dialbest artXenoblade Chronicles 3is a key part of building a complete group, especially on higher difficulties you need to think carefully about how you build each class. Now that Xenoblade 3 has been out for a while, we've updated it so you can find some middle class from Chapter 2 onwards. As always, please note that there will be mild spoilers below.
Early in the game you unlock the option to add a second gear set to your inventory, with more slots unlocked until you reach level 40.
Secondary abilities depend on the class you've unlocked and possibly mastered, so it's worth spending some time (or Nopon Coins) leveling up a few classes, even if you plan on sticking with just one class.
Swordfighter isn't the best attacking class, but it does have some strengths if you're looking for an easy attacking character.
These are basic abilities, but Air Slash and Edge Thrust in particular can still do decent damage:
This build boosts the power of backstab attacks with Night Hunt, while lowering the enemy's defense with No Love Lost.
Violent Flurry is a great option for anyone as it completely ignores enemy defenses, but if you're looking for something a little more powerful, try Ogre's Giant Swipe. Its rebound effect is unsurpassed.
Since the Swordfighter is a featureless class, your best bet is to take the same easy approach for your gems.
Zephyr is a solid defender character at any point in the game, and you can make her even better with the right gear and jewelry.
Zephyr is good at dodging, but also has some unique aggro generating abilities.
Butterfly Knife is the main skill, which increases hate by 70%, so it is always useful.
Air Fang is essential because it will do more damage if the enemy hits you. In some cases, however, it's better to use the glow ring instead of the butterfly, as the glow ring will force an enemy to target you.
Defenders are the most versatile class in Xenoblade 3, as you can add support abilities to them, giving them a better approach to crowd control.
Advanced Cooldown is a key ability here, as it creates a wide field that can boost the defenses of any ally, including you. This is great for defenders.
Energy grenades and hidden spikes help reduce your opponent's health. Grenades deal continuous damage and hidden spikes cause bleeding, which also drains your health.
It's a pretty standard defensive build, but it gets the job done. The presence of danger is especially important, because if enemies attack your healers first, you will be quickly defeated.
The Medi-Gunner is a tough class to start with, especially since its abilities recharge over time instead of automatically attacking.
It's best to focus on support early on, and as more classes unlock, you can turn it into a powerful aether attack class.
In the early stages of the game, careers branch out quite a bit. The Medic Gunner is the only way to temporarily challenge Daze, which is good for combos.
It also has two healing skills and one mastering arts, the latter being the only way to recharge the class talent arts and a lot of healing. Since healing is very limited until Chapter 3, we recommend sticking with the Daze Healing Arts Set.
Later, when you are replacing healing more efficiently, you can swap Maelstrom for Aether Cannon and deal better Aether damage.
It's a strange class and not worth keeping for very long. Much of his best sub-art comes from Tyne's tactician class helping him become a viable support role.
Most healers want the same things, which are better healing and faster recovery when reviving allies.
The Tactician is a better support class than the Medic Gunner, but still struggles with off-frame healing.
This is pretty much just a support build, but it's certainly the most useful in the first few chapters.
Stormy Skies is your standard healing action. You should target your defenders with Misty Figure to keep them alive longer with your evasion boost - a useful addition while your healing ability regenerates - while Avenger Hawk will lower your enemies' dodge.
If you have multiple Aether Attackers in your party, you can also swap out Avenger Hawk for Overflow, as Overflow will lower the enemy's Aether Defense.
Tactics only have one healing skill, so Multiblast is very necessary. Others help to increase the squad's Ether damage output and are a useful way to increase the support team by reducing the health of enemies.
The philosophy here is basically the same as the Medi-Gunner, although if you're going to add weight on the support side, the Swell Gem is a great option.

