The Last To Post Wins!

[Armagon]

30 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

That's a thing you can do? Interesting.
Sounds like it'll come in handy when backtracking through older areas.

Well once there's a six-level difference between you and the enemy, they'll stop aggroing on you if they see you. Unless it's a UM, those will attack you regardless of the level difference. So turning off enemy aggro is only a thing you'd do if you want to go through a high-level area.

32 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Love how the soldiers are depicted not only as hilariously incompetent, but also completely stupid.
Soldier: "Durrr... what's the color of emeralds again?"
Boss: "Green, you fool! It's f***ing green!"
XD

Ah, the Ardainian soldiers. Truly a magnificant enemy. 

Sad part is you won't be able to experience them in their prime, as the battle cries that made them so beloved were patched out like a month after release. This is what you're missing

 

[DragonFlames]

8 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Well once there's a six-level difference between you and the enemy, they'll stop aggroing on you if they see you. Unless it's a UM, those will attack you regardless of the level difference. So turning off enemy aggro is only a thing you'd do if you want to go through a high-level area.

Okay, then it's rather pointless, because if I wanted to go through a high-level area, I think I'd first level up enough so I can actually fight against the stuff there.
Unless the game forces me to go through a high-level area when I'm still a low-level scrub, that is.

8 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Sad part is you won't be able to experience them in their prime, as the battle cries that made them so beloved were patched out like a month after release. This is what you're missing

 

LMAO! This is hilarious!
Any reason they patched it?

19 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Well, there's a 90% chance she ain't wrong...

Merkabah may look feminine, but they speak with a male voice. The entire thing is just... utterly bizarre, really.

Edited February 17, 2020 by DragonFlames

[Armagon]

1 minute ago, DragonFlames said:

Unless the game forces me to go through a high-level area when I'm still a low-level scrub, that is.

There is a part where you can choose to go through a high-level area to get to your destination later in the game.....which is what i did because i didn't know about the much safer route. Yeah, i died like once or twice. Thankfully, there's no punishment for dying in Xenoblade.

4 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

LMAO! This is hilarious!
Any reason they patched it?

Not really. It just went like that. I mean yeah, some people did find it annoying (btw, there's a seperate slider for voices outside of cutscenes so if you ever find the battle lines annoying, you can turn them off though that also turn off voices in the Heart-to-Hearts) but it's not really something that warranted a removal.

[Lightcosmo]

1 hour ago, Armagon said:

I saw someone say that they should make the tip of the Bionis' horn a Scenic Viewpoint and i agree 100%. Imagine standing at the peak of the horn and just seeing the entire world below you. Like, speaking of the horn

There's a whole forest on the head of the Bionis and the forest is more akin to forests you'd find in more northern regions.

Also this image is taken from the perspective of the Bionis' Shoulder. The Shoulder is a new area in XenoblaDE. This image is now canon.

I would love to see more things like this! 

[DragonFlames]

1 minute ago, Armagon said:

There is a part where you can choose to go through a high-level area to get to your destination later in the game.....which is what i did because i didn't know about the much safer route. Yeah, i died like once or twice. Thankfully, there's no punishment for dying in Xenoblade.

And it's a good thing, too, because if there was, the few times I died by complete accident (i.e. me getting ambushed by overleveled birds) would have made me more than a little miffed.
If I get to that part, I'll prioritize the safe route.

2 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Not really. It just went like that. I mean yeah, some people did find it annoying (btw, there's a seperate slider for voices outside of cutscenes so if you ever find the battle lines annoying, you can turn them off though that also turn off voices in the Heart-to-Hearts) but it's not really something that warranted a removal.

Huh, that is pretty weird.
So far, the battle lines haven't annoyed me in the slightest. I love me some in-battle banter. It makes the characters feel more real.

[Armagon]

4 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

So far, the battle lines haven't annoyed me in the slightest. I love me some in-battle banter. It makes the characters feel more real.

Same. In-battle banter is one of the source of the series' most iconic lines too.

