Blade Combo

The possible paths a Blade Combo can take (in this case, from Photon) are depicted in the upper right of the UI.

Blade Combos are a mechanic in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Torna ~ The Golden Country that stack extra damage and effects on enemies when certain sequences of Specials are used.

Overview[edit]

When a Special is first used on a foe, a level 1 Blade Combo is applied to that enemy. The element of the combo matches that of the Blade that used the Special. If another Special is then used that fills the requirements of the combo continuing, the level 1 combo is replaced with a level 2 combo. This can be continued to create a level 3 combo, at which point the process resets. Each step in the combo applies an additional package of damage based on the damage dealt by the Special, and depending on the combo's element and stage, might also apply a reaction or damage-over-time effect.

There are two requirements for a Special to advance a combo: it must be of a correct element, and its level must exceed the level of the current combo. If these requirements are not met, the combo remains unchanged. For example:

A level 1 Special will not advance a level 1 combo. The next Special must be level 2 or higher.
An ice Special will not advance a water combo. There are no water combo steps for which ice is a valid next step.

There is no advantage or disadvantage to using an over-levelled Special; a level 4 Special will still only move a level 1 combo to a level 2 combo, and a level 3 Special can still advance it from there.

Successfully executing a level 3 combo has two effects.

It applies an element orb to the enemy, which makes them resistant to further attacks of that element, discouraging the repeated use of the same combo. Chain Attacks can be used to destroy these orbs for extra damage.
It activates a Seal, which prevents all enemies in the fight from using a certain mechanic based on the last element in the combo. Only the most recently-applied seal will be active; multiple seals cannot be active at once.

If the player has a Blade they can switch to to continue a combo, their icon will flash if they are not active. Female Drivers (and sometimes Tora) will actively switch to Blades that will continue combos, attempting to avoid duplication with other Drivers; male Drivers can do this but will prefer to switch for Driver Combos instead.

If a party member has a Blade active that is the correct element to begin or continue a combo, a "request" will appear onscreen to notify the player: at the bottom for the controlled member, on the left for the second member, and on the right for the third member. This takes the form of the Driver's icon, the name of what the combo would become, and the button to press for that member. A number of white orbs circles around the icon based on the level of the Special the Driver currently has available (e.g. two orbs if their level 2 special is ready), allowing strategization based on whether they are likely to charge the necessary level in time. The player can press the corresponding button at any time to make that person use their Special, but the button prompt only appears if doing so will successfully continue the combo. Requests do not appear from party members who are targeting a different enemy than the player is.

List of Blade Combos[edit]

Tree[edit]

Heat

Burnout

Mega Explosion

Nuclear Blast

Steam Bomb

Diamond Mist

Steam Explosion

Aqua

Pandemic

Final Disaster

Venom Water

Dark Tide

Splash Hazard

Wind

Cyclone

Sandstorm

Thunder Gale

Ice Wind

Frost Typhoon

Stone

Gaia Crash

Lightning Quake

Volcano

Mega Eruption

Volcanic Storm

Volt

1,000,000 Volt

Electrolysis

Flame Bolt

Electrofire Storm

Ultimate Aurora

Ice

Cold Snap

Dead of Winter

Freeze

Gravity Blizzard

Permafrost Crash

Photon

Gamma Ray

Ruinous Weather

Supernova

Lightning Bolt

Second Sun

Gravity

Black Abyss

Hyper Graviton

Meteorite

Ray of Light

Heaven's Bolt

Steps[edit]

Additional technical information can be found at the provided links.

