Xenoblade Chronicles X is a fantastic game that provides hours’ worth of adventuring, as well as ample rewards for those who choose to explore its vast environments. With that, combat plays a huge role, and you’ll want to make sure you’re evenly matched with your opponent – and have the right Arts for the job.
Here’s a quick rundown of what you need to keep in mind when battling, well before you reach the Skell.
Morale and Arts
The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure your party is on the same page. With that, keep a close eye on your Morale Level. The higher this is, the better synchronicity your characters will have with one another in combat. If it’s lower, then your attacks could go all over the place, allowing your opponent the key opportunity to defeat you.
Working together as a unit also has other benefits, like being able to use Soul Voice abilities even more than you normally would, and gaining additional TP from properly using them.
You’ll also want to make sure you have the right weapons and Arts. Weapons are usually displayed on the screen, so you know what long and short range ones you have to use during each encounter. In addition, you can also find the Arts Palette – which shows the many abilities currently on hand and available to use – on the bottom portion of the screen, so you have an idea what you need to summon.
Don’t Get in Over Your Head
We covered this in our Xenoblade Chronicles X Tips, but one thing you’ll want to avoid is getting into a confrontation with an enemy much higher level than you. For instance, if you’re just getting started and intend to pick a fight with a Level 55 dinosaur-like creature, well, your battle party signed its death warrant.
In this regard, remember to keep the combat basics in mind. Along with initiating your own attacks, make sure you have the proper orders issued to your teammates so they execute the abilities you want them to. In addition, you’ll also want to keep close tabs on your items, should you need to consume food for energy or use special attacks to deliver a punishing blow.
Finally, don’t be embarrassed to escape. “Live to fight another day” is a strong credo here, and you’ll be able to utilize an Emergency Escape should the situation call for it. By initiating this order, you merely need to survive your current fight for 15 seconds before making your way back to a nearby landmark, whichever one you passed last. This is a great way to keep your team alive – especially if you know you’re headed for certain doom.
Targeting, Cooldown and Tension
Your character will initiate auto-attacks once you’ve made your selections, but you can pinpoint certain appendages on your target for maximum effect. All you need to do is move in close to the appendage you wish to strike, then click in the R stick to lock on. From there – until they’re defeated – you’ll strike this point and watch the opponent stagger. This can also disable certain Arts on an enemy, limiting its attacks and providing you special materials.
However, you don’t want to go too overboard with your special Arts techniques. That’s because each one is tied in with a Cooldown meter, which begins counting down with a green circle surrounding that particular Art. You won’t be able to use it again until it refills, so save them for crucial moments, or if you’re confident they’ll finish off your opponent once and for all.
Finally, you’ll earn Tension Points, or TP (not Toilet Paper), over the course of each battle. These come with your character’s auto-attacks, along with meeting certain criteria with specific Arts. By reaching over 1,000 TP points, you’ll be able to use special Arts devoted to that class. However, if you hold out even further and manage to reach 3,000 TP, you can revive a fallen member of your party or activate Overdrive, which will give your current abilities a major push in effectiveness for a limited amount of time. Once you activate Overdrive, keep a close eye on the Timer, as it tells you just how many seconds you have to use your improved techniques.
If you can’t manage to save a character after 30 seconds, don’t worry – they’ll appear at the last landmark you crossed, or revive there automatically if they choose. They’ll rejoin you shortly.
To the Victor Goes the Spoils
Finally, once a battle is completed, you’ll be able to earn some rewards.
The first is with experience points. There are two types, EXP and Class EXP. EXP applies directly to your character’s overall level, making them stronger through base statistics. Meanwhile, Class EXP goes toward your rank, moving you closer to rank 10 and opening up the playing field with new abilities and Arts. The higher the enemy you defeat, the more these go up – but that’s no excuse for running into a battle against someone much stronger.
You’ll also want to watch out for Drops, as some enemies will leave behind precious weapons and materials to add to your collection. You can decide what to do with these based on four general choices:
Take All: Accept all the items and add them to your inventory if you’re in a hurry.
Take Individually: This will give you a chance to see what all the items are, and what you wish to add or sell.
Sell All: Sell all the items in one clean shot, should your inventory be full already.
Treasure Deal: Give the items to other members of your team, which they can benefit from.
The choice is yours, but don’t hog everything. After all, you want the Morale in your group to stay as strong as possible.
For more tips, visit our Xenoblade Chronicles X Guide.
