============================================================================= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= = Xenoblade Chronicles = =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= = Miscellaneous Information = =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ============================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please read this first before you scroll down! That's important if you want to use this guide the way it was planned. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is this FAQ about? =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I've noticed that some questions in the board have been asked several times which is pretty much the main reason I wrote this to answer them here. But apart from that I've also included other information that might be useful to know. I tried to keep it spoiler-free as much as possible. How to use this guide =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= You'll find a list containing groups of questions or other "headlines". If you have found your "question", press CTRL+F and type in the code that stands right after the question. If you want to go back to the list press CTRL+F and press "x" twice. (This should work with Mozilla Firefox, at least) ====================================================================== List of all questions [xx] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. Areas that are locked out [1x] -Where are the points of no return? -Which areas are locked out and when? 2. Tips and Hints for certain achievements -Do they carry over if I start a new game? [2x0] -Happy new Year [2x1] -The future is ours/Not gonna happen/I'll change the future! [2x2] -Get to know many people in [2x3] -beating 5000 enemies / affinity burst 2000 times [2x4] -Craftstravaganza (Gem Crafting Fever)/Firing on all cylinders [2x5] -Rare Gems [2x6] -Love Source / Love at first bite [2x7] 3. Missable Quests [3x] 4. -"How long is this game?" [4x1] -"How far am I?" [4x2] 5. -When do I get Advanced Art Books? [5x] -I'm looking for an Advanced Art Book. 6. Why can't I do some Heart-to-Hearts? [6x] 7. How does Gem Crafting work? [7x] 8. Spike Damage [8x] 9. How do chain attacks work? [9x] 11. NG+ [0x] 12. Credits [owari] ====================================================================== 1. Areas that are locked out [1x] Well, Bravni has already written a guide about this, but if you think you could be spoiled I'll write it here in different words and try to keep it spoiler-free. If you see that the normal enemies' levels come close to a certain level, you should save at a different slot to make sure you can get everything before an area is locked out. Note: The bosses' levels are usually a bit higher than the levels of normal enemies (~4 levels). The areas are locked out after you defeat the boss. You should beat all unique monsters you can find in these areas if you want to get all affinity coins. _________________________________________________________________________ Level of the Boss: 25 What is locked out: The second half of the area you fight this boss in Last Letter of this enemy's name: D Initials of this location's name: EM _________________________________________________________________________ Level of the Boss: 55 and 60 (you fight 2 bosses at the same time after some cutscenes) What is locked out: The area where you are and the area before it Last Letter of the enemies' name: S and E Initials of this location's name: GF -You can access these areas again later, they are just locked out temporarily- _________________________________________________________________________ Level of the Boss: 60 What is locked out: The two temporarily locked out areas are locked out permanently Last Letter of this enemy's name: E Initials of this location's name: MF (This enemy's second name is also revealed at the same time: T is the last letter) _________________________________________________________________________ Level of the Boss: 70 (the boss that immediately follows this one is 72) What is locked out: MF, CF and the area where you fight this boss Last Letter of this enemy's name: L Initial of this location's name: A ---CF and the area where you fight this boss can still be accessed. For more details, check out Bravni's guide--- _________________________________________________________________________ Level of the Boss: 72 What is locked out: -the two areas you could still access after the previous Lockout Point are locked out permanently -A (the other area starting with A) is heavily changed, but still accessible -the area where you fight this boss (it's just a very small area) Last Letter of this enemy's name: H Initial of this location's name: MC Shulk learns a new art before this boss fight. You should pay attention to this. _________________________________________________________________________ Level of the Boss: -- What is locked out: All areas you have visited so far Last Letter of this enemy's name: -- First letter of this location's name: P This is the absolute point of no return. A character will ask you "Do you want to go on?" and you'll be able to choose whether you want to continue or not. If you accept, you can't return anymore. But you also can't save anymore, so there is no real risk of missing anything. _________________________________________________________________________ Here you can find Bravni's guide if you want more details. Thanks to Bravni! http://www.gamefaqs.com/wii/960564-xenoblade-chronicles/faqs/62899 ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of "Areas that are locked out". If you want to go back to the list press CTRL+F and press "x" twice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do achievements carry over if I start a new game? [2x0] There are 2 kinds of achievements: Trials and Records. Only Records are carried over. Trials are reset. If you start a new game after beating the final boss statistics such as "number of defeated enemies" are carried over if they belong to the records. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Happy New Year! [2x1] The number of days isn't reset when you start a new game after the final boss, so you can still get this achievement in your 2nd playthrough. But if you want to get this record as fast as possible: Set clock to: 11 PM (wait 1 minute) -> 0 AM (set clock to) -> 4 AM (wait 1 minute) -> 5 AM -> set clock to 11 PM and repeat Explanation: Setting the clock to 4 AM after it has reached 5 AM means that it's still the same day (it's like you traveled back in time). You need to set the clock to 11 PM, wait until 12 PM / 0 AM and then the game knows that a new day has started (setting it to 12 PM does not work because then it's still the same day that has just started). Then you can set the clock to 4 AM and wait until 5 AM. That's the only way. Having 146 hours playtime or being outside at a certain moment has got nothing to do with this. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Changing the Future" [2x2] "Changing the future" means to kill the enemy while the vision bar is visible. Then the entire vision bar is destroyed and the party's tension increases to maximum (you can see flames behind the characters' faces on the left). Breaking a part of the vision bar (for example by dazzling the enemy) does not count. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get to know many people in [2x3] This means that you have to talk with all names NPCs of a certain area at least once in order to add them to the affinity chart. You can find a link to a list of all NPCs if you press CTRL+F and press [y] twice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beating many enemies and getting many Affinity bursts [2x4] Just like the Achievement "Happy New Year" the number of enemies is carried over to your 2nd playthrough. If you want to get many kills and affinity bursts, you can go to the Arachno Feeding Lair in Tephra Cave where you can find the Level 95+ enemies (only the round room with the hole). Use gems, weapons and armor to have a high agility and critical hit rate because affinity bursts are triggered when you do a critical hit or dodge an attack. After you've killed all enemies save the game, reload and repeat. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Craftstravaganza (Gem Crafting Fever) / Firing on all cylinders [2x5] Use the right characters that have special crafting abilities. For example, using Shulk raises the chance to activate the fever state. To get "Craftstravaganza" you have to trigger the Fever State 3 times in one crafting session and to get "Firing on all cylinders" you have to fill the cylinder gauge 9 times in one session. It's necessary to have maximum affinity. The actual crafting process is completely random so you have to try many times unless you're very lucky. I've somewhere read that using low-rank crystals increases the chance of triggering the Fever State, but there is no evidence for this. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rare Ether crystals [2x6] Rare crystals have high purity. Finding them has got nothing to do with their rank. This means you can also find rare low-rank ether crystals. In order to know whether you have just collected a rare crystal you have to pay attention to the sound you hear when you collect them. It's a bit different from the normal sound. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Love Source / Love at first bite [2x7] The Love Source is an item you can only get by trading. You need the very valuable item called "Veritas Glyph" (which is only dropped by the most powerful enemies in this game), maximum affinity and special skills of Shulk and another character to get trading bonuses. ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of "Tips and Hints for certain achievements ". If you want to go back to the list press CTRL+F and press "x" twice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= 3. Missable Quests [3x] There are just very few missable quests. Timed quests have a clock next to them to show that you should do them quickly. Usually all quests of a certain area a timed or none of them. (Sometimes the clock shows that you have to choose between 2 possibilities and usually they yield the same rewards unless it's clearly shown that a decision is morally wrong) The only real missable quest is in Colony 9, where you have to answer a question from Dionysis (you can find him at Tranquil Square) with he's too old. You can find a link to a list of all quests if you press CTRL+F and press [y] twice. ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of "Missable Quests". If you want to go back to the list press CTRL+F and press "x" twice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= 4. -"How long is this game?" -"How far am I" "How long is this game?" [4x1] If you just play through the main story for the first time you'll need 50-75 hours. Most players play for 100+ hours and completing everything could take you more than 200 hours. "How far am I?" [4x2] A good way of finding out how far you're away from the end is to compare your level with the levels of the enemy from the last area. (The average level of the enemies from the last area is seventy-five). If you want it a bit more detailed, you can find a list here. Be warned, I tried to avoid spoilers, but there still are some very small spoilers. 