Xenoblade

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade Chronicles BONUS 26:  You Will Pay For Your Insolence (Chapter 17)



Level 75 Disciple Loritihia is one of the most dreaded bosses in the game according to online discussions.  Elemental Barrier summoned Level 72 "Nova" type enemies and increased Lorithia's defenses to the point it was worthless to attack her.  A sample auto-attack at Level 80 hit for a mere 216, compared to 2591 once the Elemental Barrier was gone.


Hitting the "Nova" enemies decreased Shulk's Physical Def, Agility, Strength, and inflicted Paralysis as well.  This tended to happen all at once with Stream Edge, though Cyclone whirled through the arena too.  Buster cut them if they were waiting in line for Shulk.


Lorithia herself required a special loadout due to all the ailments she was throwing at Shulk.  Ether Laser caused Arts Seal, but the worst was Big Bang VI which Confused Shulk.  The "Nova" monsters had Spike auras too, so he couldn't forgo Spike Defence.  There wasn't enough room on Shulk's equipment for Arts Seal Resist:


Monado III (Double Attack V, Double Attack V, Double Attack IV)
Hierax Cap (Confuse Resist V)
Lancelot Armour (Spike Defence VI)
Lancelot Gauntlets (Spike Defence V)
Hierax Bottoms (Confuse Resist V)
Lancelot Boots (Confuse Resist V)


Another Level 80 attempt failed, so Shulk fell back on the +6 level trick.  Didn't take as many 30 second videos of the next try, since I didn't expect to succeed!  Without the need for Speed, Shulk had the benefit of other Monado Arts.  At least one Arts Seal occurred with a bad Ether Laser roll, and Armour kept Shulk alive until he could Light Heal again. Big Bang VI still blew up for 1279, enough to make Shulk concerned even if it could no longer Confuse him.


Shulk was at such low HP at one point that a 682 Sacrifishot from a Nova appeared in a vision.  Armour reduced it to 341, but he still suffered from weakened Blaze ticks of 85.  Near the end of the fight, Slit Edge got a rare "side attack" bonus to decrease Lorithia's Physical Def.  Shulk was vindicated when he cast Shadow Eye, then slammed a 50,862 Buster on the boss.  Not bad for a solo character with mediocre HP, even if he did have to overlevel by 1.


Prison Island's 1st unique monster was the Level 75 Ageless Moabit, a "Nebula" type with a Spike aura.  Each strike against it debuffed Shulk's Ether and by extension Light Heal.  It was exceptionally resistant to Physical damage, so Purge was the best offensive option.  Eater with its Bleed side effect probably would have been better if I had bothered to do enough sidequests to obtain it.  Elemental Cannon had a Pierce chance as if Ageless Moabit weren't annoying enough.  One Level 75 Newgate Laia flying monster joined the enemy party during what would soon become a failed attempt.


It was obviously another case where +6 level evasion would have to be used.  Purge blasted Ageless Moabit for 7358 for the cost of 75% of the Monado bar, the same as Speed.  Misclicking buttons while trying to Light Heal revived Melia, though as she was still under orders to do nothing, it was inconsequential.  A Battle Soul misclick could have been deadly, but fortunately Light Heal was available in time.  Not the best performance I've had in Xenoblade! 


Sand Whip was only minor damage at Shulk's higher level, but it sometimes caused Slow.  Sand Eruption VII also caused Slow, but hit for a more respectable 1635.  Maybe Ageless Moabit was an "Earth elemental", as if magical elements existed in Xenoblade?  Overall, the battle was simple at Level 81, but it would have taken geological epochs to complete if not for Purge.


I played more during this session, but the rest will go in another post when I'm ready to write it.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade Chronicles BONUS 27:  Dickson's Arena (Chapter 17)


Level 76 Serene Imlaly was an inappropriate name for a dinosaur that bit Shulk to death.  Shulk had the same loadout as described in BONUS 26 since Serene Imlaly came with a Spike aura.  Most of its attacks were Physical and therefore eligible for Speed, but Dark Breath was a threat with its 1357 damage and Ether Def Down side effect.  If an enemy auto-attack landed, it chewed Shulk up for 951.


