____________________________________________________________________________
/                                                                            \
| Game Mechanics                                                    [MECHS] |
\____________________________________________________________________________/
\                                                                          /
  \                                Menus                          [MEC01] /
  \______________________________________________________________________/

This section will very briefly explain the game's menus. Full information is
in the sections below.

Main Menu:
* New Game - Start a new game, from scratch. New Game Plus appears here.
* Continue - Start the game from a saved file.
* Options - Modify some of the game's settings.
      * Language - English/Japanese - Select the game's voice over language.
      * Brightness - Normal/Bright/Brighter/Brightest/Dark - Select the
        brightness of the game.
      * Controls - Display/Hide - Show or hide in-game control information.
      * Art Descriptions - Display/Hide - Show or hide in-battle Art
        information.
      * Enemy Icons - Display/Hide - Show or hide monsters' strength and type
        information.
      * Buff/Debuff Info - First Time/Every Time - Choose when to show       
        buff/debuff information.
      * Buff/Debuff Indicator - Display/Hide - Set whether a message appears
        when a buff/debuff is applied.
      * Destination Marker - Display/Hide - Set whether the destination is
        indicated.
      * Y-Axis - Normal/Inverted - Determine how the camera moves on the y-
        axis
      * X-Axis - Normal/Inverted - Determine how the camera moves on the x-   
        axis
      * Y-Axis Speed - Normal/Fast/Fastest/Slowest/Slow - Determine the       
        speed that the camera moves on the y-axis
      * X-Axis Speed - Normal/Fast/Fastest/Slowest/Slow - Determine the       
        speed that the camera moves on the x-axis
      * Zoom Speed - Normal/Fast/Fastest/Slowest/Slow - Determine how fast the
        camera zooms in or out.
      * Point of View - Normal/High/Low - Set the default camera height.
      * Angle Correction - On/Off - Set whether the camera will correct itself
        relative to the ground and the Point of View setting.
      * Battle Camera - On/Off - Set whether the camera will accommodate large
        enemies.
      * Mini-Map: Display - On/Off - Show or hide the mini-map and clock     
        display.
      * Rotation - Fixed/Rotate - Make the mini-map rotate with your
        character.
      * Event Scrolling - Automatic/Manual - Determine if events require input
        to continue.
      * Subtitles - On/Off - Determine if subtitles are shown.
      * Dialogue Text Speed - Normal/Fast - Set the speed dialogue text       
        appears.

Press _/x to open the Game Menu:
* Area Maps - View area maps and use skip travel.
      * Area List - Select from all visited areas and view their map.
          * Area Map - Select from visited Landmarks to warp there.
* Items - Manage items.
      * Inventory - View all items, equipment, et cetera in you possession.
        Items can be sorted by various criteria, qualities reviewed, or thrown
        away, or gifted to party members.
      * Gem Crafting - Gems can be crafted from crystals. Not available until
        later in the game.
      * Collectopedia - Collectables are catalogued by type and area.
        Completing a type for an area or the area all together results in a
        reward.
* Arts and Skills - Manage Arts and Skill Trees.
      * Arts - Set and level up Arts for each character.
      * Skill Trees - Set Skill Trees and spend Affinity Coins to create Skill
        Links.
* Party - Set up party members and equipment.
      * Party - Arrange which members are in the current party
      * Change Equipment - Select Equipment, weapons, gems and view
characters'
        statistics.
* Journal - View quests and other information.
      * Quest Log - View quest information. Selecting a quest displays in-
        depth information.
      * Affinity Chart - Display affinity between NPC's, Areas and amongst
        party members.
      * Heart-to-Hearts - View Heart-to-Heart information such as location,
        members involved and required affinity.
      * Achievements - View Records and Trials.
* Other - Change time and view tutorials.
      * Change Time - Change the time of day in-game.
      * Tutorials - View tutorials.
* System - Save or load progress, or change game settings.
      * Save - Select a save slot and save game progress.
      * Load - Select a save slot and load game progress.
      * Options - Change game settings. Same as the Main Menu.
     