[Acacia Sgt]

Hmm, interesting, either Bang bypasses Bounce, or spells from items do... don't remember if I found the answer to that distinction back then...

[Shrimpica]

4 hours ago, Armagon said:

And a new Wallpaper for my collection

 

3 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

I wish you good luck on your endeavors!

Thanks^^

Illya is about to spike Jeritza's Ass 😄

[Shadow Mir]

On 2/17/2020 at 8:32 AM, Shrimperor said:

For my next 3H run i am doing a fatigue run (unit in battle have to rest for the next one) and let people from reddit and rng decide the classes of my units:

  Reveal hidden contents

Byleth  - Assassin
Claude - Fortress Knight
Anna - Wyvern
Yuri - Sniper
B - Dark Bishop
Coco - War Cleric
Hapi - Dancer
Flayn - War Cleric
Seteth - Hero/Assassin
Annette - Dark Flier
Felix - Sniper
Lys - Trickester
Mercie - Warlock/Mortal Savant
Sylvain - Wyvern
Dorothea - Dark Flier
Ferdie - Assassin
Hilda - Dark Flier
Ingrid - Dark Flier
Marianne - Trickester
Petra - Wyvern
Bernie - Dark Flier
Cyril - Sniper

Let's do dis

Do you need special seals for those four classes?

[Shrimpica]

32 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

Do you need special seals for those four classes?

Yup, Abyssian exam seals. You get 4 when you recruit the Wolves, and you buy it with Renown

[DragonFlames]

Every sidequest in Xenoblade 2 be like

Honestly, do these ever do anything useful for you or are they just there to waste time? Because so far, I haven't felt like any of the sidequests were worth doing and actually doing some of them has been more annoying - and way too reliant on what I suspect is RNG for my liking - than anything else. Also, the overleveled enemies thing this game has is just as annoying and frustrating as I had feared.

Case in point: A current sidequest had me defeat three level 9 trash mobs, which was easy enough, if not for that level 81 giant gorilla thing hanging around the area where I had to fight them. After about THREE attempts (and resisting the urge to snap my controller in half) of that guy utterly blindsiding me while I was fighting them, I finally got them alone, and defeated them. Then the guy I saved is like "Yeah, cool story, bro, but how about you find me these seven items that can only be found in this specific location and it's totally random if you find even one of them at all?" (hence the "but wait, there's more!" meme). I go search around the Search Points. Attempt number 1: the level 81 thing catches me while I am getting the items. Attempt number 2: I run from him before he can attack me, only to run into those damned birds again. Attempt number 3: I see the birds around the Search Point, I sneak away, searching other Search Points. Get back to the one where I found one of the items I need a while earlier and who is lurking there but the level 81 guy? I retreat, get blindsided by a bird and the level 81 guy is like "Hey, is that a battle? Neat!", ending in another death.

I'm trying my hardest to like you, Xenoblade, but you are seriously testing my patience right now.

I know I'm a scrub.
Also, Armagon is going to hate me for this, isn't he?

Edited February 17, 2020 by DragonFlames

[Interdimensional Observer]

4 hours ago, DragonFlames said:

Merkabah may look feminine, but they speak with a male voice. The entire thing is just... utterly bizarre, really.

"Bizarre" is exactly the direction I think they were going for. "Incomprehensible angels" finds some evidence in scriptures, or religious but not actually scripture (think premodern fanfiction) texts. The Seraph design is rather (not entirely) accurate according to its Compendium description.

The old SMT multicolored human Archangels and the SMTIV robo-redesigns are both aesthetically fine to me, they're just different. Merkabah was a neat twist to further spice up the reuse of the Archangels. Since the old Archangel design saw heavy use between a minor role in SMT1, a dominant narrative role in II, an appearance in III, and DDS2 as optional superbosses.

 

3 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Honestly, do these ever do anything useful for you or are they just there to waste time? Because so far, I haven't felt like any of the sidequests were worth doing and actually doing some of them has been more annoying - and way too reliant on what I suspect is RNG for my liking - than anything else.

