Shulk Xenoblade Become a member of the channel to support me: / @enelxc Personal Discord Server: / discord Watch me live on twitch: / enel Feel free to follow me on twitter: / xc_enel #Xenoblade #Guide #Shulk
I really feel like Monolith Soft needs to take a step back and really consider revamping tanks in future games, assuming they continue with combat akin to the xenoblade games. Generally speaking, tanks can do their jobs effectively for most of a playthrough l, but once attacker damage scales to obscene levels, they literally can't keep up. I really think they need to change the way aggro works on a fundamental level, or do something else to make tanks worth using. Like with Hugo in Torna, he had a way to guarantee he took all aggro for 15 seconds, and it never failed. Unfortunately Target Lock is an awful substitute since it's a debuff LOL, but if they did more stuff like that, at least tanks could be more than just an extra body that needs to be revived.
So glad to see Shulk all grown up in Future Redeemed. He may not be super broken like Rex or Matthew, but he’s still fun to play. I just love how Monado Buster is Blossom Dance but with beautiful blue petals instead. He’s really carrying on Dunban’s legacy!
As much as I loved playing Rex, when I tried out Shulk, I fell in love. I love offensive-ish tanks in games and Shulk is one of my favorite video game characters of all time so switching to using him the most is a no brainer
I was the same. As I was going through the game I didn't really know what to give Shulk for his Chain Attack bonus skill so I gave him one where he'd revive the whole squad during chain attack. I thought it'd never come up but when almost everyone was dead and only him and Nikol were alive, I used the final remaining members for a chain attack to attempt and maybe revive my healers giving me a chance. It worked somehow with only the 2 of them and Shulk saved the whole team just by staying alive long enough to get a chain attack going and save my team. That was really funny. And after that I gained a new respect for my tanks and decided to play him more.
"Stop there! I'll be your opponent!" "Oh no! I lost the enemy's attention!" "Stop there! I'll be your opponent!" "Oh no! I lost the enemy's attention!" "Stop there! I'll be your opponent!" "Oh no! I lost the enemy's attention!"
The difference between Monado Armor and the fused Edge Armor is that baseline Monado Armor is an armor veil field, while Edge Armor just straight up applies the armor veil buff in an area.
From a gameplay perspective, it kinda sucks that Shulk took after Dunban instead of remaining the lite healer/really good support character that he was in 1, especially given how good healers are in 3. Hope the next Xeno game reworks aggro to make Tanks be able to maintain it better, as only chars who hit like hard like Reyn or Dunban seem to hold it, and to make debuffs a useful tool instead of having debuff resistance cripple them as an option.
@@lemmyxproeven then he dealt huge damage, and was huge support. I'd say healing is his least useful part. Although you don't really need a lot of healing in xc1
They downgraded Shulk in FR to the point where he is no longer himself in combat at first I like how he took inspiration from dunban but the fact MS use that as cheap excuse to copy paste all his arts "animation" from dunban and rename them shulk arts was absolutely lazy and awful
Off topic: Shulk's art lines are so god damn cool. The Monado Rage art call out is my favorite (he sounds like he's out for blood and I love it) and the Monado Cyclone/Soaring Tempest animation during unity combos looks amazing
I actually played as Shulk quite a bit. Playing as a Tank is the best way to ensure they are actually effective, but beyond that, I just liked doing Blossom Buster.
I think Monado Armor+Heavy Rush is the best fusion art for Shulk. Besides the armour veil, it makes Monado Armour give power charge which really helps with Shulk's damage output and helps keep aggro.
I'm glad someone mentioned it. The only reason why the Monado Armor+Slit Edge for Edge Armor gives off AOE/Armor Veil despite the skill doing so already for party is that if you ask me it's meant more as an early game fusion art, (going in part by the low field range by itself at the start) but once you get to the final upgrade for Armor Veil then it becomes redundant, and you're better off pairing it with Heavy Rush.
I think the reason he didn’t mention it is because you can fuse Matthew’s Energy Boost with Revolt Uppercut and he can then give Power Charge to the entire party.
I actually started off with armor+rush for the power charge, but... well... the AI isn't terribly good about staying in fields that's beneficial to them or even staying out of fields that are literally burning them alive. So I ended switching for the buff that can stick to the teammates regardless of where they wander off to (though I might switch back for the power charge if I'm ever in a fight where I'm not as concerned about everyone dropping like flies)
I played with Shulk from beginning to end and invested all on him early on, and I had a blast. What I did was pair him with Matthew for that instant Awakened status, using the Fusion of Monado Shield + Heavy Rush to get Power Charged Monado Busters or unfused Monado Purges. I found Monado Purge much better used alone than fused. By doing that, I never lost aggro and did pretty considerable damage.
