Xenoblade

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade 2 Rare Reactionaries Part 7


Since Mythra took over the Aegis body during this part, I should list her passive bonuses and Field Skills.  She's Light element and uses the same Aegis Sword Arts as Pyra.


Affinity Chart

Ray of Punishment:  +100% damage to Toppled foes
Photon Edge:  +60% chance of guard-annulling attack
Lightning Buster:  +100% damage when at 30% HP or under
Foresight:  +30% accuracy and evasion at max Affinity
Lightspeed Flurry:  +20% faster cooldown for Art or Special after a critical
Glint:  +5% critical rate


Field Skills

Light Mastery
Focus
Girls' Talk


Rex's Megalance Arts (for Wulfric)


Strong Horn:  Damage bonus when at 90% HP or higher
Power Spike:  Damage bonus from side, can Break
Heavy Hitter:  Reduces aggro when it connects
Feral Spin:  Damage bonus to insects


Nia's Knuckle Claws (for Kora, Min)


Jackal Claw:  Damage bonus after canceling Auto-Attack
Comet Punch:  Can Launch
Deadly Twister:  Creates an HP Potion, or two if you're lucky
Raptor Beat:  Damage bonus from side


Wulfric passed a Break Lock check with his Superstrength, though Poppi Alpha could have done that if necessary.  Comet Punch made Lv 29 Lila spin in the sky, and Kora's Lightning Quake prepared a 62,958 Overkill Chain Attack.


Boreas rejoined the party after returning from a Merc Mission, since having too much Earth on the team actually hindered Blade Combos.  Mòrag's Lv 27 Ardainian Soldiers might as well have been free experience.  Lv 31 Mòrag herself fell to a combination of Poppi Alpha's Sandstorm (Wind-Wind-Earth), Roc's Final Disaster (Water-Earth-Wind).  The 208,414 Overkill Chain Attack happened because I was trying to be fancy and wait for a second element orb to appear beforehand.


Converse with Phonex is a real Field Skill, not just a Merc Mission bonus.  I found out when I failed a Lv 2 check in Argentum Trade Guild.  To unlock Boreas's 5th tier of passive skills, I would have to fill up the Beverage Box in the warehouse with cheap drinks from Argentum Trade Guild.  Unlike earlier food boxes, each drink would only add 1% to the bar.  Rex must have put in about 40% before the end of the session.  Everyone in the party unlocked their Y button Art for the start of future battles via the Affinity Chart.


Everyone wandered around Uraya for a while trying to collect food for the mercenary guild rations.  While exploring, I found Badfella's Cave Fort.  That had an appropriate name when the monsters at the entrance were Lv 80!  After giving the last Dried Rainbow Slug to the guild, Rex ascended to Merc Group Rank 2 and could now do two Merc Missions at once.  Raising the Merc Group Rank was necessary to unlock higher tiers of Roc's abilities, which made sense considering its previous Driver.


Couldn't complete one side quest in Gormott because the developers were mean enough to throw a Dino Thunder casting Lv 74 Messar Taos into a flower field that otherwise had monsters more appropriate for a Lv 32 team.  Xenoblade 2 is probably the worst in the series about placing aggressive overleveled monsters into places you can't avoid.  Even Final Fantasy 12, a sort of ancestor to Xenoblade, got that right with its "T-rex in the desert" warning!


At the end of the session, the party fought through many lizards and bats in the pipes of Mor Ardain, which sometimes involved casting Lightning Quake.  Soon the party make their way into the factory to unlock Poppi QT and Mòrag.  Being restricted to story based Blades stinks, so Tora will be put on the bench for as much of the game as I can get away with.  (Tora also has a much more annoying personality than Mòrag, and not in a funny way like Chrono Cross's Poshul.)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade 2 Rare Reactionaries Part 8


Rex bypassed one Merc Mission by passing a Read Nopon Writing check on the barrels in Mor Ardain to continue with the main quest.  Lv 33 Judicial Kollin was a Unique without any tricks in one rusty building, and fell in 03:03 to Lightning Quake, a 48,089 Chain Attack, and Sandstorm.  Lv 33 Myrmidon Eugene on Eagle Jetty (Abandoned), however, annihilated the party in 0:26.  Perhaps this Driver's regular attacks were unusually strong.  To increase Wulfric's Earth Mastery, Rex took a detour to Uraya and beat up several Bobbile Brogs.


