Xenoblade Chronicles Guide- Walkthrough Part 37: Upper Tephra Cave Quests

Quest- Find the MIA Defence Force member who was sent off to the Ether Cylinder Hangar.
Reward: 800g, 50xp, Leather Top and Leather Bottoms.

Quest- Get three Arachno Silk
Reward: 500g, 100xp, Ranger Gloves

Quest- Get two Kneecap Rocks
Reward: 1000g

Quest- Get 2 Bright Figs
Reward: 1500g

Quest- Get 3 Broken Pincer
Reward: 1200g

Quest- Get 1 Brog Smelling Salts
Reward: 1500g

Quest (Ether Cylinder Hangar guard)- Find a Lost Pendant near the Vilia Lake in Tephra Cave.
Reward: (pending)

Notes- Vilia Lake is very far off in the cave.  Fortunately, all of these quests autocomplete once you have what you need- meaning you don’t need to go back to the soldier who gave you the quest.

This game is very forgiving about that, and it makes quest-completion a lot easier.  Frankly it’s one of the best choices they made while putting this game together, especially when combined with the Landmark travel system that lets you jump across places you’ve been through already.  It’s the sort of thing that leaves the player wondering why nobody else is doing it, which is a very good question.  It helps that most of the quests you get are auxiliary, and while they contribute to the stories of the characters you see as you wander around, you don’t need them and they aren’t forced on you in any way.  The added Exp is nice, but you can get by just fine without the quests- it’s a little more challenging and you may need to stop and grind a little (and I really do mean a little), but it’s possible.

More importantly, all the quests are ‘small’- kill two or three something or get one or two of something and that thing is actually easy to get in the course of wandering around.  There’s very little reason to skip a quest that you happen to spot- but you don’t have to feel obliged to seek out absolutely every single quest so you don’t miss something.

It makes the play experience more organic and a lot less dull and grindy overall.