Zerokid proudly presents... ,:::,,,,:::::,,,,,,:~~~~::::+77:~~+ X E N O B L A D E :~~~~~:::~~~~~~~~~~=::~~~:,7=:,,,,I:~:, +, ,77 = ,~~7?+ ~,:::::~~~~~~::~::::::::::::::::::7:::::::: ,=7++ ::,~ ,?7:::+,::,:::::~~~~==,,,:,~:::::~::::::~:, ::7: ?,,: :,: ,:::::::: ::~ :::::::::7::: :,: ,I~:,,7::::::::::::::~~~~:~~:~~~~~~~~~I== ?~:: ,?:,:::+==~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~====+?: G E M ~=,?~:::~+~7::???~ G U I D E ,,,~:~777=::???I C H R O N I C L E S ,,,:::~~==+ ,,, If you like the guide, please click the 'recommend' button at the top of this webpage at GameFAQs :). _______________________________________________________ Xenoblade Chronicles Gem Guide for the Wii console Written by and copyright (c) Zerokid 2010-Present zero_kid(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk _______________________________________________________ Hey there. Thank you, first of all, for choosing this guide. Hopefully it will answer any questions you have regarding Gems. If something is missing or you feel a topic has not been explained well enough, please email me, and I'll try to sort it out. For the legal disclaimer, email policy and contribution instructions, please refer to the end of this document. ___ Version 1.33 ------------ - Date: 11/03/2012 (UK dating system) - Size: 78 KB - Some excellent critical feedback from Mr. Mister has been incorporated into this guide. The following information has been added regarding the following subjects: - Extra Talent Boost Gems don't further cut your auto-attack damage. Their effect also applies to Sharla, for some strange reason. - AP Up and EXP Up Gems only apply to battles, but not quests and location discovery (more testing needed with regards to Riki's Yoink! Art). - Debuff Resist doesn't protect against knockback and Blow-Down. - Finally, he contributed an excellent section which tells you how to obtain Mega Heat Gems if you only have one crystal or Gem of the desired quality. Read section 05; 'Crafting Mega Heat Gems' to find the new addition. - Finally, a typo fix stating that 'different debuffs from different sources stack', which is trivially true, was changed to what I *meant* to say in the first place: That the *same* debuffs from different sources stack. - Many, many thanks indeed :). As a disclaimer, this guide is probably contains some minor typos and mistakes. If there's something you wish to correct, no matter how small, please email me at the above address. Note that the address ends with '.co.uk'. ___ If this guide helped you, please consider making a small donation to me via PayPal, which I am assured can convert currencies too--you can get to my donation page by following this URL (copy and paste it). https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr? cmd=_donations&business=DCSRB76Y3FJQQ&lc=GB&item_name=Zerokid% 20Walkthroughs¤cy_code=GBP&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif% 3aNonHosted Thank you :). If the guide didn't help you, remember how much it cost to use it. GameFAQs and any affiliates have permission to host this guide. _______________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents _______________________________________________________________________________ Each section has a unique code inside square brackets. Use the Find (Ctrl + F) feature in your browser / text editor, then punch in the code including the square brackets to quickly be taken to the corresponding section. [00] Basics [01] Gem Database [02] Best Gems [03] Character Gem Setups [04] Gem Crafting [05] Crafting Mega Heat Gems [06] Rank V Crystal Locations [07] Outro _______________________________________________________________________________ [00] Basics _______________________________________________________________________________ Gems are items that you can attach to your weapons and armour which offer certain battle advantages, such as extra stat boosts or resistance to status effects. They are obtained either by completing quests, trading with NPCs, or creating them from Crystals (see section 04 for details). The full list of Gems can be found in the next section. Now only equipment that is slotted, indicated by a blue 'S', can have Gems attached. Depending on the gear, a weapon can have anywhere from 0-3 slots, and each armour piece can have either one or no slots. Some gear is unique, labelled with a pink 'U', and comes with pre-equipped Gems. Gems cannot be removed from unique equipment. More information on equipment can be found in my Weapon/Armour Guide on GameFAQs. Gems have a number of properties: Rank: Gems are ranked from I to VI, with higher numbers giving stronger value effects. A Strength Up I Gem will give between 5-10 extra Strength, whereas a rank VI Gem will give somewhere from 75-100 extra Strength. Note that the exact values vary from Gem to Gem, but are always constant for that particular Gem. What I mean by example is that I might have a Strength Up VI Gem that gives me 96 Strength, whereas you'll have one that gives 79 Strength. The range of values I give is the range of possible values that any one particular Gem will take. Element: Refers to the colour of the Gem and which elements of Ether Crystals can create that Gem. Fire = Red; Water = Blue; Earth = Orange; Wind = Green; Electric = Yellow; Ice = Cyan. Slot: 'Weapon' Gems can only be equipped in weapon slots. The case is similar for 'Armour'. 'Any' means that the Gem can be equipped on either weapon or armour slots. Note that just because a Gem is listed as Weapon-only doesn't mean that UNIQUE slotted armour cannot have that gem pre-equipped. For example, the Glory Gauntlets (Arm armour) come pre-equipped with Haste VI Gems, despite Haste Gems being Weapon-only. Sell: The sell value of the Gem. Sell price increases with the rank of the Gem, with the in-game data being the value I have listed in the database. I: 120%, II: 144%, III: 180%, IV: 216%, V: 240%, VI: 300%. So, for example, a rank III Gem with a 'Sell' value of 200 will be worth 360G if you sell it to a shop. Max: The limit of the effect value this Gem can provide. For example, the Strength Up VI Gem has a 'Max' property of 150. This means that if I equip two Strength UP VI Gems with 100 Strength each, I'll only get a 150 total Strength bonus, since the Max is 150. When you hit the Max with any set of Gems, the value will show up in green text on your character's stat screen. Note that for the ranks of each Gem's effect, a percentage within brackets indicates the CHANCE for that effect to occur. No brackets indicates the percentage that the effect of the gem is increased by. For example, Strength Down I is listed as 2-4% (10%). This means the enemy's strength will be lowered by 2-4%, with a 10% chance. _______________________________________________________________________________ [01] Gem Database _______________________________________________________________________________ _________ Attribute _________ Strength Up / Element: Fire, Slot: Any, Sell: 200, Max: 150 I: 5-10, II: 15-20, III: 25-30, IV: 35-40, V: 45-50, VI: 75-100 Effect: Increases Strength. Agility Up / Element: Wind, Slot: Any, Sell: 300, Max: 50 I: 2-6, II: 8-12, III: 14-18, IV: 20-24, V: 26-30, VI: 40-50 Effect: Increases Agility. Ether Up / Element: Electric, Slot: Any, Sell: 150, Max: 150 I: 5-10, II: 15-20, III: 25-30, IV: 35-40, V: 45-50, VI: 75-100 Effect: Increases Ether. Muscle Up / Element: Earth, Slot: Any, Sell: 150, Max: 100 I: 5-10, II: 15-20, III: 25-30, IV: 35-40, V: 45-50, VI: 75-100 Effect: Increases Phys Def. Ether Def Up / Element: Ice, Slot: Any, Sell: 150, Max: 100 I: 5-10, II: 15-20, III: 25-30, IV: 35-40, V: 45-50, VI: 75-100 Effect: Increases Ether Def. HP Up / Element: Water, Slot: Any, Sell: 350, Max: 50% I: 2-6%, II: 8-12%, III: 14-18%, IV: 20-24%, V: 26-30%, VI: 40-50% Effect: Increases Max HP. Critical Up / Element: Earth, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 1750, Max: 25% I: 2-4%, II: 6-8%, III: 10-12%, IV: 14-16%, V: 18-20%, VI: 22-25% Effect: Increases Critical Rate. Attack Stability / Element: Earth, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 500, Max: 50% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-42%, VI: 44-50% Effect: Increases weapon's minimum Attack. Attack Plus / Element: Earth, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 750, Max: 50% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-42%, VI: 44-50% Effect: Increases weapon's maximum Attack. Note: Due to the max damage glitch in Xenoblade Chronicles, whereby your character's maximum Auto-Attack Damage can be no greater than their (minimum Auto-Attack Damage + 99), Attack Plus Gems are largely useless unless paired with Attack Stability Gems. ______ Attack ______ Electric Plus / Element: Electric, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 1000, Max: 100% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases damage dealt by electric attacks. Double Attack / Element: Electric, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 400, Max: 50% I: 2-6%, II: 8-12%, III: 14-18%, IV: 20-24%, V: 26-30%, VI: 40-50% Effect: Gives a chance for auto-attacks to hit twice. Spike / Element: Fire, Slot: Armour, Sell: 1000, Max: 250 I: 20-40, II: 60-80, III: 100-120, IV: 140-160, V: 180-200, VI: 220-250 Effect: Damages enemies by a set amount when they attack you. Bleed Attack / Element: Wind, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 600, Max: 250 (30%) I: 40-60 (10%), II: 70-90 (12%), III: 100-120 (16%), IV: 130-150 (20%), V: 160-180 (25%), VI: 200-250 (30%) Effect: Gives a chance to inflict Bleed status on enemies with auto-attacks, damaging them for the given amount once every 2 seconds