Two Lightning Quakes and a 98,168 Overkill Chain Attack sent Zeke running to Leftheria.  Lila in Abandoned Factory  took a little more effort with Lightning Quake, Final Disaster, and an Overkill Chain Attack that burst both orbs for 221,287.  Overkill bonuses were well worth the effort, as Nia and Rex grew from Lv 34 to Lv 36 after shutting down Lila.


Finding an Artificial Blade Report later in Abandoned Factory unlocked new parts for Poppi.  Too bad Tora wasn't around to help!  The hardest fight in the session was against a Fact Bunnit, a Security Tirkin, and a second Tirkin whose name I don't remember.  They were Lv 33 at highest, yet murdered Rex and Nia multiple times.  Equipping Finch and Godfrey didn't help.  The successful attempt was with the usual Blade setup.  The preferred Blade Combo against Security Tirkin was Thunder Gale (Wind-Wind-Electric).


Lv 32 Rosa was Blade Combo practice after Tora rejoined the party.  Tora cast Steam Explosion with Poppi QT, then switched back to Poppi Alpha and called a Sandstorm.  A Chain Attack that burst two orbs dealt 153,061 damage.  Sandstorm + Thunder Gale + 152,162 Chain Attack pulverized Mikhail and grew the team to Lv 37.  Patroka was fought normally since I couldn't manage to set up the Blade Combo properly.  


Chapter 5 began in Leftheria, with Mòrag as the new TNK.  I'll have to awaken some Rare Blades for her in the next part, though Brighid being Fire element is useful.  Rex can now switch between Pyra and Mythra.  I'll probably stick with Pyra most of the time because Fire is more useful for Blade Combos than Light, although Mythra counts as a second Blade for Field Skill checks.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade 2 Rare Reactionaries Part 9


Not much progress in this part, aside from reaching Orl Cloudway:  Rigitte in Leftheria and being defeated by hordes of Tirkins, a Lv 44 Falc Lexos intruder, and Lv Confiscator Jimmy.  There were, however, many upgrades for the party.  Magnet Chips and a Flower Chip upgraded Mòrag's Blades and Dromarch.  These are the new Blades:


Dagas

Weapon:  Greataxe
Element:  Fire
Role:  ATK
Auto-Attack:  18
Block Rate:  10%
Critical Rate:  15%
Phys. Def.:  5%
Ether Defense:  5%
Strength:  17


Affinity Chart

Flame Crown:  +60% damage to aquatic enemies
Tyrant Crush:  +25% critical damage
Kaiser Flare:  +100% damage when HP is at 30% or lower
Kaiser Zone:  +40% damage and area of effect for party's attacks at max Affinity
Regal Presence:  +10% Blade Combo damage
Gold Effect:  +30% gold from enemies


Field Skill (only one!)

Cavalier Attitude:  "The belief that kings should delegate work to subjects.  Exclusive to Dagas?"


Dagas should be the mascot for the Rare Reactionaries.  It thinks it's so much better than everyone else that the only Field Skill is its belief that labor is for peasants.  Dagas also pulls out a throne and sits on it during conversations on occasion.  The Greataxe is a slow weapon with seemingly mediocre Arts.  But the passives justify Dagas's place on the team, and Fire is one of the easiest Blade Combo elements.


Newt

Weapon:  Chroma Katana
Element:  Fire
Role:  TNK
Auto-Attack:  14
Block Rate:  20%
Critical Rate:  19%
Phys. Def.:  30%
Ether Defense:  25%
Strength:  19


Affinity Chart

Flaming Slashwave:  +60% aggro from Specials
Immolating Cleave:  +100% damage to Launched enemies
Extreme Gutsy Spirit:  +60% chance of guard-annulling attack
Tranquil Guard:  +30% chance to "prevent reactions to enemy Driver Combos"
Last Line of Defense:  -20% damage taken when 5 meters from enemy or less
Flowers of War:  +30% aggro from auto-attacks


Field Skills

Superstrength
Salvaging Mastery
Titan Weapon Wisdom


Chroma Katana is a faster weapon than Greataxe, and can dodge attacks with proper timing.  Newt is overall a solid Fire TNK Blade, but may be redundant with Brighid.  Since Brighid and Poppi QT join automatically, they don't have initial stats listed in an awakening scene.  I'll post their Affinity Charts and Field Skills:


Poppi QT

Poppi Missile:  Depends on Poppiswap
Poppi Crushing Blow:  Depends on Poppiswap
Noponic Destruction:  Depends on Poppiswap
Velocity Gear:  +5% chance to "land perfect hits and evade enemy attacks"
Flash Counter:  Counters attacks with 160% physical power
Flash Boot:  -10% cooldown to switch Blade


Field Skills

Lockpicking
Fortitude
Agronomy


Agronomy is another collection Field Skill, and Fortitude is used in many skill checks.  Poppi QT requires playing Tiger Tiger often to reach her potential just like Poppi Alpha, and counts as a separate Blade in Poppiswap.  For this reason, I probably won't use Tora much outside of areas (e.g. Spirit Crucible Elpys) where Mòrag is absent or weakened.


