So, I'm playing Xenoblade Chronicles for the first time...

[Materia-Blade]

RolStoppable said:

Materia-Blade said:

You don't understand. you can only use so many crystals untill their total value is above 100, right? using characters with low affinity, you can use low value crystals and make sure you don't get a gem, only a crystal with high value. if you use two 90 value crystals, the total is 180 from the go, making it super easy to achieve 200 after the forging. And if you get 300, you end up with a top gem of a higher level than the crystals. example: Using two level V crystals valued 90 each, if the result is 200+ after the forging, I get a level VI gem but if the result is 300+, I get a maximized level VI gem instead.

Looks like I have to explain it again. If I use crystals with the values 15, 14, 13, 12, 20 and 21, then the mix is sitting at a value of 95 and I can still add another crystal.. If I now add a crystal with the value of 85, I end up with a total of 180 which is the same as yours, but without any preceding rounds of forging for the sake of preparation. And since the affinity levels between all of my characters are high (unlike in your party where you kept affinity levels low for your questionable strategy), I have a higher chance than you to have several or even all seven party members chime in during the forging process which in turn increases the chance for a maximized level VI gem.

There's no point whatsoever to keep affinity levels low in this game. High is always better, no exceptions.

You got it completely wrong.

"If I use crystals with the values 15, 14, 13, 12, 20 and 21"

I corrected my post regarding this. Sure, you can use lower value crystals + a high value one (it's what I did). But high value crystals are hard to find, so you can mass produce then with low affinity forging.

Besides, forging only needs TWO characters. I only left the affinity low for two of my characters, so I could keep doing this trick. I used shulk and reyn when I wanted to forge the maxed gems.