Ancient Daedala is probably the first true test of the superbosses in Xenoblade Chronicles, as it has some extra dangers to it when compared to Final Marcus. You will be able to find Ancient Daedala stalking the beach on Fallen Arm, where you first landed (Jifum Beach). You will definitely want to use all of the preparations made thus far, since Daedalus will make your life tougher than usual. The biggest problem with this battle, from the start, is that Ancient Daedala is a Mechon. That means you will need one of two things, either Shulk to participate in the battle or equip Anti-Mechon weapons. The best thing to do is have Shulk participate in battle, as the Anti-Mechon weapons are not the best and you might have to forfeit some gem slots to equip them.
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Laser - A long-distance Ether Art that hits in a straight line and causes Knockback. Daedala will always use this as the opener whenever it aggros.
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Bolt Screw - Physical-based Art that deals medium-high damage and hits a single target and can cause Blowdown, as well as Daze.
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Rivoluzione - Physical-based Art that deals medium damage, causes Knockback, and possibly inflicts Bleed. It only hits a single target.
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Conquista X - Daedala’s Talent Art. It hits a single target for medium damage, and can inflict Bleed.
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Vento - A low-medium damage Physical-based Art that hits in a frontal arc and can cause Topple.
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Strano - A single target Physical-based Art, dealing medium or so damage, that can inflict Max HP Down. This move will only be used if the target that has aggro is Toppled.
Taking into account the fact that Ancient Daedala is a Mechon already, let’s dive into the actual battle. It has a massive damage spike shield of 1,260 damage, so you will definitely want a Spike Defence gem on everyone participating, especially the AI characters. Also, having a Debuff Resist gem on everyone is ideal to avoid stuff like Bleed and especially the Max HP Down debuff, as that makes things a lot worse. While you can’t switch characters in battle to move them around, hopefully the AI is smart enough to not stand in front of the enemy (save for whomever has aggro, of course) to get hit by Vento.
Of course, you can run a Topple Resist gem on your characters to avoid that happening, which will also prevent Strano from being used at all. At around 30% HP remaining, Ancient Daedala will enter a crazed state, which will grant it some buffs. Specifically, this crazed aura gives Daedala Strength Up and Haste, meaning it will hit harder and use Auto-Attacks more often. You can do one of two things here, but it entirely depends on who you brought to the battle. Both Shulk and Melia can dispel the crazed aura with Monado Purge and Mind Blast, respectively, but Ancient Daedala has a chance to resist the effect, so it might not work all of the time.
The other option for the crazed aura is to just endure it. This might be challenging, but it’s a good idea to save your Party Gauge for revivals in this instance. At level 105, Ancient Daedala might be the first superboss that requires the Night Vision gems be equipped on your character. Considering it is the only enemy in the game that drops Night Vision V crystals (to make Rank VI gems), that means you will need Night Vision V gems from another source. You can actually trade for Night Vision V gems with Scarlen when he’s in Satorl Marsh (requires 5 stars affinity with Central Bionis for him to have it available for trade).
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