10%: When you enter Tephra Cave for the 2nd time. 20%: When you enter a mine. 30%: You reach a village and a new member joins you. 40%: A party member enters a dungeon alone wearing a mask. 50%: You reach a "mountain". 60%: The battle music changes. 70%: You enter an area with "treadmill"-like things. 80%: You enter a place starting with "Ag" 90%: You enter an area containing acid and weird looking enemies. (Explanation: It mostly depends on your playing style; if you do many quests at the beginning of the game you'll likely stay longer at the first areas. I made a list of all areas you visit and split it into parts so that I could make the list you can find above.) ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of "How far am I?". If you want to go back to the list press CTRL+F and press "x" twice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= 5. -When do I get Advanced Art Books? [5x] -I'm looking for an Advanced Art Book. (Note: After getting Art Books, you have to use them in the inventory screen. Just buying them is not enough.) You get them in the second half of this game when you reach the "mountain" (enemies are Level 44+). You can sometimes find them in gold treasure chests (which are mostly dropped by unique monsters or by normal enemies, but that happens very rarely). It's possible that you can get one or two Advanced Art Books before that by finding special treasure chests at secret locations. There is a very useful list that shows which unique enemy drops which Art Book. You can find a link to it by pressing CTRL+F and [y] twice. "Ether Drain" is an Art Book which is very hard to find because there is just a limited number of unique monsters that drop this book. The good thing is that normal monsters also drop Art Books. You need to look for the Level 94+ Bunnivs in Tephra Cave (for example the ones before you reach the Heavenly Window). Lure them to a safe place, save before you open the gold(!) treasure chests, open and reload until you get the right Art Book (which is very rare so it might take some time until you get it). There are 2 kinds of high-level Bunnivs (as they have different names), and each of them can only drop 4 Art Books, so if you see that one treasure chest only contains 4 Art Books you don't need you can ignore it the next time you reload. ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This part ends here. If you want to go back to the list press CTRL+F and press "x" twice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= 6. Why can't I do some Heart-to-Hearts? [6x] At the beginning of the game it's normal that you find many heart-to-hearts you cannot start. Usually it's because the affinity level between 2 characters isn't high enough or because of a missing party member (who will eventually join as you progress through the game). You should also pay attention to the time because some Heart-to-Hearts can only be done during the night. And some Heart-to-Hearts require you to reach a certain point in the main story (in these Heart-to-Hearts the characters usually talk about story events). ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of "Why can't I do some Heart-to-Hearts?". If you want to go back to the list press CTRL+F and press "x" twice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= 7. How does Gem Crafting work? (long text) [7x] There are already some tutorials for this, but I'll try to describe it here, even though it isn't easy to explain it without pictures. -- Well, the first menu you see consists of 2 parts: On the left, you see information about the crystal the green cursor is pointing at (upper left), like the rank of the crystal and the "purity" of a bonus (for example: "Rank II, Defense Up 33%"). The lower left shows the bonuses and the sum of the purity. The right part shows all crystals you have collected so far, sort by rank (you can also sort the gems by their type). (Note that crystals aren't the same as gems. Crystals = what you collect from enemies etc. Gems = the result of the crafting process.) So for example: You want to make an Agility Up gem. Just use the green cursor and look at all the crystals you have so far. Oh, there is a "small crystal"! Crystal A (I just made this up) Rank I Agility Up 70% Strength Up 50% You select this crystal and the red font on the left becomes black. The total purity you can see on the left for Agility Up is now 70% (just like crystal A because you have only selected 1 crystal so far). Now on the right side you look for another crystal that raises the "Agility Up" bonus. The crystals that glow show you which ones increase the purity of the bonuses on the left side that you have so far. Ah, there is another one. (What you see at the upper left corner, not at the lower left corner:) Crystal B Rank I Agility Up 20% Ether Defense Up 70% The lower left corner shows the sum of all purities (red font). Agility Up 90% (because 20%+70%=90%) Ether Defense Up 70% Strength Up 50% Note that the bonuses are sort by their purity from highest to lowest. You need at least 2 crystals to start the crafting process, but it looks like the "Ether Defense Up" purity is also quite high so that we could additionally make an "Ether Defense Up" gem. So we need something that raises the "Ether Defense Up" purity. We look at the right side and we select another useful crystal. Crystal C Rank I Agility Up 15% Ether Defense Up 15% So now the sum of all purities is (red font, lower left): Agility Up 105% Ether Defense Up 85% Strength Up 50% If the purity of one bonus exceeds 100% we can't add any crystals anymore. In this example, the "Agility Up" purity exceeds 100% and we have to select "Confirm". Now you have to choose the crafting partners. The affinities between the partners