____________________________________________________________________________
\                                                                          /
  \                                Battle                          [MEC02] /
  \______________________________________________________________________/

The battle system in Xenoblade Chronicles is very unique, and can be very
complex at times. This section will break down much that is needed to know
about battle.

+--------------------------------+
| Starting a Battle and Monsters |
+--------------------------------+

The when selecting an enemy, an information box will appear, indicating their
Name, Level, HP and engagement method. Important right now is their level:
* Blank - 6 or more levels below you. Very easy. Usually Sight/Sound monsters
  won't attack you.
* Blue - 3 to 5 levels below you. Easy.
* White - 2 levels below to two levels above you. Normal. You should be able
  to defeat the enemy, but it may take some time.
* Yellow - 2 to 5 levels above you. Hard. You should be able to win, but you
  may get close to dying (Incapacitated), and will take a lot of time.
* Red - 6 or more levels above you. You will probably die.

There are five types of monsters that determine how battles start:
* Normal monsters (you need to engage them to start the battle) which
  are shown by a "table-like icon" above the monster's name.
* Sight monsters (will engage you if you enter their line of sight), shown
  by an eye icon.
* Sound monsters (will engage you if you make a lot of noise--footsteps) are
  shown by a sound wave icon. You can safely pass by them if you walk slowly.
* Ether monster (will engage you if you use an Ether-based Art) are shown by
  nuclear-looking symbol. Monsters that belong to this category are usually
  Nebulae.
* Groups of monsters (all monsters in the group will attack you if you attack
  one of them) are shown by an ellipses (...) icon.

If you engage a monster (not vice versa) you will get a change for Battle
Start Affinity (see below).

Unique Monsters are exactly as they sound. Unique. They have increased levels,
stats, HP and attacks. They are differentiated by a "unique" name such as
"Shimmering Forte". Defeating a Unique Monster grant Affinity coins, and may
have an Art book in its Treasure Chest.

+---------+
| Tension |
+---------+

Tension is the measure of the party's morale. It can be raised or lowered via
in-battle events. High Tension results in higher Accuracy, Evasion and damage
spread. Low Tension decreases these.

Battle Start Affinity is an opportunity to raise Tension at the beginning of a
battle with an unengaged enemy. A timed input prompt will appear. Press the
button when the shrinking ring overlaps with the button icon. If done
properly, the party's tension will rise greatly. If you wait too long, Tension
will only raise a little. Missing all together results in no gained Tension.

During battle, a character's Tension will rise whenever they successful hit
the enemy, get a critical hit, dodge an attack, support an ally, defeat an
enemy, or anything that is beneficial to the party. Additionally, Encouraging
allies also does this. When a character has full Tension, their portrait on
the left side of the screen will be engulfed in flames, and their stats
temporarily increase, substantially. Also, there is a chance that when an ally
dodges an attack or deals a critical hit to increase their Tension further via
another timed input prompt, which is the same as Battle Start Affinity.
Completing it correctly will raise everyone's Affinity to that character.

Mentioned above, a character's Tension can also fall. This is usually when
they miss, get blocked, get knocked down, get inflicted with a status
condition or get Incapacitated. After reviving an Incapacitated ally, they
will have low Tension (indicated by a purple cloud behind their portrait). You
can then walk up to them and "Encourage" them by pressing the appropriate
button. In the case of missing, you can occasionally encourage them via a
timed input prompt, resulting in increased Affinity and Tension.

+------+
| Arts |
+------+

Arts are skills used by either characters or enemies, as distinct from auto-
attacking. Arts will appear in the Battle Palette when an enemy is selected,
and throughout battle. Characters can only have eight Arts and one Talent
Art. The Arts can be swapped out, or level up from the Arts Menu.

There are eight categories of Arts, defined by their colours:
* Blue - Healing, Debuffs or Stat Boosts. Debuffs can protect or nullify
  enemy-inflicted Debuffs or statuses (like Daze, Topple or Bleed).
* Red - Regular physical attacks. They may also show the attack "shape" such
  as a fan-shape, linear, circular. et cetera.
* Purple - Ether based attacks.
* Yellow - Attacks that can inflict the Daze status on a Toppled enemy.
* Pink - Attacks that inflict the Break status.
* Green - Attacks that inflict the Topple status.
* Grey - Talent Arts specific to each character.
* Orange - Arts that inflict Auras.

