Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Boreas Guide: How to Max His Affinity Chart Fast
Unlock and max out Boreas in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on Nintendo Switch. Discover his favorite pouch items, food stash location, and battle skills.
Quick answer
- Boreas is a Wind-element, Healer-class Rare Blade using a Bitball weapon, exclusive to the Nintendo Switch.
- To max his Key Affinity, unlock the Argentum warehouse and donate store-bought food to his stash.
- Unlock individual skill nodes by putting specific pouch item categories (like Staple Foods and Drinks) in your pouch.
- His favorite items are Massive Mushroom Pie (Staple Foods) and Frozen Odifa (Drinks).
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Boreas Guide (Amazing Group Healer!)
Watch this comprehensive guide to understand Boreas's healing mechanics, stats, and how to effectively build him for your party.
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Overview of Boreas in Xenoblade Chronicles 2
In Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on the Nintendo Switch, Boreas is a highly coveted Wind-element, Healer-class Rare Blade who fights using a Bitball weapon. He is widely considered one of the best group healers in the game due to his rapid healing capabilities and defensive utility. When bonded to a Driver, Boreas provides a passive Max HP +15% stat modifier, significantly boosting your party's survivability.
To obtain Boreas, you must bond a Driver with common, rare, or legendary Core Crystals. Because his acquisition is randomized, using Truth Boosters during the bonding process can help tilt the odds in your favor.
Boreas's Battle Skills, Specials, and Blade Arts
Boreas excels at keeping the party alive through passive healing triggers and evasion boosts. Unlike offensive Blades, his kit is entirely focused on sustaining the team through tough encounters.
Battle Skills
- Tasty Snack: Heals the entire party for 40% to 60% of their health immediately upon defeating an enemy.
- Look Out!: Increases his Driver's evasion rate by 15% to 45% when affinity is at its maximum.
- Twang!: Adds a 30% to 50% chance of inflicting Knockback on an enemy when Boreas is attacked.
Specials
- Open Wide! (Lv. 1)
- Snack on This! (Lv. 2)
- Gobble 'em Up! (Lv. 3)
- Gobble Gobble! (Lv. 4)
Blade Arts
- Absorb Damage: Generates a barrier that absorbs a fixed amount of damage.
- Nullify Reaction: Prevents negative reactions from interrupting your Driver's actions.
How to Unlock and Max Out Boreas's Affinity Chart
Boreas is famous in the community for having one of the easiest Affinity Charts to max out in the entire game. You do not need to hunt down rare unique monsters or send him on tedious Merc Group missions. Instead, his progression is tied entirely to his love of food.
His Key Affinity tiers are unlocked by donating store-bought food items directly to his personal stash, while his individual combat skill nodes are unlocked by placing specific categories of pouch items into your characters' active pouches.
Step-by-Step Food Stash Guide
To unlock Boreas's Key Affinity levels, follow this process:
- Engage Boreas: Make sure Boreas is currently equipped on your active Driver.
- Unlock the Warehouse: Travel to the Argentum Trade Guild. You will need to pay a gold fee to open the locked warehouse door near the docks.
- Trigger the Cutscene: Walk up to the food stash boxes located right next to the main door inside the warehouse. This triggers a brief cutscene introducing Boreas's stash.
- Donate Food: Interact with the stash and feed it various store-bought food items. Keep buying food from shops across Alrest and dumping them into the stash until his Key Affinity reaches Level 5.
Unlocking Skill Nodes with Pouch Items
Once your Key Affinity levels are unlocked, you can unlock his specific skill nodes by spamming cheap items from specific pouch categories. Simply place the following item types into your characters' pouches:
- Staple Foods: Unlocks nodes for Open Wide!
- Seafood: Unlocks nodes for Snack on This!
- Desserts: Unlocks nodes for Gobble 'em Up!
- Drinks: Unlocks nodes for Tasty Snack
- Veggies: Unlocks nodes for Look Out!
- Meat: Unlocks nodes for Twang!
Boreas's Favorite Pouch Items
While you can use any item within the correct category to unlock his skill nodes, using Boreas's favorite pouch items will grant enhanced trust and stat boosts. His two favorite items are:
| Item Name | Category | Purchase Location |
|---|---|---|
| Massive Mushroom Pie | Staple Foods | Argentum Trade Guild |
| Frozen Odifa | Drinks | Fonsett Village (Leftherian Archipelago) |
Note on Boreas's Field Skills
When planning your field exploration, keep in mind that there is a documented discrepancy between major community guides regarding Boreas's exact Field Skills:
- Some community resources, such as GameFAQs, list his Field Skills as Nopon Wisdom, Salvaging Mastery, and Fleet of Foot.
- Other resources, such as the IGN Wiki, list his Field Skills as Superstrength, Earth Mastery, and Focus.
If you are relying on Boreas to clear specific field obstacles, check his in-game Blade menu directly to confirm which set of skills your version of the game displays.