Mana series (Seiken Densetsu)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Angela Attempt Part 8


After a brief hiatus, it's time for the triumphant return of Solo Angela!  The worst part of these sessions was leveling her to 44.  Crystal Desert is a horrible place for grinding if you're a solo character since there are multiple enemies that can easily kill you.  Basilisks have Stone Breath to cause petrification.  They don't use it often, but once is all it takes for instant death.  Dark Assassins have the Nightblade Class Strike and will whip it out for hundreds of damage with little warning.  Bulette Scales and their DEF boost don't seem to have an effect on this move, so it may ignore buffs.  Antversary isn't as bad as the other two, but it can smack solos with a heavy damage Rust.


Angela once ran into Zable Fahr before she was prepared as well, since I mistakenly thought there would be a save point before its room.  One Annihilate ended that underleveled attempt after a long fight.


DEATH COUNT:  18


Our heroine somehow managed to get past all the levels where she only learned a multi-target version of her Sorceress spells, and gained the far superior Glitter Dust.  This spell is called "Rainbow" in fan translations, and I'm not sure whether it functions as a non-elemental or multi-elemental spell.  Whatever its properties may have been, the elemental spirits for Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire appeared, and then anything that wasn't a boss was wiped out.  Before ascending to Level 45 and reaching 20 INT, Angela had to tap monsters with a melee attack to finish them off, even with a Sahagin Scale boost.


Angela confronted Zable Fahr again at Level 47 with 98 starting MP.  Before the true form of the boss appeared, two demon heads attacked her.  Multi-target Lucent Beams smote the heads for 490s-530s, since one had higher INT than the other.  Evil Gate killed off Hawkeye and Charlotte, and the heads wasted a few turns trying to Dispel Magic their non-existent buffs.


Diabolical Blast was a misnomer, as one head used it to spit Angela out for around 200s damage.  Evil Gate was pathetic, but Dark Force was a more respectable 123.  Fetid Breath was the worst of these Dark spells since it removed the Sahagin Chip boost.  Its halitosis inflicted 150s damage too.  Between Fetid Breath, Dispel Magic, and 45 power Dark Beams that also removed the INT increase, Angela had to use all 9 of her Sahagin Chips in this battle.


The jester head in the center appeared after the left and right heads died, and it resurrected them.  This was the only part of Zable Fahr that had to die in order to end the fight, so Angela concentrated Lucent Beam on it.  Each laser pointer blinded it for 460s with neutral stats, and 570s if Angela was fortunate enough to have the Sahagin Chip active.  The center head's signature spell was Southern Slice, which cut 220s HP from Angela.  It also summoned Demons and Gremlins for 140s-180s power.


To further emphasize that solo characters should never fight Zable Fahr before Level 47, it cast Annihilate 3 times.  Angela's higher level prevented the spell from working.  Still, it was a protracted battle, and Angela had to eat 9 Chocolates, 2 Honey Elixirs, 4 Faerie Walnuts, and 9 Sahagin Chips to win.


Duran's father the Darkshine Knight was one of those pesky bosses that was programmed to counterattack spells and Class Strikes tied to promotions.  I didn't think of that when leveling, but I was glad to have maxed out Angela's STR!  With a Drake Scale, she slapped him with her staff for 100s normal damage, and 270s with her initial Class Strike.  The corrupted Valsena champion only hit back for 30s throughout most of the match, thanks to a Bulette Scale DEF increase.  Angela sometimes avoided regular attacks outright by slowly backing away and pressing A when the Darkshine Knight was just at the edge of her melee range.


The only real danger in the Darkshine Knight battle was a 360s power Spin Slash, which was used only once if my notes are correct.  Angela made sure to keep her HP above that threshold with 6 Chocolates, 1 Honey Elixir, and 1 Poto Oil.  Spacing Angela's attacks like a fighting game made the fight more fun than a "no magic Black Mage" should have been.


Angela's Stats as a Level 47 Archmage


HP:  548
MP:  98
STR:  16
DEX:  14
STA:  17
INT:  20
SPRT: 18
LUCK:  14

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Angela Failure


The final dungeon started well for Angela.  Her Glitter Dust destroyed the Level 44 enemies like Peepers, Dark Wizards, and Black Knights near the entrance.  Earthquake caved in Harcypete's lair, dealing over 730 per spell.  The harpy didn't stand a chance when its best offense was to grab Angela for a few seconds for 173 power.


