Blade (XC2)

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XC2-005 — Pyra, the Blade linked to her Driver Rex

Blades (Japanese: ブレイド, Bureido) are characters in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. They are weaponized life forms linked to a Driver who creates and summons them by resonating with Core Crystal. Blades endow their Driver with powers and a weapon. Each Blade plays a different role, owning different stats and an elemental type, such as fire for Pyra, and providing a distinct set of Blade Arts and support abilities depending on its weapon. By searching for and collecting Blades, the player chooses to attach and selects Blade companions and the kind of role desired.^[1]

XC2-Drivers-and-Blades — Drivers and Blades relationship

They are several classifications of Blades depending on the Drivers and Blades relationship and their type. Blades are differently recruited by the party depending on their rarity, Common, Rare and Legendary. The uniquely named Legendary Blades, such as Pyra and Dromarch, are mainly recruited through the story progression and are linked to a unique Driver. The Rare Blades, such as Finch, are created from Common, Rare, Legendary or specific Core Crystals and can be linked to any Driver in the party. The randomized Common Blades are created from Common, Rare or Legendary Core Crystals through bonding. The Special Blades have story importance, are signature Blade of a main Driver character and have a unique weapon. Most of them are Legendary Blades, except those of Torna who are Rare Blades. There are Artificial Blades who are not natural Blades awakened from a Core Crystal but have been built using an Ether Furnace to give them Blade-like abilities, such as Poppi α and Lila. They are controlled by characters who are not real Drivers but they work as a kind of Driver and Blade duo during battle. The party will encounter several Blade enemies in combat who are not bounded to a Driver.

Elements

Each Blade is associated with an element, and any Blade Arts they use are of that element. In battle, some enemies may exhibit a weakness to a particular element, evidenced by an icon of that element displayed in their target frame. Elements and their opposite counterparts play a key role in Blade Combos and Chain Attacks. The eight elements, paired by opposites, are:

Fire and Water
Ice and Wind
Earth and Electric
Light and Dark

Blade Roles

Different Blade roles enable different fighting styles. The combination of currently equipped Blades' roles determines a Driver's class.

Attacker
Unleashes powerful Arts.

Healer
Heals allies while attacking.

Tank
Takes aggro to defend allies.

List of Blades

Special Blades

Driver	Blade	Role	Stat Modifier	Given Weapon	Element
Rex	Pyra	Attacker	Strength 10%	Aegis Sword	Fire
	Mythra	Attacker	Ether 10%	Aegis Sword	Light
	Roc	Attacker	Dexterity 15%	Dual Scythes	Wind
	Nia	Healer	Max HP 15%	Catalyst Scimitar	Water
Nia	Dromarch	Healer	Ether 10%	Twin Rings	Water
Tora ※1	Poppi α (artificial)	Tank ※2	Max HP ※2	Drill Shield	Earth then various ※2
	Poppi QT (artificial)	Tank ※2	Agility ※2	Mech Arms	Fire then various ※2
	Poppi QTπ (artificial)	Attacker ※2	Strength ※2	Variable Saber	Ice then various ※2
Vandham	Roc	Attacker	Dexterity 15%	Dual Scythes	Wind
Mòrag	Brighid	Tank	Agility 15%	Whipswords	Fire
Mòrag	Aegaeon	Tank	Agility 15%	Chroma Katana	Water
Zeke	Pandoria	Attacker	Strength 10%	Big Bang Edge	Electric
Niall	Aegaeon	Tank	Agility 15%	Chroma Katana	Water
Malos	Sever ※3	Tank	Strength 15%	Sword Tonfa	Wind
Akhos	Obrona ※3	Attacker	Agility 20%	Brilliant Twinblades	Electric
Patroka	Perdido ※3	Attacker	Strength 10%	Decimation Cannon	Fire
Mikhail	Cressidus ※3	Tank	Max HP 20%	Rockrending Gauntlets	Earth
Dughall	Dolmes			Spiked Hammer	Fire

※1 Tora is not a Driver but he controls Poppi α, Poppi QT, Poppi QTπ as artificial Blades.

※2 Poppi's element, role, and stat modifier can be changed by upgrading it.

※3 All of these Blades are identified as Rare Blades.

Rare Blades

Some can be obtained through the main quests or by doing side quests, but most rare blades are random rewards of Common, Rare or Legendary Core Crystals.