Brighid


Heat Haze:  +60% aggro from Specials
Will-o'-the-Wisp:  +100% damage to Launched foes
Swirling Dragon:  +100% damage when at 30% HP or lower
War Pyre:  +6% damage for each attack Driver dodges (up to 250%)
Firewalker:  +20% evasion when HP is 30% or lower
Dance of the Flames:  +50% evasion chance for ranged enemy attacks


Field Skills

Fire Mastery
Keen Eye
Mineralogy


Brighid is always equipped to Mòrag, just like Pyra/Mythra for Rex and Dromarch for Nia.  She's an evasion based TNK Fire Blade, and seems to deal good damage in spite of not being an ATK.  Her Whipswords can Break enemies too.


Mòrag's Weapon Arts


Whipswords

Azure II:  Hellfire:  Can Break enemies
Azure II:  Radiance:  Damage bonus to Toppled foes
Azure II:  Blaze:  More aggro from Driver Arts
Azure II:  Judgment:  Dodges enemy attacks


Chroma Katana


Aerial Slash:  Inflicts Smash
Eclipse Blade:  Dodges enemy attacks
Overfall:  Damage bonus to enemies targeting Mòrag
Quadruple Slash:  More aggro from Driver Arts


Greataxe

Rock Cleaver:  Damage bonus to aquatic enemies
Admiral Waltz:  Cools down Arts with a critical
Gale Blade:  Inflicts Blowdown
Rising Dragon:  More damage to Launched foes


Most of Mòrag's Affinity Chart bonuses are similar to the other characters, though Martial Prowess is notable because it heals 3% of her HP when canceling an Auto-Attack.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade 2 Rare Reactionaries Part 10


One Heart-to-Heart conversation in Fonsett Village called The Kindness of Blades showed a mother and child running away from Wulfric because of the demonic appearance and strange voice, even though Wulfric wanted to help them.


The Rare Reactionaries did well against Lv 39 Skyfist Remington until he went into "enraged" mode, and then he pummeled them.  Xenoblade 2 bosses and Uniques have such drastic improvements at low HP that it almost feels like playing Final Fantasy 12 again. 


Pyra's Steam Explosion and a 109,253 Overkill Chain Attack defeated Zeke in Leftheria and convinced him to join the party in Indol.  The problem was that not a single Rare Blade awakened for Zeke for the rest of the session!  Xenoblade 2's Rare Blade lottery is one of the major flaws of the game.  It was probably meant to work like a "randomizer" feature, which doesn't work for an epic length RPG like this. 


The TNKs in the party bought Rhombus Chips in Indol, while everyone else got Tri-Chips.  Finch temporarily replaced Wulfric in Rex's lineup since only Merc Missions could upgrade Wulfric's Superstrength.  Rare Reactionaries fared no better than the Peasant Revolt in defeating Lv 36 Power Lines, since Aeshma's Core rapidly killed them when Power Lines was "enraged".  I had to level everyone to 47 with bonus experience, then rush Power Lines with a Mega Eruption from Wulfric and an Overkill 118,685 Chain Attack.  Even then it was a close victory since Mòrag was only at 675 HP, and Rex was at 893 when the Chain Attack began.


Jin's Launching technique couldn't save him from Wulfric's Mega Eruption, Boreas's Volcanic Storm, and a 177,261 Overkill Chain Attack.  Aeshma's Core barely survived the 268,873 Chain Attack after preparation with Wulfric's Mega Eruption and Boreas's Final Disaster + Volcanic Storm.  It didn't matter since the Lv 38 computer was shut down almost immediately after.