But once the monsters started scaling up to 46 and above in later areas of Dragonsmaw, Glitter Dust lost its luster.  It failed to obliterate certain enemies like Demons and Kid Drakonis, forcing Angela to follow it up with lower level magic like Holy Bolt or Earthquake.  This was WITH the Sahagin Scale INT item, to give you an idea of how underwhelming Angela's Archmage spell was.


Jewel Eater was as vulnerable to Wind as Harcypete was to Earth, so Thunderstorms somehow struck underground for 790s damage.  Hard Hit and Ground Slam required healing when they crushed Angela for up to 170s damage, but it was still an easy rematch.


Trying Evil Gate against Fullmetal Hugger only resulted in it chanting Healing Light to restore most HP.  It must have been a counter to Dark magic.  So Glitter Dust was used instead, and each rainbow combined for 860s.  The attacks to watch out for here were 180s Bubbleblasts and 250s Dive Bombs.


All these and the random enemy gauntlets near the end of Dragonsmaw were easy compared to the Crimson Wizard.  He was a mobile opponent who glided around the arena, speaking incantations constantly.  Each spell would knock Angela down, which was painful combined with the combat walking speed.  Trying Glitter Dust dealt over 800, but it was too slow compared to the Crimson Wizard's powers.


The Crimson Wizard knew every elemental spell that you could think of, and preferred the Sorceress set like Thunderstorm, Earthquake, and Spike Freeze for up to 140s.  I thought I had him beat when he got stuck on a wall and failed to cast spells due to bad AI, and Angela caned him for 110s.  Then he pulled out Ancient Curse for over 500 power against a character whose max HP was in the mid 500s.


DEATH COUNT:  19


On Take 2, I had a harder time getting the Crimson Wizard stuck on a wall, but managed to pull it off by healing whenever the boss cast a spell to avoid an Ancient Curse surprise.  Angela barely survived one of them with 39/553 HP!  She cleared Dragonsmaw with 8 Chocolates, 6 Poto Oils, and 2 Honey Elixirs consumed.



Angela's final boss was the Dragon Lord, and he made her wish I had picked Kevin or Charlotte as the leader so she could fight the Masked Mage, who at least had a Light allergy.  The Dragon Lord had no elemental weakness despite changing its color to go through elemental phases.  Explode was a dud against the blue color, and only dealt 440s damage.  That meant Angela's best option to end the fight quickly was to make the Dragon Lord taste the Glitter Dust rainbow for 820s.


This fight taught me how inefficient relying on magic was.  When Angela used up around 270 MP on Glitter Dust accounting for 9 Faerie Walnuts, the Dragon Lord had HP to spare.  She then had to try poking the Dragon Lord with her stick for single digit damage.  An Archmage Class Strike for 380s once she hit him enough times to charge the gauge was promising, but ultimately still a failure.  Her supplies of healing items were dwindling fast, and she met her demise with a final Flare.


FINAL DEATH COUNT:  20


Can you beat the Dragon Lord route with solo Angela?  Perhaps, but it would require masochistic amounts of overleveling to gain more HP.  (i.e. Sullla and T-Hawk may be thinking about trying this.)


Stat caps are fairly low in this game relative to how high your character level can be.  Trials of Mana suffers from the same low MP cap that Super Mario RPG does, in addition to having inferior MP restoring items.  Each Faerie Walnut is only 2 Glitter Dusts.  That means Angela's magic will remove less than half of the Dragon Lord's health before she has to beat him to death with her staff.  And beating the Crimson Wizard to get that far relied on an AI exploit.  


Even if you overlook the Dragon Lord route, Angela still has to battle many bosses in melee to avoid counterattacks, making her an inferior choice to any other character.   Even the frail Hawkeye has more HP than she does, and HP is the true magic defense stat in Trials of Mana when INT seems to have little effect on enemy spells.  Don't play as her expecting to relive your Secret of Mana experience of going into the menu until the boss perishes.