They're not as good as they are in certain other Xenoblade games. You can skip them pretty much, you won't be missing out. Only Blade Quests are notable.

Locations other than Gormott will be less heavy with scattering strong enemies among the weak. Usually they'll be out of the way.

 

 

---

I've finally gotten to DQXI. I can see the criticism that it feels too linear, the old world map always was, but there was enough of an illusion that you could explore, explore and bumble into things you'd have to come back to later, but it was something. XI is feeling too streamlined. Pep having combination attacks is good, but the randomness entering Pep is a blow against it compared to Tension. 

This said, I've now 4/7 of the playables, and the old-timey charm of the franchise is still here. I like that the Japanese town has everyone speak in haikus, that had to require effort to translate.

Edited February 17, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

[Acacia Sgt]

Oh, they have one there too. Jipang in III was also pretty much Haiku town, haha.

Anyway, well, made it all around Alefgard. Got the second Words of Wisdom so now my Priest can be a Sage too. After that, as I bring her up to par, will be gold farming, then tackle the Tower of Rubiss. Haven't done any of the dungeons save for Craggy Cave so far. Was going to the towns first.

[DragonFlames]

1 minute ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

"Bizarre" is exactly the direction I think they were going for. "Incomprehensible angels" finds some evidence in scriptures, or religious but not actually scripture (think premodern fanfiction) texts. The Seraph design is rather (not entirely) accurate according to its Compendium description.

The depiction of the Seraph and Throne angels in SMTIV is accurate to their depiction in 14th century (I think) art, as far as I'm aware, which I find to be a neat detail.

2 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

The old SMT multicolored human Archangels and the SMTIV robo-redesigns are both aesthetically fine to me, they're just different. Merkabah was a neat twist to further spice up the reuse of the Archangels. Since the old Archangel design saw heavy use between a minor role in SMT1, a dominant narrative role in II, an appearance in III, and DDS2 as optional superbosses.

I have heard that the Archangel designs in SMTIV are a point of contention in the SMT fandom. Personally, I love the SMTIV archangel designs. They (along with Merkabah) look fittingly alien and more than a little terrifying, which I think is rather accurate considering their roles in the game proper.
And this is a personal thing, but I find their SMTIV depictions to be more interesting than the "pretty boy with wings" look they have in the Persona games.

6 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

They're not as good as they are in certain other Xenoblade games. You can skip them pretty much, you won't be missing out. Only Blade Quests are notable.

That's good to know. Thank you!

[Armagon]

17 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Honestly, do these ever do anything useful for you or are they just there to waste time?

They give you Bonus EXP, which work similarly to how they do in the Tellius games. Whenever you rest at an inn, you can use any EXP you gained from quests to quickly level up. Useful if you need to level up quickly but don't want to grind. Most sidequests are your standard fetch quest but the EXP you get from it makes them useful. Of course, they give you money as well but getting money from salvage trading posts is more reliable than quest money imo.

But as Interdimensional Explorer mentioned, you aren't required to do these quests and the only actually noteworthy sidequests in this game are the Blade quests. Every Rare Blade has one and it's basically a mini-story.

The bonus EXP mechanic is exclusive to Xenoblade 2 and Torna (and in Torna, every sidequests is a mini-story that eventually culminates into a finale, the only other Xenoblade game to have sidequests like that is X) but sidequests in 1 and X still granted EXP, it was just directly added to your EXP bar so it was easy to end up overleveled if you did to many. 

17 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

level 81 giant gorilla

Welcome to the club. Every Xenoblade player has gotten killed by this thing thing at least once (yes, the lv.81 giant gorilla is in every Xenoblade game that isn't Torna, it's basically tradition).

Edited February 17, 2020 by Armagon

[Shadow Mir]

On 2/17/2020 at 4:34 PM, DragonFlames said:

level 81 giant gorilla

That sure sounds familiar...

