As an avid Xenoblade gamer since the first title‘s release on Nintendo Wii, I live for digging into the nitty gritty stats and mechanics underlying these expansive JRPGs. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 adds fabulous quality-of-life improvements that make previously convoluted systems way more user-friendly. Specifically, the streamlined gem crafting and equipping process opens up tremendous customization potential.
In this guide, I‘ll tap into my decades of Xeno expertise to walk you through the gem forging process. You‘ll learn how to obtain ingredients and combine them to create gems that play to your characters‘ strengths. I‘ll recommend the highest tier gems for attackers, tanks, and supports to help min-max your main party members. Let‘s dive in!
Understanding Xenoblade 3‘s Gem Systems
Crafting gems requires gathering three components:
Ether Cylinders form the base material for every gem. These generic ingredients drop randomly from unique monsters and side quest rewards.
Gemstones come in earth, ice, wind, and fire varieties. They define secondary characteristics like strength, ether, or agility bonuses. Found in chests and normal monster drops.
Specialty Drops are monster-specific materials that determine the gem‘s primary ability. Kill specific enemies to obtain the parts you need for desired gem effects.
You customize and created gems at a Gem Forge. These crafting stations occupy camps and towns across Aionios.
Use the handy auto-build feature to automatically select suitable gems for the current class. This alleviates the headache of pondering which gem perfectly suits your playstyle. The AI picks smart, broadly viable options.
Now the exciting part: Let‘s explore killer high-end gems for different party roles!
Top Damage Gems for Attackers
For heavy hitters like Noah, Eunie, and Sena, prioritize offense-oriented gems that amplify their damage potential:
Steady Striker (IX)
- Effect: 40% increased auto-attack speed
- Where to Obtain: Yumyul‘s Left Fang (drops from Gorleone Lvl 81) + Sizzling Oil + Smoldering Redstone
Faster auto attacks directly translate to higher DPS. Combined with damage buffs from other gems, this consistent boost compounds your overall hurting power.
Analyze Weakness (IX)
- Effect: 70% increased critical hit rate
- Where to Obtain: Cloudsea Dragon Claw (Porkins in Plain of XC2) + Tempestite + Howling Greenstone
Crits add 50% bonus damage per hit. With Axes and Guns already possessing high base crit rates, this gem makes attackers extremely deadly.
Doublestrike (V)
- Effect: 40% chance to attack twice per auto-attack
- Where to Obtain: Vibrant Venom (Venom Arachno in Aetia Region) + Aurora Oil + Calm Bluestone
Landing additional attacks compounds with other auto-attack boosts for scary damage ceilings.
Let‘s compare how these gems stack up statistically:
| Gem | Rank | Effect | Attack Speed Buff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steady Striker | IX | 40% Increased Auto-Attack Speed | 40% |
| Analyze Weakness | IX | 70% Increased Crit Rate | 0% |
| Doublestrike | V | 40% Chance to Attack Twice Per Auto-Attack | 0% |
As you can see, Steady Striker provides a direct 40% attack speed improvement, while the others increase critical chance or hit frequency. By mixing offense-oriented effects, attackers melt through enemies.
Best Gems for Tanks
For tanks like Noah and Miyabi, survivability and protection take priority. We want gems that improve blocking and absorbing damage so they stalwartly defend the rest of the party.
Steel Protection (IX)
- Effect: 30% Increased Block Rate
- Where to Obtain: Mechon Wreckage Plate + Obsidian + Stalwart Brownstone
A staggering 30% block rate empowers tanks to shrug off tons of incoming damage. Combined with already high values for Shield Trooper classes, this makes tanks nearly impenetrable.
Ultimate Counter (V)
- Effect: Retaliates with 280% damage received when blocking an attack
- Where to Obtain: Dented Plate Metal + Aurora Oil + Seething Redstone
Not only does this gem allow tanks to mitigate damage when blocking attacks, it bounces a hefty portion back at the enemy. This delivers excellent threat generation and DPS as icing on the cake.
Brimming Spirit (IX)
- Effect: 70% increased healing potency
- Where to Obtain: Mechon Wreckage Ether Pipe + Pure Water + Tinkling Hailstone
While tanks focus on damage prevention, they also need self-sustainability. Greater healing from this gem gives them additional lasting power. Support healers enjoy this as well.
Analyzing statistically:
| Gem | Rank | Effect | Block Rate Buff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steel Protection | IX | 30% Increased Block Rate | 30% |
| Ultimate Counter | V | Retaliate with 280% Damage Received When Blocking | 0% |
| Brimming Spirit | IX | 70% Increased Healing Potency | 0% |
You can see the synergy here. Block more attacks with Steel Protection, counterattack for major damage using Ultimate Counter, and heal back up with Brimming Spirit. Enemy creatures won‘t know what hit them!
Top Support Gems
For dedicated healers like Eunie and Taion, we want to amp up restorative potency to keep the team fighting. Gems that enhance healing, agility, and elemental offense help round out a robust support build.
Brimming Spirit (IX)
- Effect: 70% increased healing potency
- Where to Obtain: Mechon Wreckage Ether Pipe + Pure Water + Tinkling Hailstone
As previously mentioned, this gem directly improves all healing arts by a whopping 70%. Supports therefore mend HP quicker and achieve better infusion uptimes.
Quick Blade (IX)
- Effect: 35 increased agility
- Where to Obtain: Cloudsea Dragon Claw (Porkins in Plain of XC2) + Vivid Oil + Zephyr Hailstone
Higher agility shortens talent art cooldowns and channel times. It also raises evasion, making supports less likely to have healing interrupted.
Inscribed Fury (IX)
- Effect: 45% increased potential when using element Orb Master arts
- Where to Obtain: Quality Parts Bundle + Pure Water + Calm Bluestone
Most dedicated supports run Orb Master to detonate elemental orbs and trigger chain attacks. This gem makes those crucial arts much more potent to blast enemies with MASSIVE damage.
Here are the vital stats for these exceptional support gems:
| Gem | Rank | Effect | Parallels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brimming Spirit | IX | 70% Increased Healing Potency | Pure Healing Boost |
| Quick Blade | IX | 35 Increased Agility | Cooldown Reduction + Evasion |
| Inscribed Fury | IX | 45% Increased Potential from Orb Master Arts | Damage Amplification |
You can envision how these gems harmonize: Heal more often and harder, enable those heals through agility boosts, and weave deadly elemental attacks between caregiving. Enemy mobs won‘t stand a chance against your enraged supports!
Closing Thoughts on Xenoblade 3 Gems
Hopefully this guide has illuminated the dazzling potential of Xenoblade Chronicles 3‘s gem crafting and equipping system. By properly gearing your party members with complementary gem bonuses, even basic arts become tremendously potent tools capable of massive damage, impenetrable resilience, and tireless sustain.
I suggest crafting an assortment of IX rank gems covering attack, defense, and support capabilities (the ones listed above are perfect). This offers flexibility to tailor bonuses across characters when swapping classes or party lineup. Make use of the excellent auto-build feature to handle the busywork of finding ideal gems for a given role.
Let me know down below if you have any other questions regarding gem setups, favorite characters to optimize, or crafting tips! I‘m happy to provide more specificrecommendations or detail niche builds upon request. Feel free to reach out. And as always, have fun questing across the grand world of Aionios!