As for me, I'm going to play something else.  Maybe Breath of the Wild.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Charlotte Part 1


Charlotte is the "White Mage" of Trials of Mana, compared to Angela as the "Black Mage".  They have similar stats and use single hit melee attacks, though their spell lists are different.  Angela prefers elemental attack spells, while Charlotte gets healing, elemental weapon enchantments if you pick a Light class, or summons if you go Dark.  The final class for Charlotte is clear, due to the nature of her endgame dungeon and final boss.  She will definitely succeed where Angela failed!


(Solo Angela MAY be viable on either the Masked Mage or Dark Majesty route, but she seems hopeless on her native storyline with Dragon Lord.  Feel free to prove me wrong.)


To make the playthrough a little more interesting, I set the language to Spanish.  In Collection of Mana, each language is considered its own "game" of sorts, and has different save slots and save states.  You can't switch an English file to a Spanish one, or vice versa.


Charlotte is supposed to have a "childish" way of speaking, so her text looks like Elmer Fudd talk in English.  In Spanish, she sometimes omits "R" from her words.  "Peligrosa" (dangerous) becomes "peligosa".  She also calls her grandfather "abu", short for "abuelo".  "Abu" is also used this way in the Telemundo show Silvana Sin Lana, where Angie calls her grandmother Trinidad that to her annoyance.  Though Angie is about 17 or 18 in that show, so "abu" may just be informal rather than "childish".


Heath calls the Priest of Light "vos", and not the way it's used in Mafalda comics where it's a regional replacement for the informal "tú" for "you".  It's more like the old-fashioned formal 2nd person here.  Angela, as the princess of Altena, is called "vos" by other Altenish people.


It took me some time to find out how to trigger the event that makes Faerie appear, and not because of any language difficulties.  Charlotte's origin story has different event flags from the other characters.  First, I had to get her out of her own residence, and that was something I've had trouble with in other playthroughs.  Why did they program the layout of the castles and temples in such a confusing manner? 


North of Astoria was a special scene where Heath cast Holy Bolt on some beastmen.  Charlotte called one of them "saco de pulgas", or "fleabag".  Then Goremand appeared and seemed to cast Dark Force on Heath, taking him away.  He was not introduced yet, so I have no idea what pun is used instead of "Goremand" yet.  Charlotte retains her English name, and isn't called "Carlota".  


In Astoria, I replaced Charlotte's default "Mayal" (obscure word for "mace") and bought a "Mangual Madera" for +3 ATK.  I knew "madera" meant "wood", but SpanishDict gives a long definition for "Mangual" which says "weapon consisting of a pole with iron chains terminated by balls attached to it".  Did the translators reach in "el tesoro" to find that?     The RAE Spanish dictionary has a lengthy definition, specifying it was used in the Middle Ages, "like a whip".  Definition 2 in the RAE dictionary is. . ."mayal".


After the Heath cutscene, then I could pursue the Faerie storyline.  The opening credits were still in English, probably because programming them differently would have taken too much effort.  The Collection of Mana-specific menus are in English, too.  Charlotte returned to Wendel at Level 4, after picking up Angela.  Angela paid for Charlotte's inn bill after she fell from the sky, saying it wasn't cheap.  Unusually responsible for the Altenish princess. 


Wendel had no new weapons, but Charlotte found something new to wear:  a "Disfraz Oveja", or "Sheep Disguise".  It looked more like a Moogle outfit to me.  Charlotte and Angela spoke to the Priest of Light and began the cutscene explaining the importance of the Sword of Mana and the Mana Stones.  The "Benevodons" are "benevodones", so they must have worked with the English translation somewhat.  Certainly not the "God-Beasts" of the fan version.  Unless I'm misremembering the dialogue, Charlotte called the benevodons "benevonosequé", or "Benevo-I-don't-know-what".


Charlotte was at Level 5 for Fullmetal Hugger, or "Megangrejo" (Mega Crab).  Charlotte's flail struck for about 12 per normal hit and 30 per Class Strike.  Burballuiva (Bubble Rain) doused Charlotte for 44, Holy Bolt (Sacred Orb) shone for 23, Ataque En Picado (Plummeting Attack?) smashed her for 55, and Láser Ocular (Eye Laser) blasted her for 12.  Charlotte survived by indulging in an 8 Candy sugar rush, and 4 of the antidote items to cure poison.


