Topic: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Life on Mira.

[Triforce Hermit]

Started up after a break. Found out file items are actually craft recipes (that would have been nice to know). Got the Excavator Skell now I just need to reach level 60 (at level 57). Almost BLADE Level 10.


So far I've realized a truth about this game. Skell customization is fun. Ground customization isn't. I am not happy with how there are so many classes focused on TP gain when TP builds so slowly (unless I'm doing it wrong). So being stuck with a Ramjet rifle and whatever melee I prefer  which isn't much fun. Add to that armor isn't very good  either and expensive as hell. And how most enemies anymore are built for Skells to be fighting. Not a ground crew. So trying to get into the Ganglion Antropolis is a pain in the ass.


Excited to start up H.B. to work towards getting the Police Skell model. I am not excited to start working with H.B.


Those Gwin affinity missions? I skipped all the scene. I don't even know what I was doing. I just didn't want to hear it.

[Evan_B]

I actually found crafting ground gear way more fun after I gained a wide variety of skills and arts to exploit. Once you have the ability to pick and choose things like TP gain for auras, melee and ranged auto attacks, and combo building, you can play around with equipment and cater it towards your needs. If the "meta" of Skells is Binding and fuel conservation, then for ground gear it's Overdrive. Of course, there's other bizarre builds you can go for like Skell gear and evasion builds, but tey require a lot more investment (in both time and money) and aren't as fun to exploit as Overdrive. When I try beating a group of enemies without Overdrive and then go balls deep with it, the feeling of boosting the counter and regaining time and TP is just so much more satisfying.

[Stratos]

Just an FYI, the Special Edition was back up on Besy Buy yesterday. Not sure if it is still there today but give it a shot if you still want it. I almost gave in but I can't justify a second large game purchase this month as I already have the Fates SE shipping this week. Even with the Amazon Prime discount it is $70.


Though with the BB GCU it does lower the XCX SE to about $70 as well before tax and shipping is free.

[Enner]

So far I've realized a truth about this game. Skell customization is fun. Ground customization isn't. I am not happy with how there are so many classes focused on TP gain when TP builds so slowly (unless I'm doing it wrong). So being stuck with a Ramjet rifle and whatever melee I prefer  which isn't much fun. Add to that armor isn't very good  either and expensive as hell. And how most enemies anymore are built for Skells to be fighting. Not a ground crew. So trying to get into the Ganglion Antropolis is a pain in the ass.


Excited to start up H.B. to work towards getting the Police Skell model. I am not excited to start working with H.B.


Those Gwin affinity missions? I skipped all the scene. I don't even know what I was doing. I just didn't want to hear it.

The Police Skell is a Frame Level 30 Skell since the final Affinity Mission was available after Chapter 10 or so. Same goes for Boze.

Also, yes you are doing it wrong when it comes to TP. Don't be depressed because it is tricky to figure out. There are Skills related to TP gain that will make TP a more regular resource. Or you can buddy up with Yelv and use the gambling crutch of Essence Exchange. There are various Arts associated to gaining TP; Primer from the Dual Guns comes to mind. Also, you can get lucky with equipment that have TP gain boosts. Combine all these and TP arts and Overdrive will be a more regular occurrence.

I've pushed pass the 224 hour mark cause I'm an idiot. I'm slowly circling around Chapter 12, moping up Affinity and Normal missions. I'm a bit bummed that there are some interesting Affinity Missions that happen past Chapter 12, but no biggie.

[Triforce Hermit]

And there goes me working to get the other DLC Skell frames.

[Mop it up]

Y'know, I still have no idea what some things do in this game, such as augments for example, and, well, pretty much anything at the AM terminal aside from leveling up manufacturers. Is this stuff important, or is it just there for people who want to go deeper?

[Evan_B]

If you want to maximize damage output and make equipment sets specifically tailored towards your build, yes, it is important. Essentially, it's crucial for any sort of online play.

Otherwise, you would probably be okay with getting through the game without it.

