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Post by JuniorFE on Mar 29, 2024 17:42:48 GMT
VandelayTl;dr: high-investment, high-reward class with very good Buffer builds, less grindy than the upgrade numbers might make it seem. If you decide to go for it, get someone to Rank 10 in it ASAP for the skill that lets you learn stuff without someone in the class. You'd preferably have a full party of them to grind the upgrades though. The base Arts and Skills of Soulhacker come from defeating specific Unique Monsters, which is less grindy than you might think (unless you don't feel like going out of your way to go after said Uniques, at least), and you don't even have to have someone in the class, as long as somebody has Soul Hack (gained by reaching rank 10 in the class) equipped as a Master Skill you're good to go. Basically, if you only care about passively collecting the base skills just in case, raise Lanz's Soulhacker to rank 10 with Nopon Coins, pop Soul Hack on him on whatever class you make him and just keep hunting Uniques and otherwise playing normally (Triton can't learn skills so it has to be one of your main six, might as well just make it Lanz since he inherits the class) As for the upgrades, a few of them come from things you'll probably be doing anyway (discovering places, raising Affinity with colonies and such) and most of the grindy ones can be done more quickly the more Soulhackers you have in the party, either by having your entire party use (and focus towards upgrading) the same few Arts/skills or by spreading it out so that you slowly build up many of them at once. The only ones that can't really be streamlined are the ones that want you to defeat the Unique that gave it to you X times, but at least you can work on the other objectives in the meantime. Ultimately, Soulhacker is your typical Blue Mage class, it's as strong as the time you put in it. If you're willing to track down the Uniques (including re-fighting the ones you killed already... and the optional, superstrong ones for a couple of things) and work on upgrading its Arts and Skills, it can be incredibly versatile, if slightly lacking offensively outside of Chain Attacks (which also hampers its tanking capabilities, since it has trouble drawing aggro) and it has some Buffer builds that are among the best in the game. On the other hand, if you can't be arsed to work at it (and I wouldn't blame you, game's big enough as it is) you won't see many returns either.
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Vandelay
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Post by Vandelay on Mar 29, 2024 19:14:07 GMT
Knew you would be able to help Junior  Don't mind going back to kill off a few of those unique monsters. Not like it will take much time or be particularly difficult, seeing as lots of them are half my level or less. In the prison at the moment though, so can't fast travel. Will get on it when I finish this section. |
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Vandelay
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Post by Vandelay on Apr 18, 2024 21:56:19 GMT
RAGE!!!! at the final boss.
Got through the first section in the theatre without any real difficulty, but it was a long slog that took forever. Got to the fight against the big head and took about a quarter of his health off before my healers all went down quite suddenly and the rest of the team soon followed (well, except Monica, who valiantly hang around for a while not really doing any damage).
Not to worry, just have to give it another ago... except now I'm back outside the theatre and I have to do the incredibly slow and tedious first part of the fight again!
Not going through all that again now. Might be tempted to just disappear to a camp and bump up my level (I'm only 70 against his 75).
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Post by JuniorFE on Apr 18, 2024 22:21:29 GMT
Vandelay level difference has pretty much always been important in the Xenoblade games, that should help. Also weapon/gem levels, exploring areas that are really only feasible to go into at endgame levels, optional stuff in general... Even if you go a little off the beaten path it can make a difference. And for some actual gameplay tips that might help for survivability, a well-built (or even decently built) Signifer is crazy good, it can give and upkeep multiple buffs to the entire party pretty much 100% of the time with Resonant Flag and an Art set stocked with buffs, especially with the Talent Art charging skill from Flash Fencer to get a head start on the buffing. And it's pretty good at executing the strategy effectively even under AI control, so you don't necessarily have to swap to and from them just to buff. In addition, Noah has Unlimited Sword, which gives him Invincible (which as far as I'm aware is non-removable), and as a Healer class he also gives Invincible to any ally he revives while in Unlimited Sword, while still having pretty good damage. So if you make him a Healer (preferably not your Signifer, you generally want that one to have its Talent Art and Unlimited Sword would replace it) he's an excellent panic button in a pinch (although you'd probably want to control him if you go down that path, so that he doesn't waste it).
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Post by JuniorFE on Apr 18, 2024 22:25:39 GMT
Also the Memory Locket accessory allows anyone that equips it to revive allies even outside of a Healer class. One can be found in the Cascade Ferronis Hulk in Pentelas, and you can buy more from the Nopon Coin Exchange in Dannagh Desert (for 99 Gold Nopon Coins, but they're pretty worth it I'd say)
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Vandelay
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Post by Vandelay on Apr 19, 2024 7:27:59 GMT
Thanks. Think I should be alright with just bumping my level up a bit. I need to rejig the classes as well, as I went in with some low level ones that I was leveling up. I'll just switch them over to ones I've got to rank 20.
