Enemy (XC1)

Enemies (referred to as monsters in-game) are located all over the world of Xenoblade Chronicles and Future Connected. The player can initiate combat with an enemy with a, a , or by luring it. Enemies may also initiate combat if they are aggressive and the player enters their field of perception. When an enemy is defeated, it awards, , and , and is likely to drop a.

Enemy categories
Enemies can be divided into different categories:
 * Normal enemies - An enemy that does not fit any description below. They respawn each time skip travel is used, the area is loaded again, or the party is incapacitated.
 * Bosses - Major enemies that need to be defeated to progress the game's main story. Not all enemies in story battles are necessarily bosses. Bosses carry a special . Usually, An Obstacle in Our Path plays during major boss battles.
 * Story-exclusive enemies - Enemies that are part of story battles, but not considered bosses.
 * Quest-exclusive enemies - Enemies that only spawn during certain s. Some quests do not require defeating the enemies that are exclusive to this quest. Some enemies keep respawning even after their quest has been completed or expired.
 *  - Unique enemies that, compared to normal enemies, carry better loot and are significantly more of a threat. After being defeated once, they will only respawn 30% of the time. Unique Monsters carry a special . You Will Know Our Names plays during Unique Monster battles. Defeating a Unique Monster for the first time awards the player with an Affinity Coin. In Future Connected, it will drop an Arts Coin instead.
 * Fogbeast - An enemy type exclusive to Future Connected. While not an extra threat by themselves, they can call all surrounding enemies to assist in the battle. Fogbeasts usually plays against Fogbeast battles. Defeating it will yield an Arts Coin.

Enemies can be part of multiple categories at once, such as quest-exclusive Unique Monsters or Fogbeast bosses.

Detection and aggression
Enemies will always join the fight if the party attacks or uses an art on them (even if it's a miss). On the other hand, whether an enemy initiates a battle on its own depends on multiple factors. Each enemy has its own type and range of perception; if it spots the party leader within this range, it will attack. Most enemies will not attack if the party leader is too strong (six or more levels above the foe), unless the enemy is a boss, story-exclusive enemy, or unique monster.

Enemies have different methods of detection, visible on its nametag.
 * No detection - When no symbol is visible on the nametag, the enemy is non-agressive, and will not initiate battle on its own.
 * [[image:XC1 enemy icon detect sight.png]] Sight - The enemy initiates battle if the player gets within range of its field of view. Most sight-based enemies have a cone of vision. Many bosses can "see" in all directions, so they cannot be snuck up on.
 * [[image:XC1 enemy icon detect sound.png]] Sound - The enemy initiates battle if it hears the player running within range. Walking is quiet enough to not trigger them.
 * [[image:XC1 enemy icon detect ether.png]] Ether - The enemy initiates battle if the player uses an ether-based art within its range, even if said art is harmless.
 * [[Image:XC1 enemy icon detect kindred.png|class=img-mirror-x]][[image:none.png|20px|link=]][[Image:XC1 enemy icon detect kindred.png|XC1 enemy icon detect kindred.png]] Kindred - The enemy will join a fight that is happening nearby, even if they cannot see the party or are otherwise non-aggressive.
 * Some enemies form "squads", which are denoted by a triangle above their heads when one of them is targetted. If one member of a squad joins a fight, so does the entire squad.

If a party member is wearing the appropriate Cloak gem, the detection range of all enemies against them is reduced, making it easier to slip past foes. The gems come in three flavours: Earth Cloak for those that walk, Aerial Cloak for those that fly, and Aquatic Cloak for those that swim.

List of enemy species

 * Note: The detection type only applies to normal enemies.