On the planet Mira, you will need the best of the best to survive and help New Los Angeles thrive. With intricate action gameplay, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition has many complex mechanics and elements that make it one of the best Xeno titles.
The most important thing you need to optimize is your party setup. With so many colorful and enjoyable characters to choose from, each with different roles and benefits, it can be hard to know who to use. Some of them, however, stand out from the rest as the best in their role. Here’s how to optimize your party with the best characters.
We have not included the player character in this list despite them often being the most powerful in your party. You have to include them in your party formation, so building your team around them is important.
10
Frye
He’s Drunk And It Shows
This drunken, battle-heavy Samurai Gunner is a decent damage dealer who is great at hitting multiple enemies at once. Frye is an Interceptor BLADE warrior who can be added to your party after chapter four by completing the Bottom’s Up Affinity Mission.
A few things hold Frye back from greatness, and that is his strange lack of the melee arts. His skills and abilities are mainly focused on melee attacks, but he ends up doing more damage with ranged attacks because he doesn’t have access to the strong arts that other melee-focused characters do.
9
Lin
Still Has Room To Grow
The second party member you get access to, Lin, is able to pull her weight through most of the game, and before getting an alternative to her, she is a game-changing party member who is key to a successful team. This young BLADE Outfitter is a Shield Trooper who is automatically unlocked during chapter one.
Lin is easily one of, if not the best, Topple appliers in the game and can take advantage of it with her skill Dirty Fighter, which increases her melee damage to Toppled foes. However, she is not the greatest tank and gets outclassed by other characters. It is still important to have a tank on your team. Lin has some of the highest damage potential of all tanks, but this doesn’t help her role much.
8
Celica
Copious Amounts Of Buffs, But Only For Herself
Psycorruptor is one of the best classes in the game and while Celica may not be the best character with this class, she is still a great addition to any team. This Prospector is a sweet, peaceful person who, weirdly enough, is one of the strongest damage-dealing supports in the game and can be unlocked after chapter nine by completing New in New LA.
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Celica gives ridiculous amounts of buffs using her green and blue arts, but sadly, only to herself. If she could give allies these buffs, she would definitely be broken, but she is still very strong as is, especially during Overdrive, where she can easily rack up damage.
7
L’cirufe
At The Top Of Mira’s Food Chain
This Mira native, known as L, is a tank of a character who may struggle to deal damage but can take even the biggest hits to the face and live with plenty of HP, thanks to his arts and stats. L can be recruited after chapter four and will prove to be a decent replacement for Lin as your main tank.
With many defense-focused arts and two Cloak-focused ones, L can easily take a ton of damage and Taunt foes to keep them on him while he builds TP. He is actually quite good at extending your Overdrive and can even provide some support with a few arts.
6
Alexa
A Skell Piloting Marvel
Skells are some of the best parts of Xenoblade Chronicles X, and nothing is more epic than taking down a massive foe in a giant mech. Some party members even specialize in Skell piloting, and the best is the Outfitter BLADE member Alexa, who can be unlocked after completing the Affinity Mission Weaponized.
While the AI-controlled party members may often be awful at using Skells, wasting fuel, and just letting them get damaged, letting Alexa control one will give you a ridiculous boost in damage. She has a skill named Synchrony, which boosts all of her Skell’s stats when she pilots one and can be very lethal with the right Skell.
5
Mia
An All-Rounded Wonder
If you need someone to do just about anything at any given moment, Mia is the Curator for the job. This Psycorruptor classed BLADE member is able to join your crew after a long quest chain that starts in chapter three and ends in chapter 11 called Mamma Mia!
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Mia is a great all-around in almost every role, from building TP and healing to dealing a ton of damage or even tanking. As long as you build her right, she can do anything. She also has a ton of debuffing arts, which are the core of all her skills.
4
Elma
Saved By The Arts
Despite being unlocked from the start of the game, Elma is still a reliable party member throughout the long journey and can be built easily and early to become a powerhouse of damage that the rest struggle to keep up with.
Compared to late-game party members, she is a bit inconsistent with her damage, having to take advantage of her positioning to really make it count, but she has a signature art that makes her super strong. Ghost Factory is a brilliant art that grants the Decoy effect to Elma and all nearby allies. This effect is absurdly strong, making anyone with it evade all attacks for a certain amount of time.
3
H.B
No One Let Him Know He’s The Best Tank!
If you are looking for someone to draw aggro and tank tons of hits, look no further than H.B. This Pathfinder has the class Shield Trooper and can be unlocked after completing the Affinity Mission A New Rival? available after chapter three.
Even with his massive ego, H.B is the best Shield in the game, mainly because of his useful skillset and TP generation. His arts are excellent at drawing aggro as well as Toppling foes, and his Trash Talk art, which can quickly Taunt foes to protect his allies.
2
Nagi
The Legend Of NLA
This late-game Duelist is someone with whom you get well acquainted from the start of your journey as one of the high-ranking NLA Defense members. He can be unlocked after clearing the Story Mission in chapter eight, The Gathering Storm, by completing the Affinity Mission Nagi’s Time, and trust us, you will not want to miss out on having him on your team.
Nagi is strong for many reasons, including being one of the few party members to have five skill slots, but his signature arts, Blossom Dance and True Stream Edge, are one of the biggest reasons. These arts both do exceptionally well against groups and large tyrant enemies, respectively, and Blossom Dance, with the right build, can even one-shot the toughest of foes.
1
Irina
The Power Of Support
One party member you almost need to have at all times is Irina. This BLADE Interceptor, who is awful with pets, is a Psycorruptor who can be unlocked after completing chapter three and talking to her in NLA. Once you have her, you may never want to take her out of your party setup.
Irina is the queen of support, being able to heal and buff through her arts and also boost evasion while gaining massive amounts of TP. But that’s not all. With certain builds, Irina can deal with tons of damage while still being able to provide more than enough support.
- Released
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March 20, 2025
- Developer(s)
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Monolith Soft
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op
- ESRB
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Teen // Animated Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Nintendo Switch Release Date
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March 20, 2025
- Number of Players
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1 (Single-Player), 1-32 (Multiplayer)