What forced Shulk to use +6 level evasion AGAIN was a 1903 Dark Cannon IX out of nowhere that Dazed him.  Serene Imlaly would need preemptive Shield to block that, and Shulk couldn't afford to spend his Monado cooldown on Speed.  An auto-attack of all things made the dinosaur extinct.


Dickson forced Shulk to fight 2 enemies in the arena because Monolift Soft realized the final chapter of Xenoblade would otherwise be "too short".  Not both at once; there was an elevator.  Level 75 Obelis Obart came 1st.  The gargoyle spent most of its effort on Physical moves like Gore and Headbutt that could be dodged.  Not that Gore was weak:  it displayed 4349 damage in one vision.


Annihilation V could cause Pierce and Topple if not blocked with Shield.  Shulk's inactive friends Encouraged him out of Topple both during the failed attempt and the successful one.  Legendary Claw VII gashed Shulk for 2456 plus Bleed damage, ending the 1st try.  It may have Dazed him as well judging by one of the Switch videos.


On Take 2, Obelis Obart cast Behemoth Rampage to enter Crazed status, giving it Haste and Strength. Purge dissipated that aura for 7694, and the gargoyle struck back with a 2378 Head Butt.  Speed was used for much of the fight, and thus Shulk didn't need to use the +6 level exploit.  A Buster finished off Obelis Obart in heroic fashion.


Level 78 Demon Pavlovsk was next in Dickson's gauntlet.  Speed dodged Vicious Combo, Multi-Stab and other Physical damage.  Howling Grudge was an odd choice for such an opponent, since it decreased Ether Def without dealing any damage.  Antimatter Blast VI may have explained the existence of Howling Grudge, as it hit for 1457.  Demon Pavlovsk was so resistant to Shulk's Physical Arts that the finishing Buster only hit for 7287.  It was a dull battle.



Level 76 Inferno Heinrich was another "Nebula" type, and those were always jerks.  So Shulk abandoned any pretense of a normal battle and used +6 level evasion.  It had Elemental Cannon like Ageless Moabit, with presumably the same effect.  It activated a Spike aura when Shulk Toppled it with Cyclone, but his gems protected him enough for 3991 Back Slash backstabs.  (That's a sign of an enemy with too much Physical Def. . .)


Inferno Heinrich was a bit more polite with its Talent Art than other enemies, and had a short charging animation before casting Corona Eruption V.  No, not the virus, but its 1770 initial power and 855 per tick Blaze damage might as well have been.  Shulk was at low enough HP to see a 298 Corona Whip vision.  Elemental Bullet also made an appearance, but dealt 0 to Shulk once.  Level advantage must reduce Ether damage, even if it isn't formally "evasion". 



Preemptive Shield blocked Corona Eruption V, and was used for much of the fight.  Shield expired once just before a failed Cyclone Topple, and Shulk took another Corona Eruption V.  Auto-attacks extinguished Inferno Heinrich when other Arts were on cooldown.



Solo Shulk's final opponent in this session was Level 77 Cold Ageshu, a bird.  Unlike most real birds, it was poisonous, with both the Ether type Venom Shot and the Physical type Venom Rush.  Venom Shot spit for 679 plus 136 ticks.  Venom Rush could kick for up to 3286 and 213 Poison ticks, as seen in a vision just before the 1st attempt failed.


Armour was used until I found out it was more efficient to set up Speed to block auto-attacks and Venom Rush, which was much more common than Venom Shot.  Killer Snipe IV was the designated Talent Art that had an "instant kill" property of conveniently hitting for exactly Shulk's max HP of 4902.  If he didn't parry it with Shield, that is.  Shock Roar Confused and Arts Sealed the cheerleaders Melia and Reyn, but Shulk was immune thanks to the following setup:


Monado III (Double Attack V, Double Attack V, Double Attack IV)
Hierax Cap (Confuse Resist V)
Lancelot Armour (Arts Seal Resist V)
Lancelot Gauntlets (Arts Seal Resist V)
Hierax Bottoms (Confuse Resist V)
Lancelot Boots (Confuse Resist V)


Now you know why Poison Defence wasn't an option.  Xenoblade in the late game forces you to choose which status ailment is the lesser evil.  And not much can be worse than losing control of your character!  With more help from Speed, Shulk survived at Level 82 and Shadow Eye + Back Slashed Cold Ageshu to death.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade Chronicles BONUS 28:  Penultimate Punishment


Level 78 Master Obart might have been a simple boss if not for Legendary Claw VII, which maimed Level 83 Shulk for an initial 2525 plus 505 Bleed ticks and Daze.  How unfair is that?!  Other attacks like Gore were simple to dodge with Speed. . .


