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H.B. makesquitethe first impression inXenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, immediately asserting his superiority over the player character and re-assigning them more menial tasks, better befitting their alleged station. If this rubs you, the player, the wrong way, just know that his vanity ultimately proves rather hilarious.
That aside, H.B. is one of Xenoblade Chronicles X’s plethora of recruitable party members, and recruit him you shall - so long as you perform to his expectations. The veteran BLADE holds nothing back here, so you’ll be making a cross-continental trip by the end of the mission. Here’s how to get on H.B.’s good side.
How To Start ‘A New Rival?’
Before you can begin’A New Rival', H.B.’s recruitment mission, you need to have completedChapter 3’s Main Mission, ‘Builders of a Legacy’. Wrapping that up alsoopens up a fair bit of the game, in fact, so you’ll be faced with plenty of new quests to tackle alongside H.B.’s.
Therequired level is 12for ‘A New Rival’, butwe recommend 16 or so. You’ll be sent into an area that’s a bit tough by early-game standards, and a good deal out of the way at this point, too.
Head toBLADE Concourse, and over toMission Control.Interact with the Affinity Mission iconhere in order to get started. A cutscene will commence in which H.B. is introduced, and he’ll assume responsibility for the mission you’ve (implied to have) chosen - rather arrogantly, at that.
Instead, H.B. benevolently provides you withthree objectives. These are presented as some sort of race, butthere’s no time limit involved, so take your time. Just remember thatyou cannot cancel an Affinity Mission once it’s begun.
Of Installation, Research, And Miranium
Now, let’s talk about those objectives he’s hoisted upon you:
The map should point you toward your destination forInstallation, but just in case you’re having difficulties,Sayram Lake is situated north of West Gate Plain.
As forResearch, just make sure you’ve installed aResearch Probeonce a Basic Probe has been established at a suitable location.Do so at multiple locations to increase your overall revenue, and once your income arrives, there’s a good chance it will contain 3,000 credits or greater.
If you’re having issues here,ensure you’re using your highest-quality Research Probes available. We managed to get well over 3,000 credits from the lowest version, but the higher, the better. you’re able to alwayscheck FrontierNav to see your overall Research Probe income.
Miraniumis easy-peasy, since900 Miranium should arrive from Mining Probesin no time - you simply need to have one or two established atsites which the FrontierNav lists as containing Miranium.
Head back to H.B., who is hanging out where you initially found him.
Finishing The Mission
Another amusing cutscene follows, and your new objective is toreach Rust Lake, which is located inNoctilum.
The bad news is that, if you’re doing this mission as soon as it’s available,there’s a good chance you’ve not explored Noctilum yet. The good news is,it’s in southern Noctilum, which means you needn’t venture far into this continentwest of Primordiato achieve your goal.
Make the trip. Once you’ve arrived,approach the objective markerto find a wounded BLADE. Answer H.B. here however you wish - we ignored the poor fellow since the scientist’s life was in immediate danger - andtravel to the second objective marker.
Battle will commence against a singleThieving Dilus. It’s level 15, and whileits attacks can cause a fair deal of pain against characters with lower defensive statsat similar levels, you should bring it down before long, as it’s outnumbered and frankly outgunned.
Interact with the scientistto wrap up the quest.H.B. will now join your partyon a full-time basis, and he’s a rather excellentShield Trooper+.
H.B. In Action
H.B.’s combat focus involvesproviding TP at regular intervals, which can be a great boon during lengthier and more involved encounters. As a Shield Trooper+, he’s alsoa sturdy tank.
Since Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition breaks from the original version in allowing you to ditch Elma and/or Lin during Main Missions,you’re able to regard H.B. as a suitable Lin replacementthere (and in any other quests) whenever you feel like shaking things up.
