Xenoblade

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

The 100th reply for the Xenoblade topic will be suitably dramatic for anyone who's played the first game.  Our heroes infiltrated Keves Castle, then disregarded stealth entirely to send assorted Level 39-40 robots to the scrap heap.  There were Containers to open and Uniques to kill!


Level 41 Mobile Vespa was an upgraded version of the standard Equites.  Its Flip Wheel was a wide range physical attack, and the party also had to beware its Spit Beam.  A 716,852 Chain Attack deleted most of its HP.  Ouroboros forms dealt with Mobile Vespa when its health bar was burning, and Eunie + Taion had just transformed at the end of the battle in case they needed to save Noah and Mio the Strategos members.


Other Unique robots in Keves Castle were too much for the party.  Maybe they could fight one Level 42 Forsaken Arbiter, but two at once?  There was a similar encounter later in the dungeon, so I marked both places on the map to return to later.


At the Annihilator Foundations, a familiar face appeared:  Consul D, the Mysterious Enemy which was the first battle where an Ouroboros transformation was featured.  He unmasked himself as the person who killed Eunie in her previous life.  Consul D combined with Joran to form Level 42 Moebius D & J, the next boss fight.  This demon fought much more like D than J, with familiar moves like Unstoppable Spear and Grim Rush. 


Keeping aggro on Eunie the Lone Exile was difficult, even when I'd been actively controlling her for many battles.  Ashera was in the party to unlock Lone Exile for other characters and to enhance Chain Attacks, but having two of that class in the party actually works against them since they're dependent on aggro for moves like Gale Slash and Blossom Dance.  It was nice to have a relief Defender in case one was low on HP, however.


Moebius D & J wasn't as bad as the first time the party encountered D, since they could easily Launch or Daze him, and they had six mildly overleveled characters instead of three feeble Kevesi soldiers who didn't have Fusion Arts.  Eunie + Taion and Noah + Mio transformed at about the same time, which was annoying because I was trying to heal the Healers with Typhoon Field.  Feather Sanctuary provided random buffs like Counter Heal and Armor Veil.  The appropriately named Demon Punisher Overkilled D and J for a 757,104 Chain Attack.


The battle was difficult but manageable, quite a contrast to the Ouroboros forms failing over and over in the following cutscene!  Eunie had to overcome her fear of D to make the Annihilator crash and explode.  D and Joran separated just in time to warp away.


Noah thought he was escaping Keves Castle through a water pipe, but it lead directly to the throne room.  Oops!  Everyone was startled to see the pods filled with liquid and human bodies, and realized this was where all Kevesi people were made.  One of the pods had a replacement Ethel. 


The Kevesi characters already knew the Queen's name, but never mentioned it until now.  Consul N's next line will astonish anyone who's played Xenoblade 1, and confirm my suspicions about Keves Castle's location:


"You dare to intrude on the presence of Her Majesty, Melia Antiqua?"


One of the major antagonists of Xenoblade 3 is the reserved princess from Xenoblade 1 and Future Connected.  Level 43 Queen of Keves fought the party with Ether Arts as you'd might expect, like Elemental Flare. and Elemental Wind.  Her health bar was fragile like a mage:  the current record for a Chain Attack is 1,055,502 with a Demon Punisher finisher.  This didn't actually kill Melia, though, since she became invincible with Ether Protection and started a new cutscene.


That, and the alleged Queen of Keves turned out to be a robot when its mask fell off, revealing the circuitry within.  N's dialogue suggested that the real Melia was alive, however, and that she had "false hope".  The robot Queen had said earlier that Ouroboros would destroy the world, and that the party was only fighting for self-preservation instead of Keves.


Noah had a strange feeling around Consul N, who looked identical to him when he took off his mask.  Perhaps Consul N is the original "model" for all of Noah's incarnations?  And Joran really has died, but Consul J is the original that he was cloned from?


Consul N realized a group called the Lost Numbers was attacking, and they were taking away all the pods via aircraft.  The robots they used implied that they were from Guernica's "City".  This gave the party the chance to escape and start Chapter 5.