These colours are important in the heat of battle, and especially during Chain
Attacks. If Arts of the same colour are used simultaneously, the damage and
effect will be multiplied. When two Arts of the same colour are used, the
Chain Multiplier increases to x2, and the second Art deals x2 damage. If
they're healing Arts, then they heal x2 HP. The multiplier will only increase
to x5 (Chain Max). If an Art of a different colour is used, the multiplier
will decrease to 1. Talent Arts are considered all colours, so they will
always increase the multiplier.

Mentioned above, Arts can be leveled up by applying AP, obtained from battles
and exploring. Leveling Arts increases their damage, effect and its duration,
or decrease cooldown time.

Enemies also have Arts, which will appear in their information box above their
head before they use them. Enemies Arts are divided into the same three types
as above (Physical, Ether, Talent). During Visions, the name of the Art the
monster will use is displayed, the colour of which describes the type of Art.
Physical Arts are red and can be avoided with Monado Speed, Talent Arts are
white and can be avoided by Monado Shield, and Ether Arts are purple and
cannot be avoided in this manner.

+----------------------------+
| Status Effects and Debuffs |
+----------------------------+

Allies can apply status effects to enemies to get the upper hand in battle. If
a status effect is applied to an enemy, it will appear in their information
box above their head.

There are many status effects, buffs and debuffs, but most are self-
explanatory. Here are the important Statuses that allies can apply to enemies:
* Bind - The enemy cannot move for a period of time.
* Blaze - The enemy will continuously take damage.
* Bleed - The enemy will continuously take damage.
* Break - Allows enemies to be Toppled.
* Chill - The enemy will continuously take damage.
* Daze - The enemy cannot move, or attack, aggro is not generated. Seems to
  lower defence.
* Poison - The enemy will continuously take damage.
* Sleep - The enemy cannot attack or move for a period of time. Sleep will
  interrupt Visions. Seems to lower defence.
* Topple - The enemy is knocked from its feet. While Toppled, Mechon are   
  vulnerable to all attacks and their effects. Seems to lower defence.

Enemies can also inflict these statuses. Additional to Statuses,
Buffs and Debuffs can be applied. Important ally buffs and enemy-inflicted
Debuffs include:
* Awakening - The enemy temporarily increases its level, and thus all its
  stats.
* Blind - Arts cannot be used.
* Confusion - The ally will walk around aimlessly. Walk up to them and press
  the button to help.
* Damage Immunity - Invulnerability to damage.
* Enchant - Allows allies to deal damage to Mechon with normal weapons.
* Incapacitated - An ally's HP drops to 0, and cannot participate in battle.
  (More information below).
* Regenerate - HP is healed over time.

Some Statuses can be undone by walking up to the inflicted ally and pressing
the button. This, however, requires at least a bar in the Party Gauge (but
doesn't use it). Or, you can wait the duration of the effect.

Incapacitated is a Status of significance. If the party leader is
Incapacitated, the battle ends and you're sent to the last visited Landmark.
However, if there is at least one bar in the Party Gauge, an ally will rush
over and revive you. This uses one bar in the Party Gauge. Additionally, this
leaves the character with low Tension. If an ally is Incapacitated, you can
rush over to them and revive them by pressing the button, only if there is a
bar in the Party Gauge (as before).

The single most important combo in the game uses two Status effects, and is
especially useful against Mechon. First, one ally applies the Break status
(usually Shulk with Stream Edge), then the second applies Topple (usually Reyn
with Wild Down). This allows allies to deal significant damage, especially to
Mechon. Usually, this is a good opportunity to start a Chain Attack.

+-------+
| Aggro |
+-------+

Aggro is "the measure of a monster's feeling of animosity towards each party
member". Every time you attack, you increase your aggro. When a monster is
targeting you (because you have the most aggro accumulated), an Aggro Ring
appears around you.

