Xenoblade Chronicles X: lots of details about the battle system

During today’s presentation, Monolith Software gave lots of details about the battle system in Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Xenoblade Chronicles X – Arts

The battle system has three main aspects:

– close-range attacks (with swords, knives and other similar weapons)
– long-range attacks (guns, snipers and other similar weapons)
– Arts

The Arts are divided in several categories: attacking Arts (Fighting / Shooting), support Arts (heal, buffs) and weakening Arts (stuns and more). Of course, you can chose those you prefer, according to your play style, but each got their own “delay timer”: once you’ve used them, you have to wait a few seconds before the Art is recharged. Therefore, you’ll have to switch from Arts to auto-attacks accordingly, and find the right balance between the two.

During the presentation, Monolith Software also talked about Soul Voice (which was already shown at E3 during the Nintendo Treehouse Live): basically, it’s the various teammates communicating with each other during battle. Of course, this isn’t just idle chatter: it’s actually a key element of the battle system. For example, teammates can recommend the use of certain Arts (which make them glow in the UI).

You can chose to ignore those recommendations, but if you do use a recommended Art, you can get some bonuses (additional power, additional healing and more). If you want, you can send your own Soul Voice (via a command), and your teammate can do the same for additional benefits.

The key of the battle system is to combine Arts and the Soul Voice: that way, you create some rather neat combos. For example, if you use an Art to make an enemy stagger, then link it with a stunning Art, the poor enemy won’t have time to realise what’s happening to him. And just like in Xenoblade Chronicles, positionning is crucial in this game too: you can attack from behind or try to flank an enemy. There’s also some specific Arts that do more damage if launched from a certain position.

Finally, terrain is another element to keep in mind when fighting enemies (similar to the verticality in Monster Hunter 4).  Attacking from higher or lower ground has an effect on accuracy and critical rate.

Source: Siliconera

Click on Read more to find out about Advanced Techniques, the Class System and Equipment!

Xenoblade Chronicles X – Advanced Techniques

During the Battle presentation, several advanced techniques for Xenoblade Chronicles X were shown. The first one is Double Recast. After casting an Art, you have to wait a few seconds for it to recharge. If you wait and let the bar fill up twice, the Art will be even more powerful the next time you cast it.

In order to fight efficiently, it’s best to avoid relying too much on Arts, and avoid neglecting auto-attacks. Yes, those are pretty weak, but they allow you to keep attacking while Arts are recharging. They also fill a “Tension meter”: when filled, you can revive teammates who have fallen in battle, so it’s definitely useful to keep auto-attacking.

Another advanced technique: the Overclock Gear, which is unlocked later in the game. With it, you can unleash some very powerful attacks. Once you’ve activated it, you can keep using Arts continuously, without having to wait for them to recharge (of course, it works with both Attacking and Shooting Arts).

A counter appears on the screen, and the higher it goes, the more damage you’ll deal in the end. Overclock Gear also allows you to use Triple Recast, where you triple-charge an Art: this results in an even more powerful attack than with a double-charged Art. Finally, you can use Triple Recast with all your teammates, and the end result is quite devastating.

Xenoblade Chronicles X also shares a common point with Monster Hunter: you can break “pieces” of enemies, which prevents them from using that part of their body. It also increases your chances of getting special items.

As for monsters and enemies, they behave differently in the overworld:

– some enemies attack on sight (iris icon)
– some enemies attack based on sounds (thunderbolt icon)
– some monsters attack if you hit one of their kind: you have to be very careful with those, as you can get swarmed and overwhelmed really fast;
– some monsters are really powerful, and if you’re underlevelled, it’s best to flee.

In other words: pay special attention to the icons next to the enemies’ heads: it tells you how they behave, and how you should approach them.

Source: Siliconera

Xenoblade Chronicles X – Class system and equipment

Another element showcased during today’s Battle presentation: equipment. Most of it can be bought from the Shopping District in New Los Angeles, and each piece of equipment got different attributes. They also have some slots, where you can put some Devices to get special effects and power-ups.

Let’s start with weapons, which are divided in two categories:

– Fighting type: knives, swords, shields, javelins and more;
– Shooting type: rifles, guns, launchers and more.

As for armor, there’s 5 categories:

Another way to get equipment is to kill monsters: some of them actually drop some really powerful pieces of equipment, so it’s probably a good idea not to stick simply to New Los Angeles’ shopping district.

An important aspect of equipment is that it can be restricted: if your character’s “Inner level” isn’t high enough, it won’t be able to equip some pieces of equipment. To level up your characters, you can fight enemies (obviously), but you can also find treasures and explore the world. It’s a system that was already in Xenoblade Chronicles, where you can get some additional XP by doing lots of side activities.

And now, let’s talk about the various classes: they’re one of the key elements of the battle system, as they determine your fighting sytle. At first, all characters start in the Drifter class, but from there, it’s up to you to decide how they’ll grow up. Once they’ve learned the basic Arts, you can chose from 3 different classes:

– Assault
– Command
– Forcer

There’s also some advanced classes, such as:

– Samurai Gun (a branch of the Assault class), which can “evolve” into General Sword;
– Shiled Battler (a branch of the Assault class).

Each glass got its own kind of equipment, and their own Arts, so you’ll have to chose wisely and according to your play style.

As for the party, various characters will join it during the adventure, but you can only have 4 of them at one time during battle. There’s Lyn and Elma, but also Douglas, Lau and more. Of course, you will be able to control them during battle, and you won’t be restricted to the character you create at the beginning of the game.

At the very end of the presentation, we can see the party getting attacked by a race of powerful aliens, with a giant mecha. To fight them, you have to use your own mecha, which is called a Doll: it will be the topic of the next live presentation!

Source: Siliconera

Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U) comes out on April 29th in Japan, and later this year in Europe and North America.