Jumping can only get you so far in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. As you make your way through the JRPG’s seven chapters, you’ll find areas that you can’t access by normal jumping or traversal alone. These special sections require unique skills you learn from heroes along the way. One of those skills is the ability to climb walls.
Mind that this doesn’t mean you can climb every wall you come across in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 — you won’t suddenly become Spider-Man. Instead, you’ll be able to clamber up pre-determined sections within environments to reach new locations, containers, husks, and hidden items. Some of these areas include combinations of special traversal abilities, meaning there’s some backtracking involved if you want to explore every nook and cranny in Aionios.
This Xenoblade Chronicle 3 guide will tell you where you gain the ability to climb walls and what surfaces you should keep an eye out for.
How to Unlock Wall Climbing
The ability to climb walls is unlocked during the early parts of Chapter 3, some 10 hours into the game’s campaign. You’ll eventually reach an area called Ribbi Flats. Follow the current quest route by holding ZL and pressing Y if you haven’t already. As you proceed, you’ll ascend to a place called Caitlin Drum before discovering the Elsie’s Spout landmark. Shortly after, you’ll meet a hero named Valdi.
Without spoiling too much, Valdi gives you a new hero quest: The Kind Right Hand, which will take a little while to complete. Continue on with the story, and you’ll unlock the climbing ability when you finish The Kind Right Hand.
How to Wall Climb
After finishing The Kind Right Hand and adding the War Medic class to your lineup, follow the story path again. You’ll return to the cliffs at Elsie’s Spout where you first met Valdi, and you’ll need to ascend the tall cliff face to proceed.
To climb, look for walls covered in purple vines. Simply approach them, and press forward on the left stick. As you do with ladders, you’ll climb them automatically. You can also jump off of them by pressing B and angle back toward them to descend more quickly. If any type of wall — natural or fabricated — doesn’t have these purple vines, you can’t climb it.
Tip: Climbing spots are indicated on your area map as mountaineering ice axes, helping you pinpoint areas to explore.
And that’s that on how to climb walls in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Unlike some other skills, this one is automatically equipped to all characters once it’s unlocked. As you make your way through the story, you’ll gain access to more traversal skills that give you more ways to explore this gigantic world. For more tips, check out our guide on how to zoom out and view Aionios from the first person.
