How to Cancel Attacks in Xenoblade Chronicles 3

If someoneXenoblade Chronicles 3 is bringing back the attack cancel feature from the previous game with some new additions that make it even more useful. Fans and players of XC2 should recognize this mechanic and have a bit of a head start. Here’s everything you need to know about how to cancel attacks in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

How to Cancel Attacks in Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Canceling attacks in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is exactly what it sounds like. It’s possible to cancel the animation of an attack by using an art before the animation finishes. This opens up more options in battle for players to speed up their damage output.

Fortunately, the timing for canceling the animation is incredibly forgiving. With proper timing, it’s possible to still land an auto-attack and just cancel the end of the animation to still get the bonuses for canceling the attack.

At the start of the game, it’s only possible to use Arts to cancel auto-attacks. Later on in the game when the hero Juniper joins your team, you learn the ability to cancel your Arts into other ones. You can even unlock the ability to cancel Ouroboros Arts by unlocking the ability on each Soul Tree.

What Canceling Attacks Does in Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Now that you know the how, it’s time to learn the why. Attack canceling is used as a way to speed up how fast you’re able to use your Arts and Talent Arts in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. However, canceling attacks has a number of different useful features besides just allowing players to use Arts sooner than normal.

There are multiple Arts in the game that get a damage boost if they were used to cancel another attack. One of the most notable examples of this is the Airslash Art available to characters using Noah’s class. This move can inflict tens of thousands of damage in the late game if it’s used to cancel another attack.

On top of that, doing this helps fill up Talent Art and Chain Attack meters more quickly than using an art with no attack cancel.

That’s all there is to know about how to cancel attacks in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.