Aggro is important in positioning and damage spread. Ideally, Reyn should
always be aggroing the enemy, drawing their attack. Thus, he should have the
highest defence and HP. As for positioning, it allows Shulk to deal extra
damage from the side and behind.

During a Vision, drawing aggro is important so survival. If an attack will
Incapacitate Shulk, it could be advantageous to draw aggro to Reyn, thus you
survive.

+--------------+
| Spike Damage |
+--------------+

Spike is an effect that some monsters have that deals constant damage under
certain conditions. There are three types of Spike:
* Close Spike - You take damage if you are near the enemy.
* Counter Spike - You take damage every time you damage the enemy.
* Topple Spike - You take significant damage every time you Topple the enemy.

Spike Damage can be avoided in either of two ways. First, Shulk can use the
Monado Art, Purge, to temporarily disable Spike damage. Second is equipping a
gem with Divine Protection.

+---------+
| Visions |
+---------+

With the power of the Monado, Shulk gains the ability to see, and change the
future. Usually (but not always) Visions appear when any party member is in
danger of being Incapacitated, or nearly so. When a vision appears, the screen
becomes blue and dream-like, the enemy proceeds to attack and the result is
shown (such as Incapacitation, Topple, low HP and so on). All this information
is then placed in the Vision Tag at the top of the screen. Included is a
timer, counting down until the attack is used, and it is in this time that you
have to change the future.

There are several ways to change the future. First, one can simply kill the
enemy. Second, you can protect against the attack. Mainly this is done by
using shielding or evasion Arts (Shield Bullet, Monado Shield, Monado Speed).
Third, one can minimize the damage by healing the person who is getting hit or
shift aggro to another character. Last is delaying it. This is done by
inflicting the enemy with Sleep, Topple or Daze, or using a Chain Attack.

During the countdown, Shulk can ask other allies to use a certain Art and
choose who they direct it to. However, this requires a bar on the Party Gauge.

+-------------------------------+
| Party Gauge and Chain Attacks |
+-------------------------------+

The Party Gauge is on the upper left of the screen, and is divided into three
sections. As allies connect Arts, the gauge fills.

Reviving Incapacitated allies requires at least one bar in the Party Gauge.
Some other actions between allies may require a bar, but won't use it. Using a
Chain Attack uses all three bars.

A Chain Attack can only be used if a blue line appears between two allies (a
line won't appear if a member is incapable of attacking, like if they're
Incapacitated, Dazed/Toppled, or otherwise cannot attack (like if Sharla is
using Cool Off).

To use the Chain Attack, press up on the Directional Pad on the character's
Talent Art icon and cycle to the Chain Attack icon (its blue) and press A.
During the Chain Attack, time will freeze, allowing you to plan out the
attack. You cycle through each of the members of the party, attacking once.
All Arts except Talent Arts are off cooldown and can be used. If the Affinity
between members is high, there may be a timed input prompts allowing for
additional attacks. Time speed of the prompt increases with each additional
attack.

Mentioned in the Arts section, if Arts of the same colour are used
successively, the Chain multiplier increases, increasing the damage the
attacks will do, up to a maximum of x5. The chain is broken when an Art of a
different colour is used. Talent Arts are any colour.

If you defeat an enemy during a Chain Attack, one bar is immediately filled.

+-------------------------------+
| Treasure Chests and Materials |
+-------------------------------+

After defeating an enemy and the battle is over you can a Treasure Chest will
appear. Treasure chests come in various rarities, the rarer the chest, the
more ornate it looks and the rarer the items you can take from it. When you
press A, a sub-menu will open. From here you can take specific items, take
them all or take none of them.

Sometimes, if you engage a group of enemies, they will only drop one chest,
this will increase the rarity of the chest. If you're looking for a rare item,
you can save in front of the chest and open it. If you don't get the item you
want, load the save file and try again. Unopened chests never disappear.