Mention the "role of the tank", the first thing you can think of is the heavy guard. He's slow, draws aggro, and isn't the best at dealing damage. thissimThe only way you're going to get knocked down for a while, so if you want combos, definitely pay attention to this class.
The best art of heavy guard
- bull run
- outside Aperkat
- Variable tower or rigid stance
Bull Rush is strong anyway, but so is his Topple ability. Uppercut Slash generates aggro and is the strongest skill in this category, but the third slot is a little more flexible.
Variable turrets block all damage but only one enemy. This is great for single-opponent boss fights, but might not be ideal if you're attracting the attention of multiple enemies. Stance reduces your damage output and damage taken by 25%. Heavy Guard no longer deals damage to its main class, so it's an acceptable overall tradeoff.
Art of the Heavy Guard Level 2- broad bar (Zephyr)
- No Love Lost (Strategos) ILI Maximum Voltage (Ogre)
- Giant Swing (Ogre)
The Wide Slash dodge bonus makes it a good choice considering its heavy wings will be under fire most of the time. But Love Lost and Maximum Voltage are interchangeable - the former lowers physical defense, the latter boosts your attack until it becomes unblockable. Max Voltage is great if you're going for hard hits with Giant Swing or Uppercut Slash, though No Love Lost means everyone benefits from softer enemies.
Heavy Ward Gem
- Steel Protection (increases chance to block attacks)
- Ultimate Counter (deals damage when attacked)
- Steady Striker (auto-attack speed increase) or Doublestrike (double-strike possibility with auto-attack)
The first two gems are similar to Zephyr builds and pretty much any defender class you use, but the last appearance is probably more important. Heavy guards are slow occupations. This is good for his core ability, which increases over time, but it means his role in combat is mostly limited to blocking. These two gem options help with that.
Best Ogre Buildings

The Ogre is your second pure attack class and one of the most useful in the entire game, thanks to its status effects and the sheer power of its art.
Best Ogre Art
- big impact
- giant swing
- maximum voltage
The Ogre has already been hit hard and the maximum tension ensures that he will be hit harder for some time. Big Impact knocks enemies down when you're in front of them, which creates a great opportunity to double your attack or heal without being bothered, so Giant Swing is usually just a great heavy hit skill.
minor art ogre- Multi Blast (Field Medic)
- Energy Grenade (Yumsmith)
- Advanced Reload (War Doctor)
This set gives the Ogre more than just damage. As Ogres benefit from frontal attacks, it's a good idea to stay close to defenders, and multiple explosions mean you can help them survive. The same goes for Advanced Cooldown's defensive bounce field, while Energy Grenade is just a nice addition to the damage output.
ogre gem
- Precise Grace (Increases Agility)
- Steady Striker (fastest auto attack)
- Enhancement Combo (attack is stronger when art is cancelled)
Ogre's biggest flaw is that its accuracy is a little off, and Accurate Grace helps to correct that. The Empowered Combo increases the damage and the Steady Striker fixes the hammer attack slowdown.
The best Flash Fencer framework

The Flash Fencer is the first class to offer some worthwhile debuffs, and true to its name, it's much faster than other classes out there.
Best Flash Fencer Art
- empty bar
- hidden thorns
- acceleration
- Hornet (Strategos)
- No Love Lost (Strategos)
- Night Hunt (Stalker)
This build turns Flash Fencer into a powerful secondary attacker. Bumblebee heals nearby allies, Loveless lowers enemy defense, and Night Hunt reduces aggression, which is useful if you use Haste.
Flash Fencer Gems
- Steel Cleaver (increased attack)
- Refined spells (debuffs last longer)
- Lifebringer (increased healing
This set improves Steel Cleaver's attack and adds build support options for the other two.
best field doctor