Not expecting this to actually take many attempts. Been finding the rest of the game pretty easy, certainly compared to previous games in the series. In the other games I found I needed to use bonus experience to keep ahead of the enemies around me, as even enemies just a level or 2 above would cause an issue. Here though, I'm normally fine fighting enemies 3 or so levels higher, with the exception of the unique monsters.
Was a bit surprised when I went into the battle and it actually was the final fight. Thought that there were 8 chapters not 7, so I wasn't really prepared for it.
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Post by JuniorFE on Oct 29, 2024 14:18:32 GMT
NINTENDO YOU FUCKING JERKS, dropping this out of nowhere!!
Well, it happened folks! The entire Xenoblade series is now on Switch!
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zisssou
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Post by zisssou on Oct 29, 2024 14:22:15 GMT
Oh damn! I still haven't played 3 yet.. oops. Or bought 2, but I think I'll give that a miss. I heard X is very good though.
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Tuffty
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Post by Tuffty on Oct 29, 2024 14:31:36 GMT
And with that, the Wii U can finally rest.
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Post by Red_Bool on Oct 29, 2024 14:32:00 GMT
Finally! \o/
I was tempted so often to get this on Wii U, but never did (it seemed too much hassle, also needing extra storage for an "optimal" experience)
Now I might buy and play XC1 (again) to have the complete collection on Switch.
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Post by Wizzard_Ook on Oct 29, 2024 14:35:23 GMT
Nice!
The XB games have been my favourite new discovery/series during the switch era. Day one.
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Post by Gearoid on Oct 29, 2024 14:38:19 GMT
So happy with this announcement. I didn't have a WiiU so missed out on XCX. Day one purchase, just have to decide whether to go physical to join my XB collection or go digital.
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Post by JuniorFE on Oct 29, 2024 14:40:34 GMT
You know, this is the only one in the series with co-op options... And it's going to be way easier on the Switch...
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Vandelay
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Post by Vandelay on Oct 29, 2024 14:46:09 GMT
Oooooo... I only got into the Xenoblade games with the Switch, so despite owning a Wii U I never actually played this one. Great that all of these are going to be available on a single console.
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Derblington
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Post by Derblington on Oct 29, 2024 14:48:19 GMT
Oh damn! I still haven't played 3 yet.. oops. Or bought 2, but I think I'll give that a miss. I heard X is very good though. I own 1-3 on Switch and haven't played any. I guess I'll add this one to the list too! |
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Post by zisssou on Oct 29, 2024 14:54:38 GMT
Oh damn! I still haven't played 3 yet.. oops. Or bought 2, but I think I'll give that a miss. I heard X is very good though. I own 1-3 on Switch and haven't played any. I guess I'll add this one to the list too! From someone who feels they haven't got time for a JPRG these days.. I found Xenoblade 1 a bit of a breeze to play. Easy to pick up, but sometimes hard to master. There's just so many games to play, that 3 hasn't been on my radar. |
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Post by Duffking on Oct 29, 2024 14:55:47 GMT
4 of the greatest JRPGs of all time on one system, love it.
Hope switch 2 backwards compatability has some nice upgrades for them - 2 in particular could use some upresolutioning. It has dynamic res, so fingers crossed the extra grunt helps.
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Post by JuniorFE on Oct 29, 2024 14:58:45 GMT
Oh damn! I still haven't played 3 yet.. oops. Or bought 2, but I think I'll give that a miss. I heard X is very good though. I own 1-3 on Switch and haven't played any. I guess I'll add this one to the list too! You should, and you should play them too! Plus, now that they're all on the same console, it'll be that much easier to catch all the cross-game references! I wonder what they'll add to X this time around... |
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Aunty Treats
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Post by Aunty Treats on Oct 29, 2024 14:59:21 GMT
I own 1-3 on Switch and haven't played any. I guess I'll add this one to the list too! From someone who feels they haven't got time for a JPRG these days.. I found Xenoblade 1 a bit of a breeze to play. Easy to pick up, but sometimes hard to master. There's just so many games to play, that 3 hasn't been on my radar. Yeahhhh. Just had a quick look at a review- huge expansive world, almost never ending list of quests. I've only played 2 and it was alright if full of odd half arsed mechanics. Games are just too big to start on a whim |
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Post by zisssou on Oct 29, 2024 15:04:57 GMT
From someone who feels they haven't got time for a JPRG these days.. I found Xenoblade 1 a bit of a breeze to play. Easy to pick up, but sometimes hard to master. There's just so many games to play, that 3 hasn't been on my radar. Yeahhhh. Just had a quick look at a review- huge expansive world, almost never ending list of quests. I've only played 2 and it was alright if full of odd half arsed mechanics. Games are just too big to start on a whim Yeah the quests do get a little insane. I never did them all. I think someone called me out on it when I said I completed the game. I haven't got time to find 10 items SORRY. |
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Post by JuniorFE on Oct 29, 2024 15:14:00 GMT