____________________________________________________________________________
\                                                                          /
  \                            Outside Battle                      [MEC03] /
  \______________________________________________________________________/

+--------------+
| Areas & Time |
+--------------+

Nothing much to this section. Each area is seamless, meaning there is
absolutely no loading, until you leave the area. Each area is separated into
Landmarks and Locations.

In each area you can encounter enemies, talk, trade and receive quests from
NPC's, mine ether crystals, or simply explore.

Terrain Damage is received in several manners: falling from great heights,
walking through poisonous swamps, lava, or acid. Some of these effects can be
reduced via certain gems.

Some maps have special weather, which allow for certain events, or monsters to
appear. For example, there can be rain in Colony 6, heat waves in Makna
Forest, or falling stars in Eryth Sea. This information is located in the
header section of each area in the walkthrough. Encountering abnormal weather
is completely random, but can be forced to show up via changing the time
forward three hours, then backward three hours, repeatedly.

Time is always ticking. Each minute is an hour, so 24 minutes is a day. All
named NPC's have schedules, so they will be in certain places at certain
times. Most NPC's can only be found either during the day or at night. The
same goes for monsters. At night, sometimes stronger, or different
monsters appear.

To change the time, select the clock icon from the Change Time sub-menu. From
here you can change the time forward or backward.

+-------------------------+
| Landmarks and Locations |
+-------------------------+

Important locations on each map are logged as Landmarks or Locations on your
map, when you discover it. Upon discovering a new Landmark or Location, you
will receive EXP, SP and AP.

Landmarks are extremely important for quick and easy travel around the world
of Xenoblade Chronicles. After you discover a Landmark, it will register on
your map with a name on the bottom left, and an icon on the map. Selecting
either will allow you to immediately warp there.

When you discover Locations, you still receive EXP, SP and AP, and registers
on you map, but you cannot warp to it. Locations are merely a method of
subdividing the world into more manageable chunks in terms of describing where
things are.

Secret Areas are, quite obviously, secret. They cannot be found easily, but
when you do find one, it is registered as a Landmark and you get more EXP, SP
and AP. Secret Areas always have amazing views--eye candy for explorers.

+------------------------------------+
| Collectables and the Collectopedia |
+------------------------------------+

Throughout each area are little blue, floating spheres called Collectables.
You will automatically collect them when you walk over them. Collectables are
randomly placed, so there is no way of determining where to find them.
Usually, Collectables are important for completing quests.

You can open the Collectopedia an register them. There, Collectables are
divided into types such as Animal, or Strange. When you collect all the
Collectables of the same type in an area, or all the Collectable in the same
area, you will receive a special reward. There will usually be one Collectable
that seems impossible to find, so they are usually hidden away in a corner
somewhere.

Collectable can sometimes be traded for from NPC's.

+-----------+
| Arts Menu |
+-----------+

I already talked about this, so it will be very quick. From this menu, you can
swap Arts into and from each character's Battle Palette, to be used in battle.
Additionally, you can spend earned AP from battles to level up Arts. Leveling
Arts increases their damage, effect and its duration, or decrease cooldown
time.

At first, Arts can only be leveled up to IV. Beyond this, you need to find
books. Intermediate Books are found in shops, while Advanced Books are dropped
by strong monsters. After defeating a monster, whose rare chest could contain
a book, save and open the box. If it doesn't contain a book, load the save and
try again. If you use and Advanced book on an Art that doesn't have an
Intermediate book learned, it will be maxed anyways.

+--------------------------------+
| Skill Trees and Affinity Coins |
+--------------------------------+

Skills are effects that you get by spending SP (automatically). Skills are
divided into Skill Trees, which will level up as you battle. Specific Skill
Trees prioritize certain stats (Attack, Defence). Each skill requires a
certain amount of SP, when that much SP is obtained, the Skill is
automatically learned. You can only learn one Skill Tree at a time, but you
can switch between trees anytime. You can gain additional Skill Trees from
some Quests.

