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1. Christi Junior (christijunior@bae.st)'s status on Wednesday, 04-Sep-2024 03:23:21 JST Christi Junior

   • Christi Junior
   @ChristiJunior Who is Pyra? Pyra is the deutoragonist of Xenoblade 2, and probably THE character people associate that game with, even more so than the protagonist Rex. Pyra is a Blade, a race of living weapons that start their existence slumbering inside core crystals, and which can be awakened by humans possessing special aptitude. Pyra is sometimes called a Sword Girl, but she’s not actually a sword with a human form, she’s essentially a superhuman woman who comes with a sword that she can summon in an out of existence at will (you’ll notice that Pyra and her sword share a cross-shaped emerald crystal, signaling the bond between the two).
   
   Blades normally bond for life with the human that awoke them, and die themselves when their human Driver dies, but Pyra is the Aegis, the so-called Master Blade, meaning she is immortal and doomed to outlive her loved ones. And that’s just the start of her troubles; Pyra has suffered A LOT during her long life, and always because of the choices and actions of others. Still, the girl remains infinitely generous and kind: her journey with Rex begins when she saves the boy’s life after he is murdered by his shady employers that he helped track Pyra down, as Pyra sacrifices half her life force to revive Rex (which is why Pyra is so often depicted with part of her chest crystal missing). Rex in turn absolutely adores Pyra and is willing to do anything for her, including taking her to the fabled land of Elysium, which is said to hold the secret to saving Rex’s dying world.
   
   That’s of course just the starting point – Xenoblade 2’s story is full of twists and turns, and Pyra’s origins turn out to be truly remarkable, though for now I’ll just explain the relationship between her and Mythra: Mythra is the original Aegis, first awakened 500 years ago, but after Mythra’s Godlike powers got the best of her and caused the destruction of an entire country, Mythra suffered a mental breakdown and sealed herself away, creating a different self (Pyra) to act as the Aegis in her stead, and possessing all the qualities that Mythra herself subconsciously felt that she lacked (Mythra is a fiery Tsundere; Pyra is a sweet and gentle Tradwife). Even so, Pyra still shares Mythra’s memories, and so is burdened by all of Mythra’s guilt and sorrow, having essentially been born into misery, and unlike Mythra she can’t just run away from it all. She puts on a brave face and is always unfailingly kind and helpful, but deep down, Pyra is suffering far more than any of her friends realize.
   
   Rex’s true goal during the course of Xenoblade 2 will be to heal Pyra and Mythra’s broken hearts, and help the Aegis girls overcome their trauma.
   
   ….and yes, despite being Blade, Pyra WILL accept your seed and give birth to genetically superior offspring.
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   • Christi Junior (christijunior@bae.st)'s status on Wednesday, 04-Sep-2024 03:25:41 JST Christi Junior

     in reply to

     • Christi Junior
     @ChristiJunior Pyra and her badass Sword:
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   • Christi Junior (christijunior@bae.st)'s status on Wednesday, 04-Sep-2024 03:50:55 JST Christi Junior

     in reply to

     • Christi Junior
     @ChristiJunior Pyra Xenoblade 2 gameplay:
     
     Sadly you don't control Pyra directly in Xenoblade 2 (running around the gorgeous world of Alrest with the camera zoomed in on those booty shorts would have been heavenly), but she does fight alongside Rex in battle: Rex swings around Pyra's sword while Pyra stands the back powering Rex up, making each swing of the sword much more devastating. Furthermore, Pyra can step in with her own Blade Arts, temporarily taking back her sword to pull off devastating Fire attacks and set up Blade combos.
     
     Pyra is actually very intelligently balanced: As a Starter Blade, she's offensively oriented and strong, but not TOO strong, her best attribute being a passive skill that greatly increases the damage done by her Critical hits, which is held back by Pyra's critical hit rate being pretty low - HOWEVER, various Late-game and DLC Blades that you can use alongside Pyra greatly increases the party-wide critical hit rate, enabling Pyra's damage output to actually remain solid well into the postgame.
     
     Furthermore, while Mythra when you get her ends up outclassing Pyra in terms of damage and utility, Pyra still remains relevant, because she's a Fire Blade while Mythra is a Light Blade, and since using Mythra also gives you instant access to Pyra (you can switch between them on the fly), Pyra will keep being brought out to both start and complete various Fire-based Blade Combos. Basically, despite her status as a Starter Blade, Pyra remains a relevant combat presence throughout the entirety of Xenoblade 2, without being made broken or overpowered.
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