Smash (XC2)

Smash is a in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Torna ~ The Golden Country. A character inflicted with Smash falls to the ground (or to the death barrier, if there is no ground beneath them), and they take +50% additional from the inflicting hit which stacks additively with extra damage from Fusion Combos, in addition to a significant burst of damage ("slam damage") when they impact the ground. They cannot attack, evade, or move until they have gotten back up after the fall. Smashing an enemy causes a large HP Potion to spawn, and the enemy drops a portion of their ordinary and items.
Smash is the fourth stage of the Driver Combo; all Smash-inducing attacks require to be inflicted first, be they from enemies or party members.
Smash technically has a nonzero duration, consisting of the time between the Smash-inflicting hit and when the target impacts the ground. During this period, attacks on the target deal +50% damage, like that of the inflicting hit. It is even possible to enact a Fusion Combo by inflicting a Blade Combo stage during this period, although the timing window is so short that doing this deliberately is very inconsistent.
Smash, like the other reactions, is not guaranteed to be inflicted. The chance of a Smash occurring is given by the reaction infliction formula.
==Slam damage==
When a Smashed character impacts the ground, they take an extra hit of damage. This is directly proportional to the damage of the Smash-inflicting hit and increases based upon the duration remaining on the timer at the time of smashing. See Damage (XC2)#Smash for the full damage calculation.
==Damage over time increase==
If an enemy has a Blade Combo stage with a damage over time (DOT) effect, Smashing the enemy increases the damage dealt per tick. The value by which it is increased is a portion of the original DOT's damage (75% for a stage 1 Blade Combo and 100% for stage 2), ignoring any bonuses to the original damage from Fusion Combos and Blade Combo-boosting effects. See Damage (XC2)#Blade Combos for a detailed description of the damage calculation.
==List of arts that can inflict Smash==
===By party members===
====Xenoblade Chronicles 2====
====Torna ~ The Golden Country====
===By enemies===
==Strategy==
Smash is unlike all of the other Driver Combo stages. However, it shares one key property with them: the target cannot act for a period. Smashing a target provides a big boost to the , , and (from the HP potion) party health; doing so is sure to put the party on the front foot in battle. As such, one will almost always want to Smash a launched enemy, unless they intend to perform a Blade Combo during the Launch instead (the two are often mutually exclusive). Smashing as early into the Launch as possible maximises slam damage, assuming the damage cap is not being reached; on the other hand, Smashing as late as possible maximises the time the enemy spends inactive. There is no one right answer as to which is better.
The slam damage provided by Smash is substantial, but not game-breaking, especially due to the relative ease of reaching the damage cap via other means. Where Smash's destructive power truly shines is in boosting the effect of damage over time. On a strong initial DOT effect, repeated Smashing can easily cause the DOT to reach the damage cap of 999,999 every tick. This is an especially useful damage source on difficulty, where the power of s is greatly reduced.
An entirely different use case for Smash is in farming for Core Crystals and other such desired items. Repeatedly Smashing an enemy can be much more time-effective for obtaining their items than repeatedly killing them. The process is greatly sped up with loot-increasing effects such as that of the Gold Chip and Treasure Wisdom. In these situations, it's often best to optimise the party for dealing as little damage as possible, to minimise downtime due to the target being killed. High- targets are often better for the same reason, especially if they drop additional desired items such as Vampire Bride Marion and .
Smash is very dangerous when inflicted upon party members; it can easily incapacitate in one hit a character not built for tanking. Against enemies which can smash party members, it is useful to keep an eye out for the Smash-inflicting Art and possibly initiate invincibility (often via a Chain Attack) when the enemy uses it.
 has a Driver Art for every Driver which inflicts Smash, and this is essentially always the best option when available, as the weapon is immensely strong and the Arts are very fast. Galactic Strike on is the best of the best, dealing AOE damage and evading attacks (which also recharges Zeke's Driver Arts due to ) while also being consistent on the . In absence of Corvin, is the next best option, being fast, AI-consistent, and often available due to 's short Blade Switch cooldown.
==In other languages==
==Gallery==
Smashed enemy (XC2) 1.jpg|A launched Feris is smashed
Smashed enemy (XC2) 2.jpg|The enemy falls to the ground after a bounce, dropping items in the process