However, there are a few things you can do to make the process of searching for Rare Blades easier. You can start by increasing your Idea Levels and Luck to up the chance of getting Rare Blades in the first place. Then, you simply grind for the cores and open a bunch of them up. Once you’ve collected all of the Rare Blades, you can then take the time to transfer those that wound up on less-than-ideal Drivers onto the characters you want. (After all, it certainly wouldn’t do for the Healer to be stuck with four Tank Blades.)
With these tips, you’ll have all of the Rare Blades you could ever want before long. Let’s dive in!
How to Raise Idea Levels in Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Idea Levels are split into four equal parts: Bravery, Truth, Compassion, and Justice. These stats are rather simple, though not well explained. On their own, they influence the elements the Blades you resonate with are most likely to receive.
Bravery - Influences your chance to receive Fire and Water Blades. Truth - Influences your chance to receive Wind and Ice Blades. Compassion - Influences your chance to receive Earth and Lightning Blades. Justice - Influences your chance to receive Light and Dark Blades.
If any of these stats are higher than others – or if you use Boosters to temporarily increase the stats – then you’re more likely to receive Blades of the same elements as those tied to the inflated stat. However, Idea Levels have another function.
The higher your total Idea Level is, the more likely you are to receive a Rare Blade. So by using Boosters, you have a slightly higher chance of receiving the Blades you want. If you have the drive, though, you could grind for Idea Points in order to raise your base levels for the best chances of receiving Rare Blades.
In order to earn Idea Points, you need to fill out Blade Affinity Charts. Each Blade gives different types of Idea Points, so pay attention to the icons shown on the Affinity Chart to figure out how to raise which stats. The best way to fill out Affinity Charts is to take a bunch of Common Blades and send them all on Merc Missions. When Blades come back from a mission, they earn Trust and have a chance of filling out some of the requirements from the Affinity Chart. Common Blades have easier requirements, letting you earn Idea Points more quickly than if you were to send Rare Blades out on the Missions.
Alternatively, you could just equip a bunch of Common Blades and run around beating stuff up, though who wants to do that when you could just complete side quests or grind for the Core Crystals while you wait for Merc Missions to get done?
Idea Levels aren’t the only way to increase your chances of getting a Rare Blade, though.
How to Increase the Luck Stat
Luck also directly impacts your potential to resonate with a Rare Blade. It can be raised in a couple of different ways. Accessories are the easiest way to get a quick boost to your Luck, though they aren’t always readily available. You may have to raise your Development Level with a few Titans before they’ll start appearing in shops.
Of course, simply leveling up your Drivers will also increase your base Luck, so it might be a good idea to hold off on opening a bunch of Core Crystals until you’re higher level. However, if you can’t wait, at least check your Drivers’ Affinity Charts to see if they don’t have anything that increases Luck. If they do, save up their Skill Points until they can afford it.
With a higher chance of success laid out, you’re ready to begin grinding for Core Crystals.
How to Grind for Core Crystals in Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Depending on your level and how far you are in the game, there are a couple of different places you can go to farm Core Crystals. The method of farming Core Crystals is more or less the same across the board; the only variable here is which monster you want to farm them from.
So before you even think about which monsters you want to track down and farm for Cores, you need to make sure you’re prepared. This means setting your party up so that you have the highest chances of seeing Core Crystal drops. Of course, having a Blade with the skill Treasure Sensor helps immensely, but it isn’t strictly necessary.
What if I told you that you could increase your chances of finding Core Crystals by making use of a special combat mechanic? It sounds too good to be true, but it isn’t! By completing a full Driver Combo in battle, you’re far more likely to see Core Crystals drop. Heck, it even boosts the drop rate of Rare and Legendary Core Crystals, so there’s really no excuse not to use Driver Combos while farming for them.
Of course, by full Driver Combo, I mean the whole shebang. You must Break the enemy’s guard, Topple them, Launch them into the air, and Smash them back down before the bonus will apply. If you mess up at any point in the combo and fail to finish it before the enemy dies, then you don’t get the boost.
