Xenoblade Chronicles Basics- Combat (Part 2)
Xenoblade Chronicles battles play much like those of an MMORPG, and that isn’t just a matter of the free roaming you can engage in. Different characters in Xenoblade Chronicles will identify as particular positions in an instance party in an MMORPG- just off the bat, Shulk is clearly a DPS (Damage Per Second) melee character, and Reyn is obviously a Tank. The game goes even further by involving Aggro- an abbreviation for aggression or aggravation- and making control of it key to functioning in combat. Fortunately, Xenoblade CHronicles has a built-in indicator- while you are in combat, watch for a red ring around the waist of a character. Whichever character has that ring has the attention of the enemy you are locked onto, and will be on the receiving end of its attacks.
Maintaining proper control of aggro is very important- your highest-damage characters will often be unable to take hard hits, so if they draw attention away from the toughest party members you need to be ready to fix the issue. This means that you can’t just pump out the most damage you can reach out of every character either- aggression is provoked by damage and special effects, and the more a character does, the more attention they’re going to garner themself. ‘Tank’ characters have Arts that will attract extra attention, though, so there are ways to fix this that don’t involve running away from the enemy.
It’s also worth noticing that you can choose which character is the ‘leader’ in your party. While this seems to be a mostly cosmetic effect at first, allowing you to pilot the group around with a different character, it has a considerable effect on combat- whichever character is in the ‘leader’ position, that is the character you are going to control.
This actually makes things much easier on you- you can choose the character who fits your playstyle. Some players will want to control the tank and be in charge of drawing the Aggro away from the team’s more damaging members, because that is what they’re better at. Other players will want to take the role of DPS, watching for the right opportunity to launch a series of devastating attacks while the computer handles the job of keeping the attention off of them.
Which you choose is a matter of preference and playstyle- so play around with the order of characters, try piloting different team members in combat before you settle with one or another as the party ‘leader’. It will make your playthrough that much more satisfying and smooth.
