Affinity Chart (XC2)

Affinity Chart is a gameplay mechanic in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Torna ~ The Golden Country. In a character's Affinity Chart, nodes can be unlocked, having different effects depending on whether they are a Driver or a . Playable Drivers and their equippable Blades both possess at least one Affinity Chart.
==Drivers==
Each playable Driver in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Torna ~ The Golden Country has two Affinity Charts, an overt one available from the moment they join the party, and an hidden one that unlocks during . Every nodes on a Driver's Affinity Chart can be unlocked using s, with the amount needed depending on the node itself. These nodes, also referred to as skills, are sorted into three rows of five skills. Most of the nodes unlocked will either give a permanent s boost to a Driver's stat, such as increasing by 20, or a passive effect, such as increasing the charge when dealing s.
A few nodes will instead unlock a new ability altogether, such as the ability to Driver Arts into other Driver Arts, found on every Drivers' overt chart. Zeke can unlock an ability unique to himself in his hidden chart, Unleash Shining Justice.
By default, only the first row of a Driver's chart is unlocked, with the second row unlocking after a total of two skills are unlocked, and the third row after a total of five skills are unlocked. A skill in the second and third row can only be unlocked if the skills in the rows below them are unlocked.
===Rewards for completion===
In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, fully completing a Driver's overt or hidden Affinity Chart will award an Overdrive Protocol.
In Torna ~ The Golden Country, fully completing a Driver's hidden Affinity Chart will award a different accessory for each of them:
*A Master Scope for Lora
*An legendary Abyss Masque for Addam
*A legendary Survivor's Footgear for Hugo
==Blades==
Each Blade in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Torna ~ The Golden Country has one Affinity Chart, with the exception of Dagas who has a weak version after awakening him that changes to a strong version near the end of his Blade Quest. Unlike their Drivers, Blades do not require SPs to unlock nodes, also known as Affinity rewards, on their Affinity Charts, instead requiring a mix of another resource, Trust, as well as conditions specific to each node to unlock them.
Each Blade's chart has five rows, each with a Key Affinity reward and a maximum of nine regular Affinty rewards in a row, though some may contain fewer nodes. Only the first row is unlocked by default, with the other rows needing its Key Affinity reward to be completed to make all of the row's nodes available. Most Key Affinity rewards are unlocked by reaching a certain amount of Trust with a Blade, though some Rare Blades require to view a specific , complete a specific or complete a set of tasks specific to the Blade. The chart is further split into three sides. 
The left side of the chart, the first three Affinity rewards of a horizontal row, colored red, will upgrade the Blade's s, with each vertical row corresponding to a Special, starting with level 1 and ending with level 3. Unlocking a Special's node will upgrade its attached secondary effect, as well as increase its ratio. The only exception is all three forms of Poppi, where only the damage ratio is increased as the secondary effect is determined by Poppiswap.
The middle of the chart, the yellow colored nodes, will upgrade one of the Blade's Battle Skill, with each vertical row corresponding to one of its three Battle Skills.
The right side of the chart, the green colored nodes, will upgrade one of the Blade's , with each vertical row corresponding to one of its three Field Skills. Unlike the other two sides, this one can have "holes" in the Affinity Chart, as most Field Skills only have a maximum of three levels.
Unlike Rare or Legendary Blades, Common Blades can have fewer Battle Skills and Field Skills, resulting in fewer nodes on their Affinity Charts. Furthermore, their Battle and Field skills may have fewer levels that can be unlocked. As an example, while has three nodes of Water Mastery, a Common Blade may have only one or two nodes on its Affinity Chart.
In the field, whenever a condition to unlock an affinity reward is fulfilled, a notification on the right hand side of the screen will appear, showing the Blade. Its Affinity Chart must be opened in order for the node to be considered unlocked.
Sending a Blade on a Merc Mission will progress, if possible, the unlock condition of some of its affinity rewards. A list of conditions that cannot be progressed this way can be found here.
===Rewards for completion===
In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, fully unlocking a Blade's Affinity Chart will award a "weaponry" key item, with what kind of key item and its quantity depending on the Blade's rarity:
*A one crown Blade will award one Weaponry for Noobs
*A two crown Blade will award three Weaponry for Noobs
*A three crown Blade will award two Intermediate Weaponry
*A four crown Blade will award three Intermediate Weaponry
*A Legendary Blade or Rare Blade will award two Intermediate Weaponry and one Ultimate Weaponry
In Torna ~ The Golden Country, fully unlocking a Blade's Affinity Chart will award a specific Aux Core:
In both games, a Blade whose Affinity Chart was fully completed will increase its Trust rank from A to S. Releasing a four crown Common Blade with a fully completed Affinity Chart will yield one Overdrive Protocol and is the only repeatable way to get more outside of New Game Plus.
===Strategy===
Completing Merc Missions will progress some of the affinity reward conditions of the participating Blades. As such, doing so is a way to quickly progress Blades' Affinity Charts while doing other things, such as quests or progressing the story. However, most repeatable missions have a base completion time of at least 30 minutes, which can make the process slow depending on how many suggested Field Skills are in the squad.
This is solved by sending the Blades on Merc Missions specific to Ursula's Blade Quest Bearing Her Soul, which are both repeatable and with a base duration of 10 minutes. , , and s' duration can be brought down to 2 minutes, become available early on, as soon as the Merc Group is unlocked in provided Ursula was awakened, do not disappear after completing the quest, and progress on unlocking them carries on into New Game Plus.
===List of conditions===
====In Xenoblade Chronicles 2====
====In Torna ~ The Golden Country====
==In other languages==
==Gallery==
===Xenoblade Chronicles 2===
====Screenshots====
Rex Hidden Affinity Chart.jpg|Rex's hidden Affinity Chart
Common Blade 17 Affinity rewards.jpg|A low rarity Common Blade's Affinity Chart
Affinity Reward notification (Key Affinity).jpg|Notification that a Key Affinity reward was unlocked
Affinity Reward notification (node).jpg|Notification that an Affinity reward node was unlocked
Completed Blade Affinity Chart.jpg|Message when a Blade's Affinity Chart is completed
Completed Blade Affinity Chart item reward.jpg|Item reward from completing a Rare Blade's Affinity Chart
====Tutorials====
Affinity Chart Tutorial (XC2) 1.jpg|Affinity Chart tutorial
Affinity Chart Tutorial (XC2) 2.jpg|Affinity Chart tutorial
Affinity Chart Tutorial (XC2) 3.jpg|Affinity Chart tutorial
Affinity Chart Tutorial (XC2) 4.jpg|Affinity Chart tutorial
===Torna ~ The Golden Country===
Strengthening Blade Tutorial (TTGC) 1.jpg|Blade Affinity Chart tutorial
Strengthening Blade Tutorial (TTGC) 2.jpg|Blade Affinity Chart tutorial
Affinity Chart Tutorial (TTGC) 1.jpg|Blade Affinity Chart tutorial
Affinity Chart Tutorial (TTGC) 2.jpg|Blade Affinity Chart tutorial
Affinity Chart Tutorial (TTGC) 3.jpg|Blade Affinity Chart tutorial
Affinity Chart Tutorial Tip (TTGC).jpg|Blade Affinity Chart tutorial tip
Strengthening Blade Tutorial Tip (TTGC).jpg|Tutorial tip mentioning the Affinity Chart as a way to strenghthen Blades
Gameplay mechanicsGameplay mechanics