for 20 seconds. Blaze Attack / Element: Fire, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 700, Max: 400 (30%) I: 20-30 (10%), II: 40-50 (12%), III: 60-70 (16%), IV: 80-90 (20%), V: 100-120 (25%), VI: 150-200 (30%) Effect: Gives a chance to inflict Blaze status on enemies with auto-attacks, damaging them for the given amount once every 2 seconds for 20 seconds. Chill Attack / Element: Ice, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 700, Max: 300 (30%) I: 10-20 (10%), II: 30-40 (12%), III: 50-60 (16%), IV: 70-80 (20%), V: 90-100 (25%), VI: 120-150 (30%) Effect: Gives a chance to inflict Chill status on enemies with auto-attacks, damaging them for the given amount once every 2 seconds for 20 seconds. Poison Attack / Element: Earth, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 900, Max: 500 (30%) I: 40-60 (10%), II: 70-90 (12%), III: 100-120 (16%), IV: 130-150 (20%), V: 160-180 (25%), VI: 200-250 (30%) Effect: Gives a chance to inflict Poison status on enemies with auto-attacks, damaging them for the given amount once every 2 seconds for 20 seconds. Lightning Attack / Element: Electric, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 600, Max: 500 I: 20-40, II: 60-80, III: 100-120, IV: 140-160, V: 180-200, VI: 220-250 Effect: Adds an additional amount of electric damage on to auto-attacks. Daze Up / Element: Electric, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 750, Max: 100% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases damage dealt to enemies inflicted with Daze status. Topple Up / Element: Wind, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 1000, Max: 100% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases damage dealt to enemies inflicted with Topple status. Bleed Plus / Element: Wind, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 800, Max: 100% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases damage of Bleed status effect. Blaze Plus / Element: Fire, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 800, Max: 100% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases damage of Blaze status effect. Chill Plus / Element: Ice, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 800, Max: 100% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases damage of Chill status effect. Poison Plus / Element: Earth, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 1000, Max: 100% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases damage of Poison status effect. Strength Down / Element: Fire, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 750, Max: 25% (30%) I: 2-4% (10%), II: 6-8% (12%), III: 10-12% (16%), IV: 14-16% (20%), V: 18-20% (25%), VI: 22-25% (30%) Effect: Gives a chance for auto-attacks to lower the enemy's Strength. Agility Down / Element: Wind, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 1000, Max: 25% (30%) I: 2-4% (10%), II: 6-8% (12%), III: 10-12% (16%), IV: 14-16% (20%), V: 18-20% (25%), VI: 22-25% (30%) Effect: Gives a chance for auto-attacks to lower the enemy's Agility. Ether Down / Element: Earth, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 800, Max: 25% (30%) I: 2-4% (10%), II: 6-8% (12%), III: 10-12% (16%), IV: 14-16% (20%), V: 18-20% (25%), VI: 22-25% (30%) Effect: Gives a chance for auto-attacks to lower the enemy's Ether. Slow / Element: Ice, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 700, Max: (25%) I: (5%), II: (8%), III: (12%), IV: (15%), V: (20%), VI: (25%) Effect: Gives a chance for auto-attacks to inflict Slow status. Bind / Element: Ice, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 550, Max: (25%) I: (5%), II: (8%), III: (12%), IV: (15%), V: (20%), VI: (25%) Effect: Gives a chance for auto-attacks to inflict Bind status. HP Steal / Element: Water, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 1250, Max: 200 (25%) I: 10-20 (5%), II: 30-40 (8%), III: 50-60 (12%), IV: 70-80 (15%), V: 90-100 (20%), VI: 150-200 (25%) Effect: Gives a chance for auto-attacks to recover some HP. Paralysis / Element: Electric, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 750, Max: (25%) I: (5%), II: (8%), III: (12%), IV: (15%), V: (20%), VI: (25%) Effect: Gives a chance for auto-attacks to inflict Paralysis status. Break / Element: Wind, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 1050, Max: (25%) I: (5%), II: (8%), III: (12%), IV: (15%), V: (20%), VI: (25%) Effect: Gives a chance for auto-attacks to inflict Break status. Phys Def Down / Element: Electric, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 600, Max: 25% (30%) I: 2-4% (10%), II: 6-8% (12%), III: 10-12% (16%), IV: 14-16% (20%), V: 18-20% (25%), VI: 22-25% (30%) Effect: Gives a chance for auto-attacks to reduce enemy's physical resistance. Note: I said physical resistance, not Phys Def stat. That's because enemies don't have a Phys Def stat. Instead, you increase the damage dealt to them. However, instead of decreasing the enemy's defence to 75%, the percentage value is actually stacked to YOUR damage output, so a 25% Phys def Down Gem means your characters will do 125% damage. Also, this Gem is known to stack additively with other non-Gem Phys Def Down effects, such as Shulk's Slit Edge. This means that if Slit Edge reduces 'Phys Def' by 50% and a Phys Def Down Gem reduces 'Phys Def' by 25%, it results in a total physical damage increase of 75%, so you'll deal 175% damage. Ether Def Down / Element: Ice, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 400, Max: 25% (30%) I: 2-4% (10%), II: 6-8% (12%), III: 10-12% (16%), IV: 14-16% (20%), V: 18-20% (25%), VI: 22-25% (30%) Effect: Gives a chance for auto-attacks to reduce enemy's Ether resistance. Note: Read the above information for Phys Def Down Gem, only replace every instance of the word 'physical' with the word 'Ether'. First Attack Plus / Element: Electric, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 500, Max: 150% I: 10-20%, II: 30-40%, III: 50-60%, IV: 70-80%, V: 90-100%, VI: 120-150% Effect: Increases damage dealt by character's first hit. Back Atk Plus / Element: Electric, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 2000, Max: 100% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases damage dealt when hitting the enemy from the rear. _______ Defence _______ Slow Resist / Element: Fire, Slot: Armour, Sell: 350, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to Slow status. Bind Resist / Element: Fire, Slot: Armour, Sell: 500, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to Bind status. Paralysis Resist / Element: Water, Slot: Armour, Sell: 500, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to Paralysis status. Sleep Resist / Element: Fire, Slot: Armour, Sell: 350, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to Sleep status. Confuse Resist / Element: Ice, Slot: Armour, Sell: 750, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to Confuse status. Arts Seal Resist / Element: Wind, Slot: Armour, Sell: 600, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to Arts Seal status. Daze Resist / Element: Electric, Slot: Armour, Sell: 1500, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to Daze status. Topple Resist / Element: Wind, Slot: Armour, Sell: 1500, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to Topple status. Lock-On Resist / Element: Ice, Slot: Armour, Sell: 650, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to Lock-On status. Pierce Resist / Element: Electric, Slot: Armour, Sell: 850, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to Pierce status. Note: Pierce is a rare status effect that sets your Phys Def and Ether Def stats to zero for a period of time. Divine Protect / Element: Earth, Slot: Armour, Sell: 1000, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to Instant Death attacks. Debuff Resist / Element: Water, Slot: Armour, Sell: 2750, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to all status effects except Topple and Daze. Also increases resistance to Instant Death attacks. Does not protect against knockback and Blow-Down. Note: At maximum (100%) value, this will protect against all self-inflicted debuffs through Arts, such as the Phys Def reduction from Reyn's Berserker Aura. Good Footing / Element: Wind, Slot: Armour, Sell: 1250, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases resistance to the effects of Blow-Down. Bleed Defence / Element: Earth, Slot: Armour, Sell: 750, Max: 100% I: 2-4%, II: 6-8%, III: 10-12%, IV: 14-16%, V: 18-25%, VI: 50-75% Effect: Reduces damage taken from Bleed status. Blaze Defence / Element: Ice, Slot: Armour, Sell: 400, Max: 100% I: 2-4%, II: 6-8%, III: 10-12%, IV: 14-16%, V: 18-25%, VI: 50-75% Effect: Reduces damage taken from Blaze status. Chill Defence / Element: Fire, Slot: Armour, Sell: 400, Max: 100% I: 2-4%, II: 6-8%, III: 10-12%, IV: 14-16%, V: 18-25%, VI: 50-75% Effect: Reduces damage taken from Chill status. Poison Defence / Element: Water, Slot: Armour, Sell: 400, Max: 100% I: 2-4%, II: 6-8%, III: 10-12%, IV: 14-16%, V: 18-25%, VI: 50-75% Effect: Reduces damage taken from Poison status. Spike Defence / Element: Water, Slot: Armour, Sell: 950, Max: 100% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-50%, VI: 60-75% Effect: Reduces damage taken from enemy Spike effects. Physical Protect / Element: Earth, Slot: Armour, Sell: 400, Max: 50% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-42%, VI: 44-50% Effect: Reduces damage taken from physical attacks. Note: Although the game doesn't say, this only lasts for about 30 seconds. Ether Protect / Element: Ice, Slot: Armour, Sell: 300, Max: 50% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-42%, VI: 44-50% Effect: Reduces damage taken from