character screen with a woman in red and black armor wielding two swords on the right and the words " Hero Added. Noponic Champion Ino" set to the left.

Screenshot via Nintendo

How To Upgrade Ino In Xenoblade Chronicles 3

This mechanical Hero runs on a very special kind of oil.

Hayden Epstein

Published: Oct 18, 2022 04:56 pm

Ino is the latest Hero to join Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but she’s a little bit different from the other optional party members. For starters, Ino has lived around Nopon all her life, so she speaks with their odd cadence. She’s also made entirely of mechanical parts, which has profound story implications and affects Ino’s progression system.

How To Upgrade Ino

character progression screen with a grid of upgrade on the left, a woman with green hair in red and black armor in the middle, and a detailed description of the highlighted ability on the right — Screenshot via Nintendo

Most Hero characters in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 have static equipment, skills, and stats that go up whenever they gain a level. They’re like permanent guest characters that you don’t have much control over in terms of progression. Ino, however, is a little bit different.

She has a unique menu called Inoswap, a skill-tree-like system that allows players to upgrade Ino’s various Skills, Abilities, and stats. To do so, players will need High Ether Cylinders, a new consumable contained within Ether Spheres scattered throughout the world. You’ll need to defeat enemies guarding the Spheres before claiming the High Ether for yourself.

Each Ether Sphere rewards a different amount of High Ether, and each Inoswap icon requires different amounts depending on the upgrade. On the plus side, the Ether Spheres do regenerate over time, though they’ll never give out as much High Ether as they did on the first harvest.

Upgrading the High Ether Cylinder+

a woman with green hair and red and black armor in a head and shoulders shot. text at the bottom reads "HD Ether Cylinder + improved. You can now gather more High Ether." — Screenshot via Nintendo

The team stores all their High Ether in the High Ether Cylinder+, which Ino gives you during her initial quest. The Cylinder doesn’t hold much High Ether at first, but you can upgrade its storage capacity to hold even more. After unlocking Ino as a party member, you’ll unlock the related quest Going Full HD. To begin the quest, head to the Namba Mound Camp in the Fornis Region and speak to Sunny and Cheerio.

The Nopon merchants will tell you that Totoma is the only one skilled enough to upgrade the Cylinder. Before you leave to talk to Totoma, they’ll give you a unique item that unlocks the first Cylinder upgrade. Totoma is also at the Namba Mound Camp, just past the campfire. After Totoma unlocks the first storage upgrade, you’ll need to donate resources to unlock subsequent enhancements. Different items contribute different percentages, and each upgrade tier requires a different set of resource items.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Waves 1 and 2 of the Expansion Pass are available now for the Nintendo Switch.

Author

Hayden Epstein

Hayden is an avid gamer, writer, fitness enthusiast, and fan of speaking in the third person. He dabbles in most game genres, but his heart belongs to JRPGs. When not gaming, Hayden can be found working out, reading, watching television, or getting into heated political arguments with bots on Twitter.