Affinity (XC2)

Affinity is a mechanic in the of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Torna ~ The Golden Country. It represents how well a Driver and are working together while fighting, and is shown by a visible ether line running between the Blade and Driver. At no affinity, the line does not appear. When affinity is low, the line is faint and deeper blue; when it is higher, the line is light blue; and when it is at maximum, the line is bright gold.
Affinity affects a large number of different aspects of combat; when affinity is high, the Driver-Blade pair's capabilities are increased, and vice versa. Affinity is generally raised by doing well in combat; as such, it generally determines the momentum of a fight. When party affinity is high, the fight is going well and will likely continue to go well; when it is low, the fight is generally going poorly and the party may struggle to turn it around.
==Overview==
Affinity is internally parametrised by a value from 0 to 1000, with 0 being minimum affinity and 1000 being maximum. This 0-1000 range is split into 7 partitions when calculating the effects of the current affinity value on the capabilities of the Driver and Blade. The initial value at the start of battle depends on the Blade's personality; it generally varies between 350 and 600, although this value can be increased using various effects. Those brought about by Aux Cores and Skill RAM, such as , affect only the Blade which is active at the start of battle; those brought about by Pouch Items affect all Blades active on a Driver.
The functional and visual effects of maximum and minimum affinity persist to an extent. When maximum affinity (1000) is reached, the effects of maximum affinity begin, and they remain even if affinity drops slightly; affinity must be reduced below 800 to lose the effects. The same is true for minimum affinity; if affinity reaches 0, the effects of minimum affinity remain until it is brought above 199.
The Driver and Blade may call out certain voice lines when reaching certain affinity levels. Upon reaching maximum affinity, the Blade has a special animation; if affinity drops to 0, they have an (interruptible) flinching animation. Affinity will only rise to maximum if the animation is seen; in particular, even if a Blade starts combat at 1000 affinity, they will not have the effects of maximum affinity if (say) a is initiated before they are swapped to (as they will not undergo the animation during the Chain Attack).
===Effects===
Affinity affects the probability of Blade Art activation, the damage of s (aside from level Specials), the rate of s (as an independent multiplier), the Driver/Vanguard's movement speed, and the cooldown of Driver Arts/Vanguard Arts.
Affinity range	Blade Art probability	- Special damage	Crit rate	Movement speed	Driver Art recharge rate
 	+20% 	+25% 	+30% 	+0% 	+25%
 	+10% 	+15% 	+20% 	-10% 	+15%
600-799 	+5% 	+10% 	+10% 	-20% 	+10%
400-599 	+0% 	+0% 	+0% 	-30% 	+0%
200-399 	-5% 	-10% 	-10% 	-40% 	+0%
 	-10% 	-20% 	-20% 	-50% 	+0%
 	-100% 	 	-100% 	-50% 	-10%
====Maximum affinity benefits====
In addition to the above benefits, several discrete beneficial effects occur at maximum affinity:
* The level of all Driver Arts/Vanguard Arts and s is increased by 1, typically increasing their damage ratio and possibly reducing their base cooldown. This is the only way to use Driver Arts and Specials at level 6 (if they were at level 5 beforehand).
* Level Specials can be charged over time, by building the Special gauge to level , keeping the Driver and Blade close to one another (such that the visual affinity link does not break), and not using Driver Arts or Blade Switches.
* Several effects (primarily those of Aux Cores and Battle Skills) are conditional upon the Driver and Blade being at maximum affinity.
* Ending a battle with maximum affinity increases the trust of the relevant Blade(s) by 10. This can be increased using the Heart Compass and the Telepathic Bell.
====Minimum affinity detriments====
At minimum affinity, in addition to the effects listed above, several interactions between the Driver and Blade are disabled:
* The Special gauge drops to 0 and cannot be increased.
* rate reduces to 0.
* dealt is halved.
* Damage taken is increased by 50%.
===Raising and lowering affinity===
A number of events mid-combat may increase or decrease affinity. Some such events change only the affinity of the relevant Driver-Blade pair; others change the affinity of all Driver-Blade pairs currently active in the party. In all cases, only the Blades currently on the field are affected.
The amount of affinity gained/lost varies depending upon the trust of the Blade; higher trust often corresponds to greater affinity gains and lesser affinity losses. Affinity gains and losses are also affected by a Blade's personality (see below), and losses are decreased by certain Pouch Items (particularly Textiles).
Besides the following global triggers, many enhancement effects (e.g. that of the Cheer Treat) may increase affinity gained or lost in certain situations, or directly grant it in others.
