Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Blade Breakdown

~ XC2 BLADE BREAKDOWN ~

- ATTACKERS -

Pyra:
Attacker/Fire/Aegis Sword
- Primary early game damage dealer
- Capable of massive chunks of damage with Blazing End Special combined with Resplendence and Flaming Edge Battle Skills
- Fire Mastery and Focus are very solid Field Skills, Cooking less so
- Despite explosive damage her overall DPS isn't quite as good as some others
- A sweetheart

Mythra:
Attacker/Light/Aegis Sword
- One of two native Light Blades in the game
- Absurd DPS thanks to the combination of her Critical Up Blade Art, Glint and Lightspeed Fury allowing Rex to spam Driver Arts in immediate succession
- In tandem with Avant Garde Medal the crit-heal build is incredibly potent with her and allows her to effectively solo even the most powerful of enemies
- Even without crits her art recharge is still faster than average thanks to Recharge Boost
- Mediocre field skill set.  Focus is good but Light Mastery and Girls' Talk are underwhelming
- Self aware of how good she is

Roc:
Attacker/Wind/Dual Scythes
- Highest critical rate in the game, with it going beyond 70%+ with Moon Matter Chip and Critical Up V aux core
- Only Blade in Rex's arsenal that is capable of executing Smash, giving him a specific niche for Rex
- Deals heavy damage when HP is low
- Wild Scythe is a great Driver Art that works in tandem with his Crushing Twister Special
- Quite a few elements about him contradict either other sadly.  Massive crit rate but nothing in his kit that abuses it.  Reduces aggro build up but also thrives when HP is low etc
- Wind Mastery and Lockpicking are fairly solid field skills, Miasma Disposal is one of the least useful in the game outside of a couple of mandatory segments
- "I am Roc.  Always have been, always will be!"

Poppi QTπ:
Attacker/Ice(All)/Variable Saber
- Has among the best durability in the game for Attacker Blades thanks to Steady Beam, Reflection and Nanomachine Repair
- The only Blade in the entire game with access to more than one Driver Combo tool (Break and Launch).  Additionally said tools are among the best in their field, with Speedy Sword offering 3 instances to Break each time and Swooshing Slash being very fast
- Incredible overall flexibility thanks to having access to all elements
- Potential to be the best Blade in the game by a considerable margin if one is willing to grind Tiger Tiger super hard
- Vocaloid dance idle animation on fleek

Pandoria:
Attacker/Electric/Big Bang Edge
- Highest auto attack damage in the game, alongside Sudden Spark which speeds them up
- Excellent AoE attacks and overall crowd control
- Quickest Purple and Thunderblast allow her Driver to fire a steady stream of strong Driver Arts without concern of deflection, giving her great DPS
- Impressive explosive critical damage with Electric Circus and Thunder Doom
- A solid set of Field Skills
- Loves her Prince dearly but spares no hesitation in roasting him

Wulfric:
Attacker/Earth/Megalance
- Gets a bunch of solid offensive boosts in a number of different scenarios, including low HP and when foes are Toppled or Launched
- Power Unleashed gives him some of the more impressive DPS at max affinity among his fellow Megalance users
- Impressive crit rate and solid crit damage thanks to Critical Strike
- Arguably one of the best sets of Field Skills in the game, with all 3 of them able to reach level 5 and all 3 having great overall utility
- Straightforward affinity chart
- "Termination Blast!"

Vale:
Attacker/Dark/Megalance
- Deals heavy damage to the side of foes
- Excellent crit rate though lacking in ways to abuse crit damage
- Violence Machine is an excellent Battle Skill that gives her incredibly potent long term damage output
- Accursed Prison is powerful and has a very large AoE
- Mediocre set of field skills, similar to Mythra
- Everyone's favourite goth girlfriend

Agate:
Attacker/Earth/Greataxe
- Similar to Wulfric, she gains offensive boosts vs Toppled and Launched foes.  Her boosts are generally stronger, but overall not quite as versatile as Wulfric's
- Razor-Sharp Iolite gives a party wide attack buff at max affinity, though it's one of the less prominent party buffs
- Struggles to carve a solid niche both among her fellow Greataxe units and among other Earth units, though having access to a crit recharge Driver Art is always nice regardless
- Keen Eye and Mineralogy are solid field skills, Prospecting only finds use in her quest
- Composed in the face of danger, terrified in the face of bugs