Affinity Coins are gained from defeating Unique Monsters. You can spend
Affinity Coins to create Skill Links. Skill Links allow characters to use
another character's Skills. You can only learn Skills that fit the same shape
as the slots that are open. You can open slots by increasing the affinity
between the two characters.

+-------+
| Stats |
+-------+

Stats are numerical values that determine certain parts of how a character
fights in battle. A character's stats can be viewed in the Change Equipment
sub-menu.

A character's stats determine the following:
* Level - The character's current level.
* Name - The selected character's name.
* EXP - The character's total EXP.
* HP - How much health the character has. When it reaches 0 they become   
  Incapacitated.
* Auto-Attack Damage - Displays the character's Auto-Attack damage spread.
* Strength - Determines how much damage Physical Arts do.
* Ether - Determines how effective Ether Arts are.
* Agility - Determines how often the character hits/misses or dodges attacks.
* Physical Def - Determines how much damage the character receives from
  Physical Attacks.
* Ether Def - Determines how much damage the character receives from Ether 
  Attacks.
* Critical Rate - Determines how often the character deals a critical hit.
* Block Rate - Determines how often the character blocks a hit.

Stats are increased as the character levels, wears stronger equipment, or uses
specific gems.

+-----------+
| Equipment |
+-----------+

Equipment is divided into seven major categories: Weapons, Head, Torso, Arms,
Legs, Feet and Gems. Obviously, a character can only equip one of each
category, with the exception of Gems. Additionally, certain characters can
only wear certain types of armour (Light, Medium, Heavy) or weapons.

Some armour has a "U" on its icon, indicating its Unique. This means that it
has a Gem equipped in a slot, that cannot be removed. Others may have and "S",
meaning that it has at least one empty slot, where gems can be applied.

Equipment can be received from chests, trades or stores, while gems are
crafted or received from quests. As with other items, they can be sold to
stores.
____________________________________________________________________________
\                                                                          /
  \                                Journal                        [MEC04] /
  \______________________________________________________________________/

+------------------+
| NPC's and Quests |
+------------------+

NPC's are found everywhere on maps, and come in two types: named and unnamed.
Named NPC's will give you important quests and will build up Affinity with
each other. Higher Affinity within a location allows for better quests, and
better trades. This Affinity can be seen in the Affinity Chart. Occasionally
talking to different NPC's will build a link between other NPC's on the
Affinity Chart.

Unnamed NPC's simply fill up the world, and only some grant quests. They do
not grant affinity.

NPC's with exclamation marks above their heads have quests waiting for you.
Talking to them will give an opportunity to accept their quest.

A quest gives you a target to accomplish, such as talking to someone,
defeating enemies or collecting items. Quests from unnamed NPC's will end as
soon as you complete them, granting you your EXP, money and items on the spot.
Quests from named NPC's usually require you to talk to them again afterwards.
Additionally, accepting and completing quests can increase the Affinity
between party members, and with the area.

Besides regular quests there are Timed quests, Surprise and Story quests.
Timed quests are aptly named as you have a window of time to complete them
(this "time" is in terms of story progression, not in-game time). After a
critical point is reached, the quest cannot be initiated. If it has already
been started, but not finished, it will be removed from your quest list.
Surprise quests don't come from a particular NPC (they simply appear when you
get near a certain area), but are not necessary to the plot as Story quests
are.

+----------------------+
| Shopping and Trading |
+----------------------+

Some NPC's run shops that allow you to buy and sell items and equipment. Not
much to it...

Additionally, you can trade with most named NPC's. Trading occurs on an item-
by-item basis (one item for one item), and there's no money involved. You must
trade for the item with something with equal or greater value. Overtrading
occurs when you trade for an item for x8 the normal price. As a "Thank you",
they will give you another gift, usually rare.

The items that you can receive from an NPC depends on your Affinity with that
area. The greater the affinity, the better (and more) items you can get from
them.

+----------+
| Affinity |
+----------+

Affinity measure a person's (or an area's) feelings toward a person; respect.
You can increase the Affinity between party members by battling together,
completing quests together, gifting presents, and viewing Heart-to-Hearts. In
battle Affinity determines how many chains opportunities will appear during a
Chain Attack, and which skills can be linked with Skill Links.

