Hello, everyone. I know that some think Xeno is a pushover, and I agree. With optimal gear that is. For those who underprepare, Xeno can hit hard and takes a long time to kill. So, I am here to give a Xeno move set, combat tips, and an optimal build against her( note: I call Xeno’jiiva a female, so I will be using those associated pronouns).
ALERT!!! Contains endgame content, so read at your own risk.
Combat tips: Xeno is big, and she has a large amount of health. Her attacks can also deal a fair amount of damage to those who have suboptimal or less than optimal gear.
For starters, eat for health at the Canteen, the Chef’s Choice Platter, to get a health boost. Due to Xeno’s damage table, have your Palico take a poison weapon, I recommend the Rathian Rapier. If the math is correct, you should be able to poison Xeno six times throughout the fight. Each round of poison deals 800 damage to her, so we are looking at a total of 4800 damage. Since Xeno has 15,500 HP this amount of damage is very useful by lessening the time it takes to kill her.
When she enters her second phase, where she starts flying, pack dung pods. They’re useless in deterring her, but if you run out of slinger drops, those will still work.
She has four slinger drops: Slinger thorns, Slinger bombs, dragon pods, and piercing pods. In order to break all of her parts( head, individual forearms, tail, and wings), use these carefully. Use the Slinger thorns in her head to build up a stun. When she’s stunned, hit her wings. Hit her wings with the piercing pods and Slinger bombs, although it is satisfying to shoot a piercing pod from her head to her tail. Dragon pods are useful for shooting her down and for causing a flinch, and aim for her head and forelimbs.
Focus her tail in the first phase, as the tail takes a total of 900 damage to cut, but can’t be cut until phase 2, kind of like how you can’t break Kushala’s, Teostra’s, or Lunastra’s head until they’re at 20% HP. Her tail will be severed on the first hit on it.
Now, for her move set:
Claw swipe: Basic attack. Xeno will look in the direction she will swing, either left or right since this can be done with both hands. She will then swipe in an arcing motion in front of her. This attack will deal, moderate damage, but is blockable with the base sword and shield.
Tail slam: Xeno will only use this attack if the one who she is targeting is behind her. She will then lift her tail up high and then bring it crashing down. This attack is not blockable with the sword and shield. It will deal moderate damage, and it will knock you back. If she is in her critical state (glowing chest) this attack will leave behind an explosion, which will deal moderate damage as well.
Swinging tail slam: Xeno will rarely use this attack. When someone is behind her, she will slam her tail to her left, then swing it across. This attack will deal somewhat heavy damage, and it will leave behind explosions where her tail tip hung over. These explosions will also moderate damage, but they will knock you back.
Body slam: Relatively easy telegraph, as Xeno will stand on her hind legs and roar. She will then come crashing down, moving a bit forward. Standing close to her will cause tremors, which need max tremor resistance to block. However, standing far enough away from her will negate the tremors. Standing behind her hind legs and around her tail area will also leave you safe from this attack.
Charge: Yet another relatively easy telegraph. Xeno will look in your direction, roar, then charge at you. This attack is blockable with the sword and shield and it will deal relatively low damage. However, when she is in her critical state, this charge will leave the ground that she walks over heated, which will burn the player. Standing too long in one of these molten puddles will cause the player to contract fireblight.
Straight beam: Xeno will roar with her head down, then proceeded to fire a straight beam of dragon element energy. Do not block this attack, as it will high damage. Instead, run perpendicular to the beam to safely dodge it.
Sweeping beam: Xeno will angle her body to the side, and her neck will be arched. she will then unleash the beam, only she will start sweeping it in a 180° arc in front of her. standing behind her or to her side will allow you to safely dodge this attack.
Single shot: Xeno will open her mouth, which will start glowing, and then unleash a blast of dragon energy. This blast targets, the one who has her attention, and if they stay where they were, the blast will hit them. The blast is not blockable, and will deal a decent amount of damage. The best way to dodge it is to run perpendicular to the blast.
Triple shot: Xeno will fire a straight shot, then move her head, 45° to her left and unleash another shot. She will then move her head 90 to her right, and fire a third blast. Her head will linger there for a moment, so you can get one or two hits off. in the end, the attack pattern of the attack looks like a cone, or a dinosaur footprint. The best way to dodge this attack is simply run towards Xeno.
Standing beam: Xeno will stand on her hind legs, and begin to fire beam at the ground. where the beam touches, the ground will become molten. She will then not move for a moment before going back on all fours.
Explosive slam: Xeno will only use this attack in her critical state. She will roar, rear up on her hind legs, and slam the ground. This initial slam will cause a small tremor, but isn’t damaging. She will then thrust her hands into the ground, and a violent explosion will erupt from there. You do not want to be hit by this, as without the health boosting meal, you die. With the health boosting meal, you will take a ton of damage at full health. Best way to avoid this is to run away from Xeno when she does this.