Ether attacks. Note: Although the game doesn't say, this only lasts for about 30 seconds. Auto-Atk Stealth / Element: Ice, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 550, Max: 50% I: 2-6%, II: 8-12%, III: 14-18%, IV: 20-24%, V: 26-30%, VI: 40-50% Effect: Reduces aggro accumulated from auto-attacking. Arts Stealth / Element: Ice, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 800, Max: 50% I: 2-6%, II: 8-12%, III: 14-18%, IV: 20-24%, V: 26-30%, VI: 40-50% Effect: Reduces aggro accumulated from using Arts. _______ Support _______ Haste / Element: Wind, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 1700, Max: 50% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-42%, VI: 44-50% Effect: Increases auto-attack speed. Damage Heal / Element: Water, Slot: Armour, Sell: 900, Max: 200 (30%) I: 10-20 (10%), II: 30-40 (12%), III: 50-60 (16%), IV: 70-80 (20%), V: 90-100 (25%), VI: 150-200 (30%) Effect: Gives a chance to recover some HP when attacked. Recovery Up / Element: Water, Slot: Armour, Sell: 500, Max: 50% I: 2-6%, II: 8-12%, III: 14-18%, IV: 20-24%, V: 26-30%, VI: 40-50% Effect: Increases amount of HP received when being healed. Aura Heal / Element: Water, Slot: Armour, Sell: 1000, Max: 150 I: 10-20, II: 30-40, III: 50-60, IV: 70-80, V: 90-100, VI: 120-150 Effect: Recovers HP every 2 seconds while an Aura is active. Arts Heal / Element: Water, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 1500, Max: 150 I: 5-10, II: 15-20, III: 25-30, IV: 35-40, V: 45-50, VI: 75-100 Effect: Recovers HP every time an Art is used. Unbeatable / Element: Water, Slot: Armour, Sell: 1600, Max: 50% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-42%, VI: 44-50% Effect: Gives a chance to survive a lethal attack with 1HP remaining. Note: This Gem still works even if your character has only 1HP remaining. Daze Plus / Element: Electric, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 2500, Max: 100% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases duration of Daze status effect. Topple Plus / Element: Wind, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 2500, Max: 100% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases duration of Topple status effect. Buff Time Plus / Element: Fire, Slot: Armour, Sell: 750, Max: 150% I: 10-20%, II: 30-40%, III: 50-60%, IV: 70-80%, V: 90-100%, VI: 120-150% Effect: Increases duration of Gem buffs. Note: The only Gem buffs available are Physical Protect and Ether Protect. Debuff Plus / Element: Earth, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 900, Max: 150% I: 10-20%, II: 30-40%, III: 50-60%, IV: 70-80%, V: 90-100%, VI: 120-150% Effect: Increases duration of Gem debuffs. Note: That is, if you use an Art to inflict a status effect instead of an auto- attack with the appropriate mounted Gem, Debuff Plus will not take effect. Weapon Power / Element: Fire, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 750, Max: 50% I: 2-6%, II: 8-12%, III: 14-18%, IV: 20-24%, V: 26-30%, VI: 40-50% Effect: Increases chance to activate weapon-mounted Gems. Note: Only affects Gems which inflict a debuff or status effect. In other words, ONLY the following Gems are affected: Bleed Attack, Blaze Attack, Chill Attack, Poison Attack, Strength Down, Agility Down, Ether Down, Slow, Bind, HP Steal, Paralysis, Break, Phys Def Down, Ether Def Down. In addition, the Weapon Power Gem stacks additively, meaning that if you have for example a Poison Attack Gem that activates with 30% chance and a Weapon Power Gem with a value of 50%, you'll now have a (30 + 50)% = 80% chance to Poison the enemy. Night Vision / Element: Earth, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 650, Max: 50% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-42%, VI: 44-50% Effect: Increases physical attack accuracy at night. Initial Tension / Element: Fire, Slot: Any, Sell: 350, Max: 100% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases starting battle Tension. Aggro Up / Element: Fire, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 1500, Max: 50% I: 2-4%, II: 6-8%, III: 10-12%, IV: 14-16%, V: 18-20%, VI: 22-25% Effect: Increases aggro accumulation. Aggro Down / Element: Earth, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 1050, Max: 50% I: 2-4%, II: 6-8%, III: 10-12%, IV: 14-16%, V: 18-20%, VI: 22-25% Effect: Reduces aggro accumulation. Tension Swing / Element: Electric, Slot: Armour, Sell: 500, Max: 50% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-42%, VI: 44-50% Effect: Makes it easier to gain and lose Tension. Note: See my Arts Database for more information on Tension. The five Tension ranges are, from lowest to highest, -50 or less, -49 to 0, 1 to 199, 200 to 249 and 250 or greater. Tension Swing decreases these values by the appropriate percentage, making it easier to get high or low Tension. For example, a Tension Swing Gem value of 50% will turn those values into -25 or less, -24 to 0, 1 to 99, 100 to 124, 125 or greater. Daze Tension / Element: Electric, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 700, Max: 25 I: 2-4, II: 6-8, III: 10-12, IV: 14-16, V: 18-20, VI: 22-25 Effect: Increases Tension upon attacking an enemy inflicted with Daze status. Revival HP Up / Element: Fire, Slot: Any, Sell: 500, Max: 30% I: 4-6%, II: 8-10%, III: 12-14%, IV: 16-18%, V: 20-22%, VI: 24-30% Effect: Increases amount of HP received when revived. Talent Boost / Element: Fire, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 2750, Max: 12 I: 1-2, II: 3-4, III: 5-6, IV: 7-8, V: 9-10, VI: 11-12 Effect: Refills a percentage of the Talent Gauge by the stated amount per auto- attack, but halves auto-attack damage. Note: Equipping more than one Talent Boost does not halve your auto-attack damage again; one or more Talent Boost Gems simply gives you a flat 50% damage reduction. Sharla is also affected by these Gems--her Talent Gauge being refilled is a *bad* thing, unlike every other character, so there is absolutely no reason to equip her with them. Heat Sink / Element: Ice, Slot: Weapon, Sell: 2250, Max: 75% I: 4-10%, II: 12-18%, III: 20-26%, IV: 28-34%, V: 36-42%, VI: 44-50% Effect: Reduces the amount that the Talent Gauge fills by when using Sharla's Arts. _____ Field _____ Quick Step / Element: Wind, Slot: Armour, Sell: 500, Max: 25% I: 2-4%, II: 6-8%, III: 10-12%, IV: 14-16%, V: 18-20%, VI: 22-25% Effect: Increases movement speed. Earth Cloak / Element: Earth, Slot: Any, Sell: 500, Max: 60% I: 2-10%, II: 12-20%, III: 22-30%, IV: 32-40%, V: 42-50%, VI: 52-60% Effect: Reduces detection range of land-based enemies. Aquatic Cloak / Element: Water, Slot: Any, Sell: 500, Max: 60% I: 2-10%, II: 12-20%, III: 22-30%, IV: 32-40%, V: 42-50%, VI: 52-60% Effect: Reduces detection range of aquatic enemies. Aerial Cloak / Element: Wind, Slot: Any, Sell: 500, Max: 60% I: 2-10%, II: 12-20%, III: 22-30%, IV: 32-40%, V: 42-50%, VI: 52-60% Effect: Reduces detection range of airborne enemies. Auto-Heal Up / Element: Water, Slot: Armour, Sell: 600, Max: 25% I: 2-4%, II: 6-8%, III: 10-12%, IV: 14-16%, V: 18-20%, VI: 22-25% Effect: Increases out-of-battle recovery rate. Fall Defence / Element: Wind, Slot: Armour, Sell: 450, Max: 75% I: 2-10%, II: 12-20%, III: 22-30%, IV: 32-40%, V: 42-50%, VI: 60-75% Effect: Reduces damage taken from large falls. Terrain Defence / Element: Water, Slot: Armour, Sell: 500, Max: 75% I: 2-10%, II: 12-20%, III: 22-30%, IV: 32-40%, V: 42-50%, VI: 60-75% Effect: Reduces damage taken from terrain hazards such as lava. _______ Special _______ EXP Up / Element: Fire, Slot: Any, Sell: 1750, Max: 200% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases EXP received from battles. AP Up / Element: Water, Slot: Any, Sell: 1750, Max: 200% I: 5-10%, II: 15-20%, III: 25-30%, IV: 35-40%, V: 45-50%, VI: 75-100% Effect: Increases AP received from battles. _______________________________________________________________________________ [02] Best Gems _______________________________________________________________________________ So, what are the game's best Gems, you ask? Now you should note that unlike the previous two sections, this information is very subjective, so feel free to customise your characters' Gems in ways I don't mention here. These are meant to be good guidelines for equipping your characters with awesome Gems, not set- in-stone rules. I'll also be assuming you're in the end-game stages, since before then, equipping whatever Gems you happen to find will more than suffice; it will be overkill to try to Craft Gems at that point. Agility Up VI - 50 ------------------ In this game, Agility directly affects your accuracy and evasion rate. A point of Agility equates to an extra percentage point in accuracy and evasion. So, if a character with 100 Agility has, say, a 32% chance to dodge the enemy's attack, then a character with 150 Agility has an 82% chance to dodge. Giving your tank / fragile characters a hard +50% evasion rate is nothing to laugh at. Double Attack VI - 50% ---------------------- For your auto-attacking characters like Seven, a 50% chance to hit twice is a godsend. The law of averages states that this Gem will give your auto-attacks a flat 50% damage boost, far greater than any silly Strength Up or Attack Plus Gems. In addition, auto-attacks raise the Talent Gauge, so again, the law of averages states that your Talent Gauge will fill up 50% faster for Shulk, Reyn, Dunban, Riki and Seven. Topple Up/Plus VI - 100% ------------------- Topple-Locking is kind of a battle mechanics exploit, whereby you fire up a Chain Attack and load up all your Topple-inflicting Arts on to an enemy. Since Topple duration (typically 3.0s) stacks, hitting say 5 times will Topple