Martial Artist Class Guide: Best Arts and Skills

Martial Artist is a type of Attacker class in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and is the default class of Ghondor. Read on to learn more about the class, including its best arts, skills, characters, accessories, and gems, as well as find out how to unlock the class.

Martial Artist Class Overview

Martial Artist Basic Information

Class		Role	Default Character
Martial Artist		Attacker	Ghondor
Attack	Defense	Health	Support
A	C	D	B
Description
A martial arts Attacker who pounds foes into dust with a ceaseless torrent of blows.

Character Class Rating

Noah	Mio	Eunie
A	B	D
Taion	Lanz	Sena
C	B	S

Class Rating is the speed at which each character ranks up an individual class, so the lower their Class Rating, the slower it takes for them to rank up the class.

How to Unlock Martial Artist

Recruit Ghondor by Completing Chapter 5

To unlock Martial Artist, you must first recuit Ghondor as a Hero by completing Chapter 5 of the game. Though she temporarily joins your team throughout Chapter 5, she is only permanently recruited after completing the chapter.

At the very beginning of Chapter 6, you will speak with her in Agnus Castle where she will permanently join your party.

Chapter 5 Walkthrough

Best Martial Artist Characters

Recommended Characters
Noah	Eunie

The best Martial Artists are those with high Attack for added power and Dexterity to ensure that their attacks hit. Having decent Agility is also ideal since evading attacks is necessary while they're in the front lines. Both Noah and Eunie are a good balance of all these stats.

Best Martial Artist Arts

Recommended Combat Arts

Art	Attack Type	AoE	Base Effect
Detonating Hit	Physical Attack	One Target	Inflicts Daze on enemy when attacking from side.
Focus	Stance	Self	Boosts Arts recharge speed by 20% and shortens auto-attack intervals by 25%.
Jackal Claw	Physical Attack	One Target	Grants a high Critical Rate; also evades enemy attacks while Art is active.

Due to the Talent Art of the class, Focus is as essential skill to quickly recharge your Arts. Jackal Claw is also recommended to make use of the Frenzied Combo skill, while also granting high Attack power.

Martial Artists also excel at executing full combos with little help from other squad mates, so having Detonating Hit can help you complete some combos.

Recommended Master Arts

Rank 1 and 10 Master Arts

Art	Base Effect	Class Rank
Shadow Eye	Aggro Halved / Atk. Up	Swordfighter Rank 10
Shield Bash	Topple	Guardian Commander Rank 10
Flashback	Side Break	Yumsmith Rank 10

Shadow Eye is a valuable Master Art to have in order to both increase Attack and reduce Aggro.

As previously mentioned, Martial Artists excel at executing combos, so equipping more reaction inflicting Arts is ideal, especially those that inflict Topple and Break since it allows you to execute the Break + Topple + Daze combo by yourself.

Rank 20 Master Arts

Art	Base Effect	Class Rank
Overclock Buster	Dazed Up	Swordfighter Rank 20

Though the default Talent Art for the class synergizes well with the rest of the Arts available, Overclock Buster makes a great alternative due to the ability of the class to inflict the full Daze combo by itself.

Best Master Skills for Martial Artist Builds

Rank 5 Master Skills

Skill	Effect	Class Rank
Cypher Edge	Boosts Critical Rate by 10%.	Swordfighter Rank 5
Fighting Prowess	Boosts damage dealt by physical Arts by 30%.	Ogre Rank 5
Now That's Tactics!	At start of Chain Attack, increase TP by 5.	Lost Vanguard Rank 5

Cypher Edge is an important Master Skill to equip since it makes it easier for you to activate the Frenzied Combo skill, while Fighting Prowess is the best attack-increasing skill for the class since many of its Arts are Physical Attacks.

Now That's Tactics is not as necessary, but Attackers still benefit from increased TP since it increases the bonus they receive from attacking first in a Chain Attack.

Rank 15 Master Skills

Skill	Effect	Class Rank
Eye for Weak Points	Each successful attack boosts Critical Rate by 1% of inital value (up to a maximum of 100%).	Incursor Rank 15
Universal Annihilation	Boosts damage to Toppled and Launched targets by 50%.	Seraph Rank 15

Once you unlock a few Rank 15 Master Skills, it is best to replace Cypher Edge with Eye for Weak Points, since it can potentially increase your Critical Rate to a much higher degree.

Universal Annihilation is also recommended since the class will often inflict many reactions to execute combos.

Best Accessories for Martial Artist Builds

Boosted Critical Rate	Increased Attack	Increased Damage on Dazed Enemies
Optical Headband	Silver Belt	Strung Amber

Since the class is well-suited at executing Daze combos, increasing their damage while enemies are Dazed is ideal. Attacker accessories that increase Critical Rate or Attack are also ideal for Martial Artists to make them more powerful fighters.

