It’s hard to believe Xenoblade Chronicles almost never made it out of Japan and it’s now become one of Nintendo’s most popular first party franchises. The series has managed to reinvent itself across three distinct titles, but it’s the first that remains the most beloved– and its 2020 remake does a great job at modernizing a Wii classic for Switch.
Xenoblade Chronicles features MMO-esque combat, but there’s more depth to the action RPG than meets the eye and party composition is the key to success. Anyone who doesn’t have a full party of seven, turn back– the identity of Xenoblade’s last party member is best left unspoiled (sorry, Smash Bros. fans.)
7 Melia
Melia is actually fairly useful when player-controlled, using Ether Arts and Summons to fight in combat. Her incredibly high Ether stat allows her to destroy many late-game enemies with ease. With healing, buffing, and great Ether offense at her disposal, it’s hard to believe Melia could be the worst party member in the game.
Unfortunately, Xenoblade Chronicles suffers from some unfortunate party member AI that the Definitive Edition did not see fit to correct. As a result, while Melia is useful in the hands of someone who knows how to use her Arts, she’s basically useless as just a part of the party. She’ll never use her Summons properly, she’ll never do enough damage, and she’ll more often than not wind up dead.
6 Sharla
For better or worse, Sharla is as traditional as JRPG healers come– at least from a battle perspective. The majority of her Arts are designed around healing the party and keeping them healthy, something that’s certainly useful for harder fights, but almost kind of useless in light of the fact Xenoblade restores the party to full health after every battle.
Worse is the fact that Sharla needs to “Cool Off” after using certain Arts, preventing her from participating in Chain Attacks. Her damage Arts aren’t particularly useful either as she really is just designed for healing. She can even drag out fights longer than she needs to while not contributing damage, negating any healing she’s done in the process. That said, a clever player controlled Sharla can allow for some early grinding off high level monsters.
5 Reyn
The first character to join the party alongside Shulk, it’s not unusual for players to carry Reyn all the way to the final boss. As he’s an extremely heavy hitter, it’s a strategy that can pay off. Reyn doesn’t have access to Break Arts, but his Topple & Daze Arts are useful, as are his overwhelmingly powerful physical Arts.
Unfortunately, Reyn is also designed around being an aggro character, taking attention away from other party members. As a result, he either needs to be rounded out by a party that can wipe out encounters ASAP or someone who has access to healing. It’s most common to see Reyn paired with Shulk, but Light Heal won’t be able to keep up with all of Reyn’s health and Sharla doesn’t exactly play to Reyn’s strengths. Regardless, he’s sturdy enough to stay alive with the right Gems.
4 Riki
Riki won’t be doing major damage when he first joins the party, but it doesn’t take long for him to make his battle role clear. With exceptionally high health and plenty of debuffs, Riki’s MO is to kill enemies slowly over time. His many status ailment Arts will gradually weaken enemies, allowing the rest of the party to lay waste.
Riki’s high health pool allows him to survive just about anything, ensuring he can keep his status ailment based conflict going for as long as necessary. Riki also has access to healing, and while it’s not better than Sharla’s, it does at least outdo Shulk’s Light Heal. It’s best to stack Riki with debuff based Arts, but he can also Break & Topple. Worth noting, however, is that Riki can’t fight in water. His short character model forces him into a swim.
3 Shulk
Shulk is overall the most useful party member in the game, but he does have some setbacks. Notably, his stats are all around kind of on the weak side. He won’t be hitting as hard as most party members, nor will he be as fast or as sturdy. That said, Shulk serves as a reasonably balanced character who only improves over the course of the game.
Plus, there’s a reason Shulk is comparatively weak as far as stats go– his Monado Arts. Shulk has access to more in-battle Arts than any other party member in the game (a full 16.) Shulk can also naturally deal damage to Mechons, making him more or less essential during the early game as Monado Enchant is often more reliable than Break/Topple/Dazing.
Shulk doesn’t have access to traditional buffs or debuffs, but Monado Arts like Monado Shield, Monado Speed, and Monado Purge will all find plenty of use in the hands of skilled players. Shulk’s only real downside is that he’s best controlled– his AI isn’t too spectacular.
2 Dunban
Dunban is a cool enough character where he’d likely still round out parties even if he couldn’t pull his weight. Thankfully he can, and he’s consistently one of the most reliable party members in the game. In spite of a low HP pool, Dunban has extremely high Agility– the highest of anyone in the party, in fact.
Dunban’s Wisdom Skill Tree gives him access to Inner Peace– an ability which increases a party member’s Agility by 30% so long as they aren’t wearing any armor. A naked Dunban will dodge and hit more or less everything, but be warned that it’s not exactly a viable strategy against Spike-heavy enemies.
That said, with a varied Art pool (complete with actual combos and some of the game’s most creative positioning,) Dunban’s naturally high Agility will ensure he’s dodging enemies and dealing substantial damage even if he needs to wear armor. With high Agility, Spirit Breath, and Blinding Blossom, it’s only a matter of time before Dunban feels the flow of battle.
1 Fiora
With unreasonably high base stats, a weapon that attacks twice when it makes content, and one of the most useful Art pools in the game, Fiora almost demands a slot when she rejoins the party later in the game. As she’s part Mechon at this point, Fiora has exclusive access to Mechon armor and can actually deal damage against Mechon without the need for Monado Enchant or anti-Mechon weapons.
Although Fiora comes late– serving as Xenoblade Chronicles’ last party member– there’s still more than enough game for her to pull her weight, and she likely will. Her positioning based Arts (Double Blade and Spear Blade) deal triple damage, and she has access to Break, Topple, and Daze Arts, allowing her to stagger enemies herself if need be.
Beyond being a powerhouse fighter, Fiora is surprisingly useful when it comes to buffs & debuffs. Second Gear increases her Art damage similar to Shulk’s Shadow Eye (albeit pairing with much stronger physical Arts) while Lock-On increases her critical hit rate via an Aura. Power Drain also lowers an enemy’s strength in order to buff Fiora (becoming more useful when used against multiple enemies.) Honestly, the only reason not to use Fiora is if you want a challenge.