should be high so that you have many crafting turns (the length of the crafting process). There are 2 kinds of crafters (on the left and on the right side): Shooters and Engineers. The only important thing of the Shooter is the crafting bonus that is different for each character (for example, Shulk gets into a fever more easily when crafting). The crafting bonus only works if the character is chosen as the Shooter, not as the Engineer, so you can't get the fever bonus if you select Shulk as the Engineer. The Engineer you choose determines what kind of flame appears. For example, Reyn is very good with the red flame, but weak with blue and green flames, so during the crafting process the blue and green flames won't appear as often as the red flame and if they appear, they will have a rather weak effect. I'll later explain what all these "flames" mean. After you have selected the crafting partners, you can start the crafting. The actual crafting process is random, you can just sit back and watch it, or fast-forward it by pressing A. There you can see how the purities of the bonuses rise with each crafting turn (the animation when a character throws something into that "machine" is 1 crafting turn), so if you have many crafting turns because of a high affinity the purity will rise much more. You'll also see the different kinds of flames, that appear randomly (the probability depends on the Engineer). Each one has its own effect: Red flame: The purity of 1 bonus rises Blue flame: The purity of all bonuses rises (not as much as with the Red Flame!) Green flame: The cylinder gauge rises. After the crafting is over (the length of the process depends on the number of crafting turns) you see what gems you have made. If the purity exceeds 100%, you get a gem you can use with an armor or weapon. So in this example, you get an "Agility Plus" gem and an "Ether Defense Up" gem. (Rank I. The rank of the resulting gem depends on the rank of the crystals you use.) Let's say the "Strength Up" purity (that started with 50%) has only reached 80%. This isn't enough to make a gem out of it, but you can put these "80%" into a cylinder, if you have one. If the cylinder gauge is filled up (during the crafting process with the green flame) you get 1 cylinder. Above the gauge you can see the number of cylinders you currently have. If you put the 80% into a cylinder you have a cylinder that has the bonus "Strength Up" with 80% purity. It can be used just like a normal ether crystal for the next crafting session. -- So that is how gem crafting works in general. But in order to get the best gems possible, you should know a bit more about the details. The trick is to get a very high purity during the crafting process. (It's hard to achieve this at the beginning because the characters don't have high affinity, but fortunately gem crafting isn't so important at the beginning. It becomes more important later, though.) If you can, you should try to use crystals with low purity and use flames that only slowly increase the purity. The aim is to get 2 cylinders with purities close to 100%. For example, if you successfully make two 90% "Strength Up" cylinders and put these together, you already have 180% "Strength Up" purity which is a lot. Why would you want such high purity? The quality of the gems seems to stay the same. You only get a normal gem if the purity exceeds 100% in the crafting process. But if the purity exceeds 200% in the crafting process, the number showing the purity is replaced with "HEAT". At the end, you get a gem that is one rank higher than the crystals you use. For example, you can make a Rank III gem just by using Rank II crystals. The even better thing is to get more than 300% purity. The percentage showing the purity isn't shown anymore after it reaches the "HEAT" status, but it still rises. After 300% you'll see "MEGA HEAT" and the result isn't just a gem that is a rank higher than the crystal. You get 2 gems that are 1 rank higher -and- they always have maximum quality. For example, a Rank VI "Strength Up" gem resulting from the "HEAT" status increases strength by a number between 100 and 150 (it's a random number). A Rank VI "Strength Up" gem resulting from the "MEGA HEAT" status (you actually get two in one crafting process!) always increases strength by 150. (Rank VI crystals don't exist, you can only make Rank VI gems by using HEAT / MEGA HEAT.) It's impossible to achieve 300%+ purity at the beginning, but you'll definitely need this in later parts of this game if you want to beat the strongest enemies. Another thing is the "support" you get from your allies that don't participate in the actual crafting process. They just randomly increase the purity of 1 gem, of all gems, or the cylinder gauge so there isn't much to say about this. The chance that this happens depends on the affinity you have between the characters. The last thing is the so-called "Fever". During every crafting turn there is a (very, very) small chance that the characters trigger the "Fever State". You see this when the characters start to jump and the "machine" starts to glow. The purity rises really fast and that just counts as 1 crafting turn. That is nice, but it happens quite rarely. If you want this, you should use Shulk as the Shooter because he has a higher chance of triggering "Fever" (that's his Shooter bonus, you remember?). ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of "How does Gem Crafting work?". If you want to go back to the list press CTRL+F and press "x" twice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= 8. Spike Damage [8x] Be aware that Spike Damage is also explained in the ingame tutorials. Spike damage is always indicated by a purple number. There are 3 kinds of spikes: The first one is the "normal" Counterattack Spike. If you attack an enemy, you receive damage. The second kind is the Topple Spike. As the name implies, if you attack a toppled enemy, you receive damage. If the enemy isn't toppled, you'll be fine. The third kind is the close Spike Damage. There you already receive damage just by standing close to the enemy. In order to deal with Spike Damage, you can use Spike Defense Gems and any art that removes an aura (like Shulk's Monado Purge and Melia's Mind Blast). A special version of Spike Damage are Debuff Spikes. Instead of receiving damage, the attacking character receives a debuff, for example "sleep" status. There you can use gems against the different kind of debuffs, or just use a Debuff Resist Gem, which is more difficult to find, though. ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of "Spike Damage". If you want to go back to the list press CTRL+F and press "x" twice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= 9. How do chain attacks work? [9x] First you need a full party gauge. You'll see a blue line between your characters. It's recommended to start a chain attack when you see the blue line between all characters, but you can also do chain attacks with just 2 members. You can start it by pressing up or down and selecting the "Chain Attack" icon. The battle is paused so that you have some time to think. Then you choose which character performs which art and that's pretty much how they work. The actual usefulness lies in the arts you choose. On the right you can see a damage multiplier. It starts with 1, but it rises when you choose arts with the same color, so you should also pay attention to the color of the multiplier and the color of the symbol that stands for the respective art. If you use an art with a different color, the multiplier will jump back to 1. The only exception here are Talent Arts. They work like a "Joker" with all colors which is quite useful if you want to raise the multiplier while using many different arts. For example, you can use many healing arts (blue) and raise the multiplier, then use a Talent Art so that the multiplier turns white and continue with red arts that deal lots of damage without the multiplier going back to 1. However, the effectiveness of a chain attack also depends on its length. After all characters have attacked once, you might get a chance to extend the chain attack (you'll see a quick time event). The probability depends on the affinity between the characters and the tension of the party. So chain attacks are most effective if your party combination consists of members that have a very high affinity level and if the tension is at the highest level (where you see flames behind the characters' faces on the left). Also, some characters have skills that increase the chance as well and that can be linked to other characters. ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of "How do Chain Attacks work?". If you want to go back to the list press CTRL+F and press "x" twice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= 11. NG+ [0x] NG+ refers to the 2nd playthrough you can do after you have beaten the game. There you can use a special weapon, but apart from that nothing is changed in the actual game. You keep: -your level -all equipment that is equipped at the end of the game -arts -skills -affinity between characters -affinity coins -money -gems, ether crystals -up to 30 weapons, armor pieces you can choose yourself -up to 60 raw materials (moster drops)you can choose yourself What is reset: -trials -affinity chart (NPCs and areas) -quests There are 2 kinds of achievements: Records and trials. Note that records are carried over, but trials are reset. You can use NG+ to do all optional stuff you haven't done in your first playthrough, for example beating the high-level monsters. NG+ is also good if you want to experience the whole story in a short period of time because the enemies will stay at the same level. ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of "NG+". If you want to go back to the list press CTRL+F and press "x" twice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= 12. Credits [owari] Thanks to: ---------- -Monolith Soft and Nintendo for developing and publishing this game -Bravni for the Lockout/Point of No Return Guide -Split Infinity for: -contributing so many guides to GameFAQs -his Achievement/Collectopaedia List -his Map/Unique Monster Data -Xenoblade Wiki http://xenoblade.wikia.com/wiki/Xenoblade_Wiki A very useful collection of information, make sure to check it out! -Japanese Xenoblade Wiki http://www35.atwiki.jp/xenoblade/ -the "Google Document" [yy] Here you can find lists about many different things, for example Quests, Heart-to-Hearts, NPCs, unique enemies, etc... But there are many spoilers about locations, party members and other things, so be careful when using it or don't use it at all if you don't want any spoilers. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Anx12MiCQejudHJfUWhOTGd5Wm1uS25u b2FDeE5BekE&hl=en_US#gid=10 I don't own any of the guides or resources mentioned in this part. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- March / April 2012 (c) Thanh Le Hoang / TLeHn thanh_le_hoang@web.de Don't copy any part of this guide without giving credit. The following websites can host this guide: www.gamefaqs.com www.neoseeker.com www.supercheats.com ========================================================================= ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This guide ends here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- =========================================================================