When presented with the chance to reach Swordmarch and the legendary City, did you really think I took it?  No, it was time for pointless side quests!  They helped Kite of Colony 9 reconcile with Zeon by fending off both Kevesi and Agnian raiding parties in  a cave.  Colony 4 had to deal with three Level 37 Mysterious Raider robots, the ones first seen in the Pentelas Region that turned invisible.  The party didn't destroy them, but did send them away long enough for the team to send off the dead troops.


Current Classes


Noah-Strategos
Mio-Strategos
Eunie-Incursor
Taion-Lone Exile
Lanz-Stalker
Sena-Incursor

Hero-Alexandria the Incursor


No, Incursor isn't my favorite class!  It's just set up that way because I'm about to embark on a Colony Iota quest that needs Alexandria, and my party is starting to run low on classes that they have at least B proficiency in.  Perhaps the City will raise the class level cap?


EDIT:  Everyone's Level 51 right now.  It was at 50 until one of the Chapter 5 side quest fights moved them to 51.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Colony Iota was short on supplies because three Level 49 Dannagh Scorpions were attacking the logistics crews.  They didn't use fancy tactics, but their physical attacks hit so hard that I had to use Eunie + Taion's Liberty Wing in order to revive the Healers.  This is why it's beneficial to make Eunie and Taion either Attackers or Defenders, so you effectively have a backup Healer in the Ouroboros transformation.  The reward was more Colony Iota goods, which established diplomatic relations with Colony Tau and Colony 11. 


Colony Tau turned out to be the only colony that was smart enough to farm.  One elevator there prompted the message "It doesn't seem to be working".  Gathering all that Levnis scrap from Keves Castle paid off when it allowed a trio of Nopon in Colony Tau to build an automatic meat smoker and complete a side quest.


Eventually the party made it back to the Cadensia Region near the Great Sword.  Spectral Rémy the Level 42 floating sea creature sprayed our heroes with its Balloon bubble attack, but a 1,035,861 power Chain Attack with a Demon Punisher finisher placed its gravestone on the map.


Monica and Shania the leaders of the City approached the party with their stealth aircraft and marched them towards the base of the Great Sword, which concealed a secret door.  The hilt was a rusted and desolate region, but several elevators later, they were inside the City itself.  It might have been part of Mechonis once, but I can't confirm that.  All Lost Numbers wore eye patches when going outside since that prevented Moebius from detecting their Ouroboros signal.  Since Kevesi and Agnian people were artificially reborn to fight again and again, the concepts of parents and childbirth had to be explained to them, and they visited a newborn baby in a maternity ward.  They wanted to know where babies came from, but since this isn't an M rated game, the explanation was left to the player's imagination.



Monica hadn't become an official Hero yet, but I peeked at her job in the menu.  She's a Lost Vanguard, a Defender class based on Armor Veil.  The party looked at some statues of the City's ancestors, and I'm not sure if they're meant to be Xenoblade 1 or 2 characters.  Some residents resented the party since they had trained to become Ouroboros, and Noah and friends got the job by chance.  Only six Ouroboros people could exist in the world at any one time.  Keves and Agnus were not always the mutually hostile nations they were today:  Melia and the true Queen of Agnus had been asleep for a long time, and Moebius was ruling in their names with robot puppets.


The Keves and Agnus Warning Levels disappeared and were replaced by a single meter for Moebius.  The next mission was to save a man named Ghondor (pronounced like Gondor from Lord of the Rings) from being executed next month in an Agnian prison camp.  You make an RPG with that many sidequests and expect us the players to think deadlines in the story are urgent?    


Who cares about freeing prisoners when there is loot to be found?  Unfortunately, some Containers were behind a locked door, so I had to mark it on the map for later.  The last notable action in this session was to kill Level 47 Fireblade Faltaar the bird.  It was a Unique with a special trick, or maybe a glitch.  Whenever I Toppled it, it fell below the map and suddenly reappeared to cure itself of the ailment.  A Chain Attack with a Big Bang Implosion blasted the bird for 989,374 damage, but they still had to contend with Fireblade Faltaar's burning HP bar.  Our heroes suffered especially from Dino Storm the multi-target attack that inflicted Topple.  Eunie + Taion's Ouroboros forms were needed to keep everyone at high HP.