At the beginning of Chapter 6, I did a couple of easy side quests for Indol and salvaged to earn some money.  If all else fails, maybe Zeke could buy that 500,000 gold Core Crystal in Torigoth.  Overdrive Protocol transfer isn't an option because those items are extremely rare.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade 2 Rare Reactionaries Part 11


Zeke had better Luck (?) in this session when he drew two ATK Rare Blades of different elements.  I'll start with Pandoria's Affinity Chart, which Zeke always has:


Lightning Force:  +60% damage to machines
Electric Circus:  +25% critical damage
Thunder Doom:  +25% critical damage
Quickest Purple:  +30% faster Art cooldown at max Affinity
Thunderblast:  +60% chance of guard-annulling attack
Sudden Spark:  +20% Auto-Attack speed


Field Skills

Electric Mastery
Lockpicking
Icthyology



Perun


Weapon:  Megalance
Element:  Ice
Role:  ATK
Auto-Attack:  15
Block Rate:  5%
Critical Rate:  19%
Phys. Def.:  10%
Ether Defense:  15%
Strength:  15


Affinity Chart

Cold Sever:  +100% damage from side
Punishment Strike:  -20% aggro after this hits
Extinction Icicle:  +50% damage when ally is dead
Defender:  +150% damage to enemies and -20% damage take if ally is dead or at critical HP
Silent Spear:  -30% aggro gain from Auto-Attacks
Battle Plans:  +20% Auto-Attack damage


Field Skills

Ice Mastery
Ancient Wisdom
Chivalry



Agate


Weapon:  Greataxe
Element:  Earth
Role:  ATK
Auto-Attack:  18
Block Rate:  10%
Critical Rate:  15%
Phys. Def.:  20%
Ether Defense:  20%
Strength:  19


Affinity Chart

Heliodor Passion:  +100% damage to Launched foes
Star Beryl Courage:  +100% damage to Toppled foes
Rhodochrosite Might:  +25% critical damage
Razor-Sharp Knife:  +25% damage dealt bonus for whole party at max Affinity
Tanzanite Pursuer:  +50% damage to Toppled foes
Tiger's Eye Wrecker:  +40% damage to insects


Field Skills

Prospecting
Mineralogy
Keen Eye


All three Blades seem decent so far, at least statistically and in the side quests I've played so far.  Zeke's main problem (at least with the Megalance) is that he thinks he's a GBA Fire Emblem character and likes to twirl his weapon dramatically before attacking.


Mòrag bought the 500,000 gold Inherited Core Crystal in Torigoth, which was so expensive it increased Gormott's Development Level to 4.  She was hoping to get a Blade that wasn't Fire, and wasn't disappointed in that at least:


Sheba

Weapon:  Ether Cannon
Element:  Water
Role:  ATK
Block Rate:  5%
Critical Rate:  8%
Phys. Def.:  5%
Ether Defense:  15%
Strength:  10


Affinity Chart

Dessert Breath:  +100% damage when at 90% HP or more
Tea Leaves:  +25% critical damage
Golden Font:  +60% chance for enemy to drop gold when using this
Economicanimal:  Damage bonus for collecting gold in combat (up to 201%)
Entitled Entourage:  +20% for each female in battle except for Sheba
Financial Settlement:  -10% aggro gain from Specials and Arts


Field Skills

Girls' Talk
Lockpicking
Eye for Beauty


Sheba's gimmicks are being a prima donna and hoarding money.  In fact, to unlock higher tiers of her abilities, you have to save hundreds of thousands of gold in the Argentum Trade Guild Warehouse.  Boreas the glutton is much cheaper in comparison.  Hope you like salvaging, because you'll need to do a lot of it if you're going to use Sheba.  As of this session, she hasn't been used in the active party.



Zeke's Arts


Big Bang Edge (Pandoria exclusive weapon)

Stratospheric Thunder:  Can Launch foes
Dynamic Spark Sword:  Damage bonus from front
Overload Thunder Beam:  Damage bonus to machines
ULFS Max:  Damage bonus to Toppled foes


Greataxe


Spinning Elbow:  Can Topple foes
Triumphal Axe:  Inflicts Knockback
Raging Charge:  Damage bonus to Toppled foes
Berserker Slash:  Cools down Arts if it gets a critical


Megalance


Brutal Swing:  Damage bonus from side
Meteor Lance:  Damage bonus from back
Powerhouse Smash:  Can Smash foes
Supersonic Spin:  Decreases aggro when it hits


After completing Boreas's food stash in Argentum Trade Guild, Nia's Wind Blade won an eating contest against Tora.  When he went back to the food stash to store his prize, he learned that Yumyum the Burglar had stolen everything!  It's a good enough plot for Donkey Kong Country. 


