Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Trust: how to increase it

In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, trust is one of the most important qualities in the dynamic between you and your blades. This is because almost every rare Blade affinity chart has a trust section, and you will obviously need to fill it in to complete the chart, but also to unlock certain Blade abilities or quests.

Confidence is also one of the most tiring stats to increase in the game, but our guide on how to increase confidence in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 offers practical ways to make it easier.



Xenoblade Chronicles 2: How to Increase Confidence

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Trust: how to increase it

There are several ways to increase confidence in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Fighting

The first way to increase confidence is to simply fight with your Blade. It is, however, the longest and least effective method. You get a small increase in confidence for each encounter, and if you max out your affinity with this blade - when the bond between you turns gold and solid - it grants you an additional +10 in confidence.

Since subsequent ranks in the affinity charts require trust numbers in the thousands, this is really a handy addition to the trust grind.

Missions Merc

You'll unlock Merc Missions in Chapter 3, and the Blades you send on those Merc Races will get a little confidence boost once the mission is complete. While repeating short missions is undoubtedly a viable method of building confidence, these still take at least 10 or 15 real-time minutes to complete.

Raising trust this way is best for blades whose affinity graphs you're not trying to max out at the moment. Raising your rank and fulfilling Merc Requests unlocks a number of useful extras, so it's worth doing, although there's another, even better way to build confidence.



Pocket items

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Trust: how to increase it

The fastest and most effective way to build trust in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is to send pocket items. Pouch items grant specific stat bonuses for these Pilot Blades, but they also increase Confidence by a set amount.

Also, don't waste time or money trying to figure out a Blade's favorite element or category. Using a favorite item or category only increases the effect of the item and does not affect trust.

The best items for increasing confidence in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 come from Fonsett in the Leftherian Archipelago, which you'll visit as part of the Chapter 5 story. The veggie and meat stalls there have cheap items that increase trust 18 points, but you will need to do a few Merc missions to unlock some of them.

Best Pocket Items to Boost Confidence in Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Here's what you should buy on Fonsett to increase confidence in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Note that costs may be slightly higher or lower depending on Leftheria's development when you shop at any given time, but these are a decent frame of reference.

  • Scented Samod Stralu
    • Cost: 324G
    • Confidence: +18
    • Unlocked: by completing the Nopon Cooking Merc mission (available once you reach the Leftherian Archipelago, takes 30-40 minutes)
  • Veg et Oyster Aspic
    • Cost: 324G
    • Confidence: +18
    • Unlocked: By completing the Nopon Cooking Merc mission (see above)
  • Smoothie Pipestraw
    • Cost: 300G
    • Confidence: +18
    • Unlocked: By completing the Merchant Ship Merchant mission (Available once the Archipelago is at two stars)

Other items with higher rarity, such as Sauté Glarna, may cost more than these, but they do not provide any additional confidence bonuses.



Cheaper, less rare items such as Braised Cloud Sea Shark and Zaproast Power Bowl provide +15 confidence if you run out of cash or for some reason don't complete Merc missions.

Don't bother with the other fish dishes. The trust gain is still +18, but they are much more expensive.

After using one of these items in the item pouch, you can immediately use another to start spamming confidence bonuses. You do not need to wait for the article to expire to receive the benefits of the trust.

Finally, it's worth noting that you can still get +10 to +12 for other items found before Fonsett, including meat and vegetable items from Torigoth. Using them takes a little longer to increase confidence, but it's certainly still viable earlier in the game.


That's all you need to know about how to instill confidence in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Be sure to check out our other Xenoblade Chronicles 2 guides for more tips, and consider giving it a taste and sharing a treat if you found it useful!

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