In the next part, I'll explore the City and look for sidequests.  If I can get their Affinity to the maximum level, the final running speed upgrade will occur.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

In spite of Mio officially only having one month to live, the party wasted much of its time doing side quests in the City, from finding lost sheet music to a scavenger hunt.  Xenoblade 3 characters take their 10 year lifespan about as seriously as Cloud did with Meteor in Final Fantasy 7.  We're all doomed anyway, so why not breed Chocobos for races at the Gold Saucer?


A total of 300 Ether cylinders was necessary to get the boat to sail to the next destinations, but these were easily acquired in a single quest, and had nothing to do with the 99 cap for player characters.  Eunie was told that the captured pods would remain unused until the war was over, since the Kevesi and Agnians deserved to be reborn in a peaceful world.


The ship was called the Boundary.  While awkward to turn for map exploration purposes, it was fast.  Our heroes explored the shorelines, but some areas were practically off-limits due to their low 60s enemies.  Level 46 Littlefort Morley the crab used typical moves like Bubble Cloud, Shell Guard, and Cavalry.  Much of its health was destroyed in a 836,026 Chain Attack that ended with Big Bang Implosion.  To ensure victory, I had Eunie + Taion transform into Eunie's Ouroboros form.  It's much better than Taion's since it can revive dead characters if needed.


At this point, I remembered to equip Shield Bash to Lanz and Sena since I forgot to give the team Topple skills in the Lifflefort Morley fight. 


Corne Island was the next mandatory location.  Before going through it, I tried to fight Besieger Sheritt the Level 48 robot in an earlier area and lost again when its HP bar burned.  Its Thrust Conduit and Crushing Hand hit hard, and the party barely managed to run away.


Corne Island's "boss" encounter was two unusually strong Testudo robots and many Agnian troops such as Agnus Duoblades and Agnus Vanguards, all at Levels 45-46.  The party lost many times, even at Level 52 and with upgrading a few gems.  The Zephyr tactic didn't work either.  My only option was to use enough bonus experience to raise them to Level 57.  And then I had to use Eunie's Ouroboros form to ensure healing would keep up with the barrage.   A Chain Attack helped against one of the Testudos when the humans were dead for a total of 339,352 damage.


Xenoblade 3 is not an RPG for low level gimmicks, at least on Hard.  At least now I can go back and pulverize some of the Uniques I had to run away from earlier!


Character Classes


Noah-Tactician
Mio-Yumsmith
Eunie-Thaumaturge
Taion-Lone Exile
Lanz-Stalker
Sena-Incursor

Hero-Ashera the Lone Exile


Thaumaturge is my least favorite Agnian class since it forgets it's supposed to be a Healer.  Guardian Commander is my least favorite Kevesi class because it doesn't have enough slots to use all the moves it wants for its Awakening attacks and be a Defender at the same time.  Still, I'm running out of decent jobs to train.  The game really should have raised the cap to at least 15 in the City:  they could have justified that in the story by saying that the Lost Numbers knew how Ouroboros powers worked better than the party!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Besieger Sheritt collapsed at last after a Big Bang Implosion, after several failed attempts at scrapping it earlier in the game.  The region behind it was Mountain Front:  Keves, and the troops in a Skirmish matched my level and defeated the party.  They could proceed no further for now. 


Villainous Igna's minions were defeated one by one.  Previously, they would have joined their Unique master in combat, but since the team's level was so high, they refused to act to save their teammates.  Demon Punisher sent Villainous Igna to its grave.  The Amity Wisps in the Skirmish in the Elaice Highway area were still too tough because of their numbers, as was their Unique version Crafty Anskey.  These were physical bugs instead of status ailment or Ether casting monsters, but auto-attacks can kill you in this game if they come fast enough.


Exploring the waters of the Aetia region led to Level 53 Well-Plated Zelinka, another Unique that killed the party.  I'd stolen its Container earlier by leaping across rocks in a route the developers didn't intend earlier in the game.  It wasn't a glitch, only a narrow ridge.  Level 51 Platinum Straya was another water Unique similar to earlier poisonous aquatic creatures, and it killed Noah and friends as well.


Thurbin Island was the next story destination, and apparently I was supposed to sneak through a back way according to the dialogue.  But then how would I gain experience from Agnian Elites and robot parts for a Colony 4 side quest?  Avises were usually killed with Chain Attacks, but the regular Agnian troops only killed me one time when I was taking a detour to look for treasure.  Battles were often long since "arena borders" would appear forcing me to fight instead of retreating since I was in enemy territory.  Right now the party is at the entrance of the Erythia Relay Base, hoping to find more information on Ghondor and the prison camp.


