Transformation — Tales of Xillia 2 eGuide

You gain the ability to transform in Chapter 6. This powerful mode is activated by pressing and at the same time. Combat ability is greatly enhanced in this mode and it is impossible to die while transformed.

Transformation Properties

The chromatus gauge appears whenever Ludger participates in combat.
It takes 40 seconds of combat for the gauge to fill one bar (not counting time spent KO’d or during free run).
You can transform at any time, except for during enemy mystic artes or when KO’d.
The gauge has four bars, and the number used when activating it increases its power.
You can’t use the menu when transformed.
Your weapon while transformed has P.ATK 89 and M.ATK 77 as its stats.

Transformation Differences

Your attacks and artes all change to new forms, and all deal type-less damage.
You cannot be staggered or take damage, although taking damage shortens the duration of the transformation.
You have no AC or TP, so outside of the recovery windows of individual moves, you can chain combos freely.
Ludger gets a stat boost. The power of the boost varies based on how many gauge bars were used.
Combo counter changes: combos are now tallied for every enemy you hit, not just the targeted one (so hitting a group of four enemies with a three-hit combo adds 12 to the counter).
Enemies don’t disappear when killed during combos; you can keep hitting them until the combo ends.

Transforming During a Weakness-Exploiting Combo

One disadvantage of your transformed form is that since your damage is type-less, you can’t exploit damage-type weaknesses. However, you can set up a weakness-exploiting combo and then transform in mid-combo, allowing you to continue the combo with the damage multiplier you’d previously earned. If you do this, the combo timer gauge will stop, so you can continue the combo indefinitely. (You also won’t need to worry about enemy counterattacks.) Setting up a combo damage multiplier allows you to deal maximum damage with your transformation.

Action Differences When Transformed

You use transform-exclusive artes when transformed, regardless of the artes you’d set. Overall, you’re more powerful, faster, and attacks have wider range. If you use at least two transformation bars, you’ll have access to a mystic arte, but using it will end your transformation, so use it last.

Movement: You can still move, free run, jump, and perform quick-steps. Your back-step is a slower flip and your front-step warps you to your target.

Basic Attacks: You no longer have different attacks based on directional input, but while jumping you have new attacks for + , / + , and + . Consecutively pressing while on the ground will result in a five-attack combo that ends with an arte.

Strong Attacks: You have new attacks for + and + / + . If you used two transform gauges, you can press after a + hit to perform a mystic arte, even if the previous attack was blocked.

Artes: Your manually selected artes are ignored in favor of preset artes for each direction + . You can also press repeatedly one to four times and then tap again to use a fifth arte.

Power Differences per Transformation Stage

As you play through the game, you’ll earn four transformation levels.

Stage	Earned At	Bonus
1	Chapter 6	Ludger’s P.DEF and M.DEF are doubled (at this level only).
2	Chapter 8/9	Artes have wider range, can use mystic arte, P.ATK and M.ATK up 30%.
3	Chapter 15	When fighting on ground, Ludger has a shadow that doubles the hits from his normal attacks, P.ATK and M.ATK up 60%.
4	Chapter 16	Some artes gain additional hits, new mystic arte, P.ATK and M.ATK are doubled.

How Skills and Damage Affect Transformation Duration

Regardless of the stage, the transformation lasts 20 seconds. Skills can lengthen the time you can stay transformed. Receiving damage shortens this; if an attack would deal damage equal to 20% of your max HP, you’ll lose 20% of your transformation time instead.

Skill Bonuses

Kresnik gives you 5 extra seconds of transform time if you transform in mid-combo.
Kresnik 2 halves the speed at which your chromatus gauge drains when in mid-air.
Overdrive halves the speed at which your chromatus gauge drains when you perform a taunt.
Chromatus Drive makes your chromatus gauge fill 50% faster if Ludger has 30% or less HP.
Affinity Bonuses: If you have over 6000 points of affinity with your linked character, your chromatus gauge will fill 5 seconds faster. If you have over 12,500 affinity points with your linked partner, you gain 5 additional seconds when transformed.
Transformation Bonus: If you set the skill Break-In, you’ll get a +0.01 second bonus for each time you’ve transformed previously, up to a max of 10 additional seconds (for 1000 transformations).