I wasn’t impressed by Shulk…until I fought against him and Rex in the challenge battle. He was actually really hard. Now if tanks could actually operate like that in the game, then I’d be excited about tank classes
Think what would greatly improve tanks abilities to gain aggro is by making the taunts they have force the enemy to target the taunt user (you know like how enemy tanks act).
@@N120Xeno yea, I found "kinda" to be the best of the worst. I wish it was guaranteed even for like 75% of the arts recharge time. That way it can still go wrong with losing aggro, but makes the moves work like they should
@@N120Xeno I saw another possible fix as well. But tanks should gain aggro for everything. Using arts should yield more aggro than other classes, and aggro moved should practically give you all the aggro. And I think the skills they learn should just straight up give them more damage. Not to outclass attackers, but enough to matter
I think the biggest problem with Shulk in fr is the fact that they tried to create a Xenoblade 1 style dodge tank (the Dunban inspirations are not even subtle), in a game where we have Xenoblade 2 Rex on crack. Good guide though.
Shulk wanted to be like dunban so bad but forgot to learn how to do peerless and also strip down to dodge more as well as do more damage. FD was a good attempt at making tanks better but the nodes are not strong enough. If they added an aggro stat and also buffed aggro gems and accessories tanks would be fixed for the most part with relatively little effort. Lyn in X and Hugo in Torna the best tanks in the series still.
Kinda, a tank solo of challenge mode gets tanks with like 90k HP and stacking abilities like Auto attack heal to make you indestructible. They probably shouldve nerfed attackers and gave the tanks the ability to get like 30k or more HP and made debuffs way easier
Monado Armor at base grants armor veil to Shulk and creates an incredibly short duration field effect that gives everyone inside an armor veil effect while the field effect persists. Pairing Armor with Slit Edge changes the effect to simply grant armor veil to all nearby allies and removes the field effect entirely as it's obsolete. I'd say that if you've got Matthew set up to be giving power charge to the team, this pairing is easily the best.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Monado Armor/Slit Edge fusion art gives a proper Armor Veil buff to the entire party instead of a field effect, which I *think* results in a higher total damage absorption It also means you won’t be using up one of those 3 limited field effect slots on the field, assuming that still exists which I think it does
Really enjoying these videos. How great is it that they made my boy Rex such a giga chad. It’s crazy when I played XC2 I had no kids and now during future redeemed I have as many kids as Rex 😂😂😂
The party for this dlc was definitely more damage based than anything else, it makes for some very funny numbers during chain attacks and such but I feel like there isn’t a balance, in base xc3 you could play any class and be effective no matter who you’re controlling but in FR you only want to use the attackers since they’re the most optimal and useful in the players hands. Despite this I used shulk my whole play through but he definitely falls off post game😭 great guide as usual enel
Thanks for the guide Enel! Yeah, I'm running a pretty similar build with Shulk right now. Early on, I tried builds to make him do as much damage as possible, but it became pretty clear that it wasn't worth it. He does kinda feel like a worse version of Dunban in that sense, especially since you still can't get agility to be as high as past games, but he can still provide good support in combat. If he ever comes back in a future game, he'll hopefully be a bit better. I want to see both Rex and Shulk thrive as overpowered characters together someday, so we'll see!
Shulk may no longer feel it, but I do since he introduced me into the franchise via Smash Bros for 3DS. IMO the best item he could have had is the Legendary Biter so even Rex can't fight him in terms of bein an aggro magnet.