EDIT:  At this time, Mio is the Lone Exile instead of Taion, since he reached the 10 job level cap for now.  Sena is a Medic Gunner, which she has only C rank in.  The party needs to find a new Healer class and fast!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

I may have run into a funny glitch.  While in the Erythia Relay Base, Sena tried to climb a ladder, only to slip down a few inches from the top multiple times.  Getting off the ladder and trying again succeeded.  Our heroes fought a couple of Unique Agnian robots here, such as a Level 48 Navigator Helios and a Level 49 Taskmaster Imperion.  The trick to winning the former fight was to switch the Hero to Isurd for an extra Healer.  Agnian troops interrupted the second battle, but the team was saved due to a timely level gain!  When they rose to Level 58, their HP was fully restored.


Mio switched to Flash Fencer, and Lanz became a Lone Exile.  After defeating the Agnian troops needed to get the information for the main quest in the base, I realized I'd neglected to complete a couple of Hero Quests.  The first was Side Story:  Eunie.  This required the team to go past where Besieger Sheritt was, and the Agnian and Kevesi armies fighting on a bridge.  Level 48 Bushwhacker Ferrit was yet another Agnian robot Unique, and behaved much like the others.  Riku + Manana were the required Hero because of Manana's flimsy excuse of wanting to cook with Gold colony ingredients.


Eunie fought for Colony 5 in her previous life, a town concealed inside Loska's Cavern.  Surviving Colony 5 troops were peaceful to the party since they knew the cackling demon wasn't affiliated with them after asking a few questions.  The casualty rate was reflected by the high amount of husks that Noah and Mio had to play their funeral song for.  Level 53 Bloosucking Elvis the bat forced the team to retreat.


Consul X was a white-haired woman with a blue scar in the middle of her face.  The party was shocked when she told them the colony ranks were a scam, as if they didn't get a clue after fighting many alphabet themed devils controlling both countries.  X was right to insult their intelligence!  She had an ally called Moebius L, but he was such a minor character that he had no dialogue.  All he did other than fight was to laugh at Colony 5's destruction.



The first attempt was a defeat since I'd failed to equip the proper Healer gems for Sena.  Mio temporarily changed to Strategos for a more defensive fighting style.  This paid off, since although the Chain Attacks weren't as strong, the party endured both bosses.  Level 47 Consul X may have had a scythe, but Moebius L was the real danger.  Freezing Rush inflicted damage over time, and Sweeping Rush dropped blades of wind from above.  Ouroboros forms and Chain Attacks were needed to win.


Colony 5 may have been gone for good, but Eunie's quest raised the job level cap for Medic Gunner to 20, and unlocked the second passive bonus slot for her Ouroboros form.  I usually equip heat gauge slowdown and attack power upgrades.


Mio went back to being a Flash Fencer, and Ashera rejoined the party as the Hero.  Sena turned into a Full Metal Jaguar.  The next Hero Quest involved killing Agnian troops and robots in the area where the party met Guernica and turning in the belongings of the fallen Lost Number soldiers to the City.  Monica joined the team as a Hero and granted her Lost Vanguard job to. . .Eunie.  Eunie has enough already, why not give Sena a new job?


Lost Vanguard's specialties seem to be Shield Wall to heal while guarding, and Electro Field to set up Armor Veil.  It's not as offense oriented as Lost Exile, and feels closer to Guardian Commander or Heavy Guard.  The party's next task is to turn on The Clifftop Hulk close to the Colony 5 cave.


EDIT:  Forgot to mention an important detail for the new class.  Lost Vanguard is unaffiliated with the two countries since it belongs to the Lost Numbers, but as far as the cooldown bar is concerned, it's Agnian.  One advantage Agnian classes have over Kevesi is the ability to equip Topple, Daze, and Launch attacks as Fusion Arts.  Most of those are of Kevesi origin (e.g. Lost Exile, Guardian Commander, Medic Gunner), and so can't be equipped as Fusion Arts to a Kevesi main class.