Gorg:
Attacker/Water/Greataxe
- The bulkiest Attacker blade in the game thanks to high defensive stats and IMD Battle Skill, though offsets this for some offensive presence
- Innocent Teardrop allows him to build affinity quicker than most
- FTL is a party wide defensive buff, reducing damage taken by all active members, making it handy vs hard hitting opponents with large AoE attacks
- Fortitude and Keen Eye are a very solid pair of Field Skills that see quite a bit of use on Merc Missions
- Fabulous dessert fish man

Praxis:
Attacker/Water/Megalance
- Contrary to Roc, Praxis' damage output excels when she has high HP which aligns better with her skill set
- The most impressive accuracy among Attacker Blades with a combination of her Dexterity Mod, Accuracy Up Blade Art and The Awakened (Skill) Battle Skill
- Foam Blast reduces aggro towards her by a good chunk allowing her to remain healthy and maximise damage
- Only one aux core slot
- An okay set of Field Skills with Water Mastery being the most useful of the three
- Fits her motif perfectly.  Bubbly and fun.

Perun:
Attacker/Ice/Megalance
- Highest auto attack damage among Megalance users
- Deals massive damage when her allies are low or incapacitated, but also doesn't take hits well enough to be able to maximise this
- One of the best attackers at keeping aggro away from her thanks largely to Silent Spear
- When the party is operating normally/properly her overall DPS is some of the lowest among Attacker Blades
- Decent set of Field Skills, with Chivalry being a little bit better than most of the more quest exclusive Field Skills
- Heroic, just, cool and beautiful

Azami:
Attacker/Dark/Ether Cannon
- Incredibly impressive damage output on her specials when HP is low
- Builds affinity quickly as she takes damage
- Frail so is often unable to exploit her abilities to the fullest, though Ether Cannon does let her attack from a distance
- Similar to Perun, she tends to require generally sub optimal conditions to thrive which can make her awkward to use compared to her peers
- Also similar to Perun, she has a fairly decent set of Field Skills

Sheba:
Attacker/Water/Ether Cannon
- Entitled Entourage is very useful for the most part as female Rare Blades are more prevalent than male ones.
- Econimicanimal combined with Golden Font allows her to progressively improve her damage output to astronomical levels
- Combine the above with Driver Combos and she thrives in longer battles
- Financial Settlement allows her to draw aggro away from her
- Poor set of Field Skills, with only Lockpicking having any solid utility
- Strong advocate of good tea

Zenobia:
Attacker/Wind/Greataxe
- Incredibly potent in group fights, against unique monsters and bosses and against higher enemy foes, allowing her to be at her best in more scenarios than most
- A borderline mandatory addition to any team when fighting the strongest monsters in the game
- Being a Greataxe gives her access to crit recharge so she attack with Driver Arts in succession
- One of the best sets of Field Skills in the game arguably on par with Wulfric's.  Like Wulfric, all 3 of her Field Skills go up to level 5.
- Overall one of the best Attacker Blades in the game
- Fierce, confident and has an indomitable spirit

KOS-MOS:
Attacker/Light/Ether Cannon
- One of two native Light Blades in the game
- Arguably the most well rounded Attacker Blade in the game, excelling in both attack and defence.
- Hyperclock combined with Phase Transition Tech allows her Specials to hit incredibly hard at max affinity
- H-Effect R has an impressively potent healing effect particularly for an Attacker Special
- Hyperclock, Encephalon and her Ether Cannon range allow her to both keep away from and take hits effectively
- Only held back by a pretty poor set of Field Skills
- The rarest rare Blade in the game
- "The time is now 7pm"

Herald:
Attacker/Electric/Ether Cannon
- Dissolve Seal makes her damage output utterly ridiculous at max affinity but it also makes her more frail
- This is thankfully mitigated somewhat by Taboo and Unlimited Output, allowing her to heal on successful auto attack and keep aggro away from her
- If she does end up taking a lot of damage, Final Retribution can end up doing ludicrous damage
- Generally a high risk/high reward Blade, but overall incredibly solid
- Electric Mastery and Superstrength are pretty great field skills, Rampage is quest exclusive and borderline useless however
- Fairly easy affinity chart
- Easily one of the coolest looking Blades in the game