On 2/17/2020 at 4:52 PM, Armagon said:

Welcome to the club. Every Xenoblade player has gotten killed by this thing thing at least once (yes, the lv.81 giant gorilla is in every Xenoblade game that isn't Torna, it's basically tradition).

Yeah. And only a handful got lucky and got to flee from it instead of getting one shotted. By which I mean my partner gets one-punched, and I gtfo, thinking what Cell says in this video:

 

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by Shadow Mir

[DragonFlames]

4 minutes ago, Armagon said:

They give you Bonus EXP, which work similarly to how they do in the Tellius games. Whenever you rest at an inn, you can use any EXP you gained to quickly level up. Useful if you need to level up quickly but don't want to grind. Most sidequests are your standard fetch quest but the EXP you get from it makes them useful. Of course, they give you money as well but getting money from salvage trading posts is more reliable than quest money imo.

But as Interdimensional Explorer mentioned, you aren't required to do these quests and the only actually noteworthy sidequests in this game are the Blade quests. Every Rare Blade has one and it's basically a mini-story.

The bonus EXP mechanic is exclusive to Xenoblade 2 and Torna (and in Torna, every sidequests is a mini-story that eventually culminates into a finale, the only other Xenoblade game to have sidequests like that is X) but sidequests in 1 and X still granted EXP, it was just directly added to your EXP bar so it was easy to end up overleveled if you did to many.

... I legit forgot you could rest at inns and level up there with Bonus EXP until I did it on complete accident in Gormott.

4 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Welcome to the club. Every Xenoblade player has gotten killed by this thing thing at least once (yes, the lv.81 giant gorilla is in every Xenoblade game that isn't Torna, it's basically tradition).

So he's like the Ragelope FOE in Etrian Odyssey? Got it.

It will be so damn satisfying to kick his ass once I am that high levelled, as I'm sure you can imagine.
Also those birds. F*** those birds.

1 minute ago, Shadow Mir said:

Yeah. And only a handful got lucky and got to flee from it instead of getting one shotted.

I am not one of those lucky folks. Every time he noticed me, I was dead meat.

---

While we are at it, could you give me some pointers on how to utilize Blade Combos (those special arts you use with A, I mean)? Because I feel like I'm not using them right. I usually only get to trigger the first one in a chain and then the thing at the bottom of the screen shows the next one, but pressing the button does nothing, and when the gauge refills it makes me use the first one again.
And, not necessarily related, but are there more reliable healing options you can use than Rex' Anchor Shot or any other ability that makes healing items fall? Because only rarely does one of the healing items fall in a place near me and when I go to get it, I tend to take more damage than I would like, making using the Art pretty pointless.

[Interdimensional Observer]

12 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

And, not necessarily related, but are there more reliable healing options you can use than Rex' Anchor Shot or any other ability that makes healing items fall? Because only rarely does one of the healing items fall in a place near me and when I go to get it, I tend to take more damage than I would like, making using the Art pretty pointless.

Certain Specials- the things you use in Blade Combos- have healing effects attached to them.

Bitballs are a weapon type that always has a healing art on them. So you can use Blades with those, and usually they have healing effects on Specials too. They have an HP Potion-giving Art too.

 

12 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

While we are at it, could you give me some pointers on how to utilize Blade Combos (those special arts you use with A, I mean)? Because I feel like I'm not using them right. I usually only get to trigger the first one in a chain and then the thing at the bottom of the screen shows the next one, but pressing the button does nothing, and when the gauge refills it makes me use the first one again.

Characters you aren't controlling can participate if they have their gauges filled enough and they have the right element Blade currently out to continue the combo. You just have to press the appropriate button to make them do it.

Also, notice the Roman Numeral "I" on the Special Gauge? You have to use more Arts to increase the gauge to "II", and before the Blade Combo's meter indicating its duration runs out. You'll need to get it to III for the final step of a Blade Combo, hence the usefulness of having the other characters participate in a Blade Combo.

