Valdi

Valdi, also known as Artificer Valdi is a Hero in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. He is a Levnis mechanic from Colony 30, as well as its commander.

Appearance and personality
Valdi is a young, androgynous-looking boy with ashy blonde hair and grey skin. He wears a sleeveless jumpsuit, large boots, and a mechanical device resembling a backpack with an unknown function. On his left hand, he wears a blue glove, while on his right, he wears a large mechanical gauntlet gifted to him by his Masterpon.

Valdi is youthful and trusting. He is willing to forgive any slight against him if the victim offers even a simple apology. He is obsessed with Levnises, valuing his position as a mechanic above his duty as the commander of Colony 30. His personal motto, taught to him by his Masterpon, is "Be a friend to all, and an enemy to none".

The Kind Right Hand
Valdi's Hero Quest, The Kind Right Hand, is part of the main story.

Valdi is observing the party from the top of a cliff at Elsie's Spout, when he receives an Iris call from Yuzet, warning him that the Consul is searching for him. Valdi them tells Yuzet to make up an explanation for the Consul before he hangs up and attacks the party with an Auxilia and an Equites Levnises.

Valdi is defeated, and excitingly tries to analyse how it happens until Noah interrupts him to ask about his identity. Valdi introduces himself and soon receives another call from Yuzet, who is worried about having lost track of the destroyed Levnises. Valdi reassures him and promises to be back home soon. The party asks details about his plan and decides to help him when they realize Valdi is about to salvage and build a Levnis on his own. As they salvage parts together, Valdi reveals that his gauntlet was made by his masterpon as a token of recovery from a heavy injury. As they stumble upon a skirmish between Agnus and Keves, Valdi is dismayed by how poorly his Levnises are treated in the war. After getting all the necessary parts, the party returns to Elise's Sprout, where Valdi builds a non-combat Levnis named Mechafriend. However the celebration is short-lived with the arrival of Consul Q, who forces Valdi to return to Colony 30 to finish building a very powerful Levnis. Left behind, Mechafriend soon runs after the master it is meant to protect, and the party decides to follow him.

At the colony, Q urges Valdi to speed up the construction, but the Colony 30 commander swears under his breath to the Incomplete Siege-Lev that it will not be used for hurting others, and aims to destroy it instead. However, Q overhears him, physically assaults him and hijacks the Levnis to attack him. Mechafriend arrives just on time to interfere and protect Valdi, focusing Q's anger on it until the Consul eventually crushes it with the Incomplete Siege-Lev. Backed up by the party, Valdi opposes Q, claiming that he owes a lot to Levnises and he didn't become a mechanic to destroy. Together, they destroy the Incomplete Siege-Lev, and Q disappears in its explosion.

Valdi then laments the destruction of Mechafriend, but Lanz cheers him up by pointing out Mechafriend lived the way Valdi wanted him to. Valdi thanks the party, and finds a newfound resolve in protecting with his Levnises. Noah offers Valdi to destroy the Colony's Flame Clock, which Valdi accepts. After the destruction of the Flame Clock, Valdi joins the party as one of the Heroes, teaching the party the Traversal skill Wall Climbing.

Pre-ascension sidequests
While Mechafriend is in pieces for maintenance, some of its parts disappear. After the party retrieves them, Valdi repairs Mechafriend and talks with the culprits.
 * Valdi appears in the quest Missing Parts.

While investigating the potential mastermind behind the theft of Mechafriend's parts, the party stumbles upon what looks like a spy intending to pass Colony 30 intelligence on to another colony. They decide to bring the case to Colony 30, and Valdi forgives the culprit in favor of being friends with everyone.
 * Valdi appears in the quest The True Culprit?.

I'm a Mechanic
Valdi's Ascension Quest, I'm a Mechanic, is available after reaching chapter 5, completing phase 5 of the Dorrick project and completing the quest Surplus Supply.

Valdi finds Yuzet in the infirmary, where he ended up after collapsing from exhaustion. He explains that he had to work hard to make up for the loss of Castle support, and didn't inform Valdi of his struggles because he thought he could manage on his own, to which Repapa retort Yuzet worked hard for Valdi's sake and refused to show weakness in front of him. Valdi insists on helping Yuzet, and he eventually agrees to let him handle a Levnis shipment to Colony Lambda.

Upon arriving at Colony Lambda and talking with Isurd, they notice he looks just as exhausted as Yuzet. They ask why he needed the Kevesi Levnises, and Isurd informs them of the unusual presence of Ansels at the top of the Great Cotte Falls, which has them worried about their impact on the environment, particularly the Curegrass they use to treat the soldiers. The party decides to deal with the monsters themselves and heads for their location with Valdi. After they defeat them, they notice a patch of, a flower that normally grows in the Urayan Mountains. Seeing them strive to bloom in an unfamiliar environment, Valdi realizes the world around him lives and breathes just like him, never giving up.

Carrying this newfound revelation in his heart, Valdi reports to Isurd and offers to leave the Levnises at Colony Lambda to help, and asks him to inform him of any new development with the Sirius Anemone. The contrast between the cold and ruthless commander image Isurd had of Valdi and the wide-eyed and innocent young man in front of him makes Isurd smile. They exchange a few words about Dorrick, and Isurd promises to come see it in Colony 30 someday. Valdi then heads back home to tell Yuzet about his new friendship with Isurd, only to find him struggling with a levnite shortage and a problem with the resupply shipment from Colony 4. Valdi immediately decides to go deal with it himself and heads for Colony 4 with the party. There, he meets Solon, who explains the team he sent to gather levnite hasn't come back. Valdi and the party go search for them at Glam Rock, and find them under attack from Skeeters. They save them and collect the levnite, before heading back for Colony 30. When they arrive, they discover both Colony Lambda and Colony 4 have sent supplies to Colony 30, building new bonds of cooperation between their colonies. Seeing that, Valdi realizes the world is made of interconnected parts, similar to a Levnis, and this revelation gives him hope that he can fix it, just like a Levnis.

Other appearances
Valdi can be among the recruited Heroes to aid the party in the final battle against Z, thanking the party for waiting as he is summoned. After Z's defeat, Valdi can be seen on the Kevesi side as Aionios splits back into the two worlds it was created from.

Lore

 * Valdi and Repapa trained as mechanic together under the same masterpon.
 * Valdi's gauntlet was given to him by his masterpon, to celebrate his recovery from a heavy injury that took a physical and mental toll on him.

As a boss

 * Strange Keves Soldier

As an NPC
Valdi can be found at Colony 30 when not engaged as the party's Hero.