Affinity (XC2)

For other articles titled "Affinity", see Affinity (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Affinity Chart (XC2).

The Affinity thread between Driver and Blade

Affinity is a mechanic in the combat of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Torna ~ The Golden Country. It represents how well a Driver and Blade are working together while fighting, and is shown by a visible ether line running between the Blade and Driver. At no affinity, the line does not appear. When affinity is low, the line is faint and deeper blue; when it is higher, the line is light blue; and when it is at maximum, the line is bright gold.

Affinity affects a large number of different aspects of combat; when affinity is high, the Driver-Blade pair's capabilities are increased, and vice versa. Affinity is generally raised by doing well in combat; as such, it generally determines the momentum of a fight. When party affinity is high, the fight is going well and will likely continue to go well; when it is low, the fight is generally going poorly and the party may struggle to turn it around.

Overview[edit]

Affinity is internally parametrised by a value from 0 to 1000, with 0 being minimum affinity and 1000 being maximum. This 0-1000 range is split into 7 partitions when calculating the effects of the current affinity value on the capabilities of the Driver and Blade. The initial value at the start of battle depends on the Blade's personality; it generally varies between 350 and 600, although this value can be increased using effects such as Hunter's Chemistry.

The functional and visual effects of maximum and minimum affinity persist to an extent. When maximum affinity (1000) is reached, the effects of maximum affinity begin, and they remain even if affinity drops slightly; affinity must be reduced below 800 to lose the effects. The same is true for minimum affinity; if affinity reaches 0, the effects of minimum affinity remain until it is brought above 199.

The Driver and Blade may call out certain voice lines when reaching certain affinity levels. Upon reaching maximum affinity, the Blade has a special animation; if affinity drops to 0, they have an (interruptible) flinching animation.

Effects[edit]

Affinity affects the probability of Blade Art/Rear guard Art activation, the damage of Specials (aside from level IV Specials), the rate of critical hits (as an independent multiplier), the Driver/Vanguard's movement speed, and the cooldown of Driver Arts/Vanguard Arts.

Affinity range	Blade Art probability	I-III Special damage	Crit rate	Movement speed	Driver Art recharge rate
1000 (max)	+20%	+25%	+30%	+0%	+25%
800-999	+10%	+15%	+20%	-10%	+15%
600-799	+5%	+10%	+10%	-20%	+10%
400-599	+0%	+0%	+0%	-30%	+0%
200-399	-5%	-10%	-10%	-40%	+0%
1-199	-10%	-20%	-20%	-50%	+0%
0 (min)	-100%	-25%	-100%	-50%	-10%

Maximum affinity benefits[edit]

In addition to the above benefits, several discrete beneficial effects occur at maximum affinity:

The level of all Driver Arts/Vanguard Arts and Specials is increased by 1, typically increasing their damage ratio and possibly reducing their base cooldown. This is the only way to use Driver Arts and Specials at level 6 (if they were at level 5 beforehand).
Level IV Specials can be charged over time, by building the Special gauge to level III, keeping the Driver and Blade close to one another (such that the visual affinity link does not break), and not using Driver Arts or Blade Switches.
Several effects (primarily those of Aux Cores and Battle Skills) are conditional upon the Driver and Blade being at maximum affinity.
Ending a battle with maximum affinity increases the trust of the relevant Blade(s) by 10. This can be increased using the Heart Compass and the Telepathic Bell.

Minimum affinity detriments[edit]

At minimum affinity, in addition to the effects listed above, several interactions between the Driver and Blade are disabled:

The Special gauge drops to 0 and cannot be increased.
Block rate reduces to 0.
Damage dealt is halved.
Damage taken is increased by 50%.

Raising and lowering affinity[edit]

A number of events mid-combat may increase or decrease affinity. Some such events change only the affinity of the relevant Driver-Blade pair; others change the affinity of all Driver-Blade pairs currently active in the party. In all cases, only the Blades currently on the field are affected.

The amount of affinity gained/lost varies depending upon the trust of the Blade; higher trust often corresponds to greater affinity gains and lesser affinity losses.

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The editor who added this tag elaborates: Given in BTL_Bl_KizunaUpDown; need to verify which row corresponds to which event

Personality[edit]

A Blade's personality in main-game Xenoblade Chronicles 2 determines the default amount of affinity they start with in each battle, and modifies how much affinity is gained and/or lost via the events given above. In Torna ~ The Golden Country, these values are determined by the personality of the character in the rear guard.

*Xenoblade Chronicles 2*
Blade	Starting affinity	Affinity gain modifier	Affinity loss modifier
Adenine	500	±0%	±0%
Aegaeon	400	±0%	-10%
Agate	450	±0%	±0%
Akhos	400	±0%	±0%
Azami	550	+12%	-12%
Boreas	400	+5%	-5%
Brighid	450	±0%	-10%
Corvin	500	±0%	-20%
Cressidus	400	+10%	+20%
Crossette	600	+10%	+20%
Dagas (strong)	500	±0%	+10%
Dagas (weak)	500	±0%	+10%
Dahlia	500	+5%	±0%
Dromarch	450	±0%	±0%
Electra	400	+10%	+20%
Elma	550	+5%	-10%
Finch	400	±0%	-10%
Fiora	600	+5%	+10%
Floren	450	±0%	±0%
Godfrey	500	±0%	±0%
Gorg	450	±0%	±0%
Herald	400	±0%	-20%
Kasandra	400	+5%	±0%
Kora	400	+12%	+24%
KOS-MOS	600	+5%	-10%
Mikhail	400	+10%	-10%
Mythra	500	+10%	+20%
Newt	400	+10%	±0%
Catalyst	500	+5%	-5%
Nim	400	±0%	±0%
Obrona	400	+5%	+10%
Pandoria	500	+5%	+10%
Patroka	400	±0%	-20%
Perceval	400	-10%	-10%
Perdido	400	-10%	-10%
Perun	450	+5%	-5%
Pneuma	750	+100%	-100%
Poppi QT	450	+5%	+10%
Poppi QTπ	550	±0%	±0%
Poppi α	450	-10%	-10%
Poppibuster	550	+5%	-5%
Praxis	500	±0%	±0%
Pyra	500	±0%	±0%
Roc	400	+5%	±0%
Sever	400	±0%	-10%
Sever (chapter 1)	400	±0%	-10%
Sheba	500	+5%	±0%
Shulk	500	±0%	-10%
T-elos	500	±0%	-15%
Theory	400	-10%	-20%
Ursula	400	±0%	+5%
Vale	400	+10%	+20%
Vess	400	±0%	-10%
Wulfric	400	-10%	-20%
Zenobia	450	+8%	-10%

*Torna ~ The Golden Country*
Character	Starting affinity	Affinity gain modifier	Affinity loss modifier
Addam	550	+5%	-5%
Aegaeon	400	±0%	-10%
Brighid	450	±0%	-10%
Haze	500	+5%	+10%
Hugo	500	±0%	±0%
Jin	450	±0%	-20%
Lora	600	+10%	-10%
Minoth	450	-10%	-10%
Mythra	500	+10%	+20%

As the personality of a common Blade is randomly determined, they have varying battle start affinities and affinity modifiers. The personality of a common Blade also determines the voiceline they have when equipped in the Equip Blades menu; as such, this voiceline can be used to identify the personality, and thus the starting affinity and modifiers.

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The editor who added this tag elaborates: Common personality lists, including voiceline indications

Strategy[edit]

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