Yumyum left behind an Indol statue, and the party traveled there to confront him.  Yumyum was furious that Boreas had stolen the hearts of Nopon, and challenged Boreas to get a Shimmering Feather from the Ansel Hatchery in Leftheria.  Boreas would have to wait until a later section, since the Shika Rhoguls guarding the feather were Lv 54 and promptly pecked the party to death.


Newt beat up Ardainian soldiers in the Torigoth base and told them they needed to train more, and not depend so much on Titan weapons.  Newt proved her strength by catching a Titan cannonball and throwing it back, wounding the Titan.  The commander was not pleased, and wanted Newt to repair the Titan weapon.  She didn't max out the relevant Field Skill, so I couldn't finish that quest yet.  Padraig the boss made a cameo at the Torigoth base, and said he was demoted.  He didn't mind his lower rank much.


Perun's Ancient Knowledge combined with Dromarch's to complete the quest Judicium's Legacy in Temperantia.  The Wherabouts Unknown side quest had to have been one of the worst in Xenoblade history.  The Rare Reactionaries passed two Follow Trail checks (Keen Eye + Fortitude), only for the path to lead them to a Lv 91 Rampaging Sauros that stomped on them.  Who makes a quest that tough so comparatively early in the game.


(And why is an Ice spear-wielding woman named Perun after the Slavic thunder god?  Maybe the same reason Square decided to name their Ice summon Shiva in Final Fantasy. . .)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade 2 Rare Reactionaries Part 12


Rex proved he was the true master of the Garfont Village mercenary guild by having Brighid cast Steam Explosion on Exacting Vorden.  Ferocious Jugger was Launched into the air during a Cold Snap, then took a Dead of Winter from Boreas and a 104,004 power Chain Attack.  Whirlwind Yew and Lightning Zuo were the most difficult opponents, and they even managed to knock Nia out for a few seconds until she was revived.  Dead of Winter was cast once.  Rare Reactionaries passed all the Battle Advice checks, which the Peasant Revolt couldn't do.  Winning this gauntlet of battles unlocked the third ring of Roc's abilities.


Agate wanted to mine for rare minerals at the Old Quarry in Uraya, and everyone soon learned she had a phobia of bugs.  Agate was helpless on the ground after she mistook Digidigi the Nopon in mining equipment for an insect.  Agate was supposed to visit Misimisi in Argentum Trade Guild to appraise new minerals, but this was obviously leading to a long and tedious side quest.  While searching for minerals in Gormott, Agate failed multiple Prospecting checks, so the only way to advance was trial and error.  One of Agate's abilities is called Razor Sharp Iolite, and I'd misread the last word as "knife" during the previous part. 


Against Giga Rosa, I was playing as Tora since he had to be the replacement TNK.  Mòrag was too busy with the Mor Ardain + Uraya summit.  Giga Rosa may have been a giant bobblehead robot, but she could be Launched.  Perun cast Frost Typhoon and Poppi Alpha cast Sandstorm, which combined into two orbs for a 231,033 power Chain Attack.  Towards the end of the battle, Kora cast Lightning Quake.  The reward for defeating Giga Rosa was an extra Pouch item slot and Aegaeon's Core Crystal for Mòrag, which I'll be sure to use when it becomes available to awaken.


As of right now, the party is at the beginning of Tantal in Chapter 6.  Soon I'll catch up to where the Peasant Revolt left off.  Xenoblade 2 really is much faster when you understand the battle system and skip the cutscenes.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade 2 Rare Reactionaries Part 13


In Tantal, several Blades purchased new Core Chips, but not all of them since I didn't have enough gold.  One annoying part of salvaging is the message "Not enough space to accept reward", since the inventory has a low cap for items like Compassion Boosters.  (Boosters are used for a higher chance to awaken a better Blade, so you have to burn through a few Core Crystals before you can collect all your salvage gold.)


While breaking out of the palace dungeons, the party passed a Break Lock check (Lockpicking + Ancient Wisdom) and obtained a Key Item called Ether R&D Revolution, probably for more Poppi parts.  The team failed a different Break Lock check because the skill levels were too high.  The Tantalese Knights "boss" fight was so easy, the party didn't even get to use a full Blade Combo.  Afterwards, I bought Core Chips for the remaining Blades:  Perun, Boreas, Dromarch, Kora, Wulfric, and both Poppi forms.


Lv 42 Blue-Eyed Korbin had an honorable death this time instead of falling off a cliff.  Newt cast Steam Explosion, Boreas cast Volcanic Storm, and the ensuing Chain Attack broke two orbs for 384,855 damage.  I was playing as Zeke, and had to revive Mòrag when she was knocked out once.  After Blue-Eyed Korbin died at 03:18, the party had to fend off a pack of Lv 39-41 Samoo Volffs that managed to kill Nia once.


