Nintendo reveals that the second wave of DLC for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 arrives on October 13th and includes new gameplay content as well as a new hero: Ino. The trailer that dropped during the Nintendo Direct explains that players must complete Ino's questline in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in order for her to join their party, which is similar to how many of the other heroes in the base game are able to join the player's party as well.
Along with Ino as a new hero in the game, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 also includes new challenge battles, which are timed, consecutive battles against tough enemies in order to earn rewards.
Ino is a mechanical hero, and is even shown drinking straight out of an ether cylinder, which might hint at her having many ether-based arts. She is reminiscent of Poppi from the previous installament in the series: Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and even has her own version of Poppiswap called Inoswap, which will most likely allow her to switch up her arts and skills in order to fit into the player's preferred party setup. Instead of just fitting one of the three main battle roles (attacker, defender, healer), Ino will be able to change the role she plays, giving players even more customization options for their party.
The challenge battles are timed battles against tough enemies that give the player rewards based on their battle rank, which most likely will be awarded based on clear time and quality of battle. They seem to be similar to the time-attack challenges in Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition and will be entirely optional. One of the rewards that is teased during the trailer is that of a new costume set for the entire party: the swimmer set, which is another staple of the Xenoblade franchise.
The trailer also states that a new hero and more challenge battle rules will arrive in wave 3 of the DLC. Releasing DLC in different waves throughout the year is becoming a norm for the industry, as Mario Kart 8 is also releasing its wave 3 of content later this year. This form of releasing new content gives developers time to perfect the content and also gives players time to get their hands on the base game and play through it before the DLC releases.
The news about the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC comes as part of the Nintendo Direct, which has much more exciting news about many different fan-favorite games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which is the sequel to Breath of the Wild.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is available now for Nintendo Switch.