The second wave of Expansion Pass content has launched in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, bringing with it a bevvy of new things for players to engage with.
Perhaps the most important and enticing new addition is the introduction of a new Hero called Ino. Ino is the first of two Heroes being added to Xenoblade Chronicles 3 thanks to the Expansion Pass and she is available in-game right now if you have previously purchased the Expansion Pass. She joins the game with a brand new class, new quests and a new mechanic known as Inoswap. If you’re curious about the second DLC Hero, you can find our other guide on Masha the Lapidarist here.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new Defender Hero Ino in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
Want more Xenoblade Chronicles 3 content? You can find more here on KeenGamer:
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- The Brilliance of Accents in Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3: How To Unlock All Heroes
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3: How To Unlock All Hero Ascension Quests
- 7 Great Changes made in Xenoblade Chronicles 3
How to Unlock Ino
First things first, how do you unlock Ino?
The process is very simple. First, make sure you have purchased the Expansion Pass for Xenoblade Chronicles 3. On the pause menu, there is a specific ‘Expansion Pass’ node that you can interact with and it takes you to a place where you can claim your rewards.
Previously, only Expansion Pass Wave 1 content was available. After updating your game to Version 1.2.0, the Wave 2 section will also be available. Simply click on the Wave 2 section and hit ‘Receive All’ to unlock the associated Hero Quest for Ino.
Expansion Pass Wave 2
You have to have gotten to Chapter 3 before you can begin this quest or the new Challenge Mode quest, as both take place in the middle of the Fornis Region. Ino’s Hero Quest is called Champion of the Nopon and asks you to travel to the Great Idalla Ravine near the Dannagh Desert. You’ll see a strange robotic girl fighting off waves of monsters and the party will jump to her aid – this begins the quest.
This introductory quest teaches you everything you need to know about Ino from her Inoswap mechanic, her fighting style, how Ether Spheres work and more. Once it’s done you can add Artificial Blade Ino to your team.
Her class is the Noponic Champion, a Defender who specialises in dodging and evading to build up damage. This class also gets stronger when you have been KO’d, making it a pretty good pick for endgame content. The class inheritor for Noponic Champion is Noah.
Ino’s Chain Attack Completion Bonus is a 300% damage increase to the damage ratio. Meanwhile her Heroic Chain ability adds 30TP to the lowest TP character on the field and reactivates them if Ino completes the Chain.
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- Violent Overpowering Emotion
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- Noponic Champion
How to Unlock Ino’s Ascension Quest
To unlock Ino’s Ascension Quest, you’ll need to do two things.
The first is to progress enough through the story until the quest becomes available. Most Hero Ascension Quests become active after Chapter 5 and Ino’s is no exception, with a level 48 requirement similar to Juniper’s or Zeon’s Ascension Quests.
The second thing is that you need to get Noah to level 10 with Noponic Champion. If you have already reached the endgame, this is as simple as farming some level 99 enemies at locations such as the Malevolent Hollow. If you are making your way through the game naturally, just play with the class and fight plenty of enemies.
An Artificial Blade
Once both of these objectives have been completed you may return to the Namba Mound Camp in Fornis nearby where you first met Ino. This is where you will come to upgrade your HD+ Cylinder. Once you’re here, it will begin The Hope of Noponkind Ascension Quest.
When you have completed this quest, you will be able to use a level 20 version of Ino and upgrade the Noponic Champion class to level 20. You will also have access to additional Inoswap skills and abilities.
Done and Dusty
Inoswap and High Ether Spheres
One of the most interesting things about Ino is that she is unlike any other Hero in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. She is an Artificial Blade powered by High Ether and because of that, she has a few extra tricks up her sleeve.
The main trick players have to contend with is the Inoswap mechanic. Players familiar with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will recognise the naming scheme, as well as the desired effect of this mechanic pretty well. While not as robust or game-changing as the Poppiswap mechanic could be, the Inoswap mechanic is still an invaluable tool that will make Ino a far stronger unit in your team.
Glug, Glug
What is Inoswap?
Inoswap is a mechanic unique to Ino and can be accessed from the character screen. Similar to the party’s Ouroboros forms, Ino can be upgraded with additional benefits, skills, abilities and boons that will aid her in battle. This includes upgrades to her Arts, bonus damage on her Talent Art, extra abilities and skills and more. If you plan on using Ino in your team, this is a must-use feature.
Some of the best abilities available in Inoswap are:
- Nanomachine Repair: Adds a 25% chance to restore HP by 7% when evading.
- Velocity Gear: All Arts except Talent Art regain 7%% recharge when evading.
- Overclock: Boosts recharge rate by 15% each time the character is incapacitated (to a maximum of 25%).
There are 36 abilities in total to unlock via the Inoswap system. 18 of those are available immediately after unlocking Ino from her Hero Quest. The other 18 are unlocked after you complete Ino’s Hero Ascension quest.
So how do you unlock these abilities and what currencies do you use?
The Inoswap Mechanic
High Ether
The answer is a resource known as High Ether. Specifically for Inoswap, you use something called HD Ether Cylinders +.
High Ether works similarly to how normal Ether works in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. You must harvest it from an Ether Channel to get a random number of Ether Cylinders. Those Cylinders can then power things like Ferronis Hulks and more.
While HD Ether Cylinders work similarly, there are differences. The first is that you must go to a special kind of Ether Channel known as an Ether Sphere – you cannot harvest High Ether from regular Ether Channels. Ether Spheres are big glowing balls of yellow light guarded by various enemies. You have to defeat the enemies before you can harvest the Ether.
There are many different pockets of High Ether Spheres across the map in almost every Region in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. If you previously explored an area, it will show you where you can find High Ether Spheres on the map screen. Once you have mined a channel, it will go dormant for a short while before coming to life again at a later time.
If you want a detailed breakdown of where to find all of the Ether Spheres in each of the regions in Aionios, you can find our guide here on KeenGamer.
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- Ether Sphere
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- Pure High Ether
Upgrading the HD Ether Cylinder +
To make sure you get the best bang for your buck with these High Ether Spheres, you need to upgrade your HD Ether Cylinder.
This item is given to you during the course of Ino’s Hero Quest. Immediately after finishing that quest, you will be given a new standard quest by Ino called Going Full HD. This quest asks you to visit Ino’s Nopon Caravan friends at the Nambda Mound Camp area, where you can find a Nopon who can help upgrade your new Ether Cylinders.
That Nopon is called Totoma and he will upgrade your HD Ether Cylinder + if you bring him the right materials. Much like other upgrades in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, you need to bring him various collectables and resources from around Aionios and its various denizens so you can upgrade the Cylinder.
The high the level of the Cylinder, the more High Ether you can harvest from the Ether Spheres. The highest level that you can raise the HD EtCylindernder + to is Version 5.
Ether Cylinder Upgrades
That is everything you need to know about Ino in the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Expansion Pass.