Lv 42 Spring-Shower Elliott was scalded by Brighid's Steam Explosion and dazzled by Perun's Ultimate Aurora (Electric + Fire + Ice), then pummeled with a 293,668 Chain Attack.  Boreas's Final Disaster and Perun's Diamond Mist (Fire + Water + Ice) ended the battle.  While at the bottom of Tantal, Mòrag could finally awaken her emperor's Blade.  I was relieved that for once she had an element other than Fire, and Dagas was henceforth demoted to Merc Mission duty:


Aegaeon


Weapon:  Chroma Katana
Element:  Water
Role:  TNK
Auto-Attack:  14
Block Rate:  20%
Critical Rate:  19%
Phys. Def.:  25%
Ether Defense:  25%
Strength:  9


Affinity Chart


Water Moon:  +60% chance of guard-annulling attack
Breaking Wave:  +25% critical damage
Midnight Mist:  +60% damage to enemies targeting user
Serene Heart:  Dodge attacks for the 10 seconds after reaching max Affinity
Like Water:  +30% evasion while moving
Enlightenment:  +20% evasion while at 30% HP or under


Field Skills

Water Mastery
Ancient Wisdom
Leaping


Aegaeon equipped a Ureilite Chip that I had lying around, and went off to fight Akhos, Mikhail, and Patroka.  The first attempt couldn't even kill Mikhail when I was playing as Mòrag.  The trick was to switch to Nia and replace Zeke with the more consistent Rex.  Pyra cast Steam Explosion on Mikhail, and a 1 orb Chain Attack hit him for 173,362.  Akhos fell to Kora's Thunder Gale and Boreas's Volcanic Storm.  The team also had to fend off a Lv 40 Weather Changer for some reason before shining Brighid's Second Sun (Light + Electric + Fire) on Patroka.  AI  Rex had switched to Mythra during the fight.  The last Chain Attack destroyed Patroka with 230,756 damage.


Chapter 7 began with me playing Tiger Tiger's 4th stage a few times to upgrade Poppi QT since Tora was the only party member who wasn't weakened in Spirit Crucible Elpys.  The main bonus for Poppi QT was an Evasion Mod III.  Since Pyra and Mythra were kidnapped, the party was Tora + Zeke + Nia.  Unlike the Peasant Revolt where the team had to use bonus experience to get past the first rooms, the Rare Reactionaries managed to fight off monsters like the Lv 47 Radys Marrin.  Doing so required many Blade Combos like Final Disaster, Lightning Quake, and Diamond Mist.


Right now the team is still in Spirit Crucible Elpys at Lv 50.  We'll see if the Rare Blades have to commandeer the Commoners for Field Skill purposes.  Surprisingly, there aren't many Rare Blades that can use Wind Mastery, at least among those I've encountered.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade 2 Rare Reactionaries Part 14


Spirit Crucible Elpys prevented characters aside from Tora from increasing their Affinity for Specials above tier I, so functionally the party could only use II Specials such as Pandemic (Water + Earth) or Flame Bolt (Electric + Fire).  Because the party was also in the low 50s, the enemies wouldn't leave them alone, and so they had to either fight or flee by dropping off platforms or climbing vines.


(Climbing vines to force escape from battle works in Xenoblade 3 as well.  Exploring via fall damage is a venerable Xenoblade tradition.)


Lv 46 Excavator Darius had a more appropriate nickname than most Uniques.  Poppi cast Pandemic and Flame Bolt multiple times, and the ending Chain Attack only hit for 42,856.  It was all the team needed, and Excavator Darius perished in 04:31.  Meanwhile, Lv 45 Gamen Grebel regular enemies destroyed the team, as if you needed any more evidence about Xenoblade 2's inconsistent difficulty.


Lv 47 Vile Howard the plant was strategically located in a poison pond, and the only safe place was a narrow bridge above that the AI could easily fall off of.  My readers will probably pardon me for skipping this Unique!


A mob of Lv 46 Dusky Riiks caused at least one Game Over with their ferocity and numbers, and the only option was to run from them and Lv 48 Hard-Bitten Xavier.  At this point, I needed to temporarily swap a Common Blade into the lineup to pass Field Skill checks like Kindle Flame (Fire Mastery + Wind Mastery), then put them back on the bench.


Passing a Break Lock check just before the Phantasms boss fight gave the team a Pouch Expansion Kit which Rex would later use, and a Legendary Core Crystal that only generated Hanni the 3*Ether Cannon Ice Blade.  All Rare Blades are 5*.


The Phantasms were as easy to beat as in the Peasant Revolt in spite of the dungeon handicap, and many Overklil Chain Attacks were used to gain experience.  The Nopon merchants in Morytha had plenty of items to sell to the party, like new Core Chips and specialized accessories.  The Male Loincloth and Charming Swimsuit gave +50% damage bonuses to Drivers using the opposite gender Blade.  Tora could only use the female Poppi, and the Male Loincloth conveniently came in Nopon size. 


However, Tora could only equip one of either the Shield Attachment or Arms Attachment, since they were considered to have the "same effect".  (Xenoblade 3 has a similar restriction preventing you from stacking accessory bonuses.)  But the attachments were specific damage bonuses for separate weapons!  Mòrag made sure to put on a Phantom Feather I had lying around so she'd have aggro at the start of each fight.


Lv 53 Machine-Gun Julio the bird played fairly in comparison to the Spirit Crucible Elpys Uniques.  It used the usual attacks like Feather Vane of Pain.  Wulfric cast Sandstorm and Brighid cast Steam Explosion, causing a 388,231 power Chain Attack later on.  Kora cast Thunder Gale later in the fight, and Machine-Gun Julio crashed to the ground in 04:33.


The Rare Reactionaries passed the Wall Jump (Earth Mastery + Leaping) check that stymied the Peasant Revolt, and barely escaped from Lv 54 Evileye Mambor the snake.  Like Xenoblade 2 snakes in general, it had the power to restore its HP and increase its level.  In Evileye Mambor's case, that level was 64!


Malos said that Pyra was probably dead by now, but Rex knew she was alive since his Core Crystal was still intact.  Lv 52 Malos wielded a sword with strange characters on it, and used moves with names like Monado Armor, Monado Cyclone, Monado Eater, Monado Buster, and Monado Jail.  Xenoblade 2 imitates Chrono Cross's plot in that the significant connections to the previous game are only revealed late in the game.


"Evil Shulk" defeated the party twice before the end of the session, and I'll have to figure out a way to defeat him.  Monado Armor resisted Blade Combos, Monado Jail inflicted Shackle Blade to prevent the party from switching Blades, and Monado Eater decreased Affinity.  Monado Cyclone dodged attacks during its animation.  In the second attempt, Malos had a trick I hadn't expected from him.  He went down into the hole he created in the previous cutscene, where various Lv 47-48 monsters awaited the party.  This seemed to be more of a fluke than part of his AI pattern.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade 2 Rare Reactionaries Part 15


The Rare Reactionaries finally defeated Malos.  They made sure to keep him far away from the pit with the monsters this time.  Roc cast Volcanic Storm leading into a 101,665 power Chain Attack.  Roc called Electrofire Storm later on, though the victory came from regular Arts afterwards.  In the following cutscene, Nia expanded Malos's body and caused him to fall off a cliff.  She did so with rapid onset cancer:  "I altered the replication rate of your body's cells".


The team fought one Lv 58 Unique in this session named Crimson Derrick.  It was a flying monster that used typical enemy airborne Arts such as Dino Flare.  Wulfric summoned Sandstorm, Brighid cast Steam Explosion, and the ensuing Chain Attack hit for 390,920 damage.  That number wasn't nearly as powerful as it must sound to the readers.  A Lv 49 Clabor Rodonya interrupted the battle and was promptly killed.  Both Nia and Mòrag had to be revived, though not at the same time.  Kora cast Thunder Gale, Brighid cast Steam Explosion, and Roc caused Final Disaster.  It took that long for the Party Gauge to fill up, and having the correct orb-destroying accessories paid off with a 611,988 power Chain Attack.  The whole team grew to Lv 53 as a reward for this 08:16 encounter.


I thought the Rare Reactionaries were doomed for sure when they had to fight Lv 56 Malos and Lv 54 Jin simultaneously.  Both had their usual moves, including Malos's Monado Arts.  However, through the power of cutscenes, it was a guaranteed victory!  Rex resurrected both Pyra and Mythra with his feelings, and so he awakened the full Aegis power.  The Aegis could transform into an "ascended state" in battles by maxing both her Affinity and the Party Gauge, though it was free in this fight.  "Ascended state" granted both increased power and Blade Combo flexibilty, as Pyra/Mythra could pick whatever element she wanted.


