How to raise Colony Affinity in Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Affinity Levels aren’t quite the same as friendship levels, even if you could think of them that way. In Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Colony Affinity levels represent your status in a particular colony. After all, it isn’t exactly “easy” to be rid of the Flame Clock because it puts you on the villain’s radar as a rebel colony. So Noah and their friends offer to help them out. The higher your affinity level, the more pleased the colonists will be. It’s one of the early-game mechanics to figure out along with our other beginner’s tips.

Here’s how to raise Colony Affinity levels. You’ll need it for this long, long JRPG odyssey.

How to raise Colony Affinity levels

These are the three main ways to raise Colony Affinity levels. They don’t necessarily need to be number one on your priority list, but they build the relationship between the Ouroboros gang and their allies. They also offer valuable bonuses and rewards.

Talk to anyone with a star

While exploring colonies, you may encounter NPCs with stars next to their yellow speech bubbles. These generally mean that they have something new to say to you. Each time you talk to someone with a starred speech bubble, it will raise your Affinity with the Colony a tiny bit.

Complete quests related to the colony

Quests are the main way to raise Colony Affinity, especially because they lead to other ways to raise Affinity Levels. NPCs tend to have more to say after you complete these quests, and they sometimes lead to new quests.

Quest information is easy to spot thanks to the yellow speech bubbles, information icons, and “Attention!” alerts related to them. If you see any of these indicators, travel close enough to listen in on the conversation. It’s typically about a problem that the colony is trying to solve. When the conversation finishes, it either pops up as a new topic to discuss or signals that there’s more than one conversation to listen to (like 1/2). Once you listen to all the conversations related to a particular topic, it should be available to discuss at a camp or canteen.

Head to a camp or canteen to discuss. Sometimes, the topic will lead to Bonus XP. Other times, it will activate a quest. Complete the quest and it should raise your Affinity Levels with that colony.

Complete Collectopaedia Cards

NPCs sometimes ask for items in a Collectopaedia Card. These “grocery list” requests typically mean collecting items like monster drops from specific regions. They aren’t essential to complete but can help with raising Affinity Levels and bagging valuable accessories. You can view the rewards for each one from your Quests menu (see the “card icon” tab all the way to the right).

You might collect all the items for a request without realizing it. If there’s a little pouch next to a card, it means that you have all the items needed to complete it. After that, all you need to do is hold A to claim your rewards. You can even complete Collectopaedia Cards more than once. Just be aware that the rewards aren’t as lucrative the second time around.

How do I check my Colony Affinity levels?

You can check Colony Affinity from the Affinity Chart in the main menu. The Affinity Chart shows each colony you’ve liberated from the Flame Clocks, their leaders, and the Colony Affinity levels.

What are Colony affinity bonuses?

So, why do Colony Affinity levels matter? Well, if the story doesn’t intrigue you, then maybe the bonuses will.

Affinity Bonuses grant your party passive abilities in exchange for helping colony members. The Affinity Chart tells you what level you need to unlock a particular bonus. You can check what these bonuses do in the Affinity Bonuses tab of the Party Skills menu.

Many colonies offer the same bonuses, which stack to increase the bonus effect. Stacking can come in handy, especially for more valuable skills. My Shiny-Hunter skill, which increases how often you get rare drops, is only at 0.5 percent. It will get higher, though!