Yet again, Shulk had to rely on the +6 level trick.  Physical Def isn't enough for Shulk in the endgame:  you have to dodge, and often cast Shield in advance to block Talent Arts.  The following setup worked at Level 84:


Monado III (Double Attack V, Double Attack V, Double Attack IV)
Hierax Cap (Confuse Resist V)
Lancelot Armour (Spike Defence VI)
Lancelot Gauntlets (Spike Defence V)
Hierax Bottoms (Confuse Resist V)
Lancelot Boots (Confuse Resist V)


One Legendary Claw VII sneaked by Shulk just as his Shield ran out, but at least the Bleed ticks went down to 337.  That's how much level matters in Xenoblade.  And another Legendary Claw VII appeared in a vision for 1749 even as Shulk was still Bleeding.  An Air Slash intercepted the 2nd gargoyle.


An event for the blooper reel came when I turned on Casual Mode with a normal party and headed to the Time Attack arena to grind for Noponstone to buy Daze Resist V gems.  I expected Level 95 Metal Face to be simple, only to find out that my group had an accuracy penalty.  Didn't realize until after the fact that Casual Mode is disabled in Time Attack!     Shulk got his Noponstone through a lower level mission, and acquired enough Daze Resist V to become immune to the ailment.  I then turned off Casual Mode and proceeded to the next boss.


Level 79 Dragon King Alcar was a proud French revolutionary and stormed Shulk with a Bastille Sky V at the beginning of the match for 2901 damage.  He chewed Shulk up with 909 auto-attacks, and whipped him with a Toppling 1976 Carapaia Tail, ending the fight in probably less than 2 minutes.  Shulk resorted to the +6 level trick and equipped the following:


Monado III (Double Attack V, Double Attack V, Double Attack IV)
Hierax Cap (Blaze Defence V)
Lancelot Armour (Spike Defence VI)
Lancelot Gauntlets (Spike Defence V)
Hierax Bottoms (Topple Resist V)
Lancelot Boots (Topple Resist V)


Constant Shield casting blocked Bastille Sky V, while overleveling and the Blaze Defence Gem protected against Ignis Breath.  Even Ignis Breath's attack power went down to 238, then a string of 0 RESIST for the rest of its combo.  With 1 extra level and proper gem preparation, the battle became trivial.  Spike Defence was necessary as Dragon King Alcar had a permanent Spike aura.


Hopefully Shulk can beat Dickson and Zanza at +5. . .

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Xenoblade Chronicles BONUS 29:  Victory


Disciple Dickson was a two-part battle, but fortunately Shulk didn't have to drain all of his life bar twice.  Spike Defence was unnecessary, as Dickson's aura was different.  Instead of taking damage with every attack, Shulk spent all of both battles Paralyzed.  Shulk struggled to cool down his Monado with the reduced auto-attack rate. 


At Level 85, Shulk used Speed to try to dodge Dickson's auto-attacks, 2235 power Topple-inducing Chaos Dash, 2578 Chaos Punish, and 785 Chaos Combo.  Silent Chaos appeared in a vision, but Shulk could do nothing about its 1368 damage and Arts Seal.  It seemed a Chaos Punish finished Shulk off after too much time spent in low Tension depression.  Treacherous Anger sent Dickson into Haste for extra auto-attacks.


On Take 2, Shulk returned at Level 86 with the following jewelry:


Monado III (Double Attack V, Double Attack V, Double Attack IV)
Hierax Cap (Arts Seal Resist V)
Lancelot Armour (Arts Seal Resist VI)
Lancelot Gauntlets (Arts Seal Resist V)
Hierax Bottoms (Topple Resist V)
Lancelot Boots (Topple Resist V)



The fight was much easier at 87 when few of Dickson's attacks could hit Shulk.  Purge blasted Dickson for 8014 damage, probably because I didn't realize Haste didn't count as an aura that could be dispelled.  Preventative Shield castings were needed to block no vision Chaos Bullet VI's 2704 damage and defense Pierce side effect.  It may sound like paranoia in these posts, but there's a drastic increase in difficulty in the late game, and you can't afford to be surprised by Talent Arts.  One Chaos Bullet VI came out right after trying Buster for 18,257 damage.


