If you are looking for a guide to the Soulhacker class in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, then you’re in luck as we’re here to help you get started with one of the most unique additions to Monolith Soft‘s expansive JRPG.
How To Unlock The Soulhacker Class
Your earliest chance to unlock the Soulhacker class will come in Chapter 5 when you are able to board the Boundary and sail across the Erythia Sea. The Hero that you will need to recruit is Triton, who, like many others, is an optional character that those who are mainlining the story could easily miss.
The quest to recruit Triton can be found on the eastern side of the Erythia Sea, which, if you have started to discover all of the fast travel points, can be found at Colony 15 which is in the area north of the Hargan Point Camp rest spot. All you will need to do is simply complete this quest for Booty, and he will join your party on your adventure.
How Does The Soulhacker Class Work?
Recruiting Triton to your party will unlock access to the Soulhacker class, which is an Attacker role unlike anything else in the Nintendo Switch exclusive. The simplest comparison is to Blue Mages in the long-running Final Fantasy series, who learn Blue Magic from the monsters that they encounter.
The Soulhacker class is similar to this. Your party characters who use the class are unable to set Master Arts or Skills, instead possessing a special ability that allows them to acquire Arts and Skills from defeating the many Unique Monster that there are in the game. Rather than regurgitate their locations, we have already made a comprehensive list of where you can find every Unique Monster in the game and the Soul Hack abilities that you will learn from conquering them all.
It’s likely that you will have crossed paths with some Unique Monsters, and perhaps even defeated them already. It will save you time to wait until you have unlocked the ability to use the Soulhacker class first before tackling them, otherwise, you will be spending your time in rematches against those that you have already toppled. Although, fast travelling to their Named Graves will also quicken up the process for you, so either method works.
How To Upgrade Your Soul Hack Abilities
Head to the Heroes menu, and you will be able to access the Soul Hack List with the Y Button. This is useful to not only show you which Arts and Skills you have or haven’t unlocked yet, but also the conditions that you will need to meet to upgrade each of them. To save you having to open the menu to check these conditions, we’ve listed them out alongside their Arts and Skills below for reference:
List of Soul Hack Arts and Upgrade Goals
| Art Name | Type | Upgrade Goal Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Aquaball | Ether Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Aquatic Missile | Physical Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Battle Pheromone | Buff | Obtain 130,000 gold. |
| Beast Howl | Ether Attack | Defeat Lapdog Veece 15 times. |
| Bomberhead | Physical Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Bubble Cloud | Ether Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Burrowing Rocket | Physical Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Butterfly Dust | Buff | Obtain 100,000 gold. |
| Cavalry | Physical Attack | Defeat Littlefort Morley 10 times. |
| Cursed Cuisine | Physical Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Desperate Charge | Buff | TBC |
| Dig | Physical Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Dino Flash | Ether Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Dino Storm | Ether Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Double Bite | Physical Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Double Slap | Physical Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Double Strike | Physical Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Dragon Decree | Clear Debuffs | Raise the Affinity Level of eight colonies/forces to at least 1. |
| Dragon Gas | Ether Attack | Defeat Villainous Igna 10 times. |
| Draining Vacuum | Ether Attack | Heal 300,000 HP with this Art. |
| Dual Attack | Physical Attack | Defeat Seadragoon Melchior 5 times. |
| Electric Skin | Ether Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Elimination Beam | Ether Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Ether Sphere | Ether Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Evasive Posture | Stance | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Fin of Fear | Physical Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Gatling Peck | Physical Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Hard Dig | Physical Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Hawk Shot | Physical Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Healing Rest | Healing | Heal 300,000 HP with this Art. |
| Horn Dance | Physical Attack | Discover 100 landmarks in total. |
| Hydra Gas | Ether Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Hypno-Light | Debuff | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Hypnotism | Debuff | Defeat Profound Hodzuki 10 times. |
| Jet Stream | Physical Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| King’s Bash | Physical Attack | TBC |
| Last Fencer | Physical Attack | Defeat Raucous Ron 15 times. |
| Life Plant | Set Field | TBC |
| Ministorm | Ether Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Murder Knuckle | Physical Attack | Defeat 1,800 monsters in total. |
| Neck Slice | Physical Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Piercing Laser | Ether Attack | Learn 50 Arts from monsters in total. |
| Pointy Stick | Physical Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Poison Spray | Ether Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Predation | Ether Attack | Defeat 100 unique monsters in total. |
| Psychowave | Ether Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Radiant Arts | Ether Attack | Learn 40 Arts from monsters in total. |
