Xenoblade Chronicles X is a huge RPG with plenty of features, chief among them the Soul Voice. With this, you’ll be able to use advice from a secondary character to present a benefit to your team, whether it’s additional damage to an enemy or lost Hit Points.
This guide breaks down how to use Soul Voices, and where they prove most useful in the game.
What’s a Soul Voice?
Think of a Soul Voice as a word of encouragement. If you’re in the middle of a fight and a party member shouts something, you can use the effect delivered from their words immediately in the fight, whether you’re trying to recover hit points or use a special technique to finish off an opponent.
Each character has his or her own specific Soul Voices, and while most of them are pre-set, you can change a few of them around, a total of four, with your main character. These can vary in power, depending how they’re delivered.
There are two types of dialogues with voices – Soul Voice and Soul Challenge. For instance, Soul Voice works along the lines of “We are off guard! Topple it with a Battle Arts!” or “It’s decided! I need covering fire please!”, complete with a highlighted choice to coordinate with their action. You’ll want to pull these off accurately, as it’ll help you stay in tune with your party, making you stronger as a unit. Morale is definitely important, especially in later battles.
Meanwhile, Soul Challenge is a little more direct, with commands like “Start the battle with a Melee Weapon” or “When the HP reach 30 percent or less.” In this case, you’ll see an orange circle light up on the center of the screen. Your job is to hit the B button at the right time (crossing over into a blue zone before completely vanishing) to get the most effect from the command. If you can hit the mark at the exact spot, you’ll also earn several TP points for good measure.
You can change certain Soul Voices and Soul Challenge activations before each battle, selecting from the likes of, for example, “Damage Up +100 Percent”, “Break Down” or “Gain 200 TP per Hit”. These specifically tie in with the Draw Melee Soul Challenge, though they change by attack type. It helps to experiment and see what is available with each different type.
In addition, Soul Voices aren’t limited to a certain type. There are six different types to choose from, broken down below:
- Red: Physical
- Purple: Debuff
- Yellow: Ranged
- Green: Support
- Blue: Aura
- White: Overdrive
Which Soul Voices you’ll want to use depends on your style of play. For instance, if you’re a melee striker by choice, the Red and Purple Soul Voices will suit you best. If you prefer to keep a party balanced and healthy, the Green and Blue Soul Voices may be more your speed. It also never hurts to get some Overdrive (White) Soul Voices involved, so you can deliver a punishing blow to stronger opponents without retreating.
The success of a Soul Voice is immediate. You’ll not only survive the battle, but also reap rewards. In addition to TP points landed with perfect Soul Challenges, you can also boost your Morale Level by one level if you manage to complete some of the better Challenges.
How Soul Voices Vary
There are many types of Soul Voices and Challenges available, and you’ll want to try them all to see what kind of battle effects they deliver. To give you a good example, though, here’s a breakdown of how the dialogue for Draw Melee works, since it’ll be a pretty common one used by strikers.
Your main character’s dialogue can go one of three ways, with different effects tied in with each one. They’re broken down below.
“The early bird SMASHES the worm!” will result in an additional 100 percent damage upon successful completion.
“We need to strike first! Close in!” will result in an instant Stagger ability, leaving your enemy wounded and unable to strike back temporarily during a battle.
“Break out those melee attacks! They’ll get your adrenaline going!” will increase +200 TP per hit that you deliver, and those points can really add up.
Likewise, secondary characters have additional effects with their Soul Voice selections. They are as follows:
Elma: “They’re off guard. Stagger them with a melee attack!” will automatically inflict a stagger effect, leaving an enemy open to an attack.
Lin: “Punch first, ask questions later!” will increase damage by 100 percent.
Irina: “Ramp up the adrenaline!” will increase 200 TP per hit.
As you can see, the effects are about the same made by your character or others in your party, but they can go a long way in boosting your performance, thus giving you additional Morale and helping you survive.
For more tips, visit our free Xenoblade Chronicles X Guide.