Late in the battle, Righteous Anger made Dickson go Crazed for Haste and Strength Up.  He must have wanted to be a Berserker in another RPG like Baldur's Gate or Tales of Maj'Eyal.  One Buster removed the last of Dickson's health bar, and Shulk teleported into space.


The ghostly versions of earlier bosses in the "solar system" can be skipped, since they're regular if rare enemies rather than bosses.  Shulk ran past them all, eager to fight Zanza and end the game.  He equipped his final loadout:


Monado III (Double Attack V, Double Attack V, Double Attack IV)
Hierax Cap (Daze Resist V)
Lancelot Armour (Daze Resist V)
Lancelot Gauntlets (Daze Resist IV)
Hierax Bottoms (Topple Resist V)
Lancelot Boots (Topple Resist V)


Zanza himself was Level 82 no matter what the ??? implied on his life bar.  His Zanza Guardians entered the arena at Level 78.  Shulk tried to hit multiple enemies with Cyclone, as they failed to zap him with Monado Eater.  Zanza could suffer from Break, but he was only Toppled for a couple of seconds.  Not good for a Back Slash backstab tactic, though on the 1st attempt I did see one for 18,621 damage.  Monado Fear reduced both Strength and Ether, while Monado Brave buffed those stats for the enemy team. 


Zanza Round 1 sometimes attempted his own Physical combo Chains with the Zanza Guardians.  These missed about as often as Monado Left or Monado Right, i.e. frequently. Pierce status came out of nowhere, possibly from enemy auto-attacks.  Shulk saw a 2189 Monado Left coming in a vision, but couldn't cool down his Monado quickly enough.  Immediately afterwards, Monado Cross VIII slashed for 4263 damage!


For comparison, when Shulk fought a rematch at Level 88, he had 5007 max HP.  If Zanza form 1 was hitting this hard, imagine what form 2 could do!  This was another instance where overleveling was required, not a luxury.  Besides, it was worth it to hear "BEHOLD SUPREME POWER!" only for Monado Cross VIII to deal 1 damage.  Preemptive Shield was the standard tactic for all Zanza forms.  Or "IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!  HOW CAN YOU READ MY MOVEMENTS?"  I'm not reading them, Zanza.  I'm just overpreparing for Talent Arts.


Zanza Round 2 opened with World Reconstruct, with its Haste, Physical Protect, and Strength Up bonuses.  He liked to shout "THIS IS THE POWER OF A GOD!" whenever he whiffed with Bionis Buster.  Mechonis Buster and Monado Combo were no more successful with the level advantage.  Still, Shulk had no time to be complacent when Zanza's auto-attacks were Ether based and struck for 414 each if he didn't RESIST them.  Shulk kept up Shield constantly to blunt Monado Shooter IX, or else take 3523 damage.


Once Zanza dropped below half HP, I could no longer ignore the Zanza Guardians.  In Round 2, they were stealthily healing their master for 32,835 HP.  Shulk didn't have the Strength to overcome that with raw damage, even with Shadow Eye.  It took me a while to realize Zanza's HP was recovering in the first place when the action on screen was so hectic.  Shulk turned his attention to the minions, cut them down, then attacked the self-proclaimed god again.


At around 25% HP in Round 2, Zanza reverted to a weaker Round 3.  This is when Shulk acquires the Monado III in a "real" playthrough.  Zanza summoned Level 80 Zanza Guardians, and I made sure to take them out to avoid a repeat of Round 2.  Black Hole sucked in Shulk for 880, nothing he couldn't restore with Light Heal.  Shield in advance prevented Zanza from trying any Talent Arts, but I did not see any.  Zanza could still fire for 425 with auto-attacks.  Just because Round 3 was easier did not mean it was an automatic win. The final Buster of the game slew Zanza for over 13,700 damage.


In spite of the disappointment of having to rely on +6 level evasion, this was a fun challenge.  With a full party, Xenoblade combat can become rote with using the same Arts over and over.  Tactics in Xenoblade come from defense, not offense.  You'll swap gems many times to resist ailments, or prevent passive Spike damage. 