List of Accessories

Best Gems for Martial Artist Builds

Shortened Auto-Attack Interval	Boosted Damage when Canceling	Increased Attack
Steady Striker	Empowered Combo	Steelcleaver

The class heavily relies on both Art recharge and attack canceling to deliver its most powerful blows, so to make the class more effective at its role, increasing their speed or damage with gems is ideal.

As an Agnus class, shortened Auto-Attack interval will allow it to recharge Arts faster and execute its Talent Art with more power.

All Gems and Their Effects

List of Martial Artist Arts

Talent Arts

Base Art Information
Raging Force	Area of Effect	One Target	Power Multiplier	500%
	Buff/ Debuff	-	Reaction	None
	Recharge Type	Role Action Recharge	Recharge Gauge	2
	Effect	Depletes Art recharge. Also boosts damage relative to number of Arts used up.

Combat Arts

Base Art Information
Detonating Hit	Area of Effect	One Target	Power Multiplier	165%
	Buff/ Debuff	-	Reaction	Daze
	Recharge Type	Auto-Attack Recharge	Recharge Gauge	8
	Effect	Inflicts Daze on enemy when attacking from side.
Focus	Area of Effect	Self	Power Multiplier	0%
	Buff/ Debuff	-	Reaction	None
	Recharge Type	Auto-Attack Recharge	Recharge Gauge	12
	Effect	Boosts Arts recharge speed by 20% and shortens auto-attack intervals by 25%.
Jackal Claw	Area of Effect	One Target	Power Multiplier	270%
	Buff/ Debuff	-	Reaction	None
	Recharge Type	Auto-Attack Recharge	Recharge Gauge	8
	Effect	Grants a high Critical Rate; also evades enemy attacks while Art is active.
Impulse Wave	Area of Effect	Frontward AOE	Power Multiplier	110%
	Buff/ Debuff	-	Reaction	None
	Recharge Type	Auto-Attack Recharge	Recharge Gauge	3
	Effect	Boosts damage by 20% for every enemy in battle (max. 200%).
Destructive Charge	Area of Effect	One Target	Power Multiplier	180%
	Buff/ Debuff	-	Reaction	Blowdown
	Recharge Type	Auto-Attack Recharge	Recharge Gauge	5
	Effect	Boosts damage dealt when attacking from the front by 50%.

Master Arts

Art	Rank Mastered
Impulse Wave	1
Jackal Claw	10
Raging Force	20

Hero-Exclusive Arts

Base Art Information
Hyper Dropkick	Area of Effect	One Target	Power Multiplier	235%
	Buff/ Debuff	-	Reaction	Blowdown
	Recharge Type	Auto-Attack Recharge	Recharge Gauge	4
	Effect	Boosts damage dealt when attacking from the front by 70%.
Comet Punch	Area of Effect	AOE around User	Power Multiplier	325%
	Buff/ Debuff	-	Reaction	None
	Recharge Type	Auto-Attack Recharge	Recharge Gauge	7
	Effect	Grants a high Critical Rate; also evades enemy attacks while Art is active.
Rampaging Fists	Area of Effect	One Target	Power Multiplier	130%
	Buff/ Debuff	-	Reaction	None
	Recharge Type	Auto-Attack Recharge	Recharge Gauge	3
	Effect	Boosts damage by 35% for every enemy in battle (max. 200%).

Arts Guide: List of All Arts and Effects

List of Martial Artist Skills

Class Skills

Skill	Base Effect
Storms and Stress	Each time you perform a cancel, boosts damage dealt by 10%.
Flashing Punch	Chain auto-attacks increase attack speed. Auto-attack interval is also shortened.
Feline Righting Reflex	Ignore Blowdown and Launch by somersaulting. Also has 60% chance to grant Attack Up.
Frenzied Combo	On critical hit, recharge Art used by 20%.

Master Skills

Skill	Rank Mastered
Feline Righting Reflex	5
Frenzied Combo	15

List of All Skills

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Related Guides

All Classes and Roles

All Attacker Classes

List of Attacker Classes
Swordfighter	Ogre	Flash Fencer
Yumsmith	Full Metal Jaguar	Stalker
Incursor	Soulhacker	Martial Artist
Seraph	Machine Assassin	Royal Summoner

All Defender Classes

List of Defender Classes
Zephyr	Heavy Guard	Guardian Commander
Lone Exile	Lost Vanguard	Noponic Champion

All Healer Classes

List of Healer Classes
Medic Gunner	Tactician	War Medic
Thaumaturge	Strategos	Signifer
Troubadour	Lifesage	-