the enemy for 15.0s. If you abuse this mechanic, you might as well use Topple Up to double your damage against Toppled foes. In tandem with Double Attack and Topple Plus (which doubles the amount of time the foe spends Toppled), the amount of damage your characters start dealing becomes ridiculous. Bleed/Blaze/Chill/Poison Plus VI - 100% --------------------------------------- For characters that inflict damage over time (DoT) status effects, these Gems are a must have because they double the status effect's damage output. The characters who would mainly abuse these Gems are Riki and Melia. Phys Def Down VI - 25% (30%) ---------------------------- Gem mechanics in this game are slightly odd. Much like DoT status effects (Bleed, Blaze etc.), the same debuff coming from different characters will stack additively. This means that if you put three Phys Def Down Gems at 25% each on three auto-attacking characters, you have the potential to get a 75% damage boost for as long as Phys Def Down debuff remains active. Even with just one Gem, it's much better than Strength Up, since Phys Def Down helps out your other allies, whereas Strength Up Gems only help the character who has those Gems equipped. Back Attack Plus VI - 100% -------------------------- If you have a dedicated tank, you can double another character's damage output, as long as that character attacks from behind. That's powerful, especially when combined with Shulk's Back Slash, for instance. Debuff Resist VI - 100% ----------------------- With total immunity to all debuffs (and Instant Death attacks!) except Topple and Daze, this Gem hardly needs me to do it justice. It really shines when you face high level Unique Monsters that have the cheap Instant Death Spike (Spike is a kind of passive counter-attack, and it's annoying as hell). Topple/Daze Resist VI - 100% ---------------------------- Some high level Uniques will have Topple Spike, which instantly Topples you when you attack them. Needless to say, you'll need this Gem to survive. Other enemies will constantly inflict Daze on you. These Gems are certainly situational, but you'll need them to survive the harder encounters. If the monster you're fighting doesn't have Topple/Daze techniques, then obviously swap these Gems out for something else. Spike Defence VI - 75% (Max 100%) --------------------------------- Annoying high level monsters will make your life hell if you don't reduce their Spike damage somehow. Try using Spike damage reducing skills as well if you don't fancy equipping two Gems to have total Spike damage immunity. Situational, but often necessary. Auto-Atk/Arts Stealth VI - 50% ------------------------------ These Gems are better than Aggro Down Gems if you can only choose one, despite only activating for one of either Arts or auto-attacks. Why? Because it has a higher percentage value, decreasing aggro accumulation by 50%, as opposed to Aggro Down's 25%. In addition, your characters will either primarily be using auto-attacks (see: Seven, Dunban etc.) or Arts (Melia, Riki), so the 'restriction' on which moves you can use for aggro reduction isn't so bad. Haste VI - 50% -------------- You'll only get a 45% Haste boost from using the Glory Gauntlets, but they're useful since you don't have to use up a weapon Gem slot for Haste instead (Haste Gems are typically weapon-only equips). Logic says that if you increase your auto-attacking speed by 45%, you increase your auto-attack damage output over time by 45%. Nice. Aura Heal - 150 --------------- Auto-recovery every 2.0s when in an Aura state? Sounds good. Unbeatable VI - 50% ------------------- This Gem gives you a 50% chance to be immune to death. Considering the silly damage output of higher level foes, this is an incredible Gem, especially for frailer characters. Night Vision VI - 50% --------------------- A 50% accuracy boost at night sounds really lame, but you're gonna need it to fight foes who have evasion stats through the roof. Aggro Up/Down - 25% (Max 50%) ----------------------------- Keep the aggro centred on your tank, and away from your frail spellcasters. Auto-Atk/Arts Stealth are more useful I would say, but if you need the extra boost, try using these Gems as well. Heat Sink VI - 50% (Max 75%) ---------------------------- If you're using Sharla to heal, which you should be, then a 50% Heat Sink Gem will make her Talent Gauge fill up half as quickly. Meaning she's twice as efficient with her healing, since she doesn't have to mess around due to overheating. You can slap on another one if you wish to give her a 75% reduction, which results in the Talent Gauge filling four times more slowly. _______________________________________________________________________________ [03] Character Gem Setups _______________________________________________________________________________ Okay, I'm first going to start off with the standard spiel for these kinds of things: You don't have to follow this advice adamantly. Feel free to mix it up or suggest better setups to me. In addition, there is no best setup, since some monsters attack differently. If you're facing a monster that has Topple Spike, you'll want to wear a Topple Resist Gem. If you fight a monster that doesn't have Topple-inflicting attacks, that previously awesome Gem becomes wasted. Since we have now established that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, I'll be recommending a handful of different Gems for each character as opposed to a set-in-stone setup. All that being said though, there are some general guidelines as to the Gems a character would be better off equipping... Note: The following evaluations are centred around the idea that you aren't going crazy with Topple-locking. If you are, replace some weapon Gems with Topple Up 100% and you'll be dealing loads of damage. Also, Topple Plus can be used on characters that have reliable Topple attacks--namely Reyn, Melia, Dunban and Seven. LV 99 stats are assuming you've learnt all skills for each character, they're not skill linking anything and they're on a skill tree that doesn't increase HP, Strength or Ether. Many thanks to reader Randomness097 for the invaluable feedback on this section. Without it, this section would be a lot less useful to you. _____ Shulk _____ LV 99 Stats - HP: 5135, Strength: 405, Ether: 417, Agility: 117 Recommended Weapon Gems: - Double Attack 50% - Phys Def Down 25% - Back Attack Plus 100% - Aggro Down 25% - Night Vision 50% - Talent Boost 12 Recommended Armour Gems: - Agility 50 - Debuff Resist 100% - Haste 45% (from Glory Gauntlets) - Unbeatable 50% - Topple Resist 100% - Spike Defence 75% This is sort of standard fare for physical attackers, with Double-Attack and Phys Def Down being staple Gems to have. Back Attack Plus is nice on Shulk because he shouldn't be tanking and it works well in tandem with Back Slash. If he's pulling too much aggro though, go for an Aggro Down Gem instead. Night Vision is sort of mandatory when facing high level foes, since the level correction formula will really screw with your accuracy. Finally, if you're using Shulk in a more defensive mindset--that is, using his Monado Arts to prevent incoming damage--then a Talent Boost Gem will ensure that he is almost always able to fire off a quick Monado Armour, with Monado Shield or Monado Speed when deemed necessary. Armour-wise, Debuff Resist and Agility should be used on pretty much every physical attacking character. Glory Gauntlets are awesome since Shulk has way more options for weapon Gems than armour ones, so save yourself a weapon slot with Haste on your armour instead. Unbeatable is a bog-standard great Gem that prevents an otherwise untimely death. Topple Resist and Spike Defence are situational Gems that should be used against monsters with those respective irritating attacks. ____ Reyn ____ LV 99 Stats - HP: 9991, Strength: 479, Ether: 269, Agility: 112 Recommended Weapon Gems: - Attack Stability 50% - Attack Plus 50% - Phys Def Down 25% - Aggro Up 25% - Agility Down 25% - Arts Heal 150 - Night Vision 50% Recommended Armour Gems: - Agility 50 - Debuff Resist 100% - Unbeatable 50% - Recovery Up 50% - Aura Heal 150 - Topple Resist 100% - Spike Defence 75% Despite being a physical attacker, Reyn is better off using his Arts to maintain aggro and unleash devastating attacks. Because of this, Double Attack and Haste are significantly less useful. Instead, you could try Attack Stability and Attack Plus. Reyn's best weapon, the Atomic Driver, has an Attack range of 750-820, so with both those Gems that becomes 1125-1230. Of course, the max damage glitch still applies (where the maximum Attack value is at most the minimum Attack value + 99), so this is actually 1125-1224. A loss of 6 Attack points isn't a big deal. Reyn's a tank, so slap Aggro Up in there since he'll probably be losing aggro due to taking damage. If you're fine without it, Phys Def Down supports your other team members. For a pure tanking set, go for Aggro Up, Agility Down and Arts Heal. For a burst damage set, try Attack Stability, Attack Plus and Phys Def Down. Night Vision will be necessary on high level foes that will otherwise be difficult to hit. Reyn has an easier time setting up with armour Gems, since Debuff Resist and Unbeatable are standard options for all characters, and Agility 50 is a must on physical attackers, especially tanking ones. Topple Resist and Spike Defence are must-haves against enemies that have those moves, but otherwise Aura Heal can be useful since Reyn is almost always in an Aura state and it'll relieve some of the burden from your main healer. Recovery Up can also ease the burden on your healer since Reyn's HP is so