Shulk is a case study of opportunity cost.  Do you set up Speed to dodge Physical attacks?  Armour to reduce damage in general but risk side effects?  Shield, which only blocks Talent Arts?  Or perhaps Topple the enemy to set up Back Slash backstabs and buy time for Light Heal?  All use the same cooldown bar, which only fills up with auto-attacks or Stream Edge.  Paralysis and Slow cripples Shulk more than any other character because of this.  Light Heal makes him sustainable, but Shulk has mediocre max HP at best.  He is still a versatile character who can complete Xenoblade at Level 88.  Wonder if other characters can do the same, even in the 90s.  (That means you, Melia!)


Hope you enjoyed this variant, Boro!  I'll go back to Baldur's Gate for a while. . .

[Boro]

It was quite the read yes, Too bad that overleveling was required, but you still got good battles out of it. The final battle was suitably climactic to read.

Overall I'm very glad that the originally intended solo shulk could be carried out in the end.

Lorithia looks like she was the hardest of the later bunch.

Let's see how HERMAN is faring...

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

It was quite the read yes, Too bad that overleveling was required, but you still got good battles out of it. The final battle was suitably climactic to read.

Overall I'm very glad that the originally intended solo shulk could be carried out in the end.

Lorithia looks like she was the hardest of the later bunch.

Let's see how HERMAN is faring...

It's nice to know that someone likes New Game Plus Solo Shulk!  There should be a game like Xenoblade based on solo fights vs. difficult enemies, as the 2nd playthrough was much more entertaining than the 1st to me.


HERMAN is trapped in a Dungeons and Dragons game where he can't simply level his way out of his problems.  But he does have a barrel full of potions in Beregost. 


Besides Baldur's Gate, I am playing Future Connected.  You aren't missing much from me not doing a Let's Play of the latter.  It's enjoyable, but not really Realms Beyond material.  Think of it as a free DLC chapter for Xenoblade with a few differences:


-Chains don't exist.  Instead, you recruit up to 12 Nopon via sidequests to use a special move powered by timely B button presses:


Red Comet deals high damage to 1 enemy.
Blue Caress attacks and heals the party.
Yellow Chaos attacks and Dazes enemies.


-Reyn and Sharla are replaced by Riki's children Nene and Kino, with identical moves.  Their Arts now have "baby talk" names similar to Riki's.  Fiora, Dunban, and Riki are not represented at all. 


-All characters begin at Levels 58-60, since this is an epilogue set 1 year later.  Future Connected is treated as a separate "game" and its save file is disconnected from the main story playthrough.


-Skill trees are gone.


-Gems are found at mining spots.  You get better tools to find higher level gems through sidequests, and there's no crafting.


-Visions don't exist, but enemy Talent Arts do.  Remember all those times Solo Shulk had to set up Shield in advance for situations like this?


-Shulk has a replica Monado like in Chapter 17 instead of the Monado III.  He starts with Eater and Armour, but lacks Enchant because there are no Mechon enemies.  Don't ask me how he can use Monado Arts at all after giving up his Zanza powers in the ending.  I don't know either.


-Future Connected is set on Bionis' Shoulder, a floating island in the sky.  Alcamoth is now located here, and the party has to take it back from a new antagonist called the Fog King.  It's more Melia's story than Shulk's.


-There is one reason to play Future Connected even if you don't care for it:  unlocking Art upgrade books in the main campaign that go up to level XII instead of X.  You can buy them from the Time Trial arena for 20,000 Noponstones, which seems less time consuming than seeking out random drops for level X books.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

A party of Shulk/Melia/Kino dissolved the Level 78 Fog King at Level 76.  I had been using Melia as the leader in failed attempts since she had the Spear Break + Starlight Kick combo to induce Topple.  This tactic had worked for much of Future Connected, including unique monsters. 


Controlling Shulk is what made the difference.  Without his unreliable AI, I could set up Monado Armour X to reduce damage drastically.  Fog King didn't seem to have any Talent Arts that needed Shield.  Stream Edge's arc hit both the boss and the summoned minions to speed up the Monado's cooldown.  A Red Comet finished off the boss, though I think I used Yellow Chaos at least once earlier.  Kino acted as the healer, since he was the Sharla clone.