No matter where you are in the game, the War Medic is one of the best healer classes, although the downside is that it has limited attack potential.
best medical strategy
- cure ball
- multiple shocks
- advanced cooling
Heal Bullet is your basic healing ability, which can be swapped out for Vital Bullet if you prefer to restore health. Multi Blast is the main healing art here, as it heals your attack multiple times upon landing and heals every one nearby. Advanced Cooldown creates a defensive field, which is useful because it ideally slows down the speed at which you need to heal.
medium art war doctor
- reversal (tactical)
- Resistance (Stalker)
- Giant Swing (Ogre)
Overfall reduces the enemy's Aether Defense, allowing your War Medic to deal more damage. Maintaining power creates a field that, if you use art within it, creates an aether blast that hits the enemy you attack. Giant Swing feels a bit random, but the knockback effect is surprisingly useful for stalling enemies.
War Healing Gem
Lifebringer (healing increase) Breath Swell (stronger supplements) Lifebringer Expertise (faster requirement)Since this class is very healing, your gems should also focus on that. If you find that revived allies are knocked down again too quickly, swap Inflating Breath for Soothing Breath.
Best Guardian Commander Buildings

Guardian Commander is a little weird. You either have to build your art around talent art to either increase damage or knock down damage and turn it into a blocking machine. There really isn't a halfway point until late game when you can throw in some support abilities from another defender class.
guardian commander best art
For the damage lane, we recommend this version, the last two abilities are enhanced upon awakening:
- shield bash
- falcon flight
- Edgeworth
If you want to choose defense, you must choose:
- shield bash
- Premenita Poruga
- well protected
Shield Bash is useful anyway because it causes a glitch, which is surprisingly unartistic.
Guardian Commander Secondary Abilities- broad bar (Zephyr)
- reversal (tactical)
- No Love Lost (Strategos)
This allows your Guardian Commander to inflict debuffs on enemies, allowing him to play a secondary role.
Guardian Commander's Jewel
- Dangerous Presence (starts a hate fight)
- Steel shield (increases block rate)
- Ultimate Counter (deals damage when attacked)
In my experience, the Warden Commander is very difficult to be aggressive with, so the presence of danger is mandatory. If you are also having trouble getting the enemy's attention, you can replace Ultimate Counter with Brimming Spirit, which also increases aggro.
best mage build

Thaumaturgist is a talented healer, albeit at the cost of a lot of healing. You may need to supplement with other healers or other skills, but either way, your support skills make you a good choice.
The best art in Thaumaturgist
- Classifier
- inrush current
- divine protection
This build relies more on support. Rank Splitter is her main skill that deals damage and heals at the same time. Leaping Current removes debuffs and increases attack damage for nearby party members, and Divine Protection casts a defense-enhancing field.
If you want to deal more damage, you can exchange Holy Protection for Violent Flurry. He can bypass enemy defenses, which is a nice touch considering the mage's attack is surprisingly high.
Secondary Art Thaumaturgy- fencer
- Advanced Reload (War Doctor)
- Multi Blast (Field Medic)
Advanced Cooldown's defensive effects make your Thaumaturge more valuable as a secondary healer, while Multi Blast makes up for its natural underhealing. Cross Impact provides a power boost, which works well with Violent Flurry, though you can always add a Myopic Screen to help with combos.
magic jewel
Lifebearer (increases healing) Steelcleaver (increases attack) Blessing Blessing (increases gain)This is a pretty standard build that boosts support and healing while giving the Thaumaturgist an extra edge in terms of attack power.
Yumsmith's Best Buildings

Yumsmith is a difficult class to build because all art works well. But if you want a pure strength striker, this build should do the trick.
Best Yumsmith Artwork
- extended bar
- let's go
- determination
This build focuses on Extended Slash, which has an impressive damage multiplier, making it even more powerful if you attack from the front. Cooldown increases critical strike chance - making it the perfect complement to the Raider class - while Resolve increases attack by 150% and reduces damage taken by 25% if you're within a field effect like the cooldown.
Middle Art Yam SmithGiant Swing (Ogre) Max Voltage (Ogre) Never Lost Love (Strategos)Giant Swing adds another powerful attack to your repertoire, while Maximum Voltage amplifies it even further, and No Love Lost softens enemies before you strike.
jade jeweler
Steelcleaver (Attack Boost) Analyze Weakness (Crit Rate Boost) Combo Empowered (Stronger Attack on Art Cancel)Analyze Weakness helps you get the most out of your Cooldown, while Empowered Combo makes both of your attack skills more powerful.
Jaguar's all-metal construction
The Full Metal Jaguar is a textbook attacking character with almost all location-based aggro debuff options and abilities.
Best Jaguar Full Metal Artwork

