Xenoblade Chronicles DE: Part 9: Spider Quests & the Definitive Nopon Archsage
2Shulk & Reyn have not only managed to venture through the Tephra Cave, but survive against its dangers, thanks to Shulk unlocking a new power with the Monado and realizing the full purpose of his sudden Visions.
They have now reached the Bionis' Knee, and will now have to travel through its leg to eventually reach Colony 6.
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But this video is mostly another break from the story. It's mainly about doing more random quests in the Tephra Cave, and showing off a "brand new" feature in Definitive Edition.
Sometime after climbing up the Bionis's Knee, you reach a strange red object. This is actually a portal that takes you into a realm that's completely different from the Bionis, let alone the Mechonis.
You will meet a special Nopon here, a Nopon Archsage that transcends time and space. What happens here is that he challenges you to take on special battles to rank you for. If you rank high enough, you can get special items and equipment that's also exclusive to Definitive Edition.
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There are two kinds of Time Attack challenges: The Free challenge allows you to take on a Time Attack with your current party setup. Meanwhile, Restricted challenges force you to use a specific party setup that changes with each of the challenges themselves.
For example, the Restricted version of Humble Beginnings makes you use Reyn as the party leader with both him and Shulk set at Level 20. As you get further through the game, gain more levels and gain more party members, you can go through the Free version of Humble Beginning and demolish it with a stronger team!
You go through waves of enemies for each challenge, and between each wave counts as a full heal to the party before moving on to the next enemy wave. If you want a high rank, try completing the challenge as much as possible and pull off certain bonuses towards it such as using, Heals, Topples, and Chain Attacks. The highest rank is the S.
You also win some Noponstone, which can be used and ONLY used to buy some valuable items from the Archsage's shop.
More of those red portals will appear throughout the game, typically near an area where you have just or at least recently gained a new party member, and as such, the next Restricted challenge may involve leading with that new character.
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The Tephra Cave quests are done after I mess around with these Time Attacks, but afterwards, I just continue on through the story by then venturing through the Bionis' Leg.