Xenoblade is the kind of game that should have a "pause and give orders to AI characters" feature, but somehow doesn't even though older action RPGs like Tales of Symphonia do.  The only influence over AI characters you have is to pick which Arts they have equipped, which doesn't apply to Shulk.  Without visions, you can't warn an AI character to pick a specific move.


Future Connected took between 7-7.5 hours to complete, including the cutscenes and the Ponspector recruitment missions.  It really is more like a "DLC" episode rather than an expansion large enough to be released on its own like Torna the Golden Country is for Xenoblade Chronicles 2.  Future Connected doesn't have the pacing issues of the main campaign, and it feels surprisingly fast by Xenoblade standards.
 

There may be another Xenoblade solo in the future, but probably not yet.  Dunban looks promising. . .

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Solo Dunban Prologue


Before writing about the playthrough itself, I need to explain Dunban's moveset and passive Skills.  Essential Arts and notable Skills will be in bold.  Arts not in bold may have situational uses.  (Parentheses are used if the Skill is poorly explained in game.  These are my speculations.)


Arts


Gale Slash:  Physical attack that causes Bleed damage, and gives some other Arts side effects.

Worldly Slash:  Two-hit Physical attack, lowers enemy Physical Def, also Strength if used after Gale Slash.

Electric Gutbuster:  Physical attack that inflicts Break if used after Gale Slash.

Tempest Kick:  Ether attack, removes 1 enemy buff if used after Gale Slash, Dunban's back faces enemy after

Soaring Tempest:  Physical spin attack that fills Blossom Dance gauge.

Steel Strike:  Physical attack, inflicts Topple if enemy has Break status.

Demon Slayer:  Physical attack, long cooldown, Topples all remaining enemies if used as a finisher.

Thunder:  Ether attack, only hits enemies behind Dunban, Dazes opponents if used while aura is active.

Peerless:  Aura, cures Confuse, gives Strength Up

Battle Eye:  Aura, Gives user Lock-On , increases Double Attack percentage, dodging fills Blossom Dance gauge

Spirit Breath:  Aura, removes debuffs, gives user Haste.

Serene Heart:  Aura, increases accuracy and evasion, but maximum benefit comes if HP is 50% or less.

Heat Haze:  Aura, removes aggro and increases critical hit percentage.

Jaws of Death:  Aura, resurrects user and heals large percentage of HP if active.

Blinding Blossom:  Cast on individual party member, shifts target's aggro to Dunban.

Final Flicker:  Increases Blossom Dance gauge in exchange for 20% of max HP.

Blossom Dance:  Talent Art, hits up to 4 times.  Cooldown isn't time-based, and must be filled by attacking.



Passive Skills:  Always active even if tree isn't selected.


Wisdom:  +15 Agility if tree is selected.


Spiritual Awakening:  Increases aggro if wearing no armor.

Reckless Abandon:  +15% Agility if HP "is at half".  (Exactly half, or is below half permissible?)

Twin Swords:  5% more Double Attacks.

Natural Born Warrior:  5 less Weight.

Inner Peace:  +30% Agility if wearing no armor.


Bravery:  +15% counter-attack rate if tree is selected.


Medium Equipment:  Dunban can wear Medium armor.

Invincible Hero:  +10% Strength if HP is full.

Warrior's Ambition: +25 Tension after "successful Battle Start Affinity".  (B button prompt?)

Overwhelming:  +10% aggro when damaging enemies.

Hero's Valour:  +20% max HP at beginning of combat, 75% chance of occurring?


Prudence:  +15% block chance if tree is selected.


Sustained Spirit:  +10 "Aura Time" (seconds?  No unit of time mentioned.)

Steel Protection:  -20% "Spike attacks".  (But Spike damage is passive. . .)

Mind of the Warrior:  Depletion of Chain gauge is slower outside of combat.

Lightweight Expert:  +15% Physical and Ether Def from Light armor.

Critical Drain:  2% HP recovery from critical hits.  (Of damage dealt?)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Solo Dunban Part 1:  Birthday Suit


Chapters 1-5 went by quickly as Shulk, Reyn, and Sharla pulverized every story boss up through Xord due to their New Game Plus levels and equipment.  There was one lesson I learned:  even endgame weapons do 1 damage to Mechon if their stats don't explicitly mention an exception to the rule.  So Dunban will have to switch swords in Mechon chapters.


