Xon - For Every Occasion by Kataikou

Xon, short for Xonathan, has been an interesting character since his introduction to the global version of Brave Exvius. While he has never been particularly powerful, his abilities are one of a kind. Twist of Fate has been known to break certain trials, and Waylay is unmatched in its ability to steal items and gil.

Xon's signature ability is Master Thief, one of the few abilities in the game that increase the drop rate of Rare Items. The only other units that provide this are Chow and Lara Croft, both limited event units. Since confirming that this increases enhancement cryst drops (as well as some other event drops), he has been a solid staple on farming teams.

With enhancements to Master Thief, there is plenty of incentive to try to keep Xon in a party as possible to max out its bonuses.

This guide assembles a team of Xons capable enough to tackle most farmable content, filling roles that may be missing from your party. Don't be intimidated by the builds below. These builds are TMR heavy, but most of the TMRs are NOT required and can be swapped out with easier to obtain gear (No, you do not need a Bowie Knife on every Xon...). These builds just represent long term goals in bolstering your Xon team to make your farming runs easier.

The equipment shown purposefully excludes 5* TMRs, Ring of Dominion, and Adventurer Family. If you are fortunate enough to have these items, you can easily slot these in for a more powerful team. I've also did my best to limit the use of event unit TMRs *cough*Pod 153*cough* because they can be difficult to get.

The Team
The basic configuration of Xons attempts to cover all basic needs before considering Friend Units. The baseline relies on 2 chainers, a tank, and a healer. The 5th slot is given to a specialty unit to help cover elements in Story Missions. Friend Units should help cover any gaps for harder content.

While this party is very solid, it may not suit everyone's needs and may be difficult to gear if you lack certain TMRs such as Pod 153. The rest of this guide will look into detail the different options you may have in gearing your Xons, including alternate builds not included in the base set.

Chainer
Xon Connery has no talent as a chainer, which means our only hope comes from the rare and coveted Pod 153. I'm sorry, but there aren't a lot of options. Truth be told, Pod is great on every build, but if you have exactly two, you want to use them for chaining. Now, Pod chaining is notoriously fickle. Because the characters move during R020: Mirage, the chain occasionally breaks at odd times. Still, this should be more than enough damage to clear story missions. Try placing your chaining Xons in slot 1 and 3 for best results.

There are a lot of options for Xon's weapons, but it's important to ensure that both Xons have the same elemental attacks for Element Chains. Optimal builds come in two flavors: Aqua Blade and any sword, or Bowie Knife and any elemental weapon. Of course you can use a standard Dual Wield or Second Knife if you're on a budget.

Magic Chainer
For those without Pod 153, there is still hope. With access to Toxic Rain or Frozen Hurricane, Xon Weasley can do a fine job chaining with a non-Xon friend unit.

Frozen Hurricane is the easier of the two to chain. Its frames match perfectly with Shantotto and Barbariccia's Tornado. Note that the elements don't match, and you can't double cast Frozen Hurricane. However, your friend will likely finish their own chain with Aeroja anyway, so you don't need double cast. You can also attempt to chain with Lulu's Flood and Rikku's Tidal Wave, though the timing on the chain takes some practice.

Toxic Rain doesn't have any perfect chain partners, but have plenty of units with similar frames. Ashe (Heaven's Fury), Reberta (Mystic Thrust), Fohlen (Sonic Blast, and Grim Lord Sakura (Grim - Soul Barrage) are primary choices for chaining partners. Reberta with a Water/Wind weapon and Fohlen will Element Chain with Toxic Rain. And of course, if you have only a single Pod 153, Toxic Rain will chain with that as well (use a water or wind weapon).

Finisher
Now this is something that Xonald McDonald is designed for! With Xon's enhancements to Desperate Strike, Xon has a mostly reliable finishing move with a 5x multiplier with critical hit (+50% bonus damage), and a 5% chance of missing because we can't have nice things. He will also use the ability twice if you are dual wielding. There's not a whole lot to it. If you think you have the room for a Finisher, or if you rather not chain and prefer to stick to a single high-damage unit, this build is your best bet.

While Desperate Strike gives Xon a decent amount of single target damage, clearing groups can be a bit more difficult. Waylay is his only source of innate AoE. Bladeblitz, from Odin, does about twice as much damage if you prefer that option. That said, it might not always be enough to clear a wave, so be sure to have your tank and healer ready in those higher level areas.

Provoke Tank
Wow, those stats are better than I expected. At 10k HP, 394 DEF, and 328 SPR, Xon Cena does not struggle with taking hits. He also comes with a 20% innate physical evasion to some extra durability. Xon's Rash Impulse gives him a 100% provoke for 2 turns, which weirdly is better than a lot of other units who either have 1-turn provokes or only have 70% provokes.

2-turn provokes means Xon has a little bit of extra turn economy for other abilities. This makes him a great candidate for Twist of Fate, though not every battle needs this. Ankh of Goddess can be a great option if you have it, as will give you a 30% self-reraise skill. Reviving with 3300 HP is great in a pinch. Rikku's Pouch is also handy, giving him breaking power and a status ailment heal.

Cradle of Horns is a great match, giving you a very powerful 100% Def/Spr and 10% damage mitigation party buff. You won't be able to cast provoke and cradle on the same turn, so you might want to give this to your support instead. Pod 153 or Cowered Courage gives you access to 40%/30% physical mitigation, which stacks with Cradle. Apart from those limited TMRs, Heaven's Guidance is an overlooked TMR that will give a single target 40% all-damage mitigation (which overrides Cradle's mitigation buff).

Winged Saint is an old event item, so you may instead use Broken Arm, Battle Hoop, Defender's Daggers, or Slick Dart, Galkan Dagger, or Survival Edges, which are also event items. In the worse case, you might be best off with Swordbreaker just for extra evade.