====Events which raise Affinity====
Action 	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Trust	Affected Driver
Action 	E 	D 	C 	B 	A 	S 	S1 	S2 	S3 	S4 	S5 	S6 	S7 	S8 	S9 	S+ 	Affected Driver
Enemy defeated 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	50 	All
Party member lands a 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	5 	Single
used 	24 	24 	25 	25 	26 	26 	27 	27 	27 	28 	28 	28 	29 	29 	29 	31 	All
Enemy attack ed or missedEvasion, e.g. due to Driver Arts such as Azure II: Judgment, does not count.	8 	10 	11 	11 	12 	12 	13 	13 	13 	14 	14 	14 	15 	15 	15 	16 	Single
Ether line visible between Driver and Blade (increases every second) 	10 	10 	10 	11 	11 	11 	11 	11 	11 	12 	12 	12 	13 	13 	13 	14 	Single
Target enemy's al weakness with a Driver Art 	8 	8 	9 	9 	10 	10 	11 	11 	11 	12 	12 	12 	13 	13 	13 	15 	Single
Driver Art used 	16 	16 	17 	17 	18 	18 	19 	19 	19 	20 	20 	20 	21 	21 	21 	23 	Single
Stage 3 Blade Combo inflicted on enemy 	40 	41 	42 	43 	44 	45 	46 	47 	48 	49 	50 	51 	52 	53 	54 	55 	All
inflicted on enemy 	40 	41 	42 	43 	44 	45 	46 	47 	48 	49 	50 	51 	52 	53 	54 	55 	All
"GOOD!" button challenge 	12 	12 	13 	13 	14 	14 	15 	15 	15 	16 	16 	16 	17 	17 	17 	18 	All
"COOL!" button challenge 	20 	21 	22 	23 	24 	25 	26 	27 	28 	29 	30 	31 	32 	33 	34 	35 	All
"EXCELLENT!" button challenge 	28 	30 	32 	34 	36 	38 	39 	40 	41 	42 	43 	44 	45 	46 	47 	48 	All
====Events which lower Affinity====
Action 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Trust 	Affected Driver
Action 	E 	D 	C 	B 	A 	S 	S1 	S2 	S3 	S4 	S5 	S6 	S7 	S8 	S9 	S+ 	Affected Driver
Enemy lands a 	-10 	-9 	-8 	-7 	-6 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	Single
Enemy dodges an attack 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	-1 	Single
Enemy targets party member's al weakness 	-10 	-9 	-8 	-7 	-6 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	Single
Enemy blocks an attack 	-10 	-9 	-8 	-7 	-6 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	-5 	Single
Driver Affinity will not drop to 0 due to incapacitation, it will only be lowered to 1.	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	-400 	Single
Ether line broken between Driver and Blade (every second) 	-30 	-29 	-28 	-27 	-26 	-25 	-20 	-20 	-20 	-20 	-20 	-20 	-20 	-20 	-20 	-20 	Single
Blade Combo stage inflicted on party member 	-40 	-38 	-36 	-34 	-32 	-30 	-30 	-30 	-30 	-30 	-30 	-30 	-30 	-30 	-30 	-30 	All
inflicted on party member 	-25 	-23 	-21 	-19 	-17 	-15 	-15 	-15 	-15 	-15 	-15 	-15 	-15 	-15 	-15 	-15 	All
Affinity Down inflicted 	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Varies based on level of effect (see Affinity Down page for details)	Single
====Personality====
A 's personality in main-game Xenoblade Chronicles 2 determines the default amount of affinity they start with in each battle (which can be further modified by effects such as that of and ), and modifies how much affinity is gained and/or lost via the events given above. In Torna ~ The Golden Country, these values are determined by the personality of the character in the Rear Guard.
 Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Blade	Starting affinity	Affinity gain modifier	Affinity loss modifier
 Torna ~ The Golden Country
Character	Starting affinity	Affinity gain modifier	Affinity loss modifier
As the personality of a common Blade is randomly determined, they have varying battle start affinities and affinity modifiers. The personality of a common Blade also determines the voice they use; as such, their voicelines can be used to identify the personality, and thus the starting affinity and modifiers. The list below uses the easy-to-identify voiceline which plays when the Blade is equipped in the "Equip Blades" menu for identification.
Note that the same line is often said by Blades of different personality; however, the delivery is different between different personalities (see the embedded audio clips for comparison). Blades which say the same voicelines often, but not always, have the same affinity modifiers.
 Common Blades
Voice ID	Voiceline when equipped	Starting affinity	Affinity gain modifier	Affinity loss modifier
===Regional effects===
Affinity cannot be raised to its maximum level in certain regions. Specifically, it is capped at 900 in the Spirit Crucible Elpys between the Bone Road and the Grave Robbers' Haunt, and at 700 below the Grave Robbers' Haunt. This does not apply to Artificial Blades (the Poppi forms and ) or to cameo characters (, , and ), who may raise Affinity to the maximum of 1000 in all locations.
==Strategy==
==In other languages==
==Gallery==
===Screenshots===
No Affinity (XC2).jpg|The thread between Driver and Blade is cut at no Affinity
Blade reaches max Affinity.jpg|A Blade reaches max Affinity with its Driver
Max Affinity (XC2).jpg|The golden thread at max Affinity
===Tutorials===
====Xenoblade Chronicles 2====
Affinity Tutorial (XC2) 1.jpg|Affinity Tutorial part 1
Affinity Tutorial (XC2) 2.jpg|Affinity Tutorial part 2
Affinity Tutorial (XC2) 3.jpg|Affinity Tutorial part 3
Affinity Tutorial (XC2) 4.jpg|Affinity Tutorial part 4
Affinity Tutorial (XC2) 5.jpg|Affinity Tutorial part 5
Affinity Tutorial (XC2) 6.jpg|Affinity Tutorial part 6
====Torna ~ The Golden Country====
Affinity Tutorial Tip (TTGC).jpg|Tutorial Tip for Affinity
Category:Battle mechanics (XC2)Category:Battle mechanics (TTGC)