[Enner]

Developing Augments is critical in getting an edge with your equipment. Having extra TP, higher TP gains, or extra effects from Overdrive will have you fight better. If you have a piece of gear that you like, you can use materials to upgrade the augments that are already in native to that piece of gear.

Finally, you can Develop new gear and Skells. The first Archetype weapons are neat things to have early on. Sadly, the majority of the uses of the Arms Manufacturers terminal won't come in to play until the end game.

[Enner]

And that's time on finishing Chapter 12 at 251 hours in! (I let myself be hopelessly sucked in to this game.)

Mild spoiler: I find it amazing that Xenoblade Chronicles X, SOMA, and (to a lesser degree) Fallout 4 all came out in the same year.

Between friend-of-the-site Syrenne somewhat hyping up Xenoblade Chronicles X's ending and reading the severe disappointment of users in a different forum, I wondered how I would receive the Chapter 12 finale. I love it when my JRPG endings go crazy, and Xenoblade Chronicles X was not one to break that love. There was some bad and messy execution in the movements of Chapter 12 (info dumps are almost always a bad technique), but I enjoyed the tale being spun. A particular revelation has me questioning the agency of humanity in Mira's universe, so I hope to bring that up in the upcoming Radio Free Nintendo spoiler cast.

Even though Chapter 12 is finished, there's still story left to be told. I'm not yet done with my time on Mira.

[Triforce Hermit]

Just beat it myself


Some loose ends I'm sure will be covered up in preceding affinity missions. The ending itself was pretty good. Nowhere near as good as the first Xenoblade, but still nice and left me with a smile.


Time to unlock my beautiful Verus Cain first. Then work on the others. Probably hunt down the level 60 Skell weapon recipes. I should probably work on my ground gear first tbh...


I also cheesed the final boss.

[Evan_B]

Ugh. I can't progress to chapter 11 because I haven't completed Boot Camp yet, largely because I hate Gwinn.

He's grown on me slightly. EVER SO SLIGHTLY.

[Triforce Hermit]

Okay, I made my first real lvl 60 Skell. It is the Ares 70.



Holy crap this thing is so wonderful. And easy to craft. Now I can make the other lvl 60 models easier. Grinding Yggralith for tickets is doable now.

[Evan_B]

Upon getting to Chapter 11 and seeing the Ares, my immediate thought was I WANT THAT REALLY REALLY BAD.

Glad to know it's a post-game option.

[Triforce Hermit]

Pro tip: Grinding Joker the Unknowable in the Divine Roost is a good idea after you get an Ares 70. Agasura Cannon (whatever it is called) can take him out instantly. Killing him and all the Blattas around him in 2 shoots adds up to around a 100 class points. Takes about 20 minutes to finish a single branch of the three. He also has good drops including a rare chance at dropping an Ultra Diamond Lance which comes with amazing TP boosting augments.


I like how joining a Conquest Squad means nothing because I can still never get anyone to join for Ygg. Which sucks because trying to craft all the True Comms armor requires a ton of tickets.

[Enner]

It isn't enough to join a Conquest Squad, sadly. You have to be running with a group that is spending the time doing runs at it. Ah, so sad my Favorites list got flushed and my contact with Justin went away.

[Enner]

I made it! 274 hours in and...

my own Ares 90 is finished!

I couldn't have done it without great Conquest squads take getting their reward tickets seriously.

No, seriously. I couldn't have done it without squads and reward tickets. The drop rates for some of the required materials are absurdly low, and that's if you can complete the Time Attack missions where the drops exclusively come from. Oh, and those Time Attack missions prohibit Skells, have modified bosses, and generally require a properly geared single-player party.

Suffice to say, it's going to be a sad time for a completionist when Xenoblade Chronicles X's online servers go away.

I've been plugging away at the last few Affinity and Normal missions remaining. While I ultimately come away from the Story and Affinity missions disappointed, there continues to be delightful and deranged Normal missions that make me smile.

[Evan_B]

I've just reached post game myself, and will be occupying my time with the affinity missions rather than delving right into the process of getting a level 90 Skell- although I definitely want to do that, and I dread the amount of time necessary during online play.