Something I think they could've done with debuff resistance is split it up based on different debuffs like they did in Xenoblade 1, instead of just splitting it between debuffs from physical and ether attacks.
i haven't quite unlocked every affinity growth yet so this certainly isn't any build for the superbosses, but i found Shulk to be especially useful and almost keep up with my attackers when i gave him a Titanium Support, Thermo Support, and a Challenger Gauntlet, and the Empowered Combo, Swelling Blessing, and Analyze Weakness gems so that he just cranks out damage and takes advantage of Glimmer's Crit rate/dmg Up for it. defensively, he basically always has an art active when i only use my purge fusion if the enemy has a buff, so he constantly has 20% extra evasion and the 15% of Arts being guaranteed evasion comes in quite often with Art spam. the most important part of almost never using Fusion Arts is spamming regular Monado Purge as often as possible to charge Monado Buster (i've once used Monado Buster 5 times under one Awakening buff during story content). in this playstyle, Armor Veil just makes up for the minimal Agility stat bonus from gear, and like Monado Purge, i get to spam it more often and mitigate more damage with it. even at level 57 against the lv60 superboss, Shulk stayed alive and maintained aggro nearly the entire 15 minutes of my attempt (before quitting bc i wasn't equipped to fight it) EDIT: also i have Matthew set to grant AOE Power Charge, so huge spikes in damage like Awakening+Power Charge+Crit Rate Up+Crit Damage Up+Launch Monado Buster can very easily overcome Rex AI's aggro gain, and i've found pairing Shulk with anyone but Rex makes it easier to maintain aggro since Specials seem to count for aggro
The fact that he gets ANOTHER "200% damage on enemy" skill in Future Redeemed and NOT his "Awakening on 20% damage taken" like the Hero version in the main game, is just an insult xD
I think I really like his unity skill with Matthew. In addition to being able to use unity combo on trash early, it means he can capitalize on awakened state early in longer battles and get that initial aggro.
Postgame Spoilers When you get Shulk as a hero in the base game, his evasion spike is replaced with a skill that gives him awakening like Cammuravi. Considering he seems to want to be awakened for heavy rush and monado buster I wish this was in FR. Shulk can only consitently keep aggro if you can launch the enemy, then use his unity combo if it’s up, and even then that’s only for 20 seconds.
Even without that, it's so much easier to maintain awakening in the base game because we have things like Resonant Flag and Glittering Melody to share the buff and pause of respectively. Lategame enemies in Future Redeemed make it hard to even get awakening with how high their break resistance gets.
I find Shulk holds decent agro when playing him. His damage is good, so boosting his agro draw from arts and getting the cancel boost makes him pretty good.
Purge+Stream Edge is a great combo in multi enemy fights because it turns break into an AOE Armor veil by itself is a field, with slit edge it become an AOE party buff And since it's so hard to keep aggro off Rex i feel like its better to run Shulk as support more like how he was in 1, giving him a friendship/fraternal badge so he can spam armor and break faster
I only played Rex, Matthew, and A during the main story playthrough. Though when it came time to fight the end game super bosses I found Shulk to be a real OP evasion tank when playing him. If you slam his arts as soon as they are recharged you can maintain aggro pretty well since AI Rex won’t be sitting there slamming Double Spinning Edge every second like a human player. He rarely ever gets hit even to the level 100 Super Bosses and only gets in real trouble if everyone else somehow dies lol
I have a heroic chain bonus on Shulk that multiplies the damage ratio of the chain attack by 1.5 every round he is used and have gotten a lot of use out of him since.
i must say i realy liked the fusion that gave the whole party a barrier because i used it to make sure that the healers did not get 1 shot by the aoe of superbosses it was realy helpfull at hardmode
monado armor normal cast is a field, when fusioned with slit edge causes it to be a aoe cast that doesnt set a field. its a key distinction that i got used to when looking at how the wording with the fusion was when i found out that the fusions provide different effects. now which is better for field vs cast is, i dont know, i really do wish they would tell us how potent effects are instead of waiting for datamines
Well, one thing in favor of the field effect is a single character could eat up the entire pool themselves instead of having it be spread out over the party. So it really depends on whether you are guarding against single target damage or AoE damage.
We need a guide to make these new Heroes you get from the Time Attack mission in the normal game good. I've used the Blue bearded man and he's gotten almost 2 million damage in a chain Attack while having a better Chain Order effect than Taion. Idk about the red blonde one but he's probably good too
I wish they replaced one of skulk's spike evade skills with a skill that reduced enemy debuff resistance, it would make monado rage useful against the strong post game enemies and synergises well with the other debuffs he has access to.
Main way I've seen success is by playing rex or matthew near shulk or vice versa because alot of late game enemies have aoe attacks so you can force alot of his skills to proc. With the increase auto attack gem you can increase your chances of his auto dodge skill to proc, I also use accessories that increase aggro when he evades which makes it easier for him to steal aggro and since he keeps getting aggro taken allowing him to get his talent art faster. Another thing that helps is having him also placed next to nikol for his damage reduction also helps with this playstyle along with having A use her vision to immediately proc some of shulk's skills as well.
