects and once you get more of them check and see how they combo with the other skills of that character. If you can get a topple going you're in good shape until you get more party members. Each character controls fairly different too so don't be afraid to mess around to find out who you do and don't like to play.

 

[TI82]

The combat was horrible and is the reason I didn't finish that game.

 

[III-V]

What I found was that the battles mostly take care of themselves, with some times where it was really important to take control. Once you figure out what is going on in battle, and it may take more time, it will be really great.

EDIT: as others have said, having some previous MMO experience helps. The character roles are like second nature to me now, many times without ever playing the game before, so maybe I would be a bad example.

 

[PotionBleue]

The problem is that you can play through (almost) the whole game by spamming arts like an idiot, especially if you do sidequests and become thus over-leveled. In many cases you'll never get to remotely appreciate the combat system. The only times the game challenges the player, as I recall:

- Ether/Magic (whatever) enemies in case the player never bothered to use Ether attacks/Melia

- The level100+ Unique monsters, unfortunately optional. I really enjoyed these battles and I wish they included more of these enemies.

- Hordes/Timed battles? I remember… only 1 timed battle, some boss in Mechonis.

 

[Fantastical]

I was surprised by how simple the combat got once you knew a few patterns / good combinations that you and your partners could do. I don't really remember them though...

 

[WarAdept]

To truly appreciate the combat and the finer parts of it, you really need to not be overlevelled. Basically don't spam the side quests and you'll enjoy it much more.

Every character has a role or multiple roles. Read up on what each one does, and establish an Arte Rotation for all situations to use, and use any reactionary abilities as necessary.

Press Up on the D pad when not in the middle of the skill bar to quickly bring back the cursor to the middle for super speedy selection.

 

[Benzychenz]

I found the combat really easy to get a hang of, and super fun,

Spoiler

Melia

was easily my favourite party member to control.

But I played WoW for a few years and it's very MMO like so I guess that's why.

 

[Lumpy Onion]

I wonder if all my time in FF XI doing SATA and other techniques had something to do with me liking the combat it this so much. I felt right at home.

 

[PKrockin]

If you've been reading the tutorials it's not confusing. If you're confused, open the menu and reread the tutorial or extra tips. I guess if anything makes it appear chaotic it's everyone shouting crap constantly. I personally like that though since it helps me keep track of what everyone's doing.

 

[rjinaz]

The combat was horrible and is the reason I didn't finish that game.

The combat was wonderful and is the reason I finished the game three times.

I enjoy the simplicity of the combat, yet at the same time, there are a lot of different aspects that make it engaging and interesting from visions, party chains, skill influences, tension, spike damage and other ailments. Not too mention the break,topple,daze system and the fact that the 6 different characters all play quite differently.

Different strokes though.

 

[texhnolyze]

So, according to this thread, MMO style combat is too hard for some people?
I thought people usually bash MMO as games with the most boring combat system ever?
I don't really get it.

 

[Zornica]

The combat was wonderful and is the reason I finished the game three times.

I enjoy the simplicity of the combat, yet at the same time, there are a lot of different aspects that make it engaging and interesting from visions, party chains, skill influences, tension, spike damage and other ailments. Not too mention the break,topple,daze system and the fact that the 6 different characters all play quite differently.

Different strokes though.

also the fact that there are no items.
God I hate items during battle in rpgs.

 

[threelights]

So, according to this thread, MMO style combat is too hard for some people?
I thought people usually bash MMO as games with the most boring combat system ever?
I don't really get it.

Xenoblade does MMO combat with too much flashiness and not-so-great interface, so it seems more complicated than it is. And the OP doesn't play MMOs, so it's even more weird.

Read the comments of people explaining the combat, it has just a few things that MMOs usually don't do (and even some MMOs today are starting to have more complex battle systems).

 

[Otakumegane]

At least you don't have to heal after every fight and rummage through menus after every skirmish.

Honestly it starts improving a LOT around when you get to Makna Forest/Eryth Sea. You start actually having to manage arts and forming plans of attack against the tougher guys.