- quick lock
- destroy
- deadly dam
Both have high damage multipliers, giving them a useful damage boost if you attack from the right direction. The downside is that some of them, especially Deadly Barrage, draw a lot of aggro, so you can trade a Dead Set for one to remove the aggro.
Secondary Art Full Metal Jaguar- Resistance (Stalker)
- Maximum Voltage (Ogre)
- No Love Lost (Strategos)
They create a complete jaguar that lowers enemy defenses and deals extra damage with auto-buffs and a unique art field created by Staying Power.
full metal jaguar jewelry
- Steelcleaver (attack boost)
- Increased combo (stronger art when cancelled)
- Dispels Bloodlust (reduces aggression)
The first two gems in this set are your usual standard attack gems, but Dispelling Bloodthirst is useful if you don't want to use the Dead Set Art slot.
strategy building

Strategos, a debuff-focused version of Thaumaturge, is a class worth unlocking for anyone, even if you don't rank them among them.
The best art of Strategos
- no love lost
- bee
- moon dog
No Love Lost is the best art of its kind, as it deals damage and lowers the enemy's defense. Bumblebee does a lot of aether damage and heals nearby party members, while Moondog creates a health regeneration field, making Strategos better at actual healing than Thaumaturg.
side art strategy- Demolition (Full Metal Jaguar)
- Aether Cannon (Med Cannon)
- Energy Grenade (Yumsmith)
This build allows Strategos to have a bigger impact on the field, with two powerful Aether-based attacks and an ability that creates a sustained damage field. If you like combos, you can trade your Aether Cannon for the Medi-Gunner's Myopia Screen. Make sure you have a character that can use Overfall to lower the enemy's aether defense. Strategists cannot use it.
strategic jewel
- Inflated Courage (strongest debuff)
- Lifebringer (heal booster)
- Dispels Bloodlust (reduces aggression)
Dispeling Bloodthirst is very important if you choose the support skill above, because you will end up attracting a lot of invaders with this build. I chose Swelling Courage to increase the power of the No Love Lost debuff. If you want it to last longer, you can swap Dispel Bloodlust for a Refining spell to get the best of both worlds.
stalker build

In traditional MMO terms, a Stalker would be a sub-DPS. Her abilities are slow and scene-specific, but still do a lot of damage under the right circumstances.
best stalker art
Rapid FireDriving ArrowNoćni lovThe Rapid Shot is your vital hitter in this build, although it is only nominally fast. The art takes a while to launch, but the impressive 465% damage multiplier makes the wait worth it. Driving Arrow causes Bleeding, and while it's weaker than Rapid Shot, Night Hunt helps make it more powerful.
Driving Arrow gets a power boost if you use it against throwing enemies, though I prefer Driving Arrow's bleed effect.
Stalker side art- Multi Blast (Field Medic)
- Demolition (Full Metal Jaguar)
- A Court of the Wind (Solone Exile)
Stalkers have a ton of abilities at their disposal, but this option offers more and more faster attack options as well as additional healing. The added benefit of Gale Slash is that it doesn't increase aggro that much, and while it's a defensive ability, you can change that as well.Shield Bash (Guardian Commander)orTela de myopia (With Gunner)If you need more combination options.
Pursuing Gem
- Doublestrike (can auto-attack twice) or Steady Striker (shorter interval between auto-attacks)
- Increased combo (stronger art when cancelled)
- Steelcleaver (strong attack power)
The kit works by helping them hit the ball more often and ensuringtellwhen they fight.
lonely exile stuff