Regular Fiora in Chapter 1 happened to be at Level 16 and with a considerable amount of AP thanks to New Game Plus.  If I ever do a short "Solo Fiora" bonus challenge, her human form can take on some Colony 9 and Tephra Cave unique monsters and bosses, while her Mechon form battles Chapters 12-17 bosses and Level 40+ unique enemies.


Dunban joined at a high enough "minimum level" that there was no point in sending him to beginner areas like Tephra Cave to fight underpowered unique enemies.  Even a few on Bionis' Leg were too weak.  Instead, he ran and swam around Colony 9 looking for a fight.  He soon found one in Level 37 Gentle Mother Armu. 


(Assume Dunban is at the same level as the enemies unless mentioned otherwise.)


Our hero opened the battle with Serene Heart to boost his evasion.  Solo Shulk would have given up half his Arts for that aura.  Serene Heart had a long duration and wasnt tied to that pesky non-automatic Monado cooldown.  When it was combined with the Agility boost from wearing no armor, few attacks could hit Dunban.  Gentle Mother Armu wasn't an Ether specialist, and that was obvious. 


Gentle Mother Armu was susceptible to Daze from the Tempest Kick + Thunder combo, but somehow resistant to Topple from Steel Strike.  And Daze never lasted for more than a couple of seconds.  Dunban may have been able to dodge other Arts, but Gentle Mother Armu had 1 Talent Art called Ferocious Gore I, and he had no Shield to save him.  Dunban took 2071 out of his maximum HP of 3393, and later succumbed to a rare 974 auto-attack that got around Serene Heart.  Evasion is the best Physical defense in Xenoblade, but it never reaches 100%.


Dunban's cooldown rhythm was different from Shulk's.  Instead of waiting around to use auto-attacks, desperately hoping to reuse the Monado in time, Dunban's auto-attacks were something to do between Art cooldowns. These cooled down Blossom Dance, which slashed Gentle Mother Armu for 4874 on the final hit and 1349-1943 on the first three blows.  Dunban farted Thunders for 3635, an impressive amount of Ether damage for a primarily Physical character.  Worldly Slash was preferred over Steel Strike for the extra damage (1616, 1871 hits) and Physical stat debuffs.  Even Gale Slash, a move meant to to begin a combo, struck for 1997 by itself and yielded 399 Bleed ticks.  A 2598 Tempest Kick brought down Gentle Mother Armu, who was the least gentle unique monster of the playthrough.



Next was Level 40 Gentle Rodriguez.  The same tactics that worked against Gentle Mother Armu functioned here, down to Worldly Slash being better than Steel Strike.  All those numbers listed in the previous fight probably look meaningless to my readers, but they're meant to reflect how much faster Solo Dunban is than Solo Shulk.  And I accounted for Dunban's weapons having fixed values unlike Shulk's Monado III which scales to his level.  Dunban simply has a better "damage per second" value than Shulk since he isn't dependent on auto-attacks to use his defensive buffs.


Level 39 Roguish Frengel was the 3rd opponent. (Or is it Level 42 after Insect Awakening?).  Perhaps it had better accuracy because of its temporary level advantage, which would explain the 1520 auto-attack with Serene Heart active.  But Critical Drain came to the rescue:  +70 HP healing per blow appeared during a Blossom Dance, and also after a 2160 Electric Gutbuster.  An 1836 auto-attack also healed for 70.  Maybe Critical Drain is based on max HP rather than damage dealt?  *Goes into the Calculator on Windows*.  Yes, it is.


The final blow of a Blossom Dance smote Roguish Frengel for 6361 with the help of Worldly Slash's Physical Def debuff.  Steel Strike managed to Topple the bug at least once.  Roguish Frengel was another easy opponent after the initial difficulties with Insect Awakening's level boost.


