Spike is a battle effect in Xenoblade Chronicles X. It is an effect whereby the recipient is passively damaged or debuffed under certain conditions. Spike damage is shown as a purple-colored number. Enemies' spike damage can be one of the six attributes. Enemies can also receive spike damage by battle members who have a spike-dealing aura or Skill active. Spike damage is affected by the user's potential stat, and players can increase its damage further with other skills such as Double Spike or Conflagrant Edge, mobility debuffs such as Topple and Stun, or augments such as Ether Attack Plus or Thermal Attack Plus. Controlled character's spike damage is calculated as if this character was in the Front/High position (and is only increased through those respective positional augments, regardless of position).
Enemies will activate spike through various means, such as by the Enraged buff, having a certain appendage destroyed, or by using an Art. Two notable Tyrants, Feliciano, the All-Seeing and Xair, the Cerulean Walker, activate their spike shortly upon engaging in battle. An activated enemy spike is typically shown either as an aura effect of blue spherical particles emanating from the enemy or the Enraged aura effect.
Enemies may have one of two spike abilities:
- Proximity Spike: An enemy deals damage to or debuffs battle members within the spike range every few seconds.
- Counter Spike: Battle members will receive damage or debuff for every attack against the enemy.
There is no way to prevent an enemy from dealing spike damage once it starts. Spike damage can be reduced by increasing attribute resistance and nullified by equipping Antispike or Spike.EVA Augments.
Spike damages can also be reflected when using reflection auras such as Raijin, Astrolibrium, and Supershield (with the right Art or Augment).
Player Effects with Spike[]
| Source | Attribute | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Electric Flesh | Electric | Skill; Counter Spike |
| Flamehand | Ether | Aura; Counter Spike |
| Iron Prison | Thermal | Aura; Proximity Spike |
| Novalibrium | Ether | Aura; Counter Spike |
Enemies with Counter Spike[]
| Enemy | Attribute | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Arenatects | Ether | Only applies when Enraged. |
| Casper, the Unhealthy Eater | Physical | Not associated with an aura. |
| Feliciano, the All-Seeing | Physical | Inflicts Physical Res Down and activates shortly after the party is in battle. |
| Nardacyon, the Shadowless | Beam | Inflicts Beam Res Down and activates with Upshift aura. |
| Telethia, the Endbringer | Ether | Inflicts Slow Arts and activates with Telethia Zone aura. |
Enemies with Proximity Spike[]
| Enemy | Attribute | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Duoguills | Electric | Activates with Thunder Spike aura. |
| Gerrids | Ether | Activated when its back shell is broken. |
| Pharsis, the Everqueen | Gravity | Inflicts Slow Arts and activates with Gravity Spike aura. |
| Pursuit Satellis Alpha | Ether | Inflicts Ether Res Down. |
| Scintimures | Electric | Activates with Thunder Spike aura. |
| Shuravas, the Enraged | Beam | Activates when its back fin is broken. |
| Telethia, the Endbringer | Ether | Inflicts Slow Arts and activates with Telethia Zone and Telethia Rage aura. |
| Xair, the Cerulean Walker | Ether | Inflicts Ether Res Down and activates shortly after the party is in battle. |
| Yggralith Zero | Gravity | Activates with Gravity Spike aura. |
| Zu Pharg | Beam | Is in effect when it walks. |