Affinity with an area increases as you complete their quests, and talk to
their residents. Higher Affinity in an area grants better trades with its
residents and better quests.

+----------------+
| Heart-to-Heart |
+----------------+

Heart-to-Hearts are events that allow you to increase Affinity between two
specific party members. They are located on the map with two hands shaking,
forming a heart. Heart-to-Hearts require the members to be in your party, with
a certain Affinity. Some Hear-to-Hearts require it to be a certain time of day
(or night), or for a certain part of the story to pass.

+--------------+
| Achievements |
+--------------+

Achievements are kind of like quests, but are not initiated. They could
include defeating enemies a number of times, changing the future, and so on.
When you complete an achievement, you will be notified, and EXP, SP and AP
will be granted. They are divided into Records and Trials, but that doesn't
change much...

+-----------+
| Tutorials |
+-----------+

Tutorials will show up (usually at the beginning of the game) to introduce and
explain game features. They can be reviewed from the Tutorial sub-menu, and
are placed in this guide for reference.

____________________________________________________________________________
\                                                                          /
  \                        Gems and Gem Crafting                  [MEC05] /
  \______________________________________________________________________/

+-------------------+
| Crystals and Gems |
+-------------------+

Crystals are items that can be refined into Gems. Crystals can either be mined
from crystal deposits, or retrieved from monsters (their treasure chests). You
can only carry a certain amount of them however.

Crystals have a variety of effects (and some have multiple), from increasing
strength to defence. However, they are impure and incomplete; gems only have a
percentage a skill. This is why they need to be refined into Gems. Gems on the
other hand have only one effect, but its whole (100%).

+--------------+
| Gem Crafting |
+--------------+

Either using the portable gem refiner or the one at the Gem Man's stall, you
can refine Crystals into equipable Gems. You can select up to 8 crystals of
the same rank to refine. The aim is to select gems that will increase their
effect percentage to at least 100%. After that it asks which members should
help out. One becomes the Shooter and the other the Engineer.

The Engineer's ability affect the frequency of the different types of flames
occurring, as the Shooter shoots the Gem into the furnace. There are three
types of flames:
* Strong Flame - Increases the percent of one quality a lot.
* Medium Flame - Increases the percent of all qualities a little.
* Weak Flame - Raises the cylinder count.

Shooter Abilities:
* Shulk - Fever Plus - Gets into Fever easily when crafting.
* Reyn - Strong Bonus - Qualities grow stronger with a Strong Flame.
* Sharla - Gentle Bonus  - Cylinder Gauge fills up more with a Gentle Flame.
* Duncan - Combo Master - Qualities grow stronger when flame is constant.
* Melia - Medium Bonus - Qualities grow stronger with a Medium Flame.
* Riki - Impatient Shooter - Gem crafting process happens twice in a row.
* Fiora - Cylinder Plus - Crafting begins with 3 full cylinder gauges.

Engineer Abilities:
+--------+--------------+--------------+--------------+
| Name  | Strong Flame | Medium Flame | Gentle Flame |
+--------+--------------+--------------+--------------+
| Shulk  | Average      | Average      | Good        |
| Reyn  | Great        | Poor        | Poor        |
| Sharla | Poor        | Good        | Average      |
| Dunban | Good        | Poor        | Average      |
| Melia  | Poor        | Great        | Poor        |
| Riki  | Terrible    | Terrible    | Great        |
| Fiora  | Terrible    | Great        | Terrible    |
+--------+--------------+--------------+--------------+

Affinity determines the amount of crafting cycles, increasing the probability
of crafting better gems.

If the effect's percent is below 100% after crafting, the crystals become
unequippable Cylinders which can be reused in crafting. The number of
Cylinders is increased by Gentle Flames. If its 100-199% it becomes a Gem.
Between 200-299% it's called "Heat" and becomes a rank higher then its
constituents. Above 300%, its called "Mega Heat" and produces two Gems instead
of just one.

There's also something called "Fever" but I don't know what it does...