Riesz seems to have changed the most in translation.  She is called Lis here, and the kingdom of Laurent is now Brisia.  Brisia may be a more suitable name given it's where Sylph the wind elemental lives.  While leaving the Jadd Stronghold prison, Charlotte ran into Cajasesina, or "Box Murderer".  A nice pun for a mimic enemy.


Charlotte bought a Capuz Minimo (Minimum Cloak) in Maia for +3 DEF and +2 MAG DEF.  The "vos" address for Angela came up when she was accosted by the Altenish witches who wanted to execute her for alleged treason.  She replied "¿Pero qué narices he hecho yo?".  Literally, that's "But what noses have I done?"


The Machine Golems pounded Charlotte with physical attacks because I forgot to equip the Capuz Minimo after buying it.  Even seemingly minor stat boosts provide an advantage in Trials of Mana.


DEATH COUNT:  1


On the next try against the Machine Golems, Charlotte won at Level 6 with only 2 Candies eaten.  She dealt around 13 per regular attack and 30 per Class Strike.  Her biggest fear was Misil Perferador (Perforating Missile), which would have inflicted much more damage than the melee hits.


Spanish has an exact equivalent word for "dwarf", so Dwarf Village becomes Aldea de los Enanos.  No clue why Gnome is now Duende, or "Goblin".  The dwarves sometimes omit "D", suggesting a glottal stop with apostrophes.  "Verdad" is "Verdá", and "afortunado" is "afortuna'o".  The vocabulary for weapons became less arcane when Charlotte bought the Maza de Cadena, or "Chain Mace" for +7 ATK.  A Toga Monacal, or "Monastic Cloak" offered +5 DEF.


Charlotte rejected Watt's 5000 money offer for the cannon fuel by saying "Ni en sueños", or "Not even in your dreams".  By the time she fought Jewel Eater or "Gem Devourer" (Devoragemas), Charlotte was at Level 7 and had learned Healing Light which cost 3 MP.  This spell was "Curative Light" (Luz Curativa) in Spanish, but however you say MP, Charlotte didn't have enough of it.  Her melee attacks tickled the mole for about 10 per regular hit, and 29 per Class Strike.   


Jewel Eater cast Diamond Shards, known as "Misil Diamante", for 34 power, and often followed it up with a Desprendimiento, or Cave-In for 73.  A nameless spitting attack debuffed Charlotte's DEF.  The best hope was that Jewel Eater would cast Freno or Brake, which decreased the useless evasion stat.  Another danger was Corte Lateral, or Side Cut, which gashed Charlotte for around 69.  The first 2 attempts failed, even while eating 9 Candies, 3 Chocolates from random drops, and casting Healing Light. 


DEATH COUNT:  3


The final failure showed off what I'd call the "false hope" loss.  Sometimes, when you're about to see Game Over, the HP bar will say 1 instead of 0, and give you just enough time to attempt to cast a spell, only to see your hero flop to the ground and die.  This happened after one Desprendimiento.


DEATH COUNT:  4


Charlotte returned at Level 9, armed with 9 Candies, 5 Chocolates, and the ability to cast Healing Light 7 times.  Throwing a Hand Axe from a random drop at Jewel Eater grazed its skin for around 16 damage.  Far less than when the enemies in the tunnel did to Charlotte when they cast Hand Axe! 


Every battle in Trials of Mana revives dead characters with 1 HP after the fact, so Riesz held out for longer than she should have in a "solo run".  She poked at Jewel Eater for about 4-5 per hit until a multi-target Diamond Shards cut her open.  With 5 STR, Charlotte now hit for 12 per regular attack and 35 per Class Strike.  Until Jewel Eater cast Protection, or Escudo (Shield), blunting the blows to 9 and 30 respectively.  But Jewel Eater only cast this once when it was low on HP, and one of the failed attempts got about that far.


By this time, I recognized the Diamond Shards/Desprendimiento combo, so Charlotte ate a Chocolate just in time before the 2nd attack and survived.  When Angela and Riesz came to, