Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Colony Affinity: Complete Guide

This Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Colony Affinity guide will showcase how to increase your affinity level for players!

What Are Colonies In Xenoblade Chronicles 3?

Xenoblade Colony 9
Colony 9

In Chronicles 1 and 2, players will encounter colonies; the same can be said for the colonies in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Colonies, in general, will be considered as military spaces whereby armies are living in two main nations, the nations being called the Agnus and Keves Nations

Key Highlights
  • In Xenoblade Chronicles 3, colonies are military spaces where armies live in two main nations called the Agnus and Keves Nations.
  • Players will encounter colonies while exploring the open world of Aionios and will be able to rank them based on the importance of the castles in the colonies.
  • Players can rest in these colonies, but they also need to liberate them to gain Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Colony Affinity and rewards.
  • The affinity level of players will continue to increase as they familiarize themselves with different colonies.
  • Five main ways to increase Affinity level in Xenoblade Chronicles 3: finishing quests, collecting Collectopaedia cards, Husks, communicating with residents, and helping people during skirmishes.
  • Players can register Collectopaedia cards and complete them repeatedly to increase Affinity over time.
  • Communicating with residents with a small star on top of them will also increase Affinity.

While venturing throughout the open world of Aionios, players might be able to encounter their colonies that will rank will be assigned by the Castles that are even higher in importance than the colonies that they establish. They are known to be considered the nation’s centerpiece, ruling with an iron fist and establishing colonies wherever possible. 

Over time, when players venture their way into these colonies, they will be able to not only rest in these areas, but after battling with the owners of these colonies, players will need to liberate them and gain Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Colony Affinity, after which they will be able to gain rewards as they go through these colonies. 

The affinity level of players will also continue to increase as you familiarise yourself with the different colonies available to unlock and explore. While the inhabitants of the might be a bit hostile towards you, if you take your time to befriend them, they might let you gain Affinity with them, which is the Chronicles 3 player’s entire goal! 

Another important thing to note is the collection of colonies that you might be able to come across, which we will go into great detail over later on! You might wanna read up on our Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Sena guide!

How To Increase Affinity Level In Xenoblade Chronicles 3 

Xenoblade Increasing Affinity Level
Increasing Affinity Level

Moving on, the next thing that we would like to discuss is how to increase the Affinity level in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. The five main ways that players increase it are by : 

  • Finishing quests assigned to you
  • Collectopaedia cards 
  • Husks 
  • Communicating with residents 
  • Helping people during skirmishes 

Finishing Quests 

One of the main ways players can hope to see their affinity level slowly but surely increase as they enjoy their time playing their game is by finishing certain quests. In essence, what happens is that whenever Xenoblade 3 players go into any colony and befriend their residents, there will be certain NPCs there. 

These NPCs will have quests and commissions ready for you that they want t hand over to someone else so they can be completed. Upon accepting these quests, they will be able to reward you with certain prizes that will be catered to the NPC present in that particular Colony. 

Hidden quests and open quests both contribute to players being able to increase their affinity level! For players that want to buy Xenoblade 3 for the first time, why not read our Xenoblade Chronicle 3 Editions guide, where you can figure out whether you want the standard or the special edition game?

Collectopaedia Cards 

The next way players can expect to increase their affinity level is by getting their hands on some Collectopaedia cards and officially registering them. The different collectopaedia cards are as follows: 

  • Roald- 
  • Camilla 
  • Ellis 
  • Pollux
  • Harala 

All of these can be accessed by talking to their specific NPCs in Colony 9, such as talking to Camilla in Colony 9 to get your collectopaedia card. These cards will provide a certain bump in Affinity for Colonies in Xenoblade 3, such as a few will increase 30 affinities for its first completion and even increase it further slowly further completions. 

Once players successfully register their cards, they can complete them repeatedly, granting them a certain amount of Affinity each time, and over time it can add up! Our Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Nia guide will showcase an overview of the character!

Communicating With Star Residents 

Certain people will have a small star on top of them, and they will be pretty noticeable and can’t be missed whenever players are exploring the Colonies and trying to get their Affinity up. 