Rex only had to beat Jin to win this round, and a one orb Chain Attack after Kora's Thunder Gale Overkilled for 852,283.  The next cutscene had a battle between Ophion and Siren that destroyed the platform the party was standing on, ending Chapter 7.


During the last scenes of Chapter 7, Malos revealed that his only purpose was to destroy everything (including his creator) and "awaken the ultimate Artifice, Aion" in Elysium.  Pyra and Mythra originally wanted to go to Elysium to convince the Architect to kill them, but now they were inspired by Rex's cheesy speeches.  Rex and Mythra were alone in a ruined city with a green sky at the roots of the World Tree at the beginning of Chapter 8.  This was the Land of Morytha, as opposed to the Cliffs of Morytha from Chapter 7.  It had a legendary reputation among salvagers, and was supposedly under the Cloud Sea.


The 5th stage for Tiger Tiger was now unlocked, along with "new prizes" for that minigame.  As if Zeke weren't irrelevant enough now that ascended Pyra and Mythra were available, now Rex could use other characters' Blades whenever he wanted.  (I guess Poppi is the one exception.)  But for now, Rex would have to find his fellow Rare Reactionaries. . .

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade 2 Rare Reactionaries Part 16


A cutscene asked me to pick whether the Aegis would be called Pyra or Mythra (in the menu?), and I chose Pyra because Fire is generally more useful.  Jin joined as a guest character starting at a fight with a Lv 52 Deadfire Guldo, since it was the only way he could remain alive after being wounded in the Chapter 7 boss battle.  Rex didn't want to kill Jin either since he was the naive RPG hero.  Jin turned out to be a Flesh Eater when Mythra examined him after the battle, and had used his dying Driver Lora to gain the necessary human cells 500 years ago.


Jin said this ruined skyscraper city was the Land of Morytha, "a place of more wickedness than you can imagine".  It was the Architect's homeland, and was "destroyed long before Alrest existed".  Brighid and Poppi found Rex and Jin, but Tora and Mòrag were elsewhere.  Brighid was assigned to one of Rex's Blade slots, with Arts similar to Mòrag's.


The next boss fight was against a horde of Lv 50-52 Darkblood Guldos.  At Lv 55, Rex didn't stand a chance against their numbers.  A Lv 58 attempt ended in dramatic fashion with an Elemental Bomb.  Rex won by using all his bonus experience to grow to Lv 61 and equipping Nia's neglected Earth Bitball Blade named Nim.  Nim's only direct HLR Art was Grand Smash. . .but her tier I Earth Special could restore Rex's HP! 


Past the city was the remains of the "matrix" of the dead Torna Titan.  Jin revealed that Blades eventually reincarnated as Titans who forgot their previous lives, and Titans reproduced by making Core Crystals.  Amalthus the Praetor of Indol was the true destroyer of Torna, not Mythra.  Amalthus being the real villain of the backstory should surprise no one who's paid attention to the story!  Jin didn't only become a Flesh Eater for the power.  It was the only way to prevent returning to his Core Crystal and losing his memories of Lora.


Lv 60 Infernal Guldo was the boss fight that prompted the return of the other Drivers.  Pyra cast Nuclear Blast in her ascended form, which activated the cutscene where I put Nia and Mòrag into the party.  Nim cast Mega Eruption, Aegaeon cast Splash Hazard (Water-Water-Water), and the 2 orb Chain Attack hit for 385,985.  Even after all that, Infernal Guido still had around half its HP left.  Ascended Pyra cast another Nuclear Blast, Kora cast Thunder Gale, and the Overkill Chain Attack hit for 757,649 with only 1 orb. 


Jin returned to his Torna terrorist comrades on their Monoceros ship and flew up the World Tree.  Rex and friends discovered the World Tree was really a mechanical tower filled with hostile robots, and vegetation had grown around the outside to make it look like a plant.  I considered using Nia as a Blade, but decided against it since she was the only dedicated HLR in the party.  Her passives probably make up for that, especially if upgraded.  This is what her base Affinity Chart looks like:


Last Hope:  Restores +10% HP of damage dealt during this Special
Merciful Heart:  Creates an HP Potion, with a 60% chance to make 2
Redeeming Strike:  30% of damage dealt as a party heal
Sea of Plenty:  "Periodically restored 4% HP to whole party at max Affinity"
Instant Regen:  25% chance of healing 4% HP when Rex is hit
Cellular Stimulus:  Heals 5% of damage dealt via Auto-Attack


Field Skills

Water Mastery
Forestry
Fortitude