Dagas:
Attacker/Fire/Greataxe
- Initially rather rubbish due to poor stats, mediocre affinity chart effects and a single borderline useless Field Skill in Cavalier Attitude, he improves substantially after completing his quest
- His greatest niche is in his Kaiser Zone skill, which improves damage and attack AoE for the entire party at max affinity, making it far more potent than Agate's Razor Sharp Iolite
- Much like fellow Fire Blade Pyra, Regal Presence gives him very impressive Blade Combo damage, particularly on Tyrant Crush
- Being a Greataxe once again gives him access to crit recharge allowing him to spam arts in quick succession and abuse Tyrant Crush and Kaiser Flare
- Gold Effect increases gold drop rate of enemies which creates unique synergy between him and Sheba in longer battles
- A pretty solid collection of Field Skills that would be among the best sets in the game if he had more immediate access to them.
- A king so mighty he can materialise a throne out of thin air

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- HEALERS -

Dromarch
Healer/Water/Twin Rings
- Solid early game healer though one that doesn't quite carve an effective niche later
- Solid self preservation with River's Blessing and Howl of Calm, allowing him to live longer and as a result heal more
- Aqua Wave and Wild Roar are great party healing Specials
- Healing Halo is a very solid immediate healing Driver Art
- A very solid set of Field Skills with broad utility
- "My lady"

Boreas
Healer/Wind/Bitball
- Arguably some of the best defensive prowess among all Healer Blades thanks to high defensive stats
- In addition to these high stats, Look Out increases his evasion at max affinity and Tasty Snack is very potent self healing
- Gobble 'em Up serves as excellent party wide healing
- Similar to Dromarch in quite a few ways but overall acts as a better version of him in terms of general utility
- One of the easiest affinity charts to fill
- Okay set of Field Skills, the most useful being Nopon Wisdom
- A very hungry boy

Kora
Healer/Electric/Knuckle Claws
- Thrives off of keeping mobile and collecting HP Potions rather than directly engaging
- Her Vivid Love Special and Potion Hoarder Battle Skill work well in tandem, making it easy for her to spawn and collect potions
- Walking Joy self heals while she's moving, also meaning she can remain healthy pretty easily when player controlled
- Stop Thinking is a real unique Battle Skill in conjunction with the rest of her kit which immobilises the foe for 3 seconds after a special.  Great in conjunction with Ether Cannons.
- Solid set of Field Skills.  Girls' Talk comes into play with her primarily, while the other two have solid general utility
- Our resident social and upbeat girly girl

Ursula
Healer/Ice/Knuckle Claws
- Another healer with excellent defensive prowess, though a different sort to Boreas
- Snow Charm grants the party a damage barrier at max affinity, improving the overall durability of the party significantly
- If party HP does begin to drop low, Beary Healing allows her to heal a good chunk upon performing a Blade Switch
- Despite not having an immediate healing Driver Art, her healing overall is some of the best in the game
- Somewhat underwhelming set of Field Skills, with Fortitude being the best overall
- By far the worst affinity chart to fill in the game thanks to her incredibly tedious quest
- A talented little musician

Nim
Healer/Earth/Knuckle Claws
- Has a unique focus on Fusion Combos (the combination of both Driver and Blade combos)
- All three of her Specials are capable of party wide healing, a helpful niche on a blade that lacks a direct healing Driver Art
- Capable of impressive healing during a Fusion Combo thanks to Restorative Fusion
- Her damage output during a Fusion Combo is incredibly potent and up there with some Attacker Blades thanks to Synthesis Lore
- Solid set of Field Skills, with Phonex Linguistics being one of the more versatile quest focus Field Skills since it can be used to talk to Phonexes and help raise area Dev level
- Kit and Sunny -> Kitsune

Vess
Healer/Electric/Bitball
- A bit of an odd Healer with a slight focus of higher damage output than her peers and slowing the enemy actions
- Space Tea Time Special is her main draw that reduces enemy recharge in battle, slowing down enemy offence to allow for steady healing
- Her Healing Bolt special is a nice party healer being a level 1 special and combined with Not Part of the Plan she can deal some generally more impressive damage among healers
- Generally has a hard time standing out among her peers and lacks as strong a niche as most healers
- Decent enough Field Skills in Forestry and Fortitude.  Dumpling Pro is a pain to level up.
- She doesn't even make dumplings, they are clearly rice balls aka jelly filled donuts