large. ______ Sharla ______ LV 99 Stats - HP: 4542, Strength: 359, Ether: 479, Agility: 121 Recommended Weapon Gems: - Heat Sink 50% - Arts Stealth 50% - Electric Plus 100% Recommended Armour Gems: - Debuff Resist 100% - Aura Heal 150 - Unbeatable 50% - Ether Up 100 - Topple Resist 100% - Spike Defence 75% Sharla has a unique Gem setup due to the way her Talent Gauge works (find out the exact mechanics in my Arts Guide here on GameFAQs). Heat Sink means you can spend longer healing, and Arts Stealth decreases your aggro. Electric Plus doubles the damage output of Thunder Bullet, her most reliable damaging move. Ether users like Sharla don't need Agility as much; they don't need the accuracy and hopefully she won't be primary target of anything that could be evaded. Unbeatable is standard. Aura Heal gives Sharla time to focus on other people for healing rather than herself, so keep Drive Boost or Covert Stance active. Ether Up directly boosts how much damage you heal; considering that Heal Blast heals at about 10x your Ether stat and Heal Round at about 6x, that's 1000 or 600 extra HP healed. The last two Gems are situational depending on the monster you're facing. ______ Dunban ______ LV 99 Stats - HP: 5530, Strength: 541, Ether: 350, Agility: 148 Recommended Weapon Gems: - Double Attack 50% - Phys Def Down 25% - Agility Down 25% - Strength Down 25% - Night Vision 50% Recommended Armour Gems: - Agility 50 - Debuff Resist 100% - Haste 45% (from Glory Gauntlets) - Unbeatable 50% - Recovery Up 50% - Topple Resist 100% - Spike Defence 75% Haste, Double Attack and Phys Def Down are standard options on physical attackers. Dunban's an evasive tank too, so using Agility Down and Strength Down Gems on the foe not only benefit the whole party but also decrease the incoming damage. Finally, Night Vision is sometimes annoyingly necessary for those harder to hit foes. His armour is standard fare--you just pick the best Gems dependant on the situation. Haste is useful as always. Despite being a tank, Dunban doesn't need many auto-recovery Gems because his Critical Drain skill restores HP when he deals a critical hit. If you skill link Seven's 'all double attacks become critical hits' skill, you'll find that Dunban is quite self-sufficient. If you're worried though, you can put Recovery Up on him to help out. It's worth noting that because Dunban avoids most incoming attacks, an Aggro Up Gem isn't necessary to tank (getting damaged lowers aggro). Topple Resist and Spike Defence are necessary against foes with those types of attacks. _____ Melia _____ LV 99 Stats - HP: 3752, Strength: 311, Ether: 634, Agility: 116 Recommended Weapon Gems: - Poison Plus 100% - Chill Plus 100% - Blaze Plus 100% - Arts Stealth 50% Recommended Armour Gems: - Debuff Resist 100% - Aura Heal 150 - Unbeatable 50% - Ether Up 100 - Topple Resist 100% - Spike Defence 75% Melia's primary method of dealing damage is with her powerful damage over time spells, so doubling their damage output is the best way to go. These three status effects will deal ridiculous damage. Note also that the same status effects from different characters will stack, so the enemy can be under Poison status from Melia and then also from say Riki at the same time. Replace one with Arts Stealth if she's pulling too much aggro. Probably Blaze Plus. Like Sharla, Melia doesn't need Agility since she specialises in Ether attacks. Debuff Resist as always, since it's so damn useful, as well as Unbeatable. Aura Heal is cool, especially if you're using Power Effect. Note that even when you're not using Power Effect, Aura Heal will still take effect when Melia has a full Talent Gauge, since that puts her in the Element Burst Aura. Ether Up is kinda filler, but boosts the damage output of your damage over time spells. Topple Resist and Spike Defence will have to replace some of your other Gems against enemies that pack those effects though, I'm afraid. ____ Riki ____ LV 99 Stats - HP: 9674, Strength: 513, Ether: 399, Agility: 124 Recommended Weapon Gems: - Poison Plus 100% - Chill Plus 100% - Blaze Plus 100% Recommended Armour Gems: - Agility 50 - Debuff Resist 100% - Ether Up 100 - Recovery Up 50% - Unbeatable 50% - Topple Resist 100% - Spike Defence 75% Much like Melia, Riki's best source of damage output is by spamming Blaze, Chill and Poison attacks. Riki can afford to go without Arts Stealth since he has great HP and a reliable healing Art, so he can sponge attacks safely. Armour-wise, Riki has again the standards of debuff Resist and Unbeatable, with Topple Resist and Spike Defence as necessary. Since Riki will be sponging hits, Agility will help him evade some attacks and Recovery Up will keep him topped up when he uses the You Can Do It! healing Art. Ether Up increases the potency of Riki's healing Art and also boosts the damage output of his attacks, since Riki's Ether stat is somewhat unimpressive without it. _____ Seven _____ LV 99 Stats - HP: 6320, Strength: 597, Ether: 470, Agility: 138 Recommended Weapon Gems: - Double Attack 50% - Phys Def Down 25% - Agility Down 25% - Strength Down 25% - Back Attack Plus 100% - Night Vision 50% Recommended Armour Gems: - Agility 50 - Debuff Resist 100% - Haste 45% (from Speed V Frame) - Aggro Up 25% (from Power V Goggles) - Unbeatable 50% - Topple Resist 100% - Spike Defence 75% Haste and Double Attack are probably the best physical Gems in the game, but Seven just makes them completely ridiculous. First, she has an Aura that, at rank X, gives an extra 95% Haste and 25% Double Attack rate. Second, all her Double Attacks become critical hits. Phys Def Down sweetens the deal, helping out your otehr physical party members as well. Back Attack Plus just serves to increase her damage output even further, especially when used in tandem with Phys Def Down. Still, if you want to, you can attach the Power V Frame instead of the Speed V Frame for Aggro Up and play Seven like a tank. She's fairly powerful, has nice Agility, and can pull aggro really well. Much like Dunban, Seven doesn't need as many auto-recovery Gems because if you skill link Dunban's Critical Drain skill (restores HP when he deals a critical hit) and have your own 'all double attacks become critical hits' skill, you'll find that you rarely need manual healing. If you are doing this, definitely don't use Back Attack Plus, and instead opt for either Strength Down or Agility Down to reduce incoming damage to your party members. The situational Gems are all here too--use Night Vision, Topple Resist and Spike Defence as and when you deem necessary. _______________________________________________________________________________ [04] Gem Crafting _______________________________________________________________________________ A little disclaimer: Gem crafting is a complicated process to understand at first, and even harder to write about. Therefore, if something in this section is not clear, let me know and I'll try to clarify it. Basics ------ Many Gems in the game are obtained by completing quests or trading with NPCs, but crafting your own Gems is the only way to get the game's best Gems. Once you reach Colony 9, speak to the Gem Man. He is located at the Gem Man's Stall landmark, north of the Ether Light Shop in the Commercial District. He'll allow you to craft Gems if you have the required materials. You can get the portable gem crafting machine by completing the quest 'The Gem Man's Invention', which requires you to have rebuilt Colony 6 to Level 1 in all areas (Nature, Commerce etc.). This allows you to craft Gems on the go. Gem Crafting then becomes an option from the Items menu. Items Required -------------- Gems are crafted from three different kinds of item: Ether crystals are harvested from mining spots, and are used to create their respective element of Gems as shown in the above table. Monster crystals are similar to Ether crystals, but are dropped by monsters instead and can only be used to craft certain Gems depending on the monster. Finally, you have cylinders, which are bonus leftover items which are produced when crafting Gems. Each of these types of item has a rank from I to V, which informs you what rank of Gem will be crafted if you use that item. You must combine anywhere from 2-8 items, and they must all be of the same rank, to start the gem crafting process. Combining Items --------------- Each Gem crafting item will have a list of qualities matching some of the Gem descriptions above. Crystals have up to four qualities, whereas cylinders only have one. For example, a rank III Fire Crsytal might have Strength Up and Weapon Power as two qualities. Each quality will have a percentage of up to or including 99%, so that the Fire Crystal I just described might have say Strength Up 46% and Weapon Power 94% as qualities. To create a Gem, you must combine anywhere from two to eight items. The percentages of any qualities that two items share are stacked additively. For example, if I combine two crystals--crystal A with Strength Up 50% and Chill Defence 75% as qualities, and crystal B with Strength Up 72% and Weapon Power 16%--the resulting combination of qualities will be Strength Up 122%, Chill Defence 75% and Weapon Power 16%. You can keep combining items this way, but as long as you have two different items combined you can start the crafting process. However, if any quality rises above 100%, you cannot add any more items and must start the crafting process. In the example I just gave, Strength Up is at 122%, so I would be forced to start the crafting process without adding any further items. The aim of the game when Gem crafting is to increase the qualities as high as possible. Any qualities over 