Yeahhhh. Just had a quick look at a review- huge expansive world, almost never ending list of quests. I've only played 2 and it was alright if full of odd half arsed mechanics. Games are just too big to start on a whim Yeah the quests do get a little insane. I never did them all. I think someone called me out on it when I said I completed the game. I haven't got time to find 10 items SORRY. True, a lot of generic fetch/"kill X number of a monster" quests to start in each area. You hardly need to complete all the boring ones though, and they quickly start having more meat to get stuck in (I remember that being mentioned about FF16 too, it starts much sooner in Xenoblade). Plus even the early, generic quests give money and Exp. to basically eliminate the need for early grinding, plus Area Affinity to unlock the more unique questlines, for not much effort, and as you unlock the higher Area Affinity quests the rewards start getting very substantial, too. Exclusive equipment, character skill trees, entire areas locked behind them sometimes (mainly behind quests that become available after certain lategame events)... (Spoilered for the benefit of any new players jumping in. The point is it's worth it to keep up with Area Affinity, and it's both easy enough to complete any generic sidequests you need while you're out and about exploring and fast enough to get into the meatier sidequests ) |
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Post by Duffking on Oct 29, 2024 15:26:35 GMT
It's worth noting that while the huge amount of quests is ridiculous in Xenoblade Chronicles, you're not actually expected to actively pay attention to them. Most of them just passively complete while you're wandering around exploring and grabbing shinies. You can look through what's left at various points to see if you can be arsed with the rest, but there's basically nothing that actually has a story attached in the first game. Wouldn't worry about them at all.
In 2/3 the side quests are fewer and much more detailed/story oriented.
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Post by rhaegyr on Oct 29, 2024 15:27:22 GMT
Absolutely buzzing for this. It's the only one I never got round to finishing (despite still having a Wii U and a copy of it). I didn't even get the Skell!
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Post by JuniorFE on Oct 29, 2024 15:39:47 GMT
It's worth noting that while the huge amount of quests is ridiculous in Xenoblade Chronicles, you're not actually expected to actively pay attention to them. Most of them just passively complete while you're wandering around exploring and grabbing shinies. You can look through what's left at various points to see if you can be arsed with the rest, but there's basically nothing that actually has a story attached in the first game. Wouldn't worry about them at all. In 2/3 the side quests are fewer and much more detailed/story oriented. Ehh, I dunno about that tbh. Sure, few of them get as detailed and lengthy as, say, the character/ascension quests in 3, but there's quite a few pretty big sidequests/quest lines (especially starting from around Area Affinity 3 or so for each area) that have noticeable results in NPC relations... Then there's (again, tagged for any newcomers, but only some contextless names mentioned) the Alcamoth quests pre- and post-[REDACTED], the entire Bana questline that spans multiple areas, seemingly unrelated quests and like half the game, Colony 6 -made much easier in the remake thanks to new ways to get materials-... Good thing timed quests are explicitly marked as such in 1, btw! |
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Post by damagedinc on Oct 29, 2024 17:04:02 GMT
I absolutely loved 3 having never played any of them before. I held off on 2 to play the first one and they've now announced this! YES!
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Post by dangerousdave on Oct 29, 2024 22:05:31 GMT
Gotta appreciate the love for Xenoblade in this thread. I’ve played 3 of the 4 and they are indeed among the very best games I’ve ever played (let alone JRPGS). I still own the Wii U version of XCX, but would happily buy it again. I have no idea what graphical improvements they could pull off on Switch. The original looked absolutely fantastic. Better than Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on Switch, even!
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Post by JuniorFE on Oct 29, 2024 22:16:37 GMT
Gotta appreciate the love for Xenoblade in this thread. I’ve played 3 of the 4 and they are indeed among the very best games I’ve ever played (let alone JRPGS). I still own the Wii U version of XCX, but would happily buy it again. I have no idea what graphical improvements they could pull off on Switch. The original looked absolutely fantastic. Better than Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on Switch, even! If the trailer was any indication... It's going to blow socks off  |
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Post by One_Vurfed_Gwrx on Oct 29, 2024 22:27:23 GMT
X is the XC game I plahed the most of, but the storage space needed to be able to have everything running fully was a pain when other people shared the console. I enjoyed it though and will rebuy. I own the rest (got CEs for 1 and 2, but missed out on 3's due to the stupid release strategy and scalpers which was annoying so I bought the main game on sale). I do need to get around to properly playing them all one day, but just restarted the second arc of the Kiseki/Trails of series so may be a while before I get around to them. Got XB1 on 3 formats too...
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Post by Nanocrystal on Oct 29, 2024 22:42:03 GMT
Pretty much bought a Switch just for the Xenoblade games (well, plus BotW), so very happy about this!
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MolarAm🔵
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Post by MolarAm🔵 on Oct 29, 2024 23:06:16 GMT
It's the worst XC for me, but I'm glad it isn't locked to a dead system anymore.
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