As the game goes on, things will get easier. The earlygame doesn't have all your options fully unlocked quite yet. It takes until the story finishes on the Titan after Gormott for things to more or less entirely open, sans the other two playable Drivers, they take more time to get around to you.

Edited February 17, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

[Armagon]

7 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

Yeah. And only a handful got lucky and got to flee from it instead of getting one shotted.

I think i only ever managed to get away from it once.

1 minute ago, DragonFlames said:

It will be so damn satisfying to kick his ass once I am that high levelled, as I'm sure you can imagine.
Also those birds. F*** those birds.

Indeed. Kicking Rotbart's ass once you're strong enough is basically a rite of passage.

Anyways, if Gormott's frusterating you a bit, take solace that the next area doesn't have as many strong boys running around in the open. Actually, most areas don't. Usually the higher-leveled enemies tend to be found in more remote places in an area. Sometimes they only show up on certain weather conditions. The reason why Gormott (and the early plains area of other Xenoblade games) tend to have stronger enemies roaming in the open is to teach you that not all enemies follow the rules.

Also quick tip, have you tried luring enemies? You can lure enemies by targeting them (but don't actually fight them) and hitting down on the D-pad. This will aggro the targeted enemy and you can let them chase you a bit so you can fight them in a safer area. Certain passive abilites allow you to do this from further away, you get these by buying every item in a shop, which unlocks their Deed which you can buy. That gives you the passive, though what it is depends. But not every shop has it's entire stock avaliable from the start. They'll only get more items after you do certain Merc Missions, but you can't do that yet.

8 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

While we are at it, could you give me some pointers on how to utilize Blade Combos (those special arts you use with A, I mean)? Because I feel like I'm not using them right. I usually only get to trigger the first one in a chain and then the thing at the bottom of the screen shows the next one, but pressing the button does nothing, and when the gauge refills it makes me use the first one again.

So first, the thing at the top right of the screen tells you the path. Just using any Blade Special won't work. You also have to use the correct level. It will always be: Blade Special Lv.1 -> Lv.2 -> Lv.3. There is also a Lv.4 Special but that has the same effect as a Lv.3, the only difference is that it grants i-frames to the entire party (Lv.3s do this as well but only if you finish a chain). The problem here is that you're using the Lv.1 Special instead of charging it up to it's Lv.2 Special and so on. You charge it up the same way you would charge up a Lv.1. Btw, Lv.4 Specials charge up automatically after hitting Lv.3 but only if the Blade Affinity is max (when the blue link between Driver and Blade goes gold, that's when affinity hits max; you'll notice a movement speed increase too). Here's a handy chart for Blade Specials

By the way, you can move while a Blade Special is going off so you can use a Blade Special and move into a more advantageous position with no penalty.

12 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

And, not necessarily related, but are there more reliable healing options you can use than Rex' Anchor Shot or any other ability that makes healing items fall? Because only rarely does one of the healing items fall in a place near me and when I go to get it, I tend to take more damage than I would like, making using the Art pretty pointless.

Dedicated healing Arts like Nia's Healing Halo help more than the potions. Also, you don't always have to get the healing potion, your party members will usually do this for you. 

There's also certain Blade Specials that heal, as well as accessories. I think there's also pouch items that heal or at the very least reduce damage you take, among other things such as granting automatic Art and Special rechagre. You definitely want to use pouch items, they will be your best friend.

[DragonFlames]

21 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Certain Specials- the things you use in Blade Combos- have healing effects attached to them.

I see, I see. Then I'll make sure to use them as soon as I get access to them.

21 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Bitballs are a weapon type that always has a healing art on them. So you can use Blades with those, and usually they have healing effects on Specials too. They have an HP Potion-giving Art too.

Duly noted.
I got a blade that uses fists (or gauntlets?) that is a "Healer"-type so I assumed he'd have more stuff that I could heal with, but no such luck, sadly enough (even though it says that he has an ability that heals you with every hit, I haven't noticed it. Or I'm just too dumb to notice it).