100% will be turned into Gems. The higher the quality percentage, the higher the value of the Gem's effect. Any qualities under 100% have the opportunity to be turned into cylinders to be used in future crafting sessions. The Creation Process -------------------- Now that you have combined your items, the next step is to choose two characters. One acts a 'shooter', the other as the 'engineer'. Shooters offer bonuses which are unqiue to each character, whereas engineers are used to control the flames used while crafting. The exact details for each character can be found in the next sub-section. There are three different flame types, each of which has different effects. You don't get to choose which type of flame you use, as they are automatically decided by your engineers: Strong flame - Red - Increases one quality by 3-10%. Medium flame - Blue - Increases all qualities by 1-5%. Gentle flame - Green - Increases the cylinder gauge by 30-70%. Remember when I said that one of the items you could use to craft Gems was a cylinder? If, at the end of your gem crafting process, you have some qualities left that are under 100%, you can choose to put the quality into a cylinder to be used in future crafting sessions. How many cylinders you can create depends on how many times you have filled the cylinder gauge while crafting. The cylinder gauge is a green bar located to the right of the qualities list, and a number is displayed at the top of it. Every time the bar is filled, the number increases and the bar begins to refill afresh. At the end of the crafting process, that number indicates how many leftover qualities under 100% you can choose to turn into cylinders. Gem crafting takes place over a number of turns. In each turn, the crystals'/cylinders' qualities are increased and the cylinder gauge rises. Ocassionally, your characters will enter a Fever state, in which they increase the qualities/cylinder gauge 3-10 (!) times in one turn. There is also a chance, based on your entire party affinity, that you will receive support from another member of your party which improves the rate at which your qualities go up. This party support is often the key factor is creating very high strength Gems. The number of turns taken depends on the affinity between the two characters. The higher the affinity, the higher the number of turns available in one crafting session. There are five affinity stages: Yellow hexagon, green square, blue circle, purple cloud and pink heart. The yellow hexagon gives you 3-5 turns, which steadily increases until you get a pink heart which gives 10-15 turns. _____________________ Shooter/Engineer Properties --------------------------- Shooters have the following properties: Shulk - Fever Plus: Gets into a Fever easily when crafting. Reyn - Strong Bonus: Qualities grow stronger with a strong flame. Fiora - Cylinder Plus: Crafting begins with 3 full cylinder gauges. Sharla - Gentle Bonus: Cylinder Gauge fills up more with gentle flame. Dunban - Combo Master: Qualities grow stronger when flame is constant. Melia - Medium Bonus: Qualities grow stronger with a medium flame. Riki - Impatient Shooter: Gem crafting process happens twice in a row. Engineers have the following properties: ____________________________________ Name Strong Medium Gentle ------------------------------------ Shulk Average Average Good Reyn Great Poor Poor Fiora Terrible Great Terrible Sharla Poor Good Average Dunban Good Poor Average Melia Poor Great Poor Riki Terrible Terrible Great ____________________________________ There are obviously some better combinations of characters depending on what you want to do. Heat and Mega Heat ------------------ If, during the crafting process, any quality rises to 200%, then when the crafting process is complete you will earn a Gem of one rank higher than the materials you used. For example, you use rank II crystals and achieve Heat status, you'll get a Rank III Gem instead. At this point, the word 'HEAT' will hide the actual percentage value of the quality. However, if you can keep pushing the quality as high as 300%, it will attain Mega Heat status. In this case, two Gems of increased rank are produced, and both of them will have the maximum effect value for that Gem. Thus, a Rank VI Strength Up Gem, which has an effect value of 75-100, will always give 100 extra Strength if created with the Mega Heat status. Considering that only rank V crystals and cylinders exist in the game, the only way to create the game's best Gems is through the Mega Heat status. And the best way to do that would be to read the next section :). _______________________________________________________________________________ [05] Crafting Mega Heat Gems _______________________________________________________________________________ You should know the basics of Gem crafting before you read this section. Lucky for you, you can learn them in the previous section. As you know, you'll need to take Mega Heat status into account to craft the game's best Gems, so I'll teach you how to go about it. You should be fairly late in the game to make this happen--you will absolutely need the party support bonus that comes from having a high affinity among all your party members. First, choose the type of Gem that you want to craft. Find crystals that have that quality. It doesn't matter what the other qualities are really, although if they're good you might want to try and create cylinders for them as well. We're going to try to separate our chosen quality into cylinders, since cylinders only have one quality. Then when we start crafting our Gem, we can combine two cylinders. That way, each turn can be spent increasing that lone quality. This will mean that instead of a spread of low value qualities, the turns are focused on creating one high value quality. So when we start crafting our desired Gem, we want the quality as high as possible so that we're as close to 300% as possible, which is where Mega Heat status is obtained. However, since you cannot add any more crystals to combine once any quality is above 100%, the best combination you can aim for is 198% from two 99% cylinders. Therefore, we want as high a quality as possible from the cylinder we are trying to create right now, without hitting 100%. The best characters to separate qualities into cylinders are Sharla as the shooter and Riki as the engineer. They excel at using gentle flames, which pushes the cylinder gauge higher and doesn't provide huge bonuses to the qualities. Depending on the characters' affinity level, you'll have to judge how many qualities to start crafting with. For example, if you have an Ether Up quality of 50% and Sharla and Riki get 5-8 turns from their affinity, I'd put the Ether Up quality in with two other junk qualities. That would, on average, push the Ether Up quality to just above 80%. If their affinity is higher, you'll have to add more junk qualities to account for the fact that more turns equals more chance to push the desired quality over 100%. Generally, the more qualities you add, the less likely you are to hit 100%, but the quality will rise more slowly. Of course, save regularly and reset when you accidentally create a Gem instead of a cylinder. Anyway, combine as many crystals/cylinders as you want, and use as many crafting processes as it takes to push that chosen quality up to just above 80%. Of course, the closer you can get to 99% the better. Once you have two cylinders with the desired qualities as above 80%, its time to start the creation process for real. You should be as close to 198% as you can get, but 160% or around that is fairly safe I would say (although it is quite possible at lower percentages). You're pushing for 300% to get the Mega Heat Gems. Combine the two cylinders and use a combination of characters that favours strong flames and has high affinity. A great pair to use for this exercise is shooter Shulk and engineer Reyn. All their mucking around in Colony 9 in the early game stages will boost their affinity, and Reyn excels in using strong flames, which boosts one quality sharply. With a bit of luck (and some save scumming, if necessary), two brand new max value Gems will be yours. Dunban is also a good shooter if you have high affinity between him and Reyn. Mega Heat Gems with only one crystal/Gem ---------------------------------------- Reader Mr. Mister contributed the main idea behind this section. The scenario is this: You only have one quality of a cylinder or Gem, say Strength Up, and you can't be bothered to go and find another one. Considering that we have one quality which is at most 99%, is it possible to push that to 300% and achieve Mega Heat status? This is, of course, a lot more difficult than doing it with two cylinders/Gems of that quality, but it can be done. The trick is to use the combination of Dunban as the shooter and Fiora as the engineer. Consider what Mr. Mister has to say (my additions in square brackets): Fiora has a good chance of giving you only Medium flame, even with 15 turns. If that happens, and not counting party interventions, then you'll enhance every quality by (n^2 + n)/2, where n is the number of turns. This amounts to a 55 increase at 10 turns, and 120 at 15. But if you can get a single fever state, then it can still go up to 136, 153, 171 [etc. The mean number of turns you'll get if Dunban and Fiora have max affnity and you get one fever is] 13 turns including a fever of 6-7 turns [= roughly 20 turns in total, for an increase of 210 for EACH quality]. You reach 300 at 24 turns, so best-case-scenario with a single fever, or almost anything involving two fevers, guarantees a Mega Heat on EVERYTHING