The lone exile is a unique defender who uses powerful offensive techniques to draw aggro, making picking the best player harder than you might think. He also has fewer traditional defensive options, but the ones he has are very effective.
The best art of lonely exile
You can build your Lost Exile in several ways.
- great white shark
- Explosion
- around the storm
The purpose of this build is to draw attention and use it to punish enemies. Eye of the Storm does twice as much counter damage as you do, and Wind Slash hits enemies that attack it with 70% more power. Dead Jaws increases your damage and increases your aggression.
An alternative structure is:
- demon slayer
- a magnificent storm
- great white shark
Levitation Storm is an important skill here, as it's one of the few skills that launches enemies. this is alsoLevel 10 Mastery of the Arts, so you should try to get each character at least level 10 for easier combos.
The lonely exile of two-dimensional art- broad bar (Zephyr)
- Shieldwall (Lost Vanguard)
- Maximum Voltage (Ogre)
Wide Slash and Shield Wall add much-needed relief to all the aggro its Lone Exile draws. Wide Slash lets you dodge while Art is active, while Shield Wall heals the user while blocking attacks. Maximum tension will only help you hit harder.
Jewel of Solitary Exile
- Steel protection (higher blocking rate)
- Ironclad (HP increase)
- Boost Combo (increase damage when canceling attack)
Lone Exile takes a lot of damage no matter what build you use, and the first two gems in the series should make up for that. The damage bonus for the enhanced set is welcome and more useful than usual, as this build hits more often with a mix of cooldown and hit charge arts.
intrusive construction

The Raider is another class that you can build in two completely different ways, one around critical chance and one with more attack options but lower damage.
best intruder art
Intruders with a critical chance will benefit from:
- a mysterious vision
- air bar
- rattlesnake
Mystical Sight Increases crit chance and damage. Aerial Slash is almost guaranteed to crit, has a high natural damage multiplier, and can dodge while Art is active, so it's a must. Sidewinder increases your critical strike chance by 50% if you attack from behind and is easier to use than Reversal Edge.
Raider's version of the default attack is basically the same, but usessparkling flowInstead of Sidewinder, it allows starting combos by applying interrupts. The downside is that Glitter Stream is weak, soOnly use this option if another party member has the Demolition skill.
arte bidimensionalRaider's assist art selection is a bit odd, but ours is:
- Multi Blast (Field Medic)
- fencer
- Energy Grenade (Yumsmith)
Hidden Thorn's bleed and Energy Grenade's field damage complement the Raider's high critical chance, helping to drain enemies faster. Multi Blast is a perk that helps ease the burden on primary healers. However, if other team members have the demolition skill, you canChange one of them to myopia screenand its stunning effect.
Raider Gem
- Steady Striker (fastest auto attack)
- Steelcleaver (strong attack power)
- Analyze Weaknesses (Stronger Critical Chance)
This gem set is the same set used by Alexandria, and for good reason. Its damage boost and attack speed boost perfectly match the strengths of the class.
Lost Pioneer Building

Lost Vanguard is good at drawing and sustaining aggression and has some powerful attacking abilities.
- Provocative Pulse
- protective wall
- strong beat
Taunt Pulse deals surprisingly high damage and draws aggro for a short time, making it useful for setting up shield walls. I chose Mighty Beat over Shockwave because, while Shockwave is more powerful, Mighty Beat has a crushing effect that helps finish off combos.
The Lost Pioneer of Side ArtGale Slash (Lone Exile) Quickdraw (Full Metal Jaguar) Hidden Thorn (Flash Fencer)Lost Vanguard could use some minor art, but this is a complete series. Gale Slash deals more damage to enemies that attack him, and most do, while Quickdraw lets you dodge and deal a lot of frontal damage. Hidden Thorn is powerful on its own, but the bleed effect helps drain enemies faster. You can also useSolitary Exile StormIf you need to break cheats.
avant-garde lost gem
- Steel shield (increases block rate)
- Dangerous Presence (starts a hate fight)
- Ultimate Counter (deals damage when attacked)
This set only uses defensive gems, as Lost Vanguard blocks more than anything else.
You don't unlock more gem and artifact slots until later in the game, but the first few chapters don't have a lot of class variety. These builds should give you an idea of how to shape your party from the ground up while you're at work.unlock heroand takebest courseor Xenoblade 3.