21 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Characters you aren't controlling can participate if they have their gauges filled enough and they have the right element Blade currently out to continue the combo. You just have to press the appropriate button to make them do it.

Also, notice the Roman Numeral "I" on the Special Gauge? You have to use more Arts to increase the gauge to "II", and before the Blade Combo's meter indicating its duration runs out.

As the game goes on, things will get easier. The earlygame doesn't have all your options fully unlocked quite yet. It takes until the story finishes on the Titan after Gormott for things to more or less entirely open, sans the other two playable Drivers, they take more time to get around to you.

So that's what it's all about. The game did explain it at one point and I have the tutorial screenshotted, but I admit I couldn't really make heads or tails of it.
Thank you very much!

15 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Also quick tip, have you tried luring enemies? You can lure enemies by targeting them (but don't actually fight them) and hitting down on the D-pad. This will aggro the targeted enemy and you can let them chase you a bit so you can fight them in a safer area. Certain passive abilites allow you to do this from further away, you get these by buying every item in a shop, which unlocks their Deed which you can buy. That gives you the passive, though what it is depends. But not every shop has it's entire stock avaliable from the start. They'll only get more items after you do certain Merc Missions, but you can't do that yet.

Yup, been doing that a lot. Success varies (I'm still trying to work out the distance to lure one enemy away from a group), but it has helped a lot.
The buy every item once thing I actually got access to earlier. I see a lot of money-farming in my future.

15 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Anyways, if Gormott's frusterating you a bit, take solace that the next area doesn't have as many strong boys running around in the open. Actually, most areas don't. Usually the higher-leveled enemies tend to be found in more remote places in an area. Sometimes they only show up on certain weather conditions. The reason why Gormott (and the early plains area of other Xenoblade games) tend to have stronger enemies roaming in the open is to teach you that not all enemies follow the rules.

So that's the game invoking the "Sink or Swim Mentor" trope on me, gotcha!
Good to know that it does get better later on, because I really don't want to give up on the game because of something dumb like that (and even then, I probably wouldn't have, because this game is still incredibly beautiful and the story is so damn interesting!).

15 minutes ago, Armagon said:

So first, the thing at the top right of the screen tells you the path. Just using any Blade Special won't work. You also have to use the correct level. It will always be: Blade Special Lv.1 -> Lv.2 -> Lv.3. There is also a Lv.4 Special but that has the same effect as a Lv.3, the only difference is that it grants i-frames to the entire party (Lv.3s do this as well but only if you finish a chain). The problem here is that you're using the Lv.1 Special instead of charging it up to it's Lv.2 Special and so on. You charge it up the same way you would charge up a Lv.1. Btw, Lv.4 Specials charge up automatically after hitting Lv.3 but only if the Blade Affinity is max (when the blue link between Driver and Blade goes gold, that's when affinity hits max; you'll notice a movement speed increase too). Here's a handy chart for Blade Specials

By the way, you can move while a Blade Special is going off so you can use a Blade Special and move into a more advantageous position with no penalty.

I think I'm actually going to save and print this so I have it readily available.
This is very helpful! Thank you very much!

15 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Dedicated healing Arts like Nia's Healing Halo help more than the potions. Also, you don't always have to get the healing potion, your party members will usually do this for you. 

There's also certain Blade Specials that heal, as well as accessories. I think there's also pouch items that heal or at the very least reduce damage you take, among other things such as granting automatic Art and Special rechagre. You definitely want to use pouch items, they will be your best friend.

Do pouch items activate automatically once I equip them or do they activate automatically once I go into battle?

Edited February 17, 2020 by DragonFlames

[Armagon]

4 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

I got a blade that uses fists (or gauntlets?) that is a "Healer"-type so I assumed he'd have more stuff that I could heal with, but no such luck, sadly enough (even though it says that he has an ability that heals you with every hit, I haven't noticed it. Or I'm just too dumb to notice it).

