Xenoblade Chronicles DE: Part 2: The Homs Engineer from Colony 9
4The previous video was a prologue to the actual story of the game, as it took place 1 year prior with Dunban wielding the Monado to help the Homs defend against the Mechon.
One year later after that, we now focus on a younger, blonde-haired Homs named Shulk. He is a dedicated engineer at his hometown of Colony 9, where he often salvages through junk and scraps to look for useful parts to build into weapons, including a handy Junk Sword he carries around just in case he needs to defend himself.
Eventually, during his trip to a Mechon Wreckage Site, he found a viable part that he could craft as a shield, but as he tried to lift it, it turned out to be used as a shell for a Krabble.
That's when Shulk's best friend and battle-hardened guardian, Reyn, came in to shove the Krabble back. They then used their teamwork to dispose of it.
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Try to have Shulk get the most out of his Back Slash as possible. As the name implies, it does more damage if used behind the target.
Reyn is an aggro tank specialist. He has high HP and Defence, and has aggro arts that keep the enemies' attention focused on him. If he takes too much of a beating, Shulk can Light Heal him.
All arts that aren't Talent/Monado Arts have a cooldown before they can be used again.
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Reyn was worried about Shulk drifting too far away from Colony 9 to salavage, but at least he was fine now, and now it was time to return to Colony 9 so Reyn doesn't run late on his Defence Force training.
Speaking further of weapons, Shulk wishes to one day unlock the secrets of the greatest weapon of them all: The Monado...
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On your way back, you can kill some more enemies and animal along the way, but if they kill you first, you're taken back to the last Landmark you reached.
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Shulk & Reyn eventually reach their hometown of Colony 9. Reyn heads back to HQ of the Defence Force, while Shulk plans to take a trip to the Weapons Development Lab.
But before you do that, try to familiarize yourself with Colony 9. You can shop for items, weapons, and equipment, here, talk to and trade with other follow Homs and a race of tiny, furry people named Nopon.
You can also take on Quests, and they're usually highlight with a "!" above an NPC's head. Most of them are completed as soon as the criteria is met, but others require you to find and talk to certain people at certain times.
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After a long session of browsing around, I have Shulk make his way towards the Weapons Development Lab.
He ends up encountering the Defence Force Colonel, Vangarre, a.k.a. Square-tache, giving a severe scolding towards his men for their foul-ups.
He was pretty harsh to them, and he even punched one of them HARD right in the face.
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Finally back in his favorite lab, Shulk meets up with his father figure and one of Dunban's most trusted allies, Dickson, who had just recently returned from Colony 9 after a certain trip. They had a discussion about the Monado and its potential to be used by more than just Dunban.
Shulk seems very curious about the Monado's use beyond using it to fight Mechon, and even as he learns more about it at this point, he still believes that this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Shulk remembered back when Dunban came back from that battle at Sword Valley. He was able to fend off the Mechon, but the use of the Monado left serious wounds on his body. This not only worried Shulk, but also Dunban's younger sister, Fiora.
It seems that because of his Monado-induded injuries, Dunban decided to leave the Monado in Shulk's hands and see if he can figure out its potential beyond his own use of it.
Shulk had remained ever so curious of that sword ever since, but Dickson suggested that he take a break from it for once and get some fresh air.