Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Patch 1.3.1 adds new quests, first tease of new DLC blades

Version 1.3 for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 launched earlier this month and added a bunch of features such as New Game Plus and the ability to skip blade resonation sequences. This month's follow-up update is a little less glamorous, more focused on fixing some niggling quest related bugs, but comes with a nice slew of fixes and a small smattering of new quests for Expansion Pass owners.

More exciting is our first tease at the new Blades and features yet to come with upcoming add-ons. The expansion pass section of the in-game menu now contains some teasers for upcoming DLC blades as well as the impending challenge battle mode. These features aren't surprising, they've been listed as part of the DLC roadmap on the game's website since launch, but getting a first look at the silhouettes of the new blades, and the fact that there are seemingly three of them, is the first drip of info since last year. And unlike the blades exclusive to New Game +, we expect these additional characters will be available on initial playthroughs.

Our guess is that the blades will be one of each type: attack, tank, and healer, but everything's speculation at this point.

Here are the full patch notes for the 1.3.1 update:

Version 1.3.1

• Issues Fixed

  • Fixed an issue where common blades resonated to drivers other than Rex were being deleted if the player started a New Game Plus with them assigned to Rex.

    • We apologize, but even if you update your data, you will be unable to restore your common blades.

  • Fixed an issue during New Game Plus where the player was unable to acquire a common blade's affinity gift even after fulfilling the conditions.

  • Fixed an issue where rare blades that were released were unable to rise above trust level S if they resonated with a character again.

    • Downloading the update data will set the trust level at S.

    • In the case that the actual trust level is higher than S, then upon doing something to raise the trust level, it will quickly increase to its actual level.

  • We have addressed the following problems where effects intended to be applied to blades on standby were only effective when they were deployed in battle.

    • Core Chips: Some status up types such as "HP MAX Boost", "Increases the enemy gold drop rate","Increases the enemy item drop rate"

    • Aux Cores: "Hunter's' Chemistry", and "Shoulder to Shoulder"

    • Poppi's Skill RAM: Some status up types such as "HP MAX Boost", "Gold Rush", "Treasure Sensor", "Hunter's Chemistry", and "Shoulder to Shoulder".

    • Common Blade Skills: "Accelerated Growth", "Weaponsmaster", "Gold Rush", and "Treasure Sensor".

  • Fixed an issue where Patroka's Evasion Effect Art wasn't triggering correctly.

  • Fixed an issue where the player couldn't advance in the Gormott quest "Whereabouts Unknown".

  • Fixed an issue where the player couldn't advance in the Uraya quest "Marvelous Mercenaries".

  • Fixed an issue where the player couldn't advance in the Mor Ardain quest "We Meet Again".

  • Fixed an issue where the minimap and compass wouldn't display, and fast travel with the X-button would become unavailable.

  • Fixed an issue where Mythra's 10 percent Ether modifier wasn't being reflected in Rex's Ether attribute display.

    • This problem concerned the display of the modifier; it was being applied.

  • Addressed a problem with crafting field skills such as "Pyra's Cooking" where you couldn't continually make things.

  • Fixed an issue where titles of locations were not displaying when discovering landmarks, locations, and secret areas and viewpoints.

  • Fixed an issue where blades would cycle backwards for Rex when using blade change if Mythra was engaged.

• Changes and New Features

  • An NPC, "Momoni," has been added to chapter one of New Game Plus, to restore your money one time.

    • He will help you when you are unable to buy an Abyss Vest or unable to send funds due to lack of money on-hand.

  • Adjusted the difficulty of some of the boss battles in Chapter Ten of New Game Plus (so that they reflect Rex's level).

  • Now displays the currently held and maximum number of accessories, Aux Cores, and Poppi parts in menus and shops.

  • Added a function to download the second Expansion Pass quest.

  • Added a notification page to the menu that contains information about the Expansion Pass.

  • If the Expansion Pass is removed or deleted from your console, "Continue" can no longer be selected to resume Expansion Pass save data.

  • You will be able to select Continue again once you download the Expansion Pass.

We have a review of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 here, alongside a handful of guides at the game's hub page.