With Xenoblade 1 being my favourite game, there was no way I wasn't gonna main Shulk, and I had a ton of fun doing so throughout Future Redeemed, thanks to its satisfying combat system. I just wish the devs didn't do him dirty with the post-game content. considering... y'know... he IS the face of the franchise, and one of the better-written protagonists. You'd think they'd put more effort into selling the importance of his role in the story, through gameplay at least.
will you do a video to tell us where are the good equipment ? i still have some boss to beat but i don't know where the ceramic belt and titanium support can be dropped
Hey enel, do you have any suggestions on how to make the "thing" you get postgame more useful? Honestly, they feel more like a hindrance, especially during chain attacks
Just give that person a useful chain attack item like 100 damage ratio + _____ up on all allies Also treat said person like all your other characters with the same role so that that person is useful
@@moomanchu608 Yeah, but the chain attack becomes significantly more RNG, as it can be harder to get the pairings you want. And, they usually end up wandering off away from the rest of my party and getting themself killed, wasting my healers’ time… honestly, I regret proceeding with my postgame file
@@moomanchu608 that's exactly the chain order they have, and honestly i dont think i should invest in their damage since they aren't playable, which is really really stupid. They are so squishy and i got mad and gave them the memory locket so they could at least help someone useful
Yes, the character I changed to when fighting the level 80 and level 90 super bosses because the stupid amount of time your put to sleep for the former and the BS mechanic for the latter. I so far beat the former and might have a strategy for the latter if not for the regenerate buff they can apply themselves.
You didn mention Armor Rush, I think his best fusion skill. It's aoe power charge, it can double up with Matthew, or free it up as it kinda gimps Matthew's other fusion arts despite being great.
So I like pairing shulk with Mathew. You can surprise attack a super boss to guarantee break. Then get a free cheeky burst to steal super boss mats while I am gearing up. It also bursts all enemies near the initial target allowing you to nuke packs of mobs.
I don't know if you mentioned it but what is the "Purge buffs" in shulk's fusion arts with monado purge? Maybe I'm just dumb but I haven't figured it out yet
As much as I like the idea of Shulk taking after Dunban and being an evasion tank, it really doesn't make sense why he's not an attacker or even support character. He was really good at both of those in 1, and it feels like he's just turned into Dunban. Not necessarily bad, Dunban is really cool, but I feel like sticking with what made Shulk himself would've been best
Not sure if it ever gets addressed in the guide, but I’m pretty sure Right Back at You actually hits the enemy for 200% of the damage your ally takes (both due to the wording of the skill and the fact that sword of reprisal capitalizes Attack to refer to the stat whereas this doesn’t). If that’s the case it’s still kind of eh, though I guess if your attacker gets one shot you’re hitting the enemy for 12k-ish, so… alright? This is solely off observation, no idea if this is actually the case, if someone tests it please lmk!
Hey Enel I love your passion for Xenoblade I would love to talk sometime maybe over DM I want to learn more about it and I would love if you would help me get even more into the xenoblade games I’ve played all of them besides Xenoblade X thank you for helping me get closer to this amazing series!!!!!
Edge Armor makes Monado Armor go from XB3 AOE which is a field around the user to it’s XB1 rendition. To where it’s a straight buff that just applies as well as a slight boost to the effects of Monado Armor. It feels broken because the Monado Arts in 1 where broken.
You mention using Double Cyclone to activate Shulk's awakening effect. Do you keep stuff like that until you die? Or does it remain when you've been revived?
@Enal Just need to ask are you SURE that your numbers are right when discussing "Right Back at You"? In my experince 100% buff to a number DOUBLES that number so 200% buff would 4 times that number. Have you seen that ablity in a vaccum yet?
out of topic, does anyone now whats the interrogation near the final boss in black mountains? i think its the last superboss but i do not know how to trigger it
Sorry if you've answered this before, I can't seem to find it, but are you going to make guides for the superbosses? Specifically on hard mode I just cannot beat them between Chain Attacks not doing enough damage, everybody suiciding in huge aoe fields and getting oneshot by unblockable OHKs.
Do you consider swapping between Rex/Shulk/Matthew as much as possible to Both make sure they cancel their arts and fuse them Optimal? Or am I trying too hard for minimal gain vs just piloting a single character? Something I never really could feel out during my playthrough of XBC3 Hard mode.
