Skell

Skells are mechs in Xenoblade Chronicles X. They can be piloted by the party, and are used for traversal and combat.

Appearance
Skells are tall, humanoid shaped vehicles that can convert into a moped-like vehicle. They have significant exterior armour plating, visible propulsion devices, and tyres. They have a visor where a human head would be, or where the windshield of a moped would be, and they move in somewhat stiff ways.

World
In the world of Xenoblade Chronicles X, Skells are used primarily as tools for transportation, combat, and various heavy duty industrial tasks, like moving freight or installing Data Probes. In New Los Angeles, they are heavily used as stationary sentries, guarding important locations.

The technology used to create Skells is seen as a major breakthrough, and they are praised for how much they have helped survival on Mira. Unfortunately, the resources required to make Skells are highly scarce, so they are only made available to proven strong members of BLADE, and even then, are still quite expensive for those BLADEs to obtain.

Obtaining
Skells are made available for purchase to the player after completing the Skell License quests, which can be taken after finishing chapter 6. They can be bought from the shop terminal in Armorey Alley, or crafted from the AM terminal. Schematics can be obtained (from where?) that allow you to craft more Skells.

They come equipped with some Skell weapons, which each provide a art for the Skell to do. Other Skell weapons can be obtained through the same means as frames, in addition to also being dropped by enemies.

Skell frames are given a level, which indicates what level a character must be to use the Skell, and the max level weapons it can equip. Frames also determine number of times insurance can be used, and the type of Overdrive the Skell has access to.

Usage
Skells are used for transportation and combat, both of which work differently from ground gear.

In the barracks, they can be assigned to different characters, have paint changed (cannot change colour values directly despite being shown), name changed, refuelled with Miranium, or, in the case the Skell is wrecked, repaired, using a repair ticket, credits, or insurance.

From the main menu, Skells can be equipped, and warped to if they are parked. Warping to parked Skells essentially functions as a player placed skip travel point, and can be used to quickly reload enemies in an area that is far away from a landmark, for example.

Skells are restricted in some console missions.

Combat
Skells are vaguely similar to Gears in Xenogears and Ouroboros in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in regards to combat, in that they have ballooned stats in comparison to normal combat, are upgraded in different, less natural ways from normal combat, attack slowly and methodical, and have a usage limit. Unlike Gears and Ouroboros, Skells' fuel limit is very generous compared to Gear fuel and heat, and Skells are generally better equipped when you first gain access to them, in contrast to Gears and Ouroboros.

Skells' defining characteristics are that they have very high stats, very slow art animations, limited art selection, and are equipped in completely different ways from ground gear. Instead of arts being learned, they must be bought or found in an enemy drop, similar to ground gear armour. In addition, arts are further limited by being restricted to certain body parts, 2 per side of the body, so you can't make a build with 3 forearm slot arts, similar to how you can't make a ground gear build with melee arts from two different melee weapons.

In addition, Skells have their own Overdrive, the effects of which are determined by the current Skell frame (create table of these). A universal trait between all Skell Overdrives, is that they cannot be refreshed manually like ground gear Overdrive, but they can be refreshed randomly at the end of their time limit. They also do not have their own skills, and only two ground gear skills affect Skells, which, among other things, gives very limited ways for a Skell to increase its maximum GP. Finally, a Skell's arts can be made entirely unavailable if the body part the corresponding weapon is equipped to is broken off, as Skells experience appendage damage like enemies do.

Skells use fuel when in combat, and are always in humanoid form. Shifting to vehicle form puts weapons away. Occasionally when using arts, they will get cockpit time, which makes the Skell fully invulnerable, changes the camera view, and fully refreshes all arts.

When Skells run out of health, they explode. A quick time event plays, which determines the repairability of the Skell. After the QTE, the player is ejected into ground gear, and is in a grounded state, which is significant, because this is also true when the Skell is wrecked while in the air, meaning that having a Skell explode is one of the only ways to do grounded actions while airborne.

Exploration
Skells move faster and jump higher than ground gear, with a higher turning circle in vehicle form. They do not take most types of environmental and weather damage, and are affected by Skell specific data probes (which are?).

Skells greater jumping ability lets them travel to a lot more places than ground gear are able to, when excluding the various infinite height glitches.

When parked, Skells naturally replenish fuel (what rate?)

Glitches
Pressing change form and dismount simultaneously when in humanoid form lets the player immediately become actionable, as it uses the vehicular form dismount animation (none).

When aligned to specific rocks in Sylvalum and Oblivia, dismounting a Skell can put the player out of bounds.