During the adventure that will be proposed to us in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition we will be able to meet different characters who will join our group, each of different race, mentality and personality from the others.
Today we will talk about the main member of the group and the protagonist of the story, that is Shulk, specifying his personality, the techniques he can use in combat and the passive abilities that are characteristic of him.
The guide will not contain any plot spoilers, but there will also be various information on unlockable skills continuing with the story. However, it may still contain material in English or slight inaccuracies, which we invite you to report in the comments!
Personality and narrative background
Like any Homs, Shulk lived his entire childhood on the giant's settlements Bion, one of only two habitable places above the vast ocean on the surface.
During his childhood, however, he was marked by an event that immediately tied him inextricably to the monad: he and his family were in fact among those who discovered the powerful weapon for the first time, a discovery that will cause the death of all members of the expedition, including his parents, except him.
The reason why the power of the weapon did not fall on him remains a mystery, but after being found by Dickson, the sympathetic traveler from Cologne 9, he will decide to dedicate his life to studying the latent powers of the sword, too. to understand how to make the most of it against the Mechan.
Despite this, he will have to wait for the invasion of his home to try to use the weapon for the first time, also receiving, unexpectedly, the iconic visions of the future.
From a character point of view, Shulk is a good-hearted and strong-willed boy, despite being often criticized for being a little too careless of other people's feelings.
He often displays near-blind trust in his allies, having an exceptionally strong relationship with Reyn and Fiora, having grown up together.
Despite everything, on several occasions he shows a tendentially pessimistic mentality, and the attack on Cologne 9 at the beginning of the game will leave the boy with a deep psychological wound and the desire to get revenge, a reason that will push him to start the journey with Reyn.
Statistics and general role in battle
Many techniques that Shulk uses require a particular positioning, thus requiring most of the time that the enemy's attention is directed towards someone else who can take the blows (like Reyn himself) to be effective.
In general he covers the role of DPS/buffer, and has the characteristic of being able to use the Monad and the respective techniques (initially only Slash and Incanto, during the adventure then it will unlock another four and finally two during the NG +).
Compared to the rest of the cast, Shulk is in third last place in terms of the number of HP, the great Strength and Agility, however, more than compensate for this weakness. It will never be possible to change its weapon, but in return the damage of the Monad will increase with its level.
For the rest, then, Shulk will have the following particular characteristics in combat:
- 20% of the damage dealt from auto attacks is added to the Talent bar
- Can rely on 8 different Monad techniques, which can be reordered in the appropriate section but never removed
- He can use a Monad technique only after initially activating it, and the amount of Talent bar used in doing this action varies from technique to technique.
- It possesses two techniques that inflict status Lazy low recovery time, that is Sweep e Blow in jump
- Can make use of Bold lunge to lower the enemy's defense by 50% for up to 9,5 seconds at the last rank
- When positioned correctly, it can inflict a massive amount of damage thanks to colpo proditorie
- Incanto It's a great party buff, as it allows anyone other than Shulk to damage Mechanics
- Thanks to SlashFurthermore, it can also make use of a high single damage output against enemies of this same category
- Celerity, Shield ed Armor allow you to approach enemies more easily thanks to the large increase, respectively, to Agility and Physical Defense that they give to the rest of the party
- Shulk is one of the only characters who can remove Telethia's Soul Read ability thanks to the technique Fringe (the other is Melia with the Psychic Thunder ability)
- Other buffs can be removed thanks to Deprivation
- Shulk is the only character who can inflict status on his own Lazy, Land e Stun to a single enemy thanks to the use, in sequence, of Sweep / Jump Strike, Ciclone e Rotated shot.
The techniques
In battle, as mentioned above, Shulk can make use of 8 standard combat techniques and 8 given by the Monad. Let's see its features:
Standard techniques
Turn Strike (Special Skill): Heavy physical damage to a single target, inflicts Break for 10 seconds. It will be permanently replaced with Activate Monado once the Monad is obtained
colpo proditorie: vertical damage to a single target. Hitting the latter from behind will double the power of the blow.
