Xenoblade Chronicles 2 [Switch]

[dniv]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

If you go in straight line, the game takes 60-80h to be completed.
The plot and game dynamics dramatically change at the end of chap3 and at the start of chap4. It takes a long while from chap 1 to chap 3 so you get accustomed to the gameplay and the plot setup.

I got to chapter 4. I can see what you mean. It got better.

At the same time, I haven't had any crashes yet with over maybe 30 hours spent on the game, and that's weird because I've left it open/in sleep mode/and running in super long extended sessions all day (10-13 hours) at least twice now ... so I don't know. Maybe crashes are really just random.

[MeoTwister5]

So like how do you guys deal with the sometimes ridiculous requirements on field skills gating some content without having to fellate RNGesus for the necessary blade core rolls?

Because I have 4 quests stuck due to not having enough field skill levels.

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

So like how do you guys deal with the sometimes ridiculous requirements on field skills gating some content without having to fellate RNGesus for the necessary blade core rolls?

Because I have 4 quests stuck due to not having enough field skill levels.

Just leave them for later. Your map records every one that exists (stuff like treasure chests that only occur once disappear after success though) on the map, so you can tell where they are when you want to go back to get them. A lot of the required skills can be found on the common Blades and you'll definitely eventually get enough, but the hard ones are the ones that require skills that only exist on Rare Blades.

[serenade_beta]

*finishes main story*

*does that Raoh no regrets thing*

Nia is best girl.
Floren is best waifu.
(And any long "deeper" thoughts on the game are on my blog)

[MeoTwister5]

God this game would be so much better if you didnt need to equip blades to get field skills to activate. I jus went through my blade catalogue and realized I had enough field skills to finish half my unfinished quests...

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

(And any long "deeper" thoughts on the game are on my blog)

Going to reply here as it is kind of more convenient with quotes etc

Spoiler for End game:

I have to say they really did a good job of connecting all three games, without doing one of those "Well, they saved the world, but they didn't save the world in this sequel just so we can do a sequel!" types of crap.

I don't think XB2 made any connection with X. Remember that the Earth was destroyed differently in both games. In 2, Klaus' experiment pretty much doomed its surface, but he could reconstruct the planet to a certain degree. However, in X, the Earth was completely destroyed by Growth/Ganglion and that other alien faction. X could potentially be connected because of the Gate/Conduit shenanigans, but that's a bit far fetched.

I guess two minor issues I have with the story is that Rex kinda worries a bit too much. Yeah, I understand why and all and he does grow through the story, but for God (who is...)'s sake, Homura should just tell him to hold on to her Core Crystal because she can just revive from it.

I'm pretty certain Homura/Pyra and Hikari/Mythra didn't have any clue if they could be revived. While the game always mention that a blade can survive if the Core Crystal is still intact, the problem is that their Pneuma form was still destroyed to oblivion, and she didn't have her core anymore. As such, what's only left was the initial core without any link to the physical state of the Blade, so it was just a data vessel.

This is very different compared to normal blades: they cannot survive if they are separeted from their core, which was demonstrated by Benkei/Patroka and Yoshitsune/Akhos in chapter 9. The Grail/Aegis is pretty much the exception of that rule, and even then, it is only temporary without much options at their disposal.
Note how Metsu/Malos wasn't too sure why they could do that, but Shin/Jin had to accept her condition in chapter 6 when they were aiming for her and Sanctos Chain/Omega Fetter, because they needed her alive for the data extraction. If both girls and Metsu/Malos knew they could revive, that creates a huge plot hole: They could just refuse Homura/Pyra's demand, let her kill herself with Siren targeting ray, then recover the core on Rex.

From my perspective, they didn't know if the core could reactivate, and the ending implies it is part of Klaus' gift: the core started to glow only when a particle from the World Tree touched it. This also might explain why both girls are also seperated: Klaus seems to consider them as his daughters, so it isn't surprising if he wants them to live with everyone else, so I'm not surprised he changed their core code when he gave them the data and Authority of the station.

[Rising Dragon]

Spoiler for 1, X, and 2:

X *is* separate from 1 and 2 in continuity, because it was never meant to be at first. Wasn't the game's original title Xenoblade Cross (still displayed as X, but pronounced as Cross)?

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler:

I don't think XB2 made any connection with X. Remember that the Earth was destroyed differently in both games. In 2, Klaus' experiment pretty much doomed its surface, but he could reconstruct the planet to a certain degree. However, in X, the Earth was completely destroyed by Growth/Ganglion and that other alien faction. X could potentially be connected because of the Gate/Conduit shenanigans, but that's a bit far fetched.

I interpreted the battle that was going on when Klaus activated the Gate as the one that was going on when they escaped to another planet.