EDIT 2:  Guernica and Monica's last name is Vandham, so they're descendants of a Xenoblade 2 character.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

It was easy to liberate the Clifftop Ferronis Hulk from the Level 48 Tirkins, and reactivate it with 25 Ether Cylinders.  Bloodsucking Elvis in the nearby cave, however, still overwhelmed the party.  The annoying part about backtracking to it was the fact that Colony 5 was so destroyed that there wasn't even a nearby fast travel point.  Our heroes were no more successful at battling the three leaders of Colony 11 in another side quest.


The City was prosperous enough to have a novelist with writer's block, and the way to cure it was to go to different locations around Aionios and pick up special items.  My obsessive exploration made reaching them convenient, even if so far I only have two of them.


Assisting Gray in the Lovebirds quest in the City didn't upgrade his Full Metal Jaguar class, but it did give bonus experience and Soul Points.  He had actually been a Lost Numbers agent this whole time.


Alexandria had the most important quest in this arc.  She wanted to have a "technology summit" between Colony Iota and Colony 30.  But Valdi's new "Robobuddy" was an Agnian machine that attacked the party!  It was weak enough that it might as well have been a regular fight.  Alexandria realized it was gathering poison, and the party followed tracks directly to Consul Q, who didn't die in the liberation of Colony 30. 


Consul Q was weak for a Moebius demon, but had two Level 57 Armadillo robots to make up for it.  They liked to poison the party with their Pollution Cannon, but were taken out with Launch based Chain Attacks.  Consul Q was Level 59 and often decreased the team's Accuracy and Evasion with Jamming Mist.  Beast Tail hit multiple times and Toppled its target.  I was playing as Eunie the Lost Vanguard, and the class worked well here.  Shield Wall restored some HP, Electro Field prevented damage, and the Fusion Art of Noble Taunt + Taunt Pulse kept aggro on her.  Keeping the enemy's attention is the hardest part of playing as a Defender, especially when Art cooldowns are as slow as a Lost Vanguard's.


Multiple Chain Attacks dealt considerable damage, but did not finish off Consul Q.  Eunie turned into her Ouroboros form just before the end of the fight since the Lv 3 Interlink wasn't needed for Ouroboros Orders in Chain Attacks anymore.  Typhoon Field may have been the finishing blow, and everyone increased to Level 59.  The reward for defeating Q and forgiving Alexandria for poisoning her previous incompetent commander was to upgrade her to the job cap of 20.  Any player controlled Incursors could now go up to 20 as well.


(You know this means Ethel will be resurrected for the sake of having a Flash Fencer at 20. . .)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Namuki of Colony Gamma wanted Lanz to be his teacher, which meant beating up a horde of easy Level 38-40 Agnian soldiers and robots.  Level 51 Phantom Streya in the waters of the Aetia Region was the next Unique to fall, and it was just a stronger version of Budding Francis from the waterfall near Colony Lambda.  After defeating it, I explored the area to find the Elgares Depths Entrance.  The 4385 bonus experience reward for finding the place should have been enough warning, but a peek inside the cave revealed Level 77 monsters!


Level 53 Well-Plated Zelinka the crab was difficult to defeat due to its wide range attacks like Back Tail and Deadly Needle.  Defenders couldn't absorb attacks that hit everyone in a radius, so to win, I needed to play as Eunie as a Medic Gunner and keep her away from the fighting most of the time.  Breaking the Unique was difficult even during Chain Attacks, where it would normally be easier.  To finish the battle, I had Eunie turn into an Ouroboros and healed with Typhoon Field attacks.


Our heroes finally collected enough Agnian robot parts to finish A Burning Curiosity the side quest.  Towards the end of the session, they negotiated a trade deal involving Colony Lambda's surplus of Ether.


Near the Eldritch Obelisk in the Fornis Region, the team fought Crafty Anskey the firefly.  Its Butterfly Dust hit multiple targets and inflicted Shackle Healing, but it seemed to be mostly a fast physical monster.  The terrain was rough, so to keep the team together I periodically used the order to make them stop attacking and run to the player character.  This can also be used if you're a masochist and you hate yourself enough to try a solo challenge.  It took around 3 Chain Attacks and an Ouroboros transformation to win.  Blood Needle once killed Sena the Strategos from full health!  Brilliant Ascension squashed Crafty Anstey to finish a 705,195 Overkill Chain Attack.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Might as well post my thoughts on the next few classes, from where I left off last time.


