Jesse Woo
Learn the "Art" of Xenoblade Chronicles X's Combat
You won't find these bad boys in a gallery.
04.10.15 - 3:42 PM

In Monolith Soft's latest campaign to never this writer sleep, the studio has released more information and videos on the use of Arts (or spells) in Xenoblade Chronicles X. Arts play a large role in combat, keeping the pace interesting and dishing out big damage. The following video shows off both shooting and fighting arts. As you will see, they are much more effective than the regular auto-attacks.

The game's website also has information about some of the Arts available to the starting job classes

Drifter

  • Assault Hammer: hit target with the gunstock, causing physical damage and Topple status (Assault Rifle/Rank 1)

  • Fire Grenade: shoot a grenade at the enemy, causing Fire-based damage and inflicting Burn; increased damage against Toppled enemies (Assault Rifle/Rank 1)

  • Chrome Armor: reduce physical damage taken by an ally (Knife/Rank 2)

Assault

  • Rising Blade: three consecutive slashes of Weapon-attribute damage to enemy, and greater damage when character has enemy aggro (Long Sword/Rank 1)

  • Protection Mode (Tension Art): use 1000 TP for an aura granting Damage Taken Down, HP Regeneration, and Fighting Attack Power Down (Long Sword/Rank 2)

  • Powered Dive: activate a Bullet Charge effect to deal double damage next attack and completely evade enemy attacks for the duration of the Art (Assault Rifle/Rank 3)

Command

  • Back Slash: jump and slash to deal Weapon-attribute damage; deals greater damage from behind (Dual Swords/Rank 1)

  • Early Count (Tension Art): use 1000 TP for an aura granting Critical Damage Up, Critical Rate Up, and Evasion Up (Dual Guns /Rank 1)

  • Stream Edge (Tension Art): Use 1000 TP to execute five consecutive hits dealing Weapon-attribute damage; does more damage after a Shooting combo (Dual Swords/Rank 2)

Forcer

  • Beam Blast: shoot a thick laser that does Weapon-attribute damage; greater damage when an aura is in effect (Ray-gun/Rank 1

  • Maintenance: remove debuffs and restore HP of a party member (Knife/Rank 1)

  • Splash Blast: shoot a laser to deal Weapon-attribute damage and afflict with Black Sight (Ray-gun/Rank 5)

The game's website also has more info on the Soul system, where party members communicate with one another and grant buffs in battle. The Soul Voice triggers a quicktime event that, if successful, will cue up a special effect on one of your Arts. Using that Art will heal and strengthen your relationship with the party member who triggered the Soul Voice. Soul Challenges on the other hand will grant buffs when certain conditions are met. Starting a battle with a fighting weapon or letting your HP drop below 30%, for example, will trigger another quicktime event. Successful reactions will net you bonuses like HP recovery, and getting a perfect hit will get a TP bonus. Players can set the effects of the Soul Challenge outside of battle to suit their needs and fighting style. Finally, the Soul Stage will count the number of successful Soul Challenges and grant more bonuses as the counter rises. Check it out below.

Xenoblade Chronicles X comes out in Japan April 29 for the Wii U and later this year in the West.


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