you threw at the furnace. If you take party interventions into account, then you can Mega Heat two qualities [each starting from roughly 80%] without a fever more easily than it would take Shulk-Reyn to Mega Heat a specific one of them. TL;DR version: Fantastic advice there for those rare crystal drops--get Dunban and Fiora's affinity as high as possible, and then, with a bit of luck with your fevers and party interventions, you'll Mega Heat all of the Gems and crystals you throw into the furnace. Again, very many thanks to Mr. Mister for that excellent piece of advice. _______________________________________________________________________________ [06] Rank V Crystal Locations _______________________________________________________________________________ The best way to find the Gem you're looking for is with the Ctrl + F find feature in your browser / text editor. Let me know if I've spelt anything wrong. Ether Deposits -------------- Tephra Cave: - Fire Ether Deposit - 2F Heavenly Window Revival HP Up, Initial Tension, Strength Up, Bind Resist - Fire Ether Deposit - 1F Bone Corridor Blaze Plus, Slow Resist - Earth Ether Deposit - 1F Vilia Lake Muscle Up, Attack Stability - Earth Ether Deposit - 1F Forgotten Cave Poison Attack, Poison Plus, Bleed Defence, Divine Protect Ether Mine (Colony 6 LV 5 Nature required): - Earth Ether Deposit - GF Drainage Control Room Bleed Defence, Muscle Up - Wind Ether Deposit - GF Test Pit 3 Agility Up, Agility Down - Fire Ether Deposit - GF Test Pit 2 Strength Up, Bind Resist - Water Ether Deposit - GF Glowmoss Lake Poison Defence, HP Up - Electric Ether Deposit - GF Central Terminal Electric Plus, Ether Up - Fire Ether Deposit - GF Central Terminal Strength Down, Strength Up, Aggro Up, Weapon Power - Ice Ether Deposit - GF Observation Point Blaze Defence, Arts Stealth, Auto-Atk Stealth, Ether Def Up - Ice Ether Deposit - GF Test Pit 4 Blaze Defence, Ether Def Up Colony 6 (Colony 6 LV 5 Nature required): - Water Ether Deposit - Pod Depot Paralysis Resist, HP Up - Wind Ether Deposit - Drainage Outlet Fall Defence, Agility Up Bionis' Interior: - Water Ether Deposit - LL First Lung Aquatic Cloak, Aura Heal - Earth Ether Deposit - Terminal Vein Attack Plus, Muscle Up - Wind Ether Deposit - Pars Sympathica Tower Aerial Cloak, Bleed Plus - Ice Ether Deposit - Terminal Nerve Tower Arts Stealth, Ether Def Up - Fire Ether Deposit - Spinal Nerve Tower Strength Up, Spike - Electric Ether Deposit - Second Lung Electric Plus, Ether Up Monster Crystals ---------------- Monster crystals are only dropped from silver and gold chests. Don't waste your time searching for one in a wooden chest, because it won't happen. Most monsters drop a crystal from a silver or gold chest with a 31.3% chance. The best way to find your desired crystal is to first find the monster that drops it and kill it. If it drops a wooden chest, save and then reload to respawn the monster. Start again. If it drops a silver or gold chest, save your game, then open it. If you don't get the crystal, reload and repeat until you nab it. Colony 9: - Rare Flamii Crystal - Opulent Flamii - Anti-Air Battery 2 - Rare Flamii Crystal - Resplendent Flamii - Anti-Air Battery 1/2 - Rare Flamii Crystal - Flailing Bracken - Anti-Air Battery 2 Ether Up, Ether Def Up, Weapon Power - Rare Rhana Crystal - Vicious Rhana - 'Getting to Know Minnie' quest Bleed Attack, Bleed Plus, Divine Protect Tephra Cave: - Rare Arachno Crystal - Vilae Arachno - 2F Heavenly Window - Rare Arachno Crystal - Panasowa Arachno - 2F Heavenly Window Break, Daze Plus, Buff Time Plus - Rare Arachno Crystal - Jada Arachno - 1F Bone Corridor - Rare Arachno Crystal - Jadals Arachno - 1F Bone Corridor - Rare Arachno Crystal - Plump Sprahda - 1F Bafalgar Tomb Auto-Atk Stealth, Paralysis, Topple Plus - Rare Vang Crystal - Brabilam Vang - 1F Bone Corridor - Rare Vang Crystal - Musical Vanflare - 1F Bone Corridor Fall Defence, Bleed Defence, Bleed Plus - Rare Quadwing Crystal - Rhoen Quadwing - 1F Bone Corridor Lock-On Resist, Attack Plus, Ether Def Down - Rare Lizard Crystal - Dorsiar Lizard - 1F Forgotten Cave Aggro Down, Haste, Auto-Atk Stealth - Rare Brog Crystal - Young Brog - 2F Heavenly Window Revival HP Up, Earth Cloak, Daze Resist - Rare Bunniv Crystal - Flasel Bunniv - 2F Heavenly Window Strength Up, Physical Protect, Topple Resist - Rare Bunniv Crystal - Fascia Bunniv - 2F Heavenly Window - Rare Bunniv Crystal - Judicious Bunnitzol - 1F Forgotten Cave Strength Up, Divine Protect, Ether Protect - Rare Wisp Crystal - Femuny Wisp - 1F Forgotten Cave Attack Stability, Electric Plus - Rare Gogol Crystal - Sonicia Gogol - 2F Heavenly Window Strength Up, Bleed Attack, Weapon Power - Rare Gogol Crystal - Erratic Goliante - 2F Heavenly Window Strength Up, Topple Resist, Physical Protect - Rare Gogol Crystal - Reckless Zanden - 'Battling Brutes' quest Strength Up, Ether Protect, Divine Protect - Rare Tokilos Crystal - Protective Torquidon - 2F Heavenly Window Quick Step, Attack Plus, Damage Heal - Rare Electric Cylinder - Reckless Galdon - GF Hidden Warehouse Ether Up, Ether Def Up - Rare Queen Crystal - Dazzling Tolosnia - 'The Blood of Bafalgar' quest Muscle Up, Aggro Up, Revival HP Up - Rare Queen Crystal - Firework - GF Hidden Warehouse Bleed Attack, Bind, Debuff Plus Bionis' Leg: - Rare Gogol Crystal - Gluttony Gogol - LL Raguel Bridge North - Rare Gogol Crystal - Greed Gogol - LL Raguel Bridge South - Rare Gogol Crystal - Territorial Rotbart - LL Gaur Plain - Rare Gogol Crystal - Immovable Gonzalez - UL Spiral Valley Strength Up, Physical Protect, Topple Resist - Rare Tokilos Crystal - Leg Tokilos - UL Zax Guidepost Quick Step, Damage Heal, Attack Plus - Rare Flamii Crystal - Lahar Flamii - UL Sprial Valley Ether Up, Ether Def Up, Weapon Power - Rare Tirkin Crystal - Field Altrich - LL Crevasse Waterfall Lock-On Resist, Paralysis, Chill Attack - Rare Torta Crystal - Armoured Rockwell - LL Viliera Hill Arts Seal Resist, Aggro Up, Good Footing Colony 6: - Rare Dragon Crystal - Demon King Dragoia - 'Defend Colony 6' quest Blaze Attack, Blaze Plus, First Attack Plus Satorl Marsh: - Rare Venus Crystal - Frost Nebula - Sororal Statues Chill Plus, Lock-On Resist, Spike Defence, Ether Down - Rare Feris Crystal - Green Feris - Barren Moor - Rare Feris Crystal - Veteran Yozel - Silent Obelisk Aggro Up, Ether Down, Back Atk Plus - Rare Quadwing Crystal - Grove Quadwing - Barren Moor Electric Plus, Daze Tension, Quick Step - Rare Rhogul Crystal - Satorl Rhogul - Barren Moor Initial Tension, Spike Defence, Topple Plus - Rare Torta Crystal - Satorl Torta - Altar of Fate Arts Seal Resist, Aggro Up, Good Footing - Rare Gogol Crystal - Baelfael Gogol - Soter Ruins - Rare Gogol Crystal - Baelzeb Gogol - Soter Ruins - Rare Gogol Crystal - Indomitable Daulton - Soter Ruins Strength Up, Divine Protect, Ether Protect - Rare Queen Crystal - Eternal Palsadia - Exile Fortress Bleed Attack, Bind, Debuff Plus - Rare Bunnia Crystal - Despotic Arsene - Glowing Obelisk Critical Up, Poison Defence, Spike Defence, Topple Resist - Rare Pterix Crystal - Radiant Pterix - 'The Imperial Ceremony' quest Bionis' Interior: - Rare Selua Crystal - Jelly Selua - LL Third Lung Aerial Cloak, Confuse Resist, Spike Defence, Strength Up - Rare Selua Crystal - Largo Selua - LL Second Lung - Rare Selua Crystal - Active Impulso - LL Second Lung Bind Resist, Spike Defence, Slow Resist, Arts Seal Resist - Rare Selua Crystal - Wool Selua - LL Spinal Nerve Tower - Rare Selua Crystal - Victorious Gross - LL Pars Sympathica Tower Blaze Attack, Ether Protect, Bleed Attack, Ether Def Down - Rare Selua Crystal - Chimai Selua - LL Venous Plexus - Rare Selua Crystal - Officer Robusto - LL Venous Plexus Damage Heal, Spike Defence, HP Up, Revival HP Up - Rare Telethia Crystal - Licorne Telethia - LL Second Lung Lock-On Resist, Ether Def Down, Attack Plus - Rare Telethia Crystal - Gigas Telethia - LL Venous Plexus - Rare Telethia Crystal - Ghostly Mahatos - LL Terminal Nerve Tower First Attack Plus, Topple Resist, Auto-Heal Up Makna Forest: - Rare Mammut Crystal - Laeklit Mammut - Village Entrance Pierce Resist, Arts Stealth, Slow - Rare Mars Crystal - Bagrus Nebula - Waypoint beacon Weapon Power, EXP Up, Spike, Spike Defence - Rare Pterix Crystal - Korlba Pterix - Abyss Basin - Rare Pterix Crystal - Illustrious Golteus - Abyss Basin Blaze Attack, HP Steal, Aura Heal - Rare Sauros Crystal - Deinos Sauros - Windmill Pavilion - Rare Sauros Crystal - Magnificent Digalus - Decayed Forest Unbeatable, Debuff Resist, Double Attack - Rare Lexos Crystal - Unreliable Rezno - 'Final Challenge of the Sage' quest Initial Tension, Spike Defence, Topple Plus Eryth Sea: - Rare Kromar Crystal - Trava Kromar - Kromar Coast Initial Tension, Aggro Up, Aura Heal - Rare Kromar Crystal - Zeldi Kromar - Anu Shore - Rare Kromar Crystal - Goldi Kromar - Kromar Coast Auto-Atk Stealth, Topple Plus, Paralysis - Rare Kromar Crystal - Lograt Kromar - Anu Shore - Rare Kromar Crystal - Stormy Belagon - Kromar Coast Ether Up, Slow, Spike Defence - Rare Telethia Crystal - Arel Telethia - Alcamoth Aggro Down, Haste, Auto-Atk Stealth - Rare Telethia Crystal - Aora Telethia - Alcamoth Break, Buff Time Plus, Daze Plus - Rare Telethia Crystal - Asara Telethia - Alcamoth - Rare Telethia Crystal - Deadly Medorlo - Central Seal Island Lock-On Resist, Ether Def Down, Attack Plus - Rare Tude Crystal - Carbon Tude - Hovering Reef 9 - Rare Tude Crystal - Sacred Zagamei - Hovering Reef 9 Good Footing, Terrain Defence, Topple Up - Rare Rhana Crystal - Eryth Rhana - Anu Shore - Rare Rhana Crystal - Bizarre Ragoel - Anu Shore Revival HP Up, Earth Cloak, Daze Resist - Rare Grady Crystal - Sol Grady - Anu