Quick Links
The world ofXenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Editionis a big one, yet it is in the density of NLA that you will find the majority of its stories. It is in the individuals that the game shines, both those who are part of your team and otherwise. For example, we have Alexa who is just as obsessed with Skells as the average player may be.
Which is why when she ends up breaking a fellow Blade’s Skell, she makes it her mission to repair it. Except she gets a lot more than she bargained for, including a plot against her own life. Here’s how to complete the What the Skell mission and defeat its most challenging enemies.
How To Start The What The Skell?! Mission
Being one of Alexa’s personal Affinity Missions, you need to have completed her prior one, which involved her recruitment.This is the Weaponized mission, which you could start back in Chapter Four and took you all the way to Sylvalum. You must also beat least level 36, have completed Chapter Nine, and have at least two hearts of affinity with Alexa.
After that laundry list of requirements has been met, you canhead to the Outfitter’s Test Hangarto chat with Alexa who is feeling dejected after a failed weapons test that ended up severely damaging a Skell. Go with her nowto the Administrative Districtso she can offer her formal apologies.
Gathering The Repair Materials
Once you arrive in the Hangar, Mika will be immediately hostile to Alexa after the failed weapons test, saying that she and Camber are out of work now until it’s repaired, and replacement parts are in low supply at the moment. Feeling a personal responsibility to fix this issue,Alexa says she’ll find these new parts herself, no matter what it takes.
Kind soul that you are, you agree to help. Except finding some of these is a bit harder than you might expect. You need to find two items,five Standard Blade Modules and six Pan-Analysis Chips, both of which are found in Cauldros.Just like Weaponized, you are being brought to a region you likely have barely touched yet. Have fun.
Standard Blade Modules
The first set of materials to aim for will be the Standard Blade Modules. These can mainly be acquired fromFleet Shrads, though any Shrad has a chance to drop them. This is important to keep in mind because the game will guide you towards whichever Shrad is closest to you, not the ones that are most likely to drop them.
Some Shrads, such asBlast Shrads, have a very low chance of dropping Standard Blade Modules, so make sure to check the name before you begin battling them.
Instead, you should try toseek out just Fleet Shrads, as they are all but guaranteed to drop Standard Blade Modules. They are of a lower level than other Shrads too, around level 20-25 compared to the level 30 and above Blast Shrads. These can be found abundantly inthe White Phosphor Lake in the north-east corner of Cauldros. Just be careful of the many more powerful enemies around you.
Pan-Analysis Chips
The Pan-Analysis Chips are a much simpler feat as they arejust blue collectibles you can pick up, and the game will mark directly where to find them. Once you’ve picked up six, head on back to Camber.
It is a good strategy toadd the Pan-Analysis Chip to your Collectopedia now before gathering all sixif you haven’t already since the game is showing you exactly where they can be found.
Testing The Sparkjet Rifle
After returning the repair materials, Mika will still be quite cold to Alexa, but not quite as hostile as before. Camber, will comparison, will be much more grateful. With this out of the way,Alexa decides to head over to Tikato see if she has any new weapons tests she can partake in while she’s available.
And of course she does. In fact, this section of the quest is bascially a redux of Alexa’s original Weaponized Affinity Mission.Tika gives you the Sparkjet Riflewhich must be used while battling the selected enemies, and like the Ramjet Rifle, has a hilariously high TP Gain Rating. This time, you must defeat some strong enemies in Sylvalum, and then a Tyrant in Cauldros.
First are theCantors in Sylvalum, which only appear at night. Three must be defeated, though they’re not exceptionally challenging even if you only meet the basic level requirements for the mission. There will be a Shadow Falsaxum nearby that you might want to avoid though.
A fun trick you can use is to battle using your Skells, butleave the character with the Sparkjet rifle without oneso they are forced to fight on foot. This will still count as the Sparkjet Rifle being used to defeat the enemies, so long as it lands at least a single hit on them.
Next will be theTyrant, Rodriguez, the Twin-Tusked. This is a Potamus-type enemy, and so doesn’t have the most powerful attacks, and should be fairly manageable on foot, especially if you’re overleveled. They have no back-up enemies to help them either, so you can focus on them exclusively. The Skell method mentioned above is still applicable here if you’re struggling on foot.
With both objectives complete, you canreturn to Tika and hand back the Sparkjet Rifle.
Finding Eyewitness Accounts
Upon your return, Tika remarks that something seems off about the rifle and demands Alexa discards it as it suddenly explodes. Turns out,all those failed tests weren’t Alexa’s faultat all. Someone is gunning for her to fail. Not quite murder, but close enough to it. Your next tasks is to find out who exactly has it out for Alexa. With how close they seem to be to the tests, they must be nearby.
For now, you must have eyewitness accounts to locate who and where this saboteur is. The first can be foundimmediately outside the Outfitter’s test Hangar. They will say they saw a woman running towards the Diner, so this is your next target.By the storage facility across from the Repenta Diner, another woman will say she say a Blade Operative running towards the Administrative District, exasperated.
Head north along the road, andstop by the red steps downwards to find another witness, claiming a woman from the Outfitter’s Division just rushed down to the lower level. Make your way down and you will see the quest marker above afamiliar face - Mika. Turns out, she was jealous of how much attention Camber was giving Alexa, and wanted to take her out of the picture. The intent wasn’t to kill, but to paint her as a failure.
Alexa, to her credit, is shocked by this. Not by the attempted murder, but by the belief she could love anything but a Skell. She forgives Mika quickly upon the caveat that she gets to pilot her Skell now. As a reward for this series of events, you are given26,000 Credits, 360 EXP, and one of Alexa’s signature Arts, Overclock,for Assault Rifles.
You can alsoskip the eyewitnesses entirely if you wantand go right to Mika’s location, as she appears there as soon as the objective is available.