There will also be certain times of the day when you can venture back into the specific Colony that you want to raise the Affinity for. Once you start interacting with the NPC, it will automatically increase the Affinity for that Colony. Players can easily change the time of the day by going into the Main Menu and manually adjusting the “Change Time” menu. 

Supporting The Colony 

During one of the toughest times, while being present in a colony and increasing up your Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Colony Affinity, players will encounter tons of skirmishes that will take place during their stay. These are monster attacks or enemies that must be fended off and defeated. 

After defeating these enemies, players will be able to fight them off and practically obliterate them for these NPCs. Apart from a certain amount of NPCs, you will also be able to get Nopon Coins which are pretty important too.

Husks 

The final way to increase your Affinity in a colony is by sending Husks, which are husks belonging to soldiers who have sacrificed their lives, and these can be sent across the arena. Whatever Colony these belong to, players will be able to experience that the affinity level for that particular Colony will be boosted by a little bit.

There will be an option known as “Send Off,” a sign to send off the husks when needed. These are some ways the players can increase their affinity levels for their colonies!

Pros of Increasing Colony Affinity 

Xenoblade Pros of Increasing Affinity
Pros of Increasing Affinity

Next, we would like to discuss the benefits players can get for getting their affinity levels up. One of the biggest benefits that players will receive is that they will increase their Affinity. Still, alongside that, they will be able to receive several bonuses as well as extra rewards. 

After players first enter a colony in Xenoblade 3, they will encounter a very hostile and unwelcoming environment, whereby they will not be able to gain any kind of Affinity until they bring down the Flame Clock has been assigned to each Colony.

In essence, the Flame Clock will be an item whereby early-game players in Xenoblade 3 can achieve certain bonuses that will help them to level up faster. The flame clock itself will start to go into the negatives if the gauge is too low, meaning that it is not filled up all the way, and players will need to suffer the consequences. 

After bringing it down, players can enjoy their liberated Colony, and they can make it a goal to complete the quests and gain not only Affinity but in-game currency, character, and friendship EXP, as well as familiarise themselves with the NPCs present in the colonies.

For players that want to experience the classes that are available in-game, our Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Classes guide is a must-read!

Rewards Offered for Raising Affinity 

Xenoblade Rewards Offered
Rewards Offered

Players will essentially be able to colonize a single colony. When they finally start to increase their Affinity, it will give players bonuses that will help them in their general exploration and progression through the world. The different rewards are present below: 

  • Speed Jogger: This will essentially increase the player’s overall running speed, granting them the ability to sprint as fast as their heart desires, allowing them to explore even further, and help them progress even faster. 
  • Silent Steps: The next bonus that players will gain is known as Silent Steps, which will reduce the amount of detection that is normally done whenever players are trying to pass by enemies. Basically, it will stop monsters from detecting players too quickly. 
  • Item Retriever: Another bonus that players in Xenoblade 3 will get is that they will be able to collect their items a lot faster, considering the bonuses will be literally called Item Retriever. 
  • Shiny Hunter: It will increase the ability of players to come across enemies that are basically “elite enemies” or pretty rare, and it will grant drops that are of higher rarity. 
  • Slow Digestion: Next up, players will be able to experience that their total meal effect duration will be increased, allowing them to survive for a lot longer than they usually would, and it will help them win more battles. 
  • Swift Swimmer: Swimming speed is increased up, as the name suggests, and it will simply be the case of increasing the ​​Xenoblade 3 Colony Affinity
  • Caravan Call: Nopon Caravan will visit colonies a lot more often. 

With that, we will wrap up our ​​Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Colony Affinity guide! Read our Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Voice Actors guide to figure out if your favorite voice actor has voiced any of the in-game characters!

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Mina Anwar


Mina is a Senior Guides Writer and a fanatic who’s obsessed with playing games and writing about them. She’s invested tons of hours in games like Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, she loves to write detailed guides for beginners and pros in the Gacha Games world. Experience: 3+ Years || Education: Bachelor's in Journalism || Written 400+ Articles

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