I'm pretty certain Homura/Pyra and Hikari/Mythra didn't have any clue if they could be revived. While the game always mention that a blade can survive if the Core Crystal is still intact, the problem is that their Pneuma form was still destroyed to oblivion, and she didn't have her core anymore. As such, what's only left was the initial core without any link to the physical state of the Blade, so it was just a data vessel.

This is very different compared to normal blades: they cannot survive if they are separeted from their core, which was demonstrated by Benkei/Patroka and Yoshitsune/Akhos in chapter 9. The Grail/Aegis is pretty much the exception of that rule, and even then, it is only temporary without much options at their disposal.
Note how Metsu/Malos wasn't too sure why they could do that, but Shin/Jin had to accept her condition in chapter 6 when they were aiming for her and Sanctos Chain/Omega Fetter, because they needed her alive for the data extraction. If both girls and Metsu/Malos knew they could revive, that creates a huge plot hole: They could just refuse Homura/Pyra's demand, let her kill herself with Siren targeting ray, then recover the core on Rex.

From my perspective, they didn't know if the core could reactivate, and the ending implies it is part of Klaus' gift: the core started to glow only when a particle from the World Tree touched it. This also might explain why both girls are also seperated: Klaus seems to consider them as his daughters, so it isn't surprising if he wants them to live with everyone else, so I'm not surprised he changed their core code when he gave them the data and Authority of the station.

During the scene after Homura took herself hostage when Yotshitsune and Metsu were talking to each other, they talked about how she planned the event, in the sense that her Core contains the information of all life and she can transfer the rest of her Core to Rex. So she knows about these abilities.
(the scene here from 23:19)

And as for the part where they could just kill her, the problem is that it isn't certain that they could even release (I don't know the localized term for activating Crystals) her from the Core if she turned back to it or how long it would take to reactivate.

And considering all Cores have been able to reactivate given time, I see that it would be more natural to believe that the Homura's Core could do the same,
especially considering she is all-powerful compared to normal Blades.
Also, I think Claus's gift, from the animation, is simply to command the separate countries to form a continent (and I guess create an ocean in the process).

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

God this game would be so much better if you didnt need to equip blades to get field skills to activate. I jus went through my blade catalogue and realized I had enough field skills to finish half my unfinished quests...

Yeah, but if you could just use all Blades in your stock, that kinda makes the point of high-level requirements like Yaegiri's Fire 9 or Wind 9 moot.

[Klashikari]

Spoiler for End game:

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

During the scene after Homura took herself hostage when Yotshitsune and Metsu were talking to each other, they talked about how she planned the event, in the sense that her Core contains the information of all life and she can transfer the rest of her Core to Rex. So she knows about these abilities.
(the scene here from 23:19)

And as for the part where they could just kill her, the problem is that it isn't certain that they could even release (I don't know the localized term for activating Crystals) her from the Core if she turned back to it or how long it would take to reactivate.

That's exactly what I meant: Metsu knew about the nature of the core, yet he never mentioned that "well, even in that case, she could be reactivated". Metsu clearly stated they needed Homura alive, but if getting back her core was enough, he would have mentioned it (or at least, say it is too risky).

So from my understanding, Metsu concluded that she was really about to destroy herself without any expecvtation of being revived later on.

And considering all Cores have been able to reactivate given time, I see that it would be more natural to believe that the Homura's Core could do the same,
especially considering she is all-powerful compared to normal Blades.

Her core being special was the reason why a revival was possible in my books, so the ending didn't surprise me. However, I'm pretty sure not even herself was aware of that, simply because there is no information that a blade could be reconstructed from the core alone.
Remember that normal blades are sent back to the core when the driver is dead per the forced protocol Klaus has put in every crystal core, but this is very different in Homura and Hikari's case because they purposedly disconnected themselves from the core, so they actually ddin't come back to it(so the substance that give them a physical form isn't send back to the core).

Instead, their form was destroyed, and the core recreated them based on the remaining data that was left in Rex's core. As such, it is very likely none of them would have known how Rex's core would react later on. This also explains why she didn't say anything to Rex, and why she was immediately dejected when she realized the world tree will collapse on itself and the only way to stop it is to destroy it with Aion.

Also, I think Claus's gift, from the animation, is simply to command the separate countries to form a continent (and I guess create an ocean in the process).

That's the main part of his gift, yeah. That being said, note the exact moment when Rex's core reactivated itself: it isn't like the core was slowly recovering after they were on Seiryuu's back. Instead, it reactivated abruptly right after it was in contact with some "stardust" which was part of the World tree.

Of course, this could also be a coincidence, but the way how it reactivated itself looks like something triggered it, instead of just being a matter of time. Also, considering how Klaus was sorry about the burden Homura and Hikari had to carry, I wouldn't be surprised he made sure they could live (assuming he expected her to sacrifice herself considering the structure of the world tree).