Blade	Role	Stat Modifier	Given Weapon	Element	Acquisition
Finch	Tank	Agility 15%	Shield Hammer	Wind	Random
Perceval	Tank	Agility 10%	Chroma Katana	Dark	Random
Floren	Healer	Ether 10%	Bitball	Earth	Random
Dagas	Attacker	Strength 5% then 10% ※1	Greataxe	Fire	Random
Azami	Attacker	Ether 15%	Ether Cannon	Dark	Random
Nim	Healer	Dexterity 10%	Knuckle Claws	Earth	Random
Electra	Tank	Max HP 15%	Shield Hammer	Electric	Random
Perun	Attacker	Dexterity 10%	Megalance	Ice	Random
Adenine	Healer	Dexterity 15%	Knuckle Claws	Wind	Random
Newt	Tank	Max HP 20%	Chroma Katana	Fire	Random
Gorg	Attacker	Max HP 15%	Greataxe	Water	Random
Kora	Healer	Ether 10%	Knuckle Claws	Electric	Random
Vess	Healer	Max HP 10%	Bitball	Electric	Tranquility
Boreas	Healer	Max HP 15%	Bitball	Wind	Random
Vale	Attacker	Ether 15%	Megalance	Dark	Random
Wulfric	Attacker	Strength 15%	Megalance	Earth	Beastly Core Crystal
Herald	Attacker	Strength 15%	Ether Cannon	Electric	Sealed Core Crystal
Godfrey	Tank	Max HP 15%	Shield Hammer	Ice	Random
Zenobia	Attacker	Strength 15%	Greataxe	Wind	Random
Praxis	Attacker	Dexterity 10%	Megalance	Water	Crystal Clear
Theory	Tank	Agility 15%	Chroma Katana	Ice	Blade-Sharp Memory
Sheba	Attacker	Ether 15%	Ether Cannon	Water	Inherited Core Crystal
Agate	Attacker	Dexterity 10%	Greataxe	Earth	Random
Kasandra	Tank	Max HP 15%	Shield Hammer	Dark	Lucky Core Crystal
Dahlia	Healer	Dexterity 10%	Bitball	Ice	Random
Ursula	Healer	Agility 10%	Knuckle Claws	Ice	Random
KOS-MOS	Attacker	Ether 20%	Ether Cannon	Light	Random

※1 Dagas's Affinity Chart and stats change after his Blade quest.

New Game +

After finishing the game and installing Patch (Ver.1.3.0), the New Game + will be available and will allow to recruit new Blades from the Torna organization.

Blade	Role	Stat Modifier	Given Weapon	Element	Acquisition
Akhos	Healer	Ether 15%	Calamity Scythe	Electric	Random
Patroka	Attacker	Strength 15%	Cobra Bardiche	Earth	Random
Mikhail	Tank	Agility 15%	Infinity Fans	Dark	Talk at Megaflote Base during Chapter 10
Obrona	Attacker	Agility 20%	Brilliant Twinblades	Electric	Random
Sever	Tank	Strength 15%	Sword Tonfa	Wind	Random
Perdido	Attacker	Strength 10%	Decimation Cannon	Fire	Random
Cressidus	Tank	Max HP 20%	Rockrending Gauntlets	Earth	Random

Common Blades

XC2-Blade-Tuning — Rex selecting a Common Blade named Kirim

The Common Blades are created from Core Crystals. Their name, weapon, element and stats are obtained randomly. Each Common Blade prefers one category of Pouch Item at random. Common Blades also have certain exclusive abilities that Rare Blades cannot obtain, such as "Orb Master", Luck modifiers, modifiers reaching between 21% and 24%, and certain Field Skills.

Appearance

They have a similar global appearance, dark gray skin with blue glowing eyes and lines on the body, and a crystal on the chest with the elemental coloration. Common Blades come in one of four basic models: "male anthropoid", "female anthropoid", "large anthropoid" and "quadrupedal animal". Beyond their basic model, they have minor differences; for example, each Male has a differently-shaped set of horns.

XC2-Common-Blades — The possible appearances of an obtained Common Blade

Competences

The Specials of a Common Blade depend on their model and weapon type. Each Common Blade has 1-3 skills chosen at random. Each Common Blade has the Element Mastery skill related to their own element, as well as 0-2 random gathering or Merc Group skills.

Releasing Blades

Player can release most of the Blades in their party (although it is not possible to release Special Blades, and several other Blades, like first random Blade Rex bonds with). Releasing yields certain resources to the player, usually boosters corresponding to the Blade's element. The quantity and type of items received upon release is determined by Strength of Blade. If player releases a Rare Blade, it is possible to get this Blade again randomly from a Core Crystal, even if said Blade was initially obtained through a unique Core Crystal (e.g. Vess or Wulfric).

Aside of items, releasing can also be used as a way to free unused or weak Blades, as there is limit to how many the party can bond with in total.

Button Challenge

When a Blade draws a special move, the "Button Challenge" (Japanese: ボタンチャレンジ, Botan charenji) will be displayed on the screen. By pressing the button with good timing, the damage will rise. If it succeeds, a narrator (actor: Kentarō Tone) will compliment the player.

Poppiswap

Main article: Poppiswap

Poppi is an Artificial Blade and has her own mechanics related to her Poppiswap ability. As such, she has customizable features including adjusting her elemental affinity, role, and skills.

Core Crystal state

Blades come either lying in a dormant state inside a Core Crystal or awakened in their personified form. By holding a Core Crystal, it resonates with the person and tries to take shape. If this person has a certain aptitude, the Blade awakens and makes the person a Driver. Those who do not have the aptitude are simply knocked unconscious and are incapable of forming a Blade. Drivers for the most part are bound to one Blade for their entire life, however it is possible for Drivers to awaken more than one Blade at a time. Blades fight alongside their Drivers and lends their weapon for them to use in battle. Blades can be attacked, but any injury they sustain are healed quickly.

They are dependent on their Driver to retain their form. If their Driver dies under any circumstance, the Blades instantly revert back into their Core Crystal in a dormant state, shown by the Core taking on a dull black color rather than the normal blue glow. After some time, the Core will glow again and can be reawakened. Upon reawakening the Blade loses all memories of their past lives but retains their personality. Additionally, their Core Crystal, which appears normally on their chest, are another vulnerable point. If they are attacked there and their core crystal shatters, they permanently die and cannot be reawakened. However, a Driver of a Blade that has been killed is not affected.