Knuckle Blades. The ability you're describing probably hasn't been leveled up enough. You know the Blade Affinity Charts, right? They tell you the various effects of a Blade's Specials, their passives and Field Skills. Each node on the chart has requirements that, once fulfilled, unlock that ability. Raise a Blade's Trust enough and you'll unlock the next tier on the chart, which then allows you to unlock the nodes on it. Some Blade's charts have different methods of progression but usually it's just raising Trust. Trust is raised through battle and pouch items.

The game will notify you whenever you've unlocked a piece of a Blade's Affinity Chart but it won't take effect until after you check the Blade's Affinity Chart. For some reason, this was never patched. Xenoblade 2 was actually missing a few QoL bits at launch so the version you're playing right now is objectively the best version of the game. But despite all the updates, that thing regarding a Blade's Affinity Chart was never fixed for some odd reason. 

13 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

I think I'm actually going to save and print this so I have it readily available.
This is very helpful! Thank you very much!

Quick thing since the chart doesn't mention but you each enemy can only have one Seal at a time (multiple enemies can be Sealed at once btw). So if you apply Seal Back Attack and then you do a Blade Combo that applies Seal Reinforcements, it will overwrite Seal Back Attack. But overwriting a Seal is only a bad thing in like 1% of all fights so focus on getting as many Blade Combos as you can, this will be important for when you unlock Chain Attacks in the next chapter.

10 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Do pouch items activate automatically once I equip them or do they activate automatically once I go into battle?

They activate the moment you equip them. Unlike accessories, pouch items are one-use and they do expire. However, they expire in real-time (though i think it only works as long as you're playing the game, the timer stops if you turn off the Switch) and they can last pretty long. The higher-tier pouch items can last up to four hours. Btw, you can find Pouch Extensions to grant each character a second pouch (yes, pouch items can stack). There's is enough for every character to have two.

 

[Shadow Mir]

Are the ice physics in Xenoblade 2 as wonky as in the first one?

[DragonFlames]

5 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Knuckle Blades. The ability you're describing probably hasn't been leveled up enough. You know the Blade Affinity Charts, right? They tell you the various effects of a Blade's Specials, their passives and Field Skills. Each node on the chart has requirements that, once fulfilled, unlock that ability. Raise a Blade's Trust enough and you'll unlock the next tier on the chart, which then allows you to unlock the nodes on it. Some Blade's charts have different methods of progression but usually it's just raising Trust. Trust is raised through battle and pouch items.

Yup, been checking that regularly to make sure I do the right stuff to unlock their abilities.
Funnily enough, that one Blade you get as part of the Resonance tutorial (the same one with the Knuckles) immediately went to B rank after what felt like mere minutes of having him.  

6 minutes ago, Armagon said:

The game will notify you whenever you've unlocked a piece of a Blade's Affinity Chart but it won't take effect until after you check the Blade's Affinity Chart. For some reason, this was never patched. Xenoblade 2 was actually missing a few QoL bits at launch so the version you're playing right now is objectively the best version of the game. But despite all the updates, that thing regarding a Blade's Affinity Chart was never fixed for some odd reason.

... And this makes me glad I am so proactive in checking it every time.

8 minutes ago, Armagon said:

Quick thing since the chart doesn't mention but you each enemy can only have one Seal at a time (multiple enemies can be Sealed at once btw). So if you apply Seal Back Attack and then you do a Blade Combo that applies Seal Reinforcements, it will overwrite Seal Back Attack. But overwriting a Seal is only a bad thing in like 1% of all fights so focus on getting as many Blade Combos as you can, this will be important for when you unlock Chain Attacks in the next chapter.

Duly noted. Thank you!

8 minutes ago, Armagon said:

They activate the moment you equip them. Unlike accessories, pouch items are one-use and they do expire. However, they expire in real-time (though i think it only works as long as you're playing the game, the timer stops if you turn off the Switch) and they can last pretty long. The higher-tier pouch items can last up to four hours. Btw, you can find Pouch Extensions to grant each character a second pouch (yes, pouch items can stack). There's is enough for every character to have two.

Got it! Thank you again!

