68. EXP, SP, AP. Experience points (EXP) are used to level your characters; like in most rpgs. Skills points (SP) are used to level the skills on the skill trees that each character has. Ability/Art points (AP) add up and can be manually spent to level any Art that you wish.
Every character in your party, whether they fight or not, will get these points. However, those in your active party will receive slightly more points than the inactive party. There are certain skill tree skills that can be used to raise the amount of the SP/AP/EXP points received for active members or non-active members, when equipped.
67. World full of a Variety of Enemies. The diversity of monsters in Xenoblade Chronicles is vast and expansive. You don’t fight the same creatures with a different palate of colors like in most games or even like in most MMOs which this game can be compared to in some ways. While there are certain enemies that you will run into of the same kind from time to time, there are usually noticeable differences and there are so many different kinds of enemies that you hardly notice.
66. The NPC’s of Xenoblade Chronicles. The NPCs of the world all have a schedule they follow in that they are either awake or they are asleep, which usually means they can only be found during the daytime, or found during the nighttime. There is a set path each NPC will follow as they do not remain stationary. Some NPCs walk a large distance as part of their schedule. With the ability to change the time in the game from the menu, you can talk to any NPC any time you want as long as you know where they will be at what time. This is particularly handy when you need to find a NPC while trying to complete a quest.
65. Spike Damage. In Xenoblade Chronicles some enemies will cause Spike Damage to your party members when attacked. The damage adds up and can quickly devastate your party. It is not always obvious which enemies will cause spike damage, but you will know that spike damage is being caused when blue numbers appear indicating the damage amount received. Thankfully, there are ways to negate Spike Damage. You can negate most spike damage by using Topple/Daze to knock these enemies down. There are also gems that can be equipped that limit the amount of spike damage taken.
64. Affinity and Skills. In Xenoblade Chronicles you are encouraged to use every character in your party. In order to gain access to all of the different skills the game has to offer, you will have to play with every character to raise their affinity levels (relationships). This is because in Xenoblade, skills can be shared between characters, but only if they have a high enough affinity level. The best way to raise affinity between characters is to have them battle together. Most skills are quite beneficial, like those that effect experience, so it is something you’ll want to keep in mind while playing.
63. Money in Xenoblade Chronicles. Money. In Xenoblade, money is plentiful. Nearly every enemy you defeat will drop something that you can sell. You can get a lot of cash especially from selling weapons and armor. Money quickly adds up. Also, you likely won’t be buying armor or weapons from merchants all that often because the ones dropped from enemies are usually better than the ones available at merchants. But, there is one thing you’ll want to be on the look out for from merchants, and that is Arts Manuals. More on skill books tomorrow.
62. Arts Manuals . Arts Manuals allow you to upgrade your Arts (abilities) further. Without Arts Manuals, each ability you have is limited and you will no longer be able to spend AP points rewarded from battle, upgrading that ability. Arts Manuals can be purchased from merchants so it’s always a good idea to check every merchant for Arts Manuals, even if you don’t usually buy anything. Arts Manuals can also be dropped by specific enemies. There are three levels to each ability. The highest level Arts Manuals, used to allow the upgrading of your abilities to their highest level, can only be found from defeating specific unique enemies.
61. City Reputation Ranks. You can build your reputation with each city in Xenoblade in a 5 star ranking system. As your city reputation rank goes up by completing quests for the various citizens, new quests will open up to you that will provide better rewards. There are also other benefits to raising the city rank but that’s best left for you to discover for yourself!
60. The Enemies are Intuitive. Creatures themselves look and seem like they are living in the world. They will roam in packs or even occasionally interact with other enemies around them. If you attack an enemy of the same type, most often than not the others around will also attack you. In each area there are a wide variety of creatures, from bunnies to giant insects, and there are also high level enemies that can be found in nearly every area of the game. Surprisingly, the game does not feel like they shoehorned high level enemies everywhere just for the sake of doing so, as they are there fora reason and actually enhance the atmosphere.
59. Dunban Character Profile. Dunban is 30 years old, and the previous wielder of the Monado before Shulk. Dunban is also Fiora’s older brother and has raised Fiora alone in place of their Father who died in a Mechon attack many years ago. He is a high-ranking soldier of Colony 9 and was originally thought to be the only person capable of wielding the Monado blade, as the blade will not respond to anybody else.
Dunban used the Monado blade weapon to great effect against the invading Mechon at the Battle of Sword Valley, one year prior to the game’s main story. During the battle, however, the Monado took a considerable toll on Dunban’s health, so much so that his right arm is now damaged and almost completely paralyzed. However, he can still wield a katana with his left arm to fight in battle.
Dunban is brave, true, and wise. He guides the group and shares his knowledge with them. The party looks up to him, especially Shulk who sees Dunban as a mentor.
58. Amazing Soundtrack. The amazing soundtrack of Xenoblade is mostly composed by the group ACE+ and other various artists. Mitsuda composed the amazing ending theme song “Beyond the Sky”. Yoko composed a few tracks such as “Unfinished Battle” the marvelous main theme at the title screen, as well as “Colony 9”. Many critics, and most that play the game, agree that Xenoblade has one of the best soundtracks in a game.
57. Enemy Nameplate Colors. You generally don’t want to approach monsters with a red nameplate as it means they are at a higher level than your party. Use the target button to target them, check their level, and avoid them if they’re red. Gray nameplates mean the enemy has a level equal to or near equal to your party. Blue nameplates mean the enemy has a slightly lower level than your party. Black means the enemy has a level far below your party.
The higher the level the enemy is compared to your party, the more experience you will be rewarded. Very little experience will be rewarded from enemies with a black nameplate.
56. Unique Enemies. There are unique enemies in Xenoblade Chronicles which are more challenging to defeat than your regular garden variety enemy. You should always add an extra level or two on top of the unique enemy’s level to help you determine their “actual” difficulty. The unique enemies carry the rarest of treasure such as equipment, gems, and Arts Manuals . Defeating unique enemies will also reward your party Affinity Coins that can be used on the skill tree. Unique enemies have a unique border on their nameplate when you target them so that you can identify them.
55. Status Effect Spike Damage. Some enemies have spikes that are capable of instantly inflicting your party members with a negative status infliction every time they attack the enemy. Some examples of these inflictions are sleep, daze, and even instant death. Keep in mind though that the enemies that are capable of this type of spike damage are almost always optional to fight and are of the unique variety of enemy.
Sometimes having a strategy is needed before going into battle. If you come across an enemy like this, usually the best approach is to equip gems that limit or completely negate the effects of the negative status infliction.
54. Melia’s Voice Actress(English). The characer Melia is voiced by actress Jenna-Louise Coleman who played the character Connie, a minor role in the movie Captain America: The First Avenger.
More recently, she has become a new companion for the Dr. on the Television show, Dr. Who.