After building a party that’s capable of pulling off a full Driver Combo, find an enemy that’s around your level and test it out a few times to get a feel for it. You wouldn’t want to mess this up while farming, after all. Once you feel confident in your ability to see a Driver Combo through to the end, it’s time to consider where you’ll be farming.
Pre-Credits
If you’ve yet to beat the game, you’ll find that Tolen Krabbles in Mor Ardain drop a lot of Cores. However, the only way to find them is through Salvaging, so you’re going to need a lot of Normal Cylinders. Additionally, you’ll need to nuke your Salvaging ability to be sure that you get more monsters than chests. Make certain that any Blades with Salvaging Mastery are disengaged so that they don’t skew your chances of finding the enemies you’re looking for.
Once you’re ready, Skip Travel to Kedeigh Gate in Alba Cavanich and take the elevator down. From there, head out the inspection area and go south towards the Salvage Point called Cargo Transpt. Zone. At the Salvage Point, use a Normal Cylinder and miss all of the button-prompts for the best chance of Tolen Krabbels showing up. When you run into enemies, just complete a full Driver Combo before killing them in order to get the boosted Core Crystal drop rate.
These enemies may die before you can get off a full Driver Combo, though. If that’s the case, head back to the Argentum Trade Guild and downgrade your weapons with Core Chips before trying again. The Rare Blades you’ll get from all the Cores they’ll drop are more than worth the investment.
Post-Credits
If you’ve beaten the game, then chances are you’re powerful enough to go after enemies that drop Legendary Core Crystals. While Rare Cores have a higher chance of being Rare Blades than Common Cores, Legendary Cores have an even better chance than that, even if they’re still not guaranteed Rare Blades.
Legendary Core Crystals are dropped by Superbosses. A Superboss is essentially an endgame unique enemy with powerful stats and abilities. You’ll need to be relatively strong in order to beat them, but if you manage it, you’ll be rewarded handsomely.
If you’re able to pull off a full Driver Combo and kill a Superboss, you’ll receive a bunch of Legendary Core Crystals. What’s better is that you don’t need to waste your money on Salvaging Cylinders to fight them, either. Since all unique enemies can be respawned simply by interacting with their tombstone, you can fight a Superboss you’re confident at over and over again until you get all the Cores you need.
Once you’ve maximized your chances and collected enough Cores, it’s time to start opening them en masse. However, when opening Core Crystals, you’re not likely to get your Rare Blades on the Drivers you want them to resonate with. In that case, you’ll need to figure out how to move Rare Blades to the Driver you want them on.
How to Move Rare Blades Between Drivers in Xenoblade Chronicles 2
There are two ways to go about moving Rare Blades between Drivers. The first and simplest way is to use a limited and rare item called an Overdrive Protocol. You earn these by opening up specific Treasure Troves and maxing out your Drivers’ Affinity Charts. Once you expend them, however, there’s no way to get them back, so think carefully before using one.
In order to use an Overdrive Protocol, just go to the Manage Blades menu, find the Blade you want to move, and select Use Overdrive. Once you confirm which Driver you want the Blade to go to, it’ll use an Overdrive Protocol, and the Blade will be immediately usable by the new Driver.
If you’re out of Overdrive Protocols, however, you’re going to have to transfer Blades in a bit of a more tedious fashion. The only way to transfer Blades at that point is to Release the Rare Blade you want to transfer and open Cores on the Driver you want them on until they pop up again.
Since only one version of each Rare Blade can be present at a time in any given save file, it makes finding released Rare Blades again much simpler. I suggest waiting to use this method of transferring Rare Blades until you’ve found them all. If you have all of the Rare Blades and only Release them one at a time, then the next Rare Blade you open from a Core will always be the one you released.
Alternatively, if you’re not as antsy as me, you could release all of the Blades meant for a specific Driver and only open Cores on that character until you’ve found them all again.
Now that you know how to obtain all of the Rare Blades in the game, do you have any plans for your party? Which Drivers and Blades are you thinking of rolling with? Sound off in the comments below!
For more tips and tricks for getting by in Alrest, be sure to check out our other Xenoblade Chronicles 2 guides. Here are a few to get you started:
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Beginner’s Guide Xenoblade 2 Combat Guide: Blade Combos, Driver Combos, Chain Attacks