As for the narrative of the game, I am quite conflicted. Where Xenolade Chronicles wrapped everything up nearly at its conclusion, X is much more open-ended, and though I don't know if there is a post-game narrative that explains some of the major aspects of the game's ending, I am struggling with feeling satisfied. Maybe that's the point- to encourage the player to keep coming back- which it certainly has done for me. Still, I think that loading the bulk of the plot on the end of the game was a poor choice, and though the first game had a twist that required a good deal of end-game exposition, it still felt like you were doing a great deal during the story. In some ways, this game feels very different- I was definitely occupied, though it didn't feel as if it had as much weight.

The real shame about the story of this game was the lack of choreographed cutscenes, which really enhanced the storytelling. Otherwise, I can't place it higher or lower than the original just because of its fundamental differences. I stand by a sequel that is able to do that effectively rather the give more of the same.

[Triforce Hermit]

@Enner- How many Storage probes, Duplicator, and copy probes? And layout if you don't mind (Think I can figure that out on my own though). I'm at 90k miranium limit and I'm struggling to find more probes. Materials aren't a problem to me. At all. I actually am just missing Crude Neilhail Masks and the miranium and the masks aren't that much of a problem.

You know what is soul-sucking? Grinding for True Comms armor.  I don't think I'm going to grind for another set even it is so bad. Hell I'll go a grind 4 Ares 90s before that happens.

Hopefully when the day comes to servers go away, there is a contingency patch.

@Evan- The story is okay. Not as good as the first Xenoblade at all. The first one had far superior characters and story.  X offers better gameplay and a lot more staying power post game. Each game is a masterpiece in its own way. For that I am content even if the lack of great character and story is left on the wayside.

[Mop it up]

I thought the ending was garbage, but it was what I expected. The story was pretty much non-existent and just tried to toss in a few interesting bits here and there. As such, it was also pretty dumb how the game ended in a cliffhanger, since this game's story is not one that should be continued in a sequel game.

If you want to maximize damage output and make equipment sets specifically tailored towards your build, yes, it is important. Essentially, it's crucial for any sort of online play. Otherwise, you would probably be okay with getting through the game without it.

I didn't run into any issues getting through the game proper, nor the squad missions I've played so far, but now that I'm in the post-story parts, I might need it. Are there any good guides out there I could follow? It's a real pain to figure out all this stuff in the game, I may be an insomniac but I still value my time more than that.

It isn't enough to join a Conquest Squad, sadly. You have to be running with a group that is spending the time doing runs at it. Ah, so sad my Favorites list got flushed and my contact with Justin went away.

Are you not interested in joining up with NWR folk?

[Evan_B]

I would love to do some conquest stuff.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but do the post-game affinity missions explain away the post-credits cliffhanger? There were definitely hints of what was going on earlier in the game, but I wanted to know if there was actually any closure.

[Triforce Hermit]

If we could get a group of 4 to go after Ygg and farm tickets, I would be up for it. I would love it actually. I need a ton of a tickets.

I didn't run into any issues getting through the game proper, nor the squad missions I've played so far, but now that I'm in the post-story parts, I might need it. Are there any good guides out there I could follow? It's a real pain to figure out all this stuff in the game, I may be an insomniac but I still value my time more than that.

For ground gear you want Melee Attack XX (LOTS OF THEM), Overdrive Extend XX, Arts: Gain TP XX, Nullify [Whatever element you've invested in] Reflect, Art Cooldown XX (not sure if there is one for ground gear), and Potential Up/Boost XX. Throw in HP UP and TP UP augments. You combine it with Skills like Fast Forward and other skills that improve melee combos and chain overdrive and melee combos. Early Bird (a Dual Gun Aura) increases critical chance and Skill that increases it in combos works as well. You should be able to chain overdrives like that and essentially spam attacks. With my incomplete set up (not all the augments I want yet) I can set up for a 10-times attack dealing 20k dmg (at least against Telethia Plume so far).  I use Spears and Dual Guns....so I'm the odd person. Most people use Swords, Dual Guns, and Dual Swords.


