Xenoblade Chronicles DE: Part 4: Exploring the Tephra Cave
3Shulk went along with his best friend Reyn to reach the Mag Mell Ruins and find Ether Cylinders to help ease Reyn's punishment with this by Vangarre the Defence Force Colonel.
At first, it seemed like Fiora trusted Reyn to protect Shulk in the Tephra Cave, but they later found her at its entrance, forcing them to take her along with them.
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The various monsters in this game will attack your party depending on how you interact with them:
- If you don't see an icon, then they won't attack unless you attack them first.
- If they have an eye icon, then they will usually attack when they see you.
- If they have an audio icon, then they will usually attack when they hear you nearby or if your attacks are within their hearing range.
Unique Monsters will have their names framed with lightning in this game. Engaging against one will trigger a unique and badass battle them, and they're often tough than the enemies surrounding them.
Normal enemies have to different battle themes depending on how they're engaging. Attacking them first has a more encouraging theme, but if they attack you first, or if you lure them to you, a more foreboding theme plays. The Unique Monster theme plays regardless against them.
If there are enemies that are too tough to beat, Definitive Edition will allow you to go into Casual Mode to make them easier to fight.
Mind the Party Gauge in the top-left corner. As long as you have one of three of its bars filled, you can use it to bring an ally back on their feet if they're wiped out, or you can wait for them to revive you if your character is knocked out.
A Game Over in this game simply means respawning at the last Landmark you approached.
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When all three Party Gauge bars are filled, you can unleash a Chain Attack. Have each character attack one-by-one, and if they each use an Art of the same color in a row, the subsequent art will be stronger. After going through one round, you may have a chance to get Chain Link for each next attack and keep going further and further until the monster is defeated, but this seems to happen at random.
So, for example, Shulk's red Arts include Back Slash and Stream Edge, Reyn's red ones include Hammer Beat and Bone Upper, and Fiora's red ones include Power Smash and Lacerate. Use them each one-by-one in a row to increase the next red Art's damage, but this multiplier gets broken if you have, say, use Shulk's blue Light Heal, or Reyn's green Wild Down.
This DOESN'T apply to Talent Arts, though, such as Shulk's Turn Strike and Fiora's Butterfly Step, which are considered black, and they can be used to not only increase the multiplier of a different Art color, but also bridge that multiplier into a new Art color.
To increase the chances of a Chain Link, increase the characters' Affinity for each other.
This multiplier reaches its MAX at its 5th boost.
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The trio eventually reach the Mag Mell Ruins and describes its uses, but they must keep going to find the Ether Cylinders.
As you find more Landmarks, you can Skip Travel to them, no matter where you are in the game, though sometimes this will be disabled for story reasons.
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After some more fights and more climbs, Shulk, Reyn, and Fiora finally reach the Ether Cylinders.
These Cylinders are easier for use compared to the ones developed right within Colony 9, so that's the reason Reyn had to come all this way to get them. It's surprising how such ancient technology still exists in this day and age...
They were about to head back, they were suddenly attack by strange machines. These machines were not Mechon, though...
After they destroyed them, they had to wonder why they even attacked them to begin with.
An alarm then went off in Colony 9, and the trio were shocked to see what triggered it: Actual Mechon! It was thought that Dunban's battle in Sword Valley one year ago got rid of them all, but more suddenly came in?!
It was time to rush back to Colony 9 to lend a hand!