One last question about some stuff you can interact with in the "overworld", for example the wall painting in Gormott. It says that my talents are insufficient to read what is written on said painting, and checking the Affinity Chart doesn't show me the talents that I need. Do different characters/Blades come with different talents so I need to come back with them in the party to be able to read it or do I have to unlock these talents on my current Blades somehow?
Another example would be that some treasure chests (and BARREL!...s) I have been unable to open due to lacking in certain areas.

[Interdimensional Observer]

24 minutes ago, Armagon said:

They activate the moment you equip them. Unlike accessories, pouch items are one-use and they do expire.

And thankfully, they automatically reuse themselves if you have more of them in your inventory. That was a good move, although I wish I could set it to stop using them to always preserve one copy, a minor nitpick tendency of mine.

 

11 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Funnily enough, that one Blade you get as part of the Resonance tutorial (the same one with the Knuckles) immediately went to B rank after what felt like mere minutes of having him.

Generics take a fraction of the time to get Trust on compared to Rare Blades, and of course 1-2 Star commons are very easy to max. Filling in their Affinity Charts entirely will give you an item that gives whoever uses it a few WP- used to level Arts.

4 Star Common Blades, the best they can be, can with the right skills be better than Rare Blades, but that demands more luck and is really overoptimization. 

11 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

One last question about some stuff you can interact with in the "overworld", for example the wall painting in Gormott. It says that my talents are insufficient to read what is written on said painting, and checking the Affinity Chart doesn't show me the talents that I need. Do different characters/Blades come with different talents so I need to come back with them in the party to be able to read it or do I have to unlock these talents on my current Blades somehow?

You'll just have to wait for more Blades, always Rares except for the - Masteries, to come along with those abilities. A few Rares you'll get in the story, some are optional but obtainable by fixed means- like that expensive Core Crystal in one Torigoth store, and a ton more are only from lucking out on using Core Crystals. Tip- several of the optional Rare Blades are hinted by the people who sell information. And, there are six paid DLC Rare Blades too.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Interdimensional Observer

[Armagon]

1 minute ago, Shadow Mir said:

Are the ice physics in Xenoblade 2 as wonky as in the first one?

No but there are still ice slides.

Can't wait for the return of wonky ice physics in XenoblaDE. It is unironically one of the best parts of the game.

2 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

Funnily enough, that one Blade you get as part of the Resonance tutorial (the same one with the Knuckles) immediately went to B rank after what felt like mere minutes of having him.  

Yeah, Common Blades are stupidly easy to level up their rank. Rare Blades and Story Blades take longer. There is an pouch item called a Love Source that drastically increases Trust but this is a DLC thing. But if you're just playing casually, you don't really need to worry about Trust that much. Max Trust Blades are more of an endgame strats thing (and even then, it can be overkill).

4 minutes ago, DragonFlames said:

One last question about some stuff you can interact with in the "overworld", for example the wall painting in Gormott. It says that my talents are insufficient to read what is written on said painting, and checking the Affinity Chart doesn't show me the talents that I need. Do different characters/Blades come with different talents so I need to come back with them in the party to be able to read it or do I have to unlock these talents on my current Blades somehow?
Another example would be that some treasure chests (and BARREL!...s) I have been unable to open due to lacking in certain areas.

So that wall painting is part of a quest (one of the few overarching quests in the game). I don't think you can actually read it even if you had the Field Skills for it. Usually when you come across a Field Skill check, even if you fail at it, it will tell you what Field Skills you need and what level it needs to be. Field Skills stack too. So say you need Fire Mastery Lv.3 but you only have three Blades with Fire Mastery Lv.1. You will still clear the Field Skill check. As long as the Blade is equipped with someone in the party (even if the party member is in reserve), it will count it if that's what the Field Skill check requires of you.

Most of the Field Skill checks are optional but a few are mandatory for story progression. But every Blade that the story gives you has the Field Skills you need to progress, which is why it's possible to play the entire game without summoning any optional Blades.