It’s the tenth week of writing about Xenoblade! I’m honestly a little surprised that I’ve lasted this long. Usually when I play JRPGs, I get distracted by other games coming out and kind of stop playing. While that’s happened a bit with Xenoblade Chronicles X, having this series to write has really helped me put at least a few hours in each week. So, as always, let’s start with some numbers. I’ve played a total of 50 hours, my main character is currently level 35, and I’ve played through chapter 9 of the story, although I’m currently on the boss fight of chapter 10.

Like I said last week, after completing chapter 9, a mission opened up to unlock flight for my skells. The quest itself was pretty simple. Basically, Lin is working on a module that will enable skells to fly. Apparently it was something her parents were working on before they died. However, she needs two parts to make it work, so as usual, you go out hunting for them. Luckily, I had one already, so I just had to fight a few monsters to get the other and then it was back to Lin to get my upgrade.

Being able to fly really trivializes getting around the world. I had picked up a random quest from the quest board that needed me to get to a far north point on the continent of Cauldros, which I’ve never even been to before. But thanks to flight, I just cruised over the whole thing, got where I needed to go, and left without even fighting anything. It’s also helped with getting more data mines installed. It used to be a real pain to get to the various data points, often running around in circles trying to find a path to get where I needed to go. Now I just fly there.

I had to do an affinity mission before doing chapter 10. People matching the descriptions the guys that attacked New LA were spotted in Noctilum. You go to find them, but discover that the Ganglion are also looking for them. After learning their location, you find out that it’s actually two other aliens. You save them from  the Ganglion, and although they’re a little reluctant at first, they agree to go to New LA.

I started chapter 10, but was unable to finish it. The basic gist of it is that there’s a broken data point and you need to get Lin there to fix it. Before you leave, Commander Vandham confirms what Elma was thinking last chapter, there is a mole in Blade. Lao is the obvious choice, so my guess is probably not him.

Upon getting to the data point, Lin easily fixes it. She comments that it’s something that will eventually effect all the data points, but she should be able to just push a firmware update to all the others to prevent it from happening. Suddenly, a giant ship appears in the sky. It’s piloted by Ryyz and Dagahn, the really big guy and normal sized girl who we fought a couple chapters ago. Based on the direction the ship is headed, they are planning to attack New LA, so Elma decides to attack. And then I get my butt kicked.

So, I end up spending the rest of my time doing quests to level up and get enough money to buy a third skell. And I did get my skell! Now I’m just going to level up a little longer before I attempt the fight again. The ship is level 40, so it’s got a pretty significant advantage on me. But, hopefully next week, I’ll be leveled up and able to beat it.