| Raid Strike | Physical Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Rhino Storm | Physical Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Shark Shock | Ether Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Shell Guard | Stance | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Snake Eyes | Ether Attack | Defeat Hazardous Jarrahed 15 times. |
| Spider Web | Ether Attack | Discover 4 Secret Areas in total. |
| Spinning Bolt | Ether Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Spit Beam | Ether Attack | Defeat Mobile Vespa 10 times. |
| Sumo Press | Physical Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Tail Slap | Physical Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Thunderclap | Ether Attack | Defeat 1,500 monsters in total. |
| Toxic Gas | Ether Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Transient Bond | Ether Attack | TBC |
| Trick Dart | Ether Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Trout Hop | Physical Attack | Deal 300,000 damage with this Art. |
| Vampire Bat | Physical Attack | Heal 300,000 HP with this Art. |
| Water Jet | Ether Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
| Wild Wave | Ether Attack | Use this Art 100 times. |
List of Soul Hack Skills and Upgrade Goals
| Skill Name | Effect | Upgrade Goal Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Accelerating Attacks | Boosts damage dealt by 25% when using an Art while Quick Move is active. | Deal 1,000,000 damage with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Accelerator Organ | 15% chance for own attack to become a guaranteed hit and to evade enemy attacks during it. | Defeat 1,300 monsters in total. |
| Action Reaction | Boosts all Arts recharge by 30% when hit by a combo reaction. | Defeat 100 monsters with this skill set. |
| Air Body | Boosts Agility by 10%. | Evade 200 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Amazing Growth | Boosts damage dealt based on the amount of battle time elapsed. | Obtain 160,000 gold. |
| Apothecary’s Wisdom | Boosts amount of HP healed from using healing Arts by 20%. | Heal 600,000 HP with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Aquatic Warrior | Boosts damage dealt by 30% when in the water. | Defeat Sharpscale Ragoon 5 times. |
| Attack Heal | Heals self when auto-attack hits, to a maximum of 100% of Healing Power. | Obtain 200,000 gold. |
| Attack Mastery | Boosts damage dealt for each Soulhacker Art or Skill learned. | Discover 130 landmarks in total. |
| Awakilling | After own revival, deal 60% more damage and take 20% less damage for a fixed time. | Defeat 150 monsters with this skill set. |
| Battle Fever | 80% chance to grant Awakening and Critical Rate Up on enemy defeat. | Defeat 50 monsters with this skill set. |
| Berserker Mindset | Deal 30% more damage but take 15% more damage. | Defeat 150 monsters with this skill set. |
| Blasting Stomp | When activating Quick Move, deals 100% of Attack as damage to any enemies within 5m. | Defeat 200 monsters with this skill set. |
| Breath of an Era | Boosts recharge speed by 20% when in the water. | Defeat Fairscale Marina 5 times. |
| Celestial Conqueror | Boosts damage dealt by 45% when HP is at 100%. | Deal 1,000,000 damage with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Counter Puncher | Adds 6% chance to grant Power Charge when evading. | Defeat 50 monsters with this skill set. |
| Creeping Predator | Boosts damage dealt when attacking from behind by 15%. | Deal 1,000,000 damage with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Damage Share | When low on HP, a random ally takes the damage you receive. The damage is boosted by 25%. | Defeat 250 monsters with this skill set. |
| Dangerous Claws | Increases Critical Rate by 20 percentage points and critical hit damage by 50 percentage points. | Deal 1,000,000 damage with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Debuff Counter | Shortens duration of debuffs on self by 30%. | Defeat 150 monsters with this skill set. |
| Deeply Tactical | At start of Chain Attack, increases TP by 5. | Defeat 2,500 monsters in total. |
| Defense Mastery | Reduces damage taken for each Soulhacker Art or Skill learned. | Raise the Affinity Level of 10 colonies/forces to at least 1. |
| Defense Time | Reduces damage taken by 10% when recharge for all Arts is depleted. | Defeat 200 monsters with this skill set. |
| Deflector Plate | When blocking, adds 15% chance to reflect attack. (Absorbed attacks cannot be reflected.) | Defeat 50 unique monsters n total. |
| Dodge Acceleration | Adds 6% chance to grant Fast Recharge when evading. | Evade 200 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Drain Guard | On blocking, boosts recharge of one Art at random by 6%. | Block 100 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Dual-Horn Pressure | Accrues Aggro every second. | Evade 200 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Eagle Rush | Chained auto-attacks increase attack speed. Auto-attack interval is also shortened. | TBC |
| Emergency Turbo | Boosts healing Arts recharge speed by 30% when an ally is at low HP. | Heal 600,000 HP with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Emperor of Violence | Boosts Attack by 10%. | Defeat 250 monsters with this skill set. |
| Energy Efficiency | Reduces healing Art effects by 30% but makes recharge 30% faster. | Heal 600,000 HP with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Excessive Armor | Adds 30% chance to block enemy combo reactions. | Block 100 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Exoshell | Reduces damage taken by 5% per enemy defeated (max. 20%). | Deal 1,000,000 damage with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Fiery Morale | Heal 75% of all allies’ HP when defeating an enemy. | Defeat 2,000 monsters in total. |
| Grace of the Land | Reduces damage taken by allies in a fixed radius by 30%. | Learn 40 skills from monsters in total. |
| Healing Mastery | Boosts amount of HP healed for each Soulhacker Art or Skill learned. | Discover 6 Secret Areas in total. |
| Heavy Armor | Increases Physical Defense and Ether Defense by 5 percentage points. | Defeat Protector Revelta 5 times. |
| Hot Soul | 70% chance to survive a KO with 1 HP and five seconds of invincibility (once per battle, does not stack). | TBC |
| Instant Charge | Own Arts gain 60% recharge when an ally is incapacitated. | Defeat 100 monsters with this skill set. |
| Just A Moment | Restores 3% of HP when a buff is applied. | Heal 600,000 HP with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Large-Scale Shock | Extends area of effect of attack Arts which have one by 50%. | Deal 1,000,000 with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Magic Transmutation | Boosts damage dealt by 60% when afflicted with a debuff. | Defeat 100 monsters with this skill set. |
| Mano a Mano Evasion | Boosts evasion rate by 10% when attacked by targeted enemy. | Evade 200 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Megashout | 60% chance to inflict Target Lock on enemies whenever an ally’s HP becomes critical. Has cooldown. | Defeat Doomfang Caum 10 times. |
| Mimic Technique | Reduces aggro on self by 60% when an ally is incapacitated. | Defeat 100 monsters with this skill set. |
| Monarch’s Heart | Boosts maximum HP by 10%. | Block 100 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Natural Guard | Boosts Block Rate by 20%. | Block 100 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Needle Shell | When blocking, deals 100% of Attack damage to enemy, drawing aggro. | Defeat Barbed Merod 10 times. |
| Nimbleness Itself | Boosts evasion by 20% while Quick Move is active. | Evade 200 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Non-Stop Barrage | Grants 60% resistance to combos and reactions while Art is active. | Defeat 100 monsters with this skill set. |
| One with the Land | Boosts recharge speed by 20% when on land. | Defeat Miraging Yuri 10 times. |
| Physical Absorber | When blocking, adds 15% chance to absorb a physical attack. | Heal 600,000 HP with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Positional Attacker | Increases the no. of positional Arts that can be set to the Arts Palette by 1. | Learn 60 Arts from monsters in total. |
| Power Pick-Me-Up | Boosts damage dealt by 30% after receiving no damage for a set time. | TBC |
| Queenly Pride | Grants a small increase to damage dealt the more enemies target you (up to a maximum of 300%). | Deal 1,000,000 damage with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Queen of Mercy | Boosts Healing by 10%. | Heal 600,000 HP with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Recharge Cheer | 12% chance to keep recharge when using Art. | Defeat 80 unique monsters in total. |
| Reckless Attack | Boosts damage dealt by 25%, but reduces max HP by half. | Defeat Navigator Helios 5 times. |
| Reserve Life | Restores 30% of HP when at low HP. Has cooldown. | Heal 600,000 HP with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Revenge Impetus | Applies Target Lock to all enemies upon own revival. Has cooldown. | Evade 200 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Royal Aide | Boosts ally revival speed for each incapacitated ally. | Heal 600,000 HP with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Royal Charisma | Extends duration of Break, Topple, Launch, Daze whenever Art hits. | Defeat 250 monsters with this skill set. |
| Sacrificial Heal | Heal 60% of all allies’ HP when incapacitated. | Heal 600,000 HP with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Sandsmoke | Reduce aggro toward self by 4% when auto-attack hits. | Deal 1,000,000 damage with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Scattered Healing | 25% chance to heal nearby allies upon taking damage, using 100% of Healing Power. | Defeat Stately Doramma 5 times. |
| Sense of Danger | 75% chance to grant 4 random buff(s) when an ally is incapacitated. | Defeat 50 monsters with this skill set. |
| Spiritual Absorber | When blocking, adds 15% chance to absorb an ether attack. | Heal 600,000 HP with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Strength Support | Boosts power of buff effects issued by self by 25%. | Defeat 150 monsters with this skill set. |
| Strike Shirker | Boosts evasion by 30% while Art is active. | Evade 200 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Supercharged | Boosts damage dealt for each Art that’s currently fully recharged. | Defeat 200 monsters with this skill set. |
| Super Explosion | Deals 1000% of Attack in damage to nearby enemies when incapacitated. | Defeat Infiltrator Garnach 5 times. |
| Surprise Attack | Boosts damage against enemies performing Arts by 30%. | Deal 1,000,000 damage with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Systematic Defense | Boosts recharge speed by 36% when non-Defenders are targeted. | Block 100 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Tactical Eye | Boosts damage by 15% for every enemy in battle (max. 200%). | Deal 1,000,000 damage with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Terran Warrior | Boosts damage dealt by 30% when on land. | Defeat Ghosting Lulika 5 times. |
| Ultranull Shield | When blocking, adds 3% chance to reduce damage to 0. | Block 100 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Underworld Rage | Boosts damage dealt by 60% each time an ally is incapacitated (to a maximum of 200%). | Defeat 200 monsters with this skill set. |
| Wild Tendencies | Grants 30% resistance to all debuffs. | Block 100 attacks with this skill set (not Interlinked). |
| Wolf Spirit | Own auto-attack rate increases for each ally with the same role as self. | Defeat 150 monsters with this skill set. |
If you’re looking for more help with Xenoblade Chronicles 3, we also have guides all about Gem Crafting, the locations for Aionis’s Strongest, the amiibo rewards that you can receive, the game’s many cooking recipes, and what carries over to New Game Plus.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is now available at retail and digitally on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch worldwide.
