Talent Art¶

Melia’s Talent Art, Elemental Discharge, is integral to the way the character plays and mastering how to use it is the difference between her being one of the strongest characters in the game to being the worst. Melia’s playstyle revolves around using the Summon Arts to materialize small orbs of Ether, be it Bolt, Flare, Earth, Wind or Ice. She can only hold three above her at a time and as they’re present, they will provide a Buff (or Debuff in the case of Ice) to targets around her. You can however use these charges on the enemy, losing the effect but dealing damage and DoTs to the enemy while filling up her Talent Gauge. Once this reaches max, Melia will go into Elemental Discharge, which will increase the potency of her Discharges by 100% and allow her to use two new Arts, Burst End and Mind Blast. Every time you discharge, there’s a chance that Elemental Discharge will end based on your Tension.

Normal Arts¶

These are all of the normal Arts for Melia, which are learned as she levels up.

Summon Bolt¶

When using Summon Bolt, Melia and nearby targets will gain the Ether Up Buff, an important stat for Melia. Discharge the Summon however and she’ll deal potent damage to an enemy, making this one of her strongest Arts for burst damage, even if the other Arts will do more over time, be sure to keep this on her at all times.

Summon Flare¶

When using Summon Flare, Melia and targets around her will gain a Strength Up Buff. Discharge the Summon however and she’ll deal Blaze damage to targets in an area of effect, inflicting the Blaze DoT on all of them. While Blaze isn’t as potent a DoT as Poison and Chill, when used in conjunction with the others, will really deal some serious pain to your foes.

Spear Break¶

Spear Break is an Art that will most likely get little use when you first learn it. When used, it will knock back the enemy a little while also applying the Slow Debuff on them. This becomes a lot more useful once Melia is Level 44 and learns a useful Art that combos well with it.

Hypnotise¶

Hypnotise is a rather lackluster option, especially when you consider the excellent choice of Arts that Melia has available to her. When used, it will inflict the Sleep Debuff on a single target with a longer cooldown than Tranquilliser. There shouldn’t be too many instances in Xenoblade where you’ll need to waste a slot on this Art for Melia.

Burst End¶

Burst End is the first of Melia’s two Arts that can only be used while under the Elemental Burst Aura (from her Talent Gauge). When used, this will lower the Ether Defence of all the targets around her, useful for characters such as Melia, Riki and Sharla but not useful enough to take up one of her slots.

Mind Blast¶

Mind Blast is the second Art that can only be used when in the Elemental Burst Aura and you’ll learn this during a boss battle in Chapter 7. This is a lot more useful than Burst End as it will deal potent damage to enemies in an arc in front of her while also inflicting Arts Seal. More importantly, like Shulk’s Monado Eater, this has the ability to remove Auras meaning you can use Melia over Shulk for tough encounters like the Telethia.

Shadow Stitch¶

Shadow Stitch is a contender for one of Melia’s least useful Arts. When used, it will inflict Bind on the target, allowing you to move away from it. It can be useful in situations where a battle is going poorly and you need to escape but even then it’s not needed and is a waste of a slot.

Summon Aqua¶

Summon Aqua is the next of Melia’s Summon Arts and it’s unfortunately not a very useful one. When Summoned, it will grant a light HP Regen to targets around her however when Discharged, it will deal light damage and a small self-heal to Melia. It fails as an Art to keep the party healed and it takes up a precious slot of Melia’s so this is another one to ignore.

Healing Gift¶

Healing Gift is the second healing Art for Melia and yet another one that is highly situational. When used, it sacrifices 20% of Melia’s Max HP to restore HP to a target based on it’s Rank. It has a low cooldown which makes it useful but you’ll really have to increase Melia’s HP with Gems to make it viable and it’s a waste of a slot when other characters have better alternatives.

Summon Copy¶

Melia’s next Summon Art is arguably one of the better ones and you should keep it slotted at all times. When used, it will duplicate the last Summon Art you used so long as you don’t already have three out. This allows you to cast two Bolts in quick Succession or use a Summon Earth for both it’s DoT and it’s Buff.

Summon Wind¶

Melia’s next Summon Art is probably the one you’d use for it’s Buff more so than it’s Discharge effect. When Summoned, it will grant targets around her the Agility Up Buff, one of the more useful Buffs in the game. When Discharged, it will deal moderate damage to enemies in a small area of effect so only bring this along if you need it’s Buff rather than for it’s damage.

Starlight Kick¶

As mentioned with Spear Break, Starlight Kick is the Art that turns it into a great Art. When used after Spear Break, Starlight Kick will force any enemy (unless they’re immune) into Topple, so long as Melia doesn’t miss. This is an incredibly powerful tool and is well worth the investment of two slots, especially if you have Reyn or Dunban in your party that can Daze after it.

Summon Earth¶

Summon Earth is arguably Melia’s best Art, dealing potent damage and one of the best Buffs her Summons provides too. When Summoned, it will grant targets around Melia the Physical Damage Reduction Buff (which can be stacked based on the number of Orbs you have Summoned). Discharge the Art however and you’ll deal potent damage along with the Poison DoT, the most powerful DoT in the game. Augment this further with Poison Plus Gems and her Playing with Poison Skill and this Art will do incredible numbers, especially when used along with her other DoTs.

Reflection¶

Reflection is another of Melia’s Arts that is highly situational with its use. When used, it will reflect any attack (outside of a Talent Art) to the source for 5 seconds, this includes Debuffs too. It can be useful against certain enemies but it relies on knowing the battle and even then, you’ll need to be quick enough to apply it before the Art is used.

Power Effect¶

Power Effect is Melia’s only Aura (outside of her Talent Art) and is one that is largely useless. When used, it will expand the range of her Elemental Buffs, something that shouldn’t be needed for 99% of the battles in the game. Melia has many useful Arts so Arts like this are a waste of her slots.

Summon Ice¶

Melia’s final Art, Summon Ice, is one of her most useful ones. When Summoned, it will grant targets around her the Ether Protect Buff increasing their Ether Defence but more importantly, when Discharged, will hit enemies in a large area of effect and apply the Chill DoT. Although not as potent as Poison, it’s the next best and the fact that it hits a group of enemies with this makes this a very powerful Art. Using this alongside Earth and Blaze can make short work of almost any enemy in the game.