In any case, the Pyra / Mythra reveal made me buy XB2, getting it in the mail tomorrow. Any beginner tips?
-Rex automatically gets fantastic blades so you don't need to give him too many blades (but feel free to give him 2 or 3 good Blades)
-Use Pouch Items as much as possible, especially the ones that lets you recharge your Arts faster. Makes the flow of the battle better.
-Also use aux cores and core chips as much as possible. Your blades also need equipment, not just your drivers! Most of the time I see people complaining about common enemies taking too long to kill is because they completely disregard their blades' equipment.
-Try to go salvaging occassionally (the fishing minigame of this game), it will be one of your biggest sources of money.
-On your drivers' skill trees, you will see an ability unlock "Cancel a driver art with another driver art". It's better to unlock this ASAP because it boosts the flow of battle tremendously.
-Also get the 3 skills that lets you start a battle with the Art already charged on the X, Y and B buttons for the same reason.
-Understand the Attack Cancelling mechanic (activating an art/special as soon as you connect an attack, you will know you have succeeded by a circle appearing in the middle of the screen), as it makes the flow of the battle better by recharging Arts quickly.
-Swapping blades refills their arts palette.
-You can combo into and out of swapping blades.
-Most enemies will aggro you if you aren't 8 levels above them. And look at your environment before taking a step in the wild, or you could get your ass ravaged by a Gorilla 80 levels over you. But the game doesn't really punish you for exploring, so don't be afraid to do it.
-If you are doing lots of sidequests, don't use too much bonus XP at inns unless you really need to, you might end up overleveled.
-Focus on learning the Driver Combo of Break > Topple > Launch > Smash when it's introduced. The sooner you can understand this set up, the better. You can check what arts inflict what status on the arts level up menu.
-Don't waste protocol overdrives on your first playthrough. Especially on common blades. The game only gives you a few. This kinda becomes a non-issue on new game+ where you can buy them.
-DON'T kill the little Arduran in Torigoth until you feed it to Lv.99. He'll become the best Legendary Cores farming spot.
Edit: Common blades are GOOD. There I wrote it with capital letters so you remember. They are useful in all facets of the game: fighting, mercenary missions, field skills, etc. Do NOT disregard them. Don't **** up your team composition and turn say Nia into an awful tank just because you think a common healer blade isn't worth using.