As an alternative, I think they should just have made a skill check so if you can fulfill the requirements within 12-15 blades (emulating that all drivers have changed their blades minus Tora), then the skill check would work without being forced to requip everything.
I wasn't that bothered by it, except Elpys considering the requirements for the main path but also some stupid stuff for subquests (like that Botany 10).

[Shinji103]

Okay, so I’m well into chapter 5, I’ve got the rumor about the crystal hunters, and I went behind the market and the inn in Torigoth. Why isn’t the Crystal Clear quest activating?

EDIT: I didn’t have enough core crystals.

[Klashikari]

You need something like 10 core crystals to activate that quest. After all, they are core hunters, so you have to bait them.

[coded321]

How do you guys feel about the RNG regarding core crystals? Some forums I've seen generally agree that the RNG is horrid, or at least the way it was set up. I mean really, getting a common blade from a legendary core crystal, seriously? I was inclined to agree that the RNG was BS, but then I remembered that the second rare blade I got in chapter 3 from a rare crystal was KOS-MOS. Since then I haven't been as lucky, as most rares my rex got were HLRs while Nia kept getting ATKs or TNKs. Its also like my boosters and luck stats have no affect on the rare blade drop rate.

[Klashikari]

The concept itself wasn't so bad in my opinion, because it gives some kind of unique experience when it comes to a playthrough. You can't exactly play the same if you have KOS-MOS early or not.

However, I agree they dropped the ball hard when it comes to the % of chances, but again, I think a lot of people are obsessed about rare blades whereas generic blades can be incredibly busted depending of the battle skills and stats modifier (I think I've seen a 26% agi mod generic tank blade on twitter).
I think they should have done so Rare cores and Legendary cores were all the same, with a guaranteed drop but are much rarer than usual, OR make every rare blades tied to a specific core.

The latter option would have made more sense considering the nature of the blades.

[Shinji103]

Yeah, I definitely wish they’d tied every rare blade to a specific core. I just went through 40+ common, 15+ rare, and 2 legendary cores last night without a single rare blade pop. >.<

[serenade_beta]

Phew, after a lot and lot and lot of opening Crystals, I finally got COSMOS and completed my collection.

To be honest, once you get strong enough to fight that Lv99 pet, you will have no trouble getting Rare and Epic/Legendary Crystals. The only thing that really takes a long time is opening them up one by one.
I guess it would have been nice if there was a meter that slowly fills up whenever you open a crystal, and giving you 100% a Rare Blade when it is full.

[Shinji103]

So I’m on chapter 8 and at the start of the World Tree at about level 60, what’s a good way to farm for core crystals to unlock more rare blades? And does it hurt that my Idea levels aren’t in the 10s?

I’m also having a bit of a problem building my chain combos. I’ve got art canceling down flat, but my combo meter often runs out before my other characters can get a special ready for the next step in the branch. This gets even worse with all the knockdowns and knockbacks from bosses.

[shadow1296]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

So I’m on chapter 8 and at the start of the World Tree at about level 60, what’s a good way to farm for core crystals to unlock more rare blades? And does it hurt that my Idea levels aren’t in the 10s?

I’m also having a bit of a problem building my chain combos. I’ve got art canceling down flat, but my combo meter often runs out before my other characters can get a special ready for the next step in the branch. This gets even worse with all the knockdowns and knockbacks from bosses.

mor ardain salvaging, the giant bug in the stomach in urya, the level 99 unique monster relentless arduran but if you killed the the baby arduran you were supposed to feed you are out of luck on that one

[Shinji103]

You mean that pain in the @$$ quest in Torigoth in the harvest fields where you have to feed him s ton of all kinds of food? Nope I haven’t touched him. I knew he’d be useful somewhere down the line.

[shadow1296]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

You mean that pain in the @$$ quest in Torigoth in the harvest fields where you have to feed him s ton of all kinds of food? Nope I haven’t touched him. I knew he’d be useful somewhere down the line.

yep that one, once you feed him and he becomes a full adult he becomes a unique monster, he can easily produce 99 legendary cores in an hour through the driver combo(break, topple, launch, smash)

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Shinji103

So I’m on chapter 8 and at the start of the World Tree at about level 60, what’s a good way to farm for core crystals to unlock more rare blades? And does it hurt that my Idea levels aren’t in the 10s?

I’m also having a bit of a problem building my chain combos. I’ve got art canceling down flat, but my combo meter often runs out before my other characters can get a special ready for the next step in the branch. This gets even worse with all the knockdowns and knockbacks from bosses.

The Idea only increases chances, but you know percentages, right? It's 100% if you get the 1%. For Level 60, I personally would wait until Chp 9 or 10 before starting the farming.

For Chain Combos, it is difficult to do it by yourself. You usually need two people to do a combo, though if you want to do it by yourself, you should use Blade Switching as you get full charged Arts whenever you switch. And then switch back to the main Blade.