Xenoblade Chronicles

Something trivial: The Overdrive music will override the current music, even as it changes. I noticed this when doing the challenge with the robots, and when Overdrive expired, the music didn't change when it was supposed to; arriving at Rosa didn't start up her music, sticking with the standard lategame battle theme.

Right. Getting ready to do Elma Redux to make her a permanent part of the party. If I'm right, after that, it should be possible to carry her, Shulk and Fiora over to New Game Plus.

The point is, should I stick to the same seal reinforcements strategy as before?

Also, I assume it would logical to expect to not be able to bond her to driver since you'll be fighting her in the challenge quest as well? That seems obvious, but I still want to be sure.

I think you can actually use her in that fight, but I think Shulk's Monado Purge and using a dark driver combo to prevent the horde of clones ought to be enough. It's not like you can use Overdrive as long as said clones are active. Once you've completed that and Dino Mayhem (or whatever its name is), you'll be able to use the heroes of the past anywhere you wish, even when going into New Game Plus.

Edited by RainingMetal on Jul 3rd 2020 at 3:10:29 AM

I think (can't remember) you can complete the missions on the easiest difficulty?

Yeah, Easy and Custom both count.

I've been doing them on easy.

That's how I roll.

For the sake of getting those guest fighters out of the Land of Challenge before New Game Plus is completely justifiable. I have no regrets about cheesing the absolute worst of the challenges on that list, and have no intention of doing them on normal difficulty.

Right. I tried Elma Redux....

She summons her reinforcements immediately, and some how locks my party gauge (meaning I can't use Overdrive with my Elma OR revive anyone who dies).

And this happens right at the beginning of the battle, before I can build up to the first blade combo so I can seal it off. What the hell?

If you don't use Seal Reinforcement, then you'll have to deal with a dozen Ghost Elmas instead of 3.

I managed to do it a few times, but what really kills me is that they sealed off my party gauge at some point.

I'm not sure when they did it, or how either, and I definitely don't know how to undo it.

If Easy is too hard, you can do Custom difficulty with all the meters set to extremes.

That's a good idea.

The clones existing is what causes the party gauge to be locked. You need to kill those clones to get it back. Once you do, you need to seal off reinforcements so that there won't be more. I don't know how many times this tends to happen in the battle overall. If it's just once, you just need to seal off reinforcements until Elma attempts to do so again, then you can apply all sorts of other blade combos to make your chain attack more effective.

We did warn you it was one of the most aggravating challenges in the game.

Edited by RainingMetal on Jul 4th 2020 at 1:41:49 AM

Yes you did.

Right. So kill the clones. I'll remember that.

Hopefully, they die quick.

Seal reinforcement first, then kill the clones.

Or you can give Corvin to Zeke and kill all of them

I appreciate Elma: Redux for being a challenge for even optimized teams.

Edited by RAlexa21th on Jul 4th 2020 at 2:36:14 AM

Right. So killing the clones is proving hard than I thought. There's still the problem that they take a while to take down. This one really is horrifically obnoxious.

What's the team you're using?

Edited by RAlexa21th on Jul 4th 2020 at 2:42:28 AM

My current team is Zeke, Morag and Nia.

Zeke has T-elos, Praxis and Pandoria, Morag has Shulk, Kasandra, and Corvin, and Nia (who I'm controlling) has Elma, Dromarch, and Fiora.

I was originally controlling Zeke, and he had Elma, but that didn't seem to be working, so I put her on Nia (who gives the latter another healing art). I'm controlling Nia so that if I get the chance to use Overdrive, I can....

You do need to be controlling the driver Elma is equipped to in order to use Overdrive right? I kinda just assumed...

You can order the driver to activate it on a button press, so no.

Huh.

Then I guess I didn't really need to control things that much. That makes sense. Shulk still gets visions no matter who's controlling him as long as he's in the party.

I like to have player-controlled Morag with Corvin + Mickey Boy, then Zeke or Rex equipped with only Shulk or Mythra, then Nia or Tora equipped with a Dark Blade.

Morag with Corvin has the highest chance of surviving, and AI Shulk/Mythra increases her survival chances even further.

I don't think Overdrive is useable when your Party Gauge is disabled.

Edited by RAlexa21th on Jul 4th 2020 at 3:18:01 AM

It is not.

You can't do anything that requires the party gauge (like reviving team mates) when it's disabled. That's what sucks.

Edit: Right. I've forgotten. How do you get the party to focus their attacks on one person, as opposed to continuing to attack whoever they're attacking if you switch?

Cause not being able to focus on the ghost Elmas is what's killing me, because everyone else keeps attacking main Elma.

Edited by HandsomeRob on Jul 4th 2020 at 4:45:39 AM

This means the more Elmas you kill the easier it gets. Once you have two Elmas down, then victory is already yours.

It's all the more reason to focus your attacks on the clones and kill each one methodically. If you can't make use of chain attacks, that's where Driver Combos come in.

So yeah. How do I get them to attack who I'm attacking?