Stalker-This Agnian type job lacks any native Break, Topple, Daze, or Launch Arts, but can use them with Kevesi Fusion Arts.  Otherwise, it's a typical Attacker.  Didn't know until writing the post that it specialized in Ether damage, like Full Metal Jaguar.  In Xenoblade 1, Ether was usually associated with "magic" characters like Melia and Riki, but in Xenoblade 3 it applies to ranged classes. 


Driving Arrow can cause Bleed, which can be combined with Hidden Thorn from the Flash Fencer.  Bleed's power can be increased with appropriate Accessories.  Night Hunt is a Stance that makes you do more damage from behind and reduces aggro gain.  Rapid Shot is stronger when used from the enemy's side.  Landslide can dodge an attack and gain a bonus when the enemy is Launched.  Stalker is a decent Attacker, but I seem to get better results from Full Metal Jaguar.



Lone Exile-It's officially a Defender, but functions more like an Attacker with unusually high HP.  The Demon Slayer attack and the Jaws of Death stance are needed to keep the enemy's attention, and you'll probably use Soaring Tempest to Launch enemies unless you already have a character who's mastered Lone Exile Arts.  Eye of the Storm inflicts damage when you're attacked. 


I don't mention Talent Arts often since they're irrelevant to Chain Attacks, and most classes don't get to use them much.  But Blossom Dance is a special case because the cooldown meter fills up so quickly.  Blossom Dance ignores defense and increases aggro, always useful for an offensive Defender.  Lone Exile is a fun class to play as, though it needs more Healer support than sturdier Defenders, and any other Defenders distracting the enemy means its power is wasted.


Incursor-This almost feels like the Agnian answer to Swordfighter, since it's a physical sword job.  Incursor deals major damage if you pick them during a Chain Attack, especially if you're using the Sidewinder attack that gets a damage bonus from behind.  Glitter Stream can Break enemies from the side, and you can equip Topple, Daze, or Launch moves as Fusion Arts.  The other move I usually use is Aerial Slash, which can dodge a hit and increase critical rate.  (See?  Incursor even has a move with a similar name to Swordfighter's Air Slash!) 


Other moves you can play with are Reversal Edge, which is best when attacking an enemy using an Art, or the Stance called Mystic Vision that increases critical rate and critical hit power.  You can guess from that description what bonuses you should find in Accessories and Gems.  Overall, Incursor is a recommended Attacker job.


Lost Vanguard-Monica's job functions like an Agnian class, which is unfortunate considering how slow its auto-attacks are.  Lost Vanguard's Arts are quite good for a pure Defender, like Shield Wall to gradually recover HP, Electro Field to set up an Armor Veil field, and Taunt Pulse to attract enemy attention and also deal damage.  This is another class that curses the "3 native Arts" restriction, since it would appreciate being able to use Mighty Beat to gain more aggro and Smash enemies that are Launched. 


When Lost Vanguard is allowed to act, it's an effective Defender, but be sure to equip Accessories and Gems that speed up cooldowns or increase the auto-attack speed.  Lost Vanguard's Talent Art Thunder Steel can rarely Bind enemies, but isn't nearly as useful as Blossom Dance.



I've reviewed all Defender jobs now, and only Attackers and Healers remain to be unlocked.  Soulhacker the "Blue Mage" is classified as an Attacker.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Level 49 Diabolical Rindolph finally died when the party was at Level 59 with Monica in the party.  Having three Healers was necessary to counteract Poison Breath, Bomberhead, and Spinning Bolt, all multi-target attacks.  Since it was flying over a pit, it was immune to Topple, which made the fight more difficult.  


The next targets were The Executioners in Keves Castle, two Level 42 Kevesi robots named Forsaken Arbiter and Vengeful Dominator.  I was perhaps overconfident and wanted to deal as much damage to the latter as possible, since the former was low on HP and I didn't want to waste the Chain Attack on an Overkill.  The Black Triad was the second set of Unique robots, and many Kevesi troops joined the fight.  At least once, the robots cast Call Reinforcements.  Enemy combatants were in the 38-43 range.  AI controlled Lanz was smart when he turned into an Ouroboros, since his transformation's moves specialize in drawing attention and hitting multiple targets.   


