What can you do as a free member?

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and unlock all our premium features and tools to enhance your gaming experience.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save articles to your watchlist and get notified when they're updated with new information.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save your favorite games for quick access later, synced across all your devices.

Member benefits illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you'll receive instant notifications when someone replies to your posts.

Comment rating feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can make use of convenient features in the comments section, such as rating and sorting comments.

Premium archive feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can access Premium articles that are exclusively available to members.

Site Interface

Guest
Free Member
Article Watchlist
Game Bookmarks
Cross-device Sync
Light/Dark Theme Toggle
User Profiles
Direct Feedback
Comment Rating
Premium Articles

Game Tools

Guest
Free Member
Interactive Map Access
Interactive Map Pins
Interactive Map Comments
Interactive Map Pins Cross-Device
Check List
Event Choice Checker
Deck Builder Cross-Device
Message Board Notification
Message Board Cross-Device
Build Planner
Stat Calculator
Diagnostic Tool
Weapon/Armor Wishlist

Want more information?Learn more

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

How to Change Characters

Add to Watchlist

How to Change Characters
Changing Your Character and Party Leader is vital for a smoother game progression in Xenoblade Chronicles 3! Read on to know how to change your characters, when you can change them, and the best party leader to set active at all times!

How to Change Characters

Press ZL + L/R

Before Swap After Swap
Mio as Party Leader Swapping to Noah

To change your current party leader, press ZL + L or R. This will change the currently active character you're using. This will also reflect itself in battle with you, manually controlling the character's movement and art usage.

Only Doable After the Near End of Chapter 1

XC3 - Chapter 1.jpg

Changing party leaders can only be done after reaching the near end of chapter 1! During the early parts of the game, you will not be able to change your party leader at all.

Chapter 1 Walkthrough

Can You Control Heroes?

Heroes Cannot be Controlled

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Swap Heroes.png

You can only add 1 Hero to your party but these heroes cannot be set as your current party leader. They'll only be able to work in your party as a supporting character with their own AI.

Best Time to Change Characters

Change to a Defender and Draw Aggro

Defender.png

If your non-defender characters are drawing aggro, you may want to swap to your defenders and combo its arts. This will generate aggro to hopefully pull the monster's attention back to your defender.

Change to a Healer to Heal Party Members

Keep Your Healers Safe.png

If you find your healer not using heals, you can swap to them and use their heal arts manually to recover HP.

Alternatively, Swap to a Healer and Revive a Member

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Healers Automatically Revive Allies.gif

Another case for you to change your party leader to a healer is to revive a fallen ally. Most healers would always prioritize this but if you're in a dangerous situation where two members are down, manually choosing which member to revive first may benefit you in that fight.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Related Guides

Tips and Tricks

Tips and Tricks

Tips and Tricks

Combat
How to Perform Chain Attacks How to Use Combos
How to Use Talent Arts How to Use Fusion Arts
How to Heal Your Party Members How to Revive Allies
How to Cancel Attacks How to Run From Battle
Battle System and Combat Guide Ouroboros Guide: How to Interlink
How to Raise Interlink Level All Field Skills and How to Unlock
All Status Effects Explained Best Classes for Each Character
Best Accessories For Each Class Best Arts for Each Class
Training Drills Guide and Completion Rewards Challenge Battle Guide
What Does Art Follow-Up Do? -
Farming and Crafting
How to Farm Nopon Coins Noponstone Farming Guide
CP Farming Guide Gold Farming Guide
HD Ether Cylinder+ Guide EXP Farming Guide
Gem Crafting Guide Best Gems to Craft
Level Progression
How to Raise Affinity Level How to Get Bonus EXP
Inoswap Guide Nopon Archsage Guide
Exploration
How to Fast Travel Missables and Points of No Return
All Shards Locations All Ferronis Hulk Locations
All Secret Area Locations All Colony Locations
Beginner Guides
How to Use Auto-Run How to Change Characters
How to Save How to Open Locked Supply Drop
Stat Guide: All Stats Explained List of Controls
Ship Controls and How to Move What Are Rest Spots?
Skirmish Guide: Which Side to Choose? Soldier Husks Guide
FAQ
Best Hero Tier List Best Recipes and Dishes
How to Customize Your Character How to Change Outfits
How to Skip Cutscenes How to Change Language
How to Make It Rain How to Adjust and Change Game Time
List of Enemy Types and Effects What Happens If You Die?
Flame Clock Explained Difficulty Setting Differences
Story Explained What Does Cleaning Equipment Do?
Amiibo Compatibility Guide Warning Level Meaning and How to Check
All Swimsuit Outfits From Expansion Pass DLC New Game Plus

Author

    Please participate in our site
    improvement survey
    03/2026
    Would you assist in
    improving Game8's site?
    ×
    This survey will take about 1 minute.
    Your answers will help us to improve our website.
    We are listening to our users' valuable opinions and discussing how to act on them.
    The information collected through this survey will be used for the purpose of improving our services. In addition, the information will only be disclosed a part of a statistic in a format that will not allow identification of personal information.
    Begin Survey

    All rights reserved

    Guide Index