Skell augmenting is for fun. Ares 90 is powerful enough, but you can augment normal level 60s enough to make them more powerful. Depends on whether you want to 100% the game or not.

[Enner]

While the main story of Xenoblade Chronicles X is disappointing, I strangely did not take the entirety of the ending as a cliffhanger. I take the ending as a complete story, and interpret it as a tragic finish for the past struggles and future uncertainties of humanity on Mira. After thinking about it, the ending is surprisingly sad for what it means for the lives lost on Mira and for the future of those currently living. Lies are going to catch up.

But only in the sequel in our heads.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but do the post-game affinity missions explain away the post-credits cliffhanger? There were definitely hints of what was going on earlier in the game, but I wanted to know if there was actually any closure.

The post-story Affinity and Normal missions I have completed are as character-focused and humble as most of the game's Affinity and Normal missions. Maybe there's something left, but I doubt it.

For ground gear you want Melee Attack XX (LOTS OF THEM), Overdrive Extend XX, Arts: Gain TP XX, Nullify [Whatever element you've invested in] Reflect, Art Cooldown XX ...

What is working in the impressive Youtube videos of a single character one-shotting Tyrants is a build that revolves around MAX Overdrive and Potential. The counter on Overdrive affects the attribute bonuses you get during Overdrive, there are augments that increase the Overdrive Count when activating Overdrive, and you can activate Overdrive while in Overdrive. Put it all together and you can unleash the ultimate slash with augments that gain TP, increase Overdrive count, increase max TP, and a lot of other goodies.

When it comes to weapons, blade seems to be the melee weapon of choice due to the excellent damage scaling of Blossom Dance. Adding that Blossom Dance uses a weapon's attribute, and it is a much more flexible art to use in conjunction with damage-boosting skills such as Core Crusher (bans appendage damage, but boosts ether damage by a lot). But as always, it's fun to find what works for you.

Needless to say, gathering the monster materials to make the desired rank 20 augments will be a pain in the butt. It's going to take a lot of farming and reward tickets.

It isn't enough to join a Conquest Squad, sadly. You have to be running with a group that is spending the time doing runs at it. Ah, so sad my Favorites list got flushed and my contact with Justin went away.

Are you not interested in joining up with NWR folk?

I'm game. We can try to get something going when the next Yggralith pops up.


EDIT: Forgot to say,
Potential is the stat to raise because I think it affects a whole lot of stuff conducive the Overdrive build.

[Triforce Hermit]

Potential affects the power of Arts that use TP which is why it is considered the most important. Or at least according to someone who was on a server and answered someone about what some of the stats do.


Edit: Oh and look I crossed the 100k miranium limit. Time to get an Ares 90

[Ninferno]

For ygg tickets run (and also item drop that requires breaking appendages), I highly recommend the "ME or SA M-Missile build" detailed in this GameFAQs thread: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/701151-xenoblade-chronicles-x/73104108

With that, I can easily break most of Ygg's breakable parts in about a minutes, then abandon mission and repeat. It is IMO as efficient as ticket farming can get. Of course, you will need to do a bit of grinding before you can have this ultimate grinding machine (I call it Mastema Appendage Crusher ). Getting 2 ME or SA missiles with custom magazine traits can be a pain in the ass, but I can assure you that pain is absolutely worth it. The first time I fired a round of M-Missiles and see a Lepyx's legs exploding (literally) in fire simultaneously, it is one of the most satisfying moment in XCX for me : . With that, grinding almost feels too easy (and becomes a joy?), you don't have to rely on joining 3 other players unless you want others to benefit from your build as well (which is perfectly fine, of course).

If you also want to actually make your Skells (or ground gears) powerful enough to tackle the super bosses (that's why you grind for tickets, right?) though, you will need something else. Zenith cannon is one, most people have known it. But I also want to recommend the diskbomb. A thread that describes its awesomeness can be found at http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/701151-xenoblade-chronicles-x/73089986?page=1 (post #15)

[Evan_B]

This game combines the tedium of the "great grinding games" with the epic storyline of traditional RPGs so well. I think that's what I love about it.