Level 32 Clifftop Bayern on Bionis' Leg was crushed with Gale Slash's Bleed effect, Thunder's Daze, and Steel Strike's Topple.  It's odd that a unique monster from a later area would be easier to Topple than a random frog in Colony 9, but that's Xenoblade.  One unexpected Dive Bomb III was averted just in time with a Thunder fart.  Dunban punished the spider afterwards with a Blossom Dance, ending in a 6023 slash.  Clifftop Bayern is normally resistant to Physical damage, which is why Shulk took so long to defeat it.  But Dunban could simply soften its exoskeleton with Worldly Slash.  The last thing Clifftop Bayern smelled was a 3522 Thunder flatulence.


(Thunder looks like it's coming out of Dunban's butt!  What other interpretation is there?)


Level 76 Field Atrich on Bionis' Leg was the last opponent of this session.  It was a typical Physical opponent in spite of being designed for endgame parties, and vulnerable to the usual Serene Heart evasion.  Worldly Slash was once again the superior follow-up to Gale Slash over Steel Strike.  Dunban further humiliated Field Altrich by ending the fight at full HP via a Blossom Dance that didn't need the 4th hit.  Not a "no damage" battle, mind you:  102 HP per Critical Drain made up for the lack of healing Arts. 


So far Dunban has been wielding a 660-880 auto-attack Darkness Sickle with 2 Agility Up IV gems attached.  No clothes but the shorts he wears for modesty.  Against any purely Physical opponent, Dunban must be the best character in Xenoblade.  Lightweight Expert will probably be used over Inner Peace once Dunban starts fighting Ether based enemies.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Solo Dunban Part 2:  Tactically Breaking Wind


Dunban's 1st Jaws of Death resurrection came not because of a unique monster or boss, but a Level 76 Last Rhogul encounter.  I had forgotten to re-level Dunban to 87 to run past the random enemies.  Dunban saw a vision of a fatal 3800 power Verse Crash VII, and applied the aura.  Once the Talent Art struck, Dunban immediately revived to 3855/5141 HP. 


Dunban isn't invulnerable with this trick because Jaws of Death has a long cooldown, but it partially makes up for his lack of a direct healing Art.  Reyn shares a couple of Arts with Dunban, including Jaws of Death, but his version is called Last Stand.


Level 75 Mysterious Barnaby the spider ran "out of bounds" during a Blossom Dance and forced Dunban to restart the battle.  It wasn't for naught, though.  Dunban learned the trick of Dazing enemies with Thunder if a vision didn't go his way.  He saw a 3410 Crushing Blow coming, and blasted Mysterious Barnaby from behind to change it to a an Ankle Bite MISS. 


Steel Strike sometimes Toppled Mysterious Barnaby, but it wasn't guaranteed.  The spider was immune to the Physical Def debuff from Worldly Slash, though still susceptible to the Strength drop.  Slow from Slow-Footed Net wasn't a problem at all for Dunban like it would have been for Shulk since he didn't need to auto-attack to set up his Serene Heart evasion.  To embarrass Mysterious Barnaby for its cowardice, Dunban let out a 5899 Thunder as a finisher.


Level 81 Territorial Rotbart was another Physical opponent who had no chance against Serene Heart.  Dunban didn't mind the yippy Level 14 Leg Volff companion who tried and failed to use him as a chew toy, and only bothered to attack it after the battle ended.  Unlike Mysterious Barnaby, Territorial Rotbart was vulnerable to Worldly Slash's Physical Def drop.  A well-timed Thunder averted a 4888 damage Head Butt from a vision and replaced it with a whiffed Gore.  One advantage of "nudist" Dunban is the fact that his defenses are low enough to trigger visions from enemy Arts more often.  Thunder's odor sent the ogre crashing to the ground for 4461.


To battle Level 29 Elegant Marin, Dunban replaced his Darkness Sickle with a weaker Mountain Spear to make it a fair competition with the Monado III.  The gems were still 2 Agility Up IV.


It didn't matter much as the fight was too easy for that to matter.  Steel Strike Toppled the crab on the 1st try.  Dunban was still down to 1523/2835 HP at one point, and I'm not sure why.  I had made sure to keep Serene Heart up at all times.  Critical Drain restored Dunban to 1859/2835 by the end of the fight, which unfortunately ended with Tempest Kick instead of Thunder.


Now it's time for Dunban to move on with the story in Satorl Marsh.  One difference that you'll notice between Xenoblade's main campaign and Future Connected is that the latter doesn't fill its areas with nearly as much empty space.  Bionis' Leg can be a chore to navigate.