Healing touch: art that heals the HP of a single ally by an amount that varies depending on the Aether stat. This action generates aggro towards Shulk for a base value of 5
Bold lunge: Art that deals damage to a single target, decreasing their physical defense by 50% up to a maximum of nearly 10 seconds. This action generates aggro towards Shulk for a base value of 8, and if performed alongside an enemy, the Group Gauge will be filled by 20%.
Sweep: art that hits multiple enemies in front of Shulk, inflicting Break and generating aggro towards him for a base value of 10. For each enemy hit, in addition, the Talent Gauge will be filled by 15%
Concealment: buff aimed only at Shulk which decreases the aggro towards himself by up to 75%. Also gives a 50% Physical Technique buff for 5 seconds.
Jump shot: Art that deals damage and Break status to a single enemy. It also inflicts the Slow status when executed sideways.
Rotated shot: art that deals damage to a single target, applying the Daze status to them if the Toppled status has already been applied to them
Warrior fury: Art that sacrifices half Shulk's HP to fill the Talent Gauge up to 52%, based on how much life is sacrificed in use
Monad techniques
Monad Activation (Special Technique) (Aura): Allows Shulk to change his normal Techniques to Monad Techniques
Slash: technique that damages one or more enemies in a straight line. Enemies Mechan and Machina hit will take double the damage (for each Mechan hit, the Group Gauge will also fill up by 20%)
Incanto: aura that allows each party member to damage Mechanics with normal weapons, also increasing the damage of automatic attacks (against Mechanics only). The effect lasts from 50 to 140 seconds depending on the level of the technique.
Shield: technique that creates a protective shield around the whole party, allowing it to absorb an enemy technique of equal or lower level
Celerity: Single character buff that increases the likelihood of dodging physical attacks and techniques. In particular, at maximum level it offers a dodge rate from physical attacks of 95%, from physical techniques of 90% and a duration of 12,5 seconds.
Fringe: techniques that inflict damage from a distance. has the secondary effect of removing any active Aura and preventing the activation of techniques that would give Aura or Spike, with a duration ranging from 10 to 14,5 seconds
Deprivation: Frontal attack that removes all buffs and inflicts Bleed. The damage caused by the latter will be 20% of the initial damage every 2 seconds
Armor: Technique that increases each ally's damage reduction from 30 to 75% depending on their level for 15 seconds
Ciclone: technique that inflicts an area of damage of about 20 and that causes the status Land to all enemies who are under the effects of Lazy
Skill Table - Integrity
First of the 3 skill boards available from the start for the protagonist, Integrity will increase Shulk's parry based on how many skills are unlocked within it.
The following skills will be obtained:
Skill Table - Humanity
Depending on the 3 skill boards available from the beginning for the protagonist, Humanity will increase Shulk's Aether based on how many skills are unlocked within it.
The following skills will be obtained:
Skill Table - Intuition
The last of the 3 skill boards available from the beginning for the protagonist, Intuito will increase Shulk's agility based on how many skills are unlocked within it.
The following skills will be obtained:
Skill Table - Pessimism
As with all the other characters, Shulk has two "secret" skill boards, which are only obtainable through specific missions.
Pessimism is one of them, and will only be obtained by completing the mission Désirée Future, obtainable by bringing the affinity of Colony 9 to 4,5 stars after defeating Xord.
Gaining Pessimism skills will allow Shulk to gain more defense against the Aether, depending on how many are unlocked.
The following skills will be obtained:
Skill Table - Value
Value is the second and final Skill Table that Shulk will be able to unlock through specific missions.
In particular, this will be obtained by completing one between A Young Captain's Trust and A Young Captain's Revival, both obtainable only by bringing the affinity level with Colony 9 to 4 and a half stars.
Gaining Valor skills will allow Shulk to gain more chance of dealing critical damage, depending on how many are unlocked.
The following skills will be obtained:
Skill when building gems
Depending on the role played during the construction of gems, Shulk will be able to benefit from different bonuses:
- If it will be set as Assistant, will benefit from the skill Fever More, which will increase the likelihood of entering Fever during the creation process.
- If it will be set as Apparel, will have medium affinity for strong and medium fire and good affinity for weak fire.
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