Combo	Element	Level	Damage	Damage (from enemies)	Reaction
Heat	Fire	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Aqua	Water	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Wind	Wind	I	150%	15.0%	None
Stone	Earth	I	150%	15.0%	None
Volt	Electric	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Ice	Ice	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Photon	Light	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Gravity	Dark	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Burnout	Fire	II	50%, plus 8% every 1.5s	6.3%, plus 1.0% every 1.5s	None
Flame Bolt	Fire	II	225%	30.0%	None
Volcano	Fire	II	63%, plus 10% every 1.5s	8.8%, plus 1.4% every 1.5s	None
Cold Snap	Water	II	203%	27.0%	None
Steam Bomb	Water	II	51%, plus 8% every 1.5s	6.8%, plus 1.1% every 1.5s	None
Venom Water	Water	II	50%, plus 8% every 1.5s	6.3%, plus 1.0% every 1.5s	None
Cyclone	Wind	II	170%	21.3%	Knockback (level 5)
Gaia Crash	Earth	II	180%	22.5%	None
Pandemic	Earth	II	51%, plus 8% every 1.5s	6.8%, plus 1.1% every 1.5s	None
1,000,000 Volt	Electric	II	200%	25.0%	None
Lightning Bolt	Electric	II	225%	30.0%	None
Freeze	Ice	II	50%, plus 8% every 1.5s	6.3%, plus 1.0% every 1.5s	None
Ice Wind	Ice	II	225%	30.0%	None
Gamma Ray	Light	II	180%	22.5%	None
Ray of Light	Light	II	225%	30.0%	None
Black Abyss	Dark	II	180%	22.5%	None
Mega Explosion	Fire	III	250%	35.0%	None
Second Sun	Fire	III	255%	38.3%	Blowdown (level 2)
Steam Explosion	Fire	III	234%	34.0%	Blowdown (level 5)
Electrolysis	Water	III	248%	36.0%	None
Ruinous Weather	Water	III	248%	36.0%	None
Splash Hazard	Water	III	225%	31.5%	None
Dead of Winter	Wind	III	255%	38.3%	Knockback (level 1)
Electrofire Storm	Wind	III	255%	38.3%	Blowdown (level 5)
Final Disaster	Wind	III	270%	40.5%	None
Volcanic Storm	Wind	III	255%	38.3%	Blowdown (level 2)
Mega Eruption	Earth	III	270%	40.5%	None
Meteorite	Earth	III	234%	34.0%	Blowdown (level 4)
Permafrost Crash	Earth	III	261%	38.0%	Blowdown (level 2)
Sandstorm	Earth	III	234%	34.0%	Knockback (level 4)
Heaven's Bolt	Electric	III	270%	40.5%	None
Lightning Quake	Electric	III	248%	36.0%	None
Thunder Gale	Electric	III	234%	34.0%	Blowdown (level 3)
Diamond Mist	Ice	III	270%	40.5%	None
Frost Typhoon	Ice	III	275%	40.0%	None
Ultimate Aurora	Ice	III	300%	45.0%	None
Nuclear Blast	Light	III	261%	38.0%	Blowdown (level 2)
Supernova	Light	III	250%	35.0%	None
Dark Tide	Dark	III	275%	40.0%	None
Gravity Blizzard	Dark	III	275%	40.0%	None
Hyper Graviton	Dark	III	250%	35.0%	None

In Torna ~ The Golden Country[edit]

Blade Combos are significantly simpler in Torna ~ The Golden Country.

Every step of a combo applies an element orb, not just the level 3 step.
A combo progresses even if the elements used do not match. Most named combos from the base game are still available, now known as Critical Routes. For example, using a level 2 dark Special on top of a level 1 combo will advance the combo to Black Abyss if the level 1 combo matches, and Gravity II otherwise. "Generic III" finishers do not come with a cutscene.

List of basic combo steps[edit]

Combo	Element	Level	Damage	Damage (from enemies)	Reaction
Heat	Fire	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Aqua	Water	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Wind	Wind	I	150%	15.0%	None
Stone	Earth	I	150%	15.0%	None
Volt	Electric	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Ice	Ice	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Photon	Light	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Gravity	Dark	I	38%, plus 6% every 1.5s	3.8%, plus 0.6% every 1.5s	None
Heat II	Fire	II	44%, plus 7% every 1.5s	5.0%, plus 0.8% every 1.5s	None
Aqua II	Water	II	44%, plus 7% every 1.5s	5.0%, plus 0.8% every 1.5s	None
Wind II	Wind	II	175%	20.0%	None
Stone II	Earth	II	175%	20.0%	None
Volt II	Electric	II	44%, plus 7% every 1.5s	5.0%, plus 0.8% every 1.5s	None
Ice II	Ice	II	44%, plus 7% every 1.5s	5.0%, plus 0.8% every 1.5s	None
Photon II	Light	II	44%, plus 7% every 1.5s	5.0%, plus 0.8% every 1.5s	None
Gravity II	Dark	II	44%, plus 7% every 1.5s	5.0%, plus 0.8% every 1.5s	None
Heat III	Fire	III	200%	25.0%	None
Aqua III	Water	III	200%	25.0%	None
Wind III	Wind	III	200%	25.0%	None
Stone III	Earth	III	200%	25.0%	None
Volt III	Electric	III	200%	25.0%	None
Ice III	Ice	III	200%	25.0%	None
Photon III	Light	III	200%	25.0%	None
Gravity III	Dark	III	200%	25.0%	None

List of Critical Routes[edit]