At Ishan Isle in the Erythia Sea, the party spotted a giant Ferronis.  They followed it back to Colony 15, home of an eccentric Consul named Triton who liked to talk like a sea captain.  Not "T", because Triton disdained Moebius formalities.  Instead of trying to kill the party, he invited them to a contest.  The first test was killing a few Level 47 Delit Gyaark sharks around Ishan Isle.  This was easy since they weren't Unique, and only fought one at a time.  The second test was to collect three specific items as "booty" on Deadal Isle and say the Ancient Taos Fossil was the most valuable of the three.


The last mission was to ascend Cape Arcaphor and follow the tracks to a boss.  The weird part was that the Arcaphor Gogol ape was only Level 47, yet the enemies that attacked the party on sight near the tracks were Level 57!  Was this a mistake in the code, like how the library in Final Fantasy 5 gives so little experience?


Triton's fourth part of his three part challenge was to fight the party along with his pirate crew.  Lanz complained about being hit by surprise, even though Triton yelled "Man of the Sea's Sucker Punch!" in advance while Lanz was looking at him!  No wonder the team thinks Lanz is the stupid one.  The Level 47 crew members were easy to kill, and Level 48 Defiant Triton fought as a human rather than a demon.  One Chain Attack hit him for 603,399 damage, but Ouroboros Orders didn't occur much if at all in these playing sessions. 


Triton's reason for not turning into a Moebius was that he was so old that he forgot how to transform.  He instructed the party to smash the Flame Clock so Colony 15 could be free, and joined the team as a Hero.  His class?  Soulhacker the "Blue Mage", which went to Lanz! 


Now it's time to explain Soulhacker, but not too much, since nobody wants this thread to turn into an Arthashastra sized treatise.  This job gains passive Skills and Arts automatically if either a Soulhacker or someone with the Soul Hack Skill is in the party when they kill a Unique.  Its Arts use both Agnian and Kevesi cooldown systems, since instead of cross-class abilities, it can equip 6 moves and use them as Fusion Arts.  It doesn't count as a Soul Hack if the Unique is killed before the Soulhacker class is acquired, although that would have been really easy to program by checking for gravestones.  So if you've already murdered the Unique, you have to resurrect the boss and kill it again.


Soulhacker is nominally an Attacker, but can also become a Defender or Healer if you want.  And there are variations within these roles.  For example, Tough Soul emphasizes damage reduction, while Dodge Soul is an evasion based Defender.  Soulhacker is the weakest class to begin with, so fights mean you might as well have one fewer character until you get enough decent Arts.  For this reason I beat up some of the weaker Uniques in the Aetia and Fornis Regions before I stopped playing for the day.


Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is now on the top row of the most played Switch games, after having demoted Nexomon Extinction to the second row.  And Nexomon Extinction is one of my favorite games for the system, and the source of several Realms Beyond playthroughs.  (That thread has a surprisingly high amount of views for an indie Pokemon imitator, even if no one ever posts there.)


When I start using Soulhacker seriously, I may mention more about it.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Soulhacker Opinions So Far


It took a few hours, but I've re-killed the Uniques that I've already battled.  It's much faster when you're at Level 60 and can warp to them rather than having to hunt them down in the giant Regions.  Soulhacker right now seems better as an unconventional passive Healer than an Attacker, though a Defender build might also be viable.  Passive Skills are superior to the active Arts for the Uniques through the 50s.


Recommended Arts


Aquatic Missile-This causes Topple.  Enough said.

Butterfly Dust-The user and nearby party members receive a Defense Up buff.  Good for both Defenders and Healers.

Tail Slap-It's not much of an attack, with only a 120% multiplier to start with, but it decreases aggro.



Recommended Skills


Sacrificial Heal-All party members restore 60% HP when you die!

Reserve Life-30% of HP is healed when you're at low health, but this has a cooldown.

Energy Efficienty-Healing Arts are 30% weaker, but also recharge 30% faster, so it's useful to power up the Ouroboros gauge, or even the Chain Attack gauge if you have the right Accessory.

Royal Aide-Increases revival speed if more than one character is dead.


Possibly Useful Skills?


Revenge Impetus-All enemies are Target Locked to you when you're revived, ignoring other characters.

Mimic Technique-Aggro is cut by 60% if another character dies.

Ultranull Shield-3% chance for no damage if you block an attack.