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Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Tiger Tiger Guide: How to play and what you need to know to upgrade Poppi

by RPG Site Staff and Josh Torres on 11 December, 2017

Like any good time-sink RPG, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 features some sweet little mini-games. Perhaps most complicated and important of those featured in Xenoblade 2 is Tiger Tiger, a neat ltitle arcade game that lets you power up Poppi, one of the most important blades in the game.

Early on in chapter 2 of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Rex meets Tora and his artificial Blade, Poppi. She's very different from other Blades in the game. Normally, Blades have preassigned roles, elements, and skills. Poppi, on the other hand, is astoundingly customizable and can tweak all of those aspects about her - with a catch. All of her progression is tied to a little minigame called Tiger Tiger located in Tora's House over at Torigoth.

Tiger Tiger is a simple retro arcade game that has a Nopon diving down into the sea to snatch up a big treasure chest and getting out safely. It's a cool little mini-game, but it also has some great rewards thanks to Poppi.

We've got even more Xenoblade Chronicles 2 assistance if you need it:

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In Tiger-Tiger there are a total of five stages that're gradually unlocked as you progress the main story in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The Nopon will be in a small submarine device that can fire out a hook to hit foes. You'll find a variety of enemies on your way there and some of them have to be killed in specific ways. Here's a list of what to be wary of.

  • Green shark: Can be killed from any side with one hit.
  • Red shark: Can be killed from any side. Usually takes two hits, but some require three hits. Be careful!
  • Sea urchin: Cannot be killed. Will immediately kill you in one hit if you touch it, but they're stationary.
  • Jellyfish: Can be killed only from the top with one hit. They're stationary.
  • Turtle: Can be killed only from the bottom with one hit.
  • Algae: Cannot be killed. Planted either on a surface or on the side of the screen. Sways back and forth, but can damage you.
  • Lobster: Can be killed by firing up to hit it. Usually hiding in between rock tiles ready to swoop down if your ship is beneath it.
  • Angerfish: Can be killed from any side with one hit. Much like lobsters, it'll move swiftly to hit the ship if it's near it.
  • Giant Pirahna: Can be killed by firing down to hit it. They're usually by the big treasure chest down at the bottom within the tiles at later stages. They'll rapidly come up to hit your ship if you get too close.
  • Shrimp: Can be killed from any side with one hit. Will move away from your ship if it gets close. Usually contains a power-up.
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Tiger Tiger Medal Rewards and how to get all of the medals

After a successful stage clear in Tiger Tiger, you can gain special rewards based on your performance. You'll gain bonuses based on three factors: no damage, all Ether Crystals obtained, and all Treasure Chests were picked up. The fourth medal is gained if you acheieved all of those simultaneously in a single run. You'll be receive bonuses to your in-game stage score and Ether rewarded. 

Carefully manuevering throughout the level and familiarizing yourself with its layout is vital to achieving this consistently. Look for these power-ups to help you along the way.

  • X-shaped wrenches: Allows your ship to move diagonally. Randomly located on surfaces.
  • Health Bottles: Heals your ship back to full health. Foes may sometimes drop these.
  • Invincbility Orbs: Gives your ship invulnerability for a limited amount of time. Enemies may sometimes drop these.

Tiger Tiger Secret Areas, how to access them, and their rewards

Some stages in the Tiger Tiger minigame in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 have a very specific layout. A lobster located by two Ether Crystals to the side are usually an indication that a secret area lurks in that stage.

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Once you see that, make your way to the side of the screen and try to move off of it pass the two Ether Crystals. You should end up in a new closed off location with a Nopon spewing out a ton of Ether Crystals and sea urchins. Try to get as many Ether Crystals as you can! If a sea urchin hits you here, it's not an immediate game over. It'll only kick you out of the secret area.

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Tiger Tiger Mods and how to power up Poppi with Parts

As you start accumulating mods and parts with successful Tiger Tiger runs, you'll be able to start tweaking Poppi through the Poppiswap interface. She can be an attacker, healer, or tank depending on what you need from her through the Role CPU option. You can even focus her tanking style on either taking a lot of hits or evading them. From there, you can also change Poppi's elemental affinities by swapping her Elemental Cores. It's all up to you! 

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Poppi's Arts, Skills, and Specials can all be changed as well. The only limiting factor is that everything you equip has an energy cost. In order to expand Poppi's quantity of energy, you'll need to spend Ether Crystals at the Energy Converter option. Opening new Specials and Skill slots also consumes Ether Crystals too.

Additionally, you can spend your Ether Crystals to buy new Role CPUs, Element Cores, Arts, Specials, and Skills. Higher tiers of these will require technical manuals found throughout Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Mods and parts you've obtained can be crystalized for a fraction of the Ether cost and can be freely equipped. If you crystalize an Evasion Mod IV that was rewarded from a Tiger Tiger stage, you won't need a technical manual to equip it for instance.

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Now go out there and become a Tiger Tiger master in Xenoblade Chronicles 2!