Shore Chill Attack, Spike Defence, Spike - Rare Jupiter Crystal - Bulganon Nebula - Hovering Reef 4 Ether Up, Phys Def Down, Spike Defence, Pierce Resist - Rare Lexos Crystal - Clamorous Dablon - Sleeping Dragon Isle Lightning Attack, Aquatic Cloak, Back Atk Plus High Entia Tomb: - Rare Telethia Crystal - Furious Jozan - Telethia Laboratory Lock-On Resist, Ether Def Down, Attack Plus Valak Mountain: - Rare Slobos Crystal - Glory Slobos - UL Three Sage Summit - Rare Slobos Crystal - Gloria Slobos - UL Three Sage Summit - Rare Slobos Crystal - Final Marcus - UL Three Sage Summit Chill Attack, Spike, Spike Defence - Rare Eks Crystal - Setor Eks - UL Bionis' Right Elbow - Rare Eks Crystal - Feltl Eks - UL Bionis' Right Elbow Quick Step, Daze Tension, Topple Plus - Rare Ponio Crystal - Wandering Amon - UL Bionis' Right Elbow Quick Step, Daze Tension, Topple Plus - Rare Lexos Crystal - Exposure Wolfol - LL Lava Cave Quick Step, Daze Tension, Topple Plus - Rare Behemoth Crystal - Blizzard Belgazas - LL Great Glacier Talent Boost, AP Up, Topple Plus, Divine Protect - Rare Dragon Crystal - Avalanche Abaasy - UL Three Sage Summit Debuff Resist, Topple Up, Daze Up, Topple Plus Fallen Arm: - Rare Antol Crystal - Powerful Eligos - LL Digit 1 Break, Daze Plus, Buff Time Plus - Rare Pterix Crystal - Wicked Sallos - UL Distant Fingertip Break, Aura Heal, Arts Heal - Rare Earth Cylinder - Ancient Daedala - LL Silver Wreckage - Rare Ice Cylinder - Ancient Daedala - LL Silver Wreckage Night Vision, Heat Sink Prison Island: - Rare Laia Crystal - Newgate Laia - GF Bridge of Grief - Rare Laia Crystal - Masterful Gigapur - 5F Travalga Bridge Arts Seal Resist, Aggro Up, Blaze Defence - Rare Mercury Crystal - Randa Nebula - GF Bridge of Grief - Rare Mercury Crystal - Ageless Moabit - GF Damaged Transporter Attack Stability, Muscle Up, Bleed Defence, Spike Defence - Rare Barg Crystal - Babeli Barg - GF Central Hall - Rare Barg Crystal - Abnormal Clone Barg - GF First Sanctum - Rare Barg Crystal - Majestic Clone Barg - GF Second Sanctum Electric Plus, Daze Tension, Quick Step - Rare Saturn Crystal - Fiume Nebula - GF Central Hall Terrain Defence, Spike Defence, Paralysis Resist, Recovery Up - Rare Obart Crystal- Obart Obart - 1F Banquet Hall Strength Up, Bleed Attack, Weapon Power - Rare Deinos Crystal - Babel Deinos - 1F Banquet Hall - Rare Deinos Crystal - Serene Imlaly - 1F Banquet Hall Attack Stability, Ether Protect, Electric Plus - Rare Ageshu Crystal - Tored Ageshu - 1F Banquet Hall - Rare Ageshu Crystal - Cold Ageshu - 1F Kitchen Poison Defence, Bleed Defence, Arts Stealth - Rare Behemoth Crystal - Sanjibla Behemoth - 2F Behemoth Nest Muscle Up, Revival HP Up, Aggro Up - Rare Mars Crystal - Cratere Nebula - 1F Kitchen - Rare Mars Crystal - Inferno Heinrich - 1F Kitchen Bind Resist, Blaze Attack, Revival HP Up, Spike Defence - Rare Venus Crystal - Gracile Nebula - 3F Empty Throne Ether Def Down, Spike Defence, Chill Plus, Lock-On Resist - Rare Uranus Crystal - Uragano Nebula - 4F Great Canyon Spike Defence, Bleed Plus, Arts Seal Resist, Quick Step - Rare Balgas Crystal - Fiendish Auburn - 4F Gravina Bridge Chill Defence, Sleep Resist, Tension Swing - Rare Balgas Crystal - Babel Deinos - 4F Gravina Bridge Attack Stability, Ether Protect, Electric Plus - Rare Balgas Crystal - Babeli Barg - 4F Gravina Bridge Electric Plus, Quick Step, Daze Tension - Rare Jupiter Crystal - Solare Nebula - 5F Corridor of Silence Ether Up, Phys Def Down, Spike Defence, Pierce Resist - Rare Egel Crystal - Gimran Egel - 5F Travalga Bridge Fall Defence, Bleed Defence, Bleed Plus _______________________________________________________________________________ [07] Outro _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________ Version History _______________ Version 1.23 ------------ - Date: 05/03/2012 (UK dating system) - Size: 75 KB - Some fixes courtesy of reader allgdnamesrgone (who is working on a Xenoblade Bestiary which I am very much looking forward to seeing): Officer Robusto drops Spike Defence crystals, not Spike Crystals; and it's called Debuff Plus, not Debuff Time Plus. Much obliged. Version 1.22 ------------ - Date: 18/12/2012 (UK dating system) - Size: 74 KB - Some minor Gem setup adjustments. Version 1.21 ------------ - Date: 14/12/2012 - Size: 74 KB - Added Rank V Crystal Locations section! Now you can find whatever crystals you need for your rank VI Mega Heat Gems. - Changed description of affinity and how many turns it awards you. - Rewrote the Mega Heat section for clarity. - Some cleanup. Version 1.11 ------------ - Date: 12/12/2012 (UK dating system) - Size: 60 KB - Massive overhaul to Gem Setups guide. Many thanks to reader Randomness097, whose critiques were invaluable and will help improve your Gem setups immensely. Version 1.01 ------------ - Date: 10/12/2012 (UK dating system) - Size: 54 KB - Added some information regarding party support. - Gave exact percentage values for quality growth for each type of flame. - Gave exact details of the Fever state. - Some minor cleanup. Version 1.00 ------------ - Date: 09/12/2012 - Size: 53 KB - Contains the sections Basics, Gem Database, Best Gems, Character Gem Setups, Gem Crafting and Crafting Mega Heat Gems. ____ FAQs ____ Q1: Is the Lightning Attack Gem boosted by the Electric Plus Gem? A1: Yes, but only the additional damage granted by Lightning Attack is boosted. For example, if you deal 200 damage with a standard auto-attack and have a Lightning Attack Gem that increases damage by 50, then an Electric Plus Gem which boosts damage by 100% will only boost that extra 50 damage granted by Lightning Attack. A 100% boost to 50 is 100, so you'll do 200 + 100 = 300 damage. Q2: What is Blow-Down? A2: Ever been up against an enemy that explodes or uses a big gust of wind to hurl you into the air? That's Blow-Down. After your characters hit the floor and get back up, they're likely to be in the Daze status effect. Equipping the Good Footing Gem may prevent Blow-Down. If it does, the Daze status that is usually applied afterwards does not take effect either. Q3: Where's the love for the Critical Up Gem? A3: There is none. With no skills learned, a Critical Up VI Gem will provide a 25% extra chance to critical hit, and critical hits themselves deal an extra 25% damage. Law of averages says this equates to a 6.25% damage boost over time, which is pathetic compared to Haste 45% and Double Attack 50%. Even with skill links included, it still pales in comparison. *Spoilers below* Besides, skill linking Critical Combo (all Double Attacks become critical hits) from Seven means that you'll be getting critical hits most of the time anyway. *End spoilers* ________________ Legal Disclaimer ________________ Official Disclaimer ------------------- This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Any characters, names, places or miscellaneous objects are copyright of their respective companies. Breaking any of these rules is in direct violation of copyright law. Small Print ----------- Hm. Copyright. Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't totally just rip off my work and sell it or claim it as your own. Oh, and if you're printing it for 'personal, private use', it should be obvious that you can edit and cut as you wish--I wouldn't want you to waste more paper than was necessary! Websites -------- I am only uploading this guide to the GameFAQs and its affiliates, simply because I can't be bothered to send updates to loads of sites. ___________________ Contact Information ___________________ Contact me only by email at zero_kid(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk where '(at)' is '@' and '(dot)' is '.' (all without quotation marks). I would include email guidelines, but I don't want to risk sounding like a condescending twat. Basically, don't make your email moronic and I'll answer it as long as I'm working on this guide. And try to make the subject something relevant. 'Xenoblade Gem Guide' would be nice. _______ Credits _______ Sites ----- - GameFAQs: THE resource for all things walkthrough. - Xenobladedata: Fantastic data source. - http://blog.daum.net/ftosslove/84: Rank V crystal location data was found here, but there were a few errors that needed fixing up. - Glass Giant: The ASCII Art header came from here. Companies --------- - Monolith Soft and Nintendo: For one of the greatest RPGs I've played in a long time. People ------ - Randomness097: Made some incredibly useful contributions to the Gem setup section. Much appreciated. - Mr. Mister: Thouroughly critiqued the guide and offered a list of fixes and improvements which I duly incorporated. Also pretty much contributed the sub- section on how to get Mega Heat Gems starting with one quality. For a full list of improvements given, see the version history for version 1.33. Many thanks! - My girlfriend: For buying me this game, and just being great in general :P. __________ Conclusion __________ Dear Reader, Well, here it is. I hope you enjoyed the guide and found it useful. If not and you'd like to see it improved, please drop me an email. If you liked the guide, be sure to recommend it on GameFAQs--I'd love for it to become a 'starred' guide! And, if you have some spare change burning a hole in your pocket and are grateful for the time and effort I have invested in this guide, consider making a donation to my PayPal account, which I am assured can convert currencies too: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr? cmd=_donations&business=DCSRB76Y3FJQQ&lc=GB&item_name=Zerokid% 20Walkthroughs¤cy_code=GBP&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif% 3aNonHosted That's it for now guys--thanks for reading! Zerokid