Arsha's Talisman can be upgraded to upgraded to Pirate Jake's Ring if you have access to it. Soluna Band and Champion's Belt (when you have Winged Saint) is also better against mostly physical damage. Judge Magister Cloak and Carbon Bangle are good if you lack TMRs. Consider Ribbon if you're afraid of status ailments.

Golem boosts his defensive stats and gives him a passive Cover that can be useful every now and then. This is one of the few times Cover isn't detrimental (as it doesn't have a conflicting cover that can trigger). Consider this if you decide to take Cover on your Golem build.

Dodge Tank
Against entirely physical enemies, a dodge tank can do wonders. Considering you'll mostly be using Xon against farmable events, this won't come up very often. However, some people will have an easier time building a dodge tank than a standard one.

Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of room to move with this one. Evade can be swapped out with Quick Assault, Clan Master's Headband, or Spirit of Freedom, though the extra stats are mostly wasted. Look forward to the Garuda Raid, as True Spirit of Freedom will give you 15% evasion, giving you a bit of extra room. If you're lucky enough to come across Ring of the Lucii or Vampire Cloak, they can free up an accessory or ability slot for Cradle of Horns or Ankh of Goddess.

Healer
You won't need too much healing while farming on a Xon party. You'll need just enough to keep yourself topped off if you happen to take a hit here or there. In a pinch, Xon takes a few tips from my boy Ilias with some urgent healing or mp recovery through items.

Healer's Wisdom and Doctor's Garment will boost your item effectiveness by 100% each (note: I don't know if there's a cap on the bonus), so feel free to break out those expedition scrolls you are definitely hoarding for no reason.

Be aware that, outside of items, there are very few MP recovery skills available. Demonic Whisper gives a handy MP heal, but it's effect only occurs at the end of a turn (which is skipped if all enemies are defeated). Bring a handful of Ethers with you if you want some cheap MP during your mission.

A lot of people missed out on Defender's Daggers, but Slick Dart or Ulric's Kukri can give you a bit of SPR. Otherwise, go survival with Galkan Dagger, Survival Edges, or Swordbreaker.

Rikku's Pouch gives Xon some more support options. Chaos Grenade gives him a handy 30% full break (which is usually enough on farming missions), and Panacea will clear up any status ailments. Consider protecting your healer with Ribbon or Discernment if you're worried about status effects.

Cradle of Horns is a great option for your healer, giving your party a 100% DEF/SPR buff and a 10% damage mitigation. Having this on your healer allows you to get buffs and provoke up on the same turn. World Destroyer is good if you don't have Rikku's Pouch, and Crazy Day can be nice if you want to add more damage.

Lakshmi is the preferred esper for her access to Cura (and Demonic Whisper if you ever feel like using it) and her 80% party heal. If you want more protection, go Carbuncle for Bar- spells, or Fenrir for 80% all buffs (though Cradle of Horns makes the defensive portion less interesting).

Bard
Turns out Xon can sing! Just... not very well. The karaoke machine is out, and no one is having a good time. Seriously, I don't know why you'd want to do this, but here we are.

Songs suffer because you only get their benefit at the start the enemy's turn. This makes them hard to use in Story Events on everything if you have enough damage to 1-turn everything. You might still not have enough damage to clear through higher end content in 1 turn, which is where this build comes in handy.

If you're looking for MP, Xon Jovi probably has the best MP recovery you can access through Siren's Angel Song. With this build, you see around 50-60 MP/turn to the whole party, which is really nice. Of course, you'll be singing, so that's all you'll be doing. Song of Memories, awarded by Elven Gloves, let's you do a bit of healing along with some MP trickle. Expect to see around 950 HP and 13 MP a turn. If you're struggling with MP, it might be worth it to sing/defend for a few rounds to recharge your team.

If you're swimming in Pod 153 (because pods are good on every Xon build, apparently), you can fire off A120: Repair for a 2000 HP heal for 3 turns, then switch over to Angel Song. The trouble, of course, is that you have to reach the end-of-turn to get any of these heals, which is skipped if you defeat all the enemies.

If you care only about buffs, Siren gives you Hero's Rhyme for 40% to all stats. Granted, the SPR/DEF part might be overwritten by Cradle of Horns. You may also opt to Evoke Fenrir instead for 80% to all stats.

Elementalist
Xon parties tend to shine on Story Events, and it's important to make sure you have elemental coverage for those pesky missions that call for them. In particular, non-magical elemental coverage is very helpful for those missions paired with a No Magic requirement. While you can easily swap elements in and out of your build as you need them, it can be convenient to have a single unit whose entire job is to handle these quests. This build covers all bases.

The primary build relies on Lumière to cover Fire, Lightning, Water, and Wind elements. The materia slots cover the other four elements, with Light Element covered by basic attacks using any light weapon in the off-hand. Be aware that elements do NOT apply when using WayLay, however. The other materia are easy enough to craft, or swapped out with similar abilities.

This build is kitted for maximum Hybrid Damage, but that hardly matters. Honestly, equipment past Lumière are superfluous. It's likely better to just dump whatever extra defensive gear you have on him. You won't be seeing anything that resembles respectable damage from this build.

I stuck Diabolos on here for that rare "Use Dark Magic" requirement, as it gives you access to Bio.

If you lack Lumière, swap in Flametongue (or equivalent), replace Stone Blade with Thundara Blade, and switch in Titan (for Geocrush). You'll only be short 1 element (in this case, Wind).

Partners in Crime
Unfortunately, finding a friend hosting a Xon is very unlikely, so most of us will have to make do with an incomplete band of thieves. In most cases, picking a strong damage carry as your honorary Xon will be more than enough. There are a few units worth extra consideration when taking your Xon Farm into harder content, however.