Adenine
Healer/Wind/Knuckle Claws
- A more offence oriented Healer that trades healing potency for damage
- Element Wisdom combined with the fact that her Specials annul guard give her solid and consistent Blade Combo damage
- Blade Wisdom is her main draw, allow not only her but the entire party to heavily exploit elemental weaknesses, allowing for impressive damage output across the board
- Treasure Wisdom makes her an ideal Rare blade for farming items
- Another solid set of Field Skills.  Wind Mastery and Keen Eye have pretty broad use
- A goofy nerd

Floren
Healer/Earth/Bitball
- A committed Healer through and through defined entirely by healing prowess
- The Coming of Spring increases the potency of party healing, improving Lilium Dance and Healing Circle
- White Lilies draws aggro away but if Floren were to be incapacitated, Blossomfall serves to heal the rest of the party
- A good set of Field Skills, with Beguiling Charms being one of the more flexible quest related skills allowing you to get items
- Is a boy

Dahlia
Healer/Ice/Bitball
- Another more offence oriented healer that excels in Chain Attacks
- Spotlight allows her not only to damage the orb the she's attacking but also nearby orbs for the same amount.  With Element Orb Ender if she attacks a Wind Orb she can immediately break 3 fresh orbs at once
- Opportunist is another party wide offence buff that increases crit rate during a chain attack, particularly great when partnered with high crit damage Blades like Pandoria
- Capable or particularly impressive damage vs launched foes during a chain attack thanks to Fireworks
- One of the more useful and straightforward crafting Field Skills in Icecraft
- Obsessed with beauty but isn't exactly what one would define as beautiful

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-TANKS-

Poppi α
Tank/Earth(All)/Drill Shield
- Primary early game tank
- Very solid inherent defensive stats thanks to Noponic Iron
- Combined highest block rate in the game with Electra, reaching up to 93% with Guard Shift and Block Rate V
- This block rate is further improved when HP is low, allowing her to block literally everything at low HP
- Poppiswap allows for incredible potential versatility if one is willing to grind Tiger Tiger
- Great set of Field Skills that see a lot of use throughout the game
- Is a very good robo girl with a cute little dance

Poppi QT
Tank/Fire(All)/Mech Arms
- A tank that focuses more on evasion, speed and offence compared to her more block and defence related α counterpart
- Flash Boot allows her to quickly switch between her alternatives fairly quickly, which is fantastic for Driver Combos in particular
- Velocity Gear and Scattershot really augment her overall evasive abilities
- Still has a pretty solid block rate and is able to counter attacks with Flash Counter
- Much like her α counterpart, Poppiswap also gives her amazing versatility
- Good set of Field Skills.  Not quite as good as α's but all three are still solid.
- Cute maid robo

Brighid
Tank/Fire/Whipswords
- An incredibly well rounded offensive Tank
- War Pyre increases her damage output for each attacks she evades.
- Judgement, Firewalker and Dance of the Flames give her incredible evasive ability
- Both her offence and defence improve when her HP is low, and she's great at drawing aggro from multiple foes with Heat Haze
- Good set of Field Skills, all of which having solid utility
- Overall one of the best blades in the game, and is another capable of soloing some of the most powerful enemies
- Is gorgeous and basically perfect

Aegaeon
Tank/Water/Chroma Katana
- A pure evasion focused Tank that can avoid attacks effectively in a bunch of situations
- Upon reaching max affinity he becomes untouchable for a short period of time thanks to Serene Heart
- Like Water makes his evasion while moving very good.  Particularly effective vs more telegraphed attacks while the aggro is focused on you
- Combined with Enlightenment, Aegaeon becomes borderline untouchable when his HP is low.
- Damage output is fairly solid too with Breaking Wave and Midnight Mist
- Among one of the better sets of Field Skills, with all three being useful
- "Hello there"

Godfrey
Tank/Ice/Shield Hammer
- A bulky Tank that thrives with his back against the wall
- Fierce Fervor gives him respectable damage output vs higher level enemies
- Got the Guts combined with his Justice Blizzard special give him potent attack and defence when his health is low
- However Light of Justice contradicts these and heals him while his health is low, potentially mitigating his most potent bonuses
- Outclassed in his role as a Tank by the other Tanks and doesn't have the damage output to stand up to units like Brighid or other offensive units
- One of the worst sets of Field Skills, with all 3 of them having no field utility outside of his quest and a handful of Merc Missions.
- His visual design is pretty great though

Perceval
Tank/Dark/Chroma Katana
- An offensive Tank that excels vs larger groups
- Eater of Men can quickly improve his damage output to very high levels vs groups of enemies, while Soulsucker keeps him healthy each time he takes one out
- Dark Serpent keeps the aggro drawn to him, while Blade Vortex does higher damage to enemies targeting him allowing him to effectively pick off his foes one by one
- Brandish combined with Grim Moon gives him a small chance to one shot non boss foes, though this is a situational ability and not as stand out as one would hope
- Outside of group battles he tends to feel rather lacking, particularly vs strong unique or boss enemies
- Okay set of Field Skills with Leaping and Dark Mastery being okay, while Assassination is relevant only to his quest
- "Henceforth you will be known as the Banners of Flame!"