Standing beam 2: Xeno will raise her head while on all fours, and you’ll see blue sparks from her mouth. She will then fire a beam, launching herself on her hind legs. She will sweep the beam in a similar pattern to the first Standing beam, only she will fall into the ground afterwards. Keep distance from her when she falls, as it will cause a tremor. Xeno will only use this attack in her critical state, making her chest a weak point and a large one at that. Focus the chest when she’s down until she gets back up.
Take flight: Xeno will take flight. She will then be able to use her aerial attacks. When she takes flight, there are two things to note. One, it generates wind pressure, but doesn’t give her time to attack as you’ll be reset. Two, when she takes flight, that means there are slinger drops somewhere. Find them, and shoot her down. You have to be careful, as every time you hit Xeno while she’s airborne, she will enter a damage animation. You have to wait for her to reset before firing the next shot. It takes 2-4 shots to bring her down, depending on what slinger shot she’s hit with.
Flying shot: Xeno fires a blast of dragon energy at the player. To dodge this attack, don’t stay still. Run in any direction. This attack deals moderate damage and can’t be blocked.
Flying beam: Xeno rarely uses this attack. She will fire a beam directly below her, then lift her head, moving the beam as well. The ground becomes molten when she uses this attack, so be careful. Do not block this attack.
Dive bomb: Xeno raises one of her forelimbs, then flies low to the ground, thrusting her hand into the ground in a swiping motion. The ground will then explode, dealing heavy damage. Do not block this attack.
Returning dive bomb: Xeno will return to the battlefield, crashing down in a similar fashion as to when you first enter her second area.
Arm thrust: Xeno will raise one of her arms, then thrust it down into the ground. A line of explosions will follow up. Being near her front limbs will cause tremors, so run away. This attack has a long telegraph, for Xeno at least, so it gives you time to run away.
Discharge: Xeno will shake for a moment with her head lowered, then roar. This will cause a random burst of dragon energy in the ground. They deal minimal damage, but give you Dragonblight. Use a Nulberry to get rid of it, or have 20 dragon defense.
Roar: Xeno roars. Her roar has an astonishingly large radius, so be wary. However, you are returned to normal before she positions herself to attack you. Xeno will roar at three intervals; when you first enter the area, when she enrages, and at random points throughout the fight. Some of these roars will not need earplugs as they’re non stunning.
Move: Just by moving, Xeno can damage you. It deals minimal damage, but gives you a red health bar.
This is the move set of normal Xeno’jiiva, not Arch Tempered. I know AT Xeno has a few other moves, and is made more dangerous, but I am in the dark until I fight her. As for the boulder traps, use them in the story, but not in any other moment unless it’s AT Xeno. The reason for this is to break all of her parts more efficiently. Each of Xeno’s broken parts, except for the tail, take more damage when broken.
The best for last, my build for hunting and farming Xeno’jiiva. Note that some of this gear is event quest specific, so I will fill in on how to beat them to achieve this loadout. I am a SnS main, but I’m sure it can work well with other weapons:
Head: Dante’s Hair. You can get this by completing Code: Red and obtaining the required materials. Equip a Fire Resistance jewel to it.
Body: Azure Starlord Armor. You can get this by conpleting the USJ: Blazing Azure Stars event and obtaining the required materials. Equip a Jumping Jewel to it.
Arms: Harvest Trama. You can get this by gathering enough Harvest Tickets or whatever they are and obtaining the required materials. Equip a Jumping Jewel and a Dragon Resistance Jewel to it.
Waist: Azure Starlord Tassets. You can get this by completing the USJ: Blazing Azure Stars event and obtaining the required materials. Equip a Blaze Jewel to it( note that I used this in another one of my builds, so there’s probably a better Jewel for it).
Legs: Dante’s Leather Boots. You can get this by completing Code: Red and obtaining the required materials. This is the hardest piece to obtain from the Dante set as one needs a Teostra Gem. I just used a Gold Wyverian Print at the Elder Melder. Equip a Gobbler Jewel and a Fortitude Jewel to it.
Charm: Defense Charm 3. You can get this by crafting and upgrading the Defense Charm with the required materials.
Weapon: Witcher’s Silver Sword. You can get this by beating the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt collaboration quest and crafting it with the Leshen’s materials. Equip a Defense or Attack Jewel to it, as I’ve tried both, but I go with Defense. If you need help beating the Leshen Quest, find my post in the Leshen’s page. It will be the ridiculously long one.
In turn, the skills you will get are Defense Boost 4, Weakness Exploit 3, Handicraft 2, Evade Extender 2, Fire Resistance 1, Dragon Resistance 1, Critical Eye 1, Fortify, Resentment 1, and Speed Eating 1. Upgrade it to maximum, and you’ll have an adequate Xeno farming build. This will also give you more than 20 Fire and Dragon defense, so you don’t need to worry about blights.
That’s all I got. Thank you for taking the time to read this comment, and I would say “May the Sapphire Star light your way”, but Xeno is the Sapphire Star, so… go get her?