Kasandra
Tank/Dark/Shield Hammer
- A Tank with a heavy focus on drawing aggro and vitality
- Calamity is her primary selling point, allowing her to draw in aggro incredibly effectively even with heavy hitting attackers on the team
- Though she likely won't be securing too many crits, Fortune allows her to self heal each time she does, further improving her defense
- Stability improves her damage output for frontal attacks, which is particularly effective for a Tank, alongside Hidden Emotion dealing extra damage vs foes targeting her
- A decent set of Field Skills, Nopon Wisdom being the most useful and being only one of two Rare Blades with Agronomy
- "It's a me!"

Theory
Tank/Ice/Chroma Katana
- A resilient Tank with solid offensive capabilities
- Conviction increases the damage dealt to foes targeting her.  Works well in conjunction with Kasandra in particular.
- Aerial Flashdance counters blocked attacks with high damage, augmenting her damage output further
- Steadfast makes it tougher for her to be susceptible to Driver Combos due to improved Break resistance
- A strong set of Field Skills in Ice Mastery, Nopon Wisdom and Focus
- Also fits her motif perfectly.  Cold, sharp and abrasive

Newt
Tank/Fire/Chroma Katana
- A primarily defensive Tank with great overall resilience and bulk
- Last Line of Defence reduces damage from all enemies within a certain radius.  Paired with Gorg this creates incredibly impressive bulk
- Tranquil Guard is an even better version of Theory's Steadfast in that it can potentially prevent reactions to all individual Driver Combo stages
- Despite how solid she is, she's cursed with being a Fire Tank and has to therefore compete with the superior Brighid
- Somewhat okay set of Field Skills in Superstrength and Salvaging Mastery, and Titan Weapon Wisdom only being quest relevant
- Freaky giant third eye on the back of her head

Electra
Tank/Electric/Shield Hammer
- A pure Tank through and through designed to excel particularly in the areas one would expect a Tank to excel in
- Joint highest block rate in the game with Poppi α, with the potential to go as high as 93% with Dilaton Chip + Block Rate V thanks to Clangy Girl
- Zappy Girl and Rolling Thunder serve to increase her aggro steadily
- Sparky Girl counters blocked attacks in full force with ether damage.  Even more reliable than Theory's Aerial Flashdance due to Electra's superior block rate
- Only one aux core slot holds her back from her true defensive prowess
- Two very solid Field Skills in Electric Mastery (which goes up to level 5 for her) and Focus
- A good little electric bean

Finch
Tank/Wind/Shield Hammer
- A rather quirky Tank capable of generating some quite potent effects
- Blast of Fresh Air helps to quickly raise her affinity up, though she doesn't really gain anything notably special from doing so
- Did I Do That gives a chance to not deplete a Driver Art or Special.  This gives her random opportunities to be more potent in her offence than usual
- Doesn't Ring a Bell gives a chance to reset enemy Arts when a Special connects, slowing down the pace of the enemy attack.  In conjunction with Did I Do That, you could potentially slow the opponent's offence to a crawl
- Somewhat okay set of Field Skills, though she's the only Rare Blade that gets Entomology
- Gets all the party names wrong except for the name of her Driver


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~REDACTED~
Healer/Water/Catalyst Scimitar
- A Healer with some of the most exceptional overall healing capabilities in the game
- Redemption is the most potent healing Driver Art in the game, though it's a tad slow
- Instant Regen and Cellular Stimulus Battle Skills make them incredibly durable and difficult to kill, alongside their great Max HP Mod
- Sea of Plenty periodically heals the entire party while at max affinity
- Saber Slash serves as a fantastic way to generate HP Potions due to its comparatively low cooldown
- All three of their Specials can be used to heal the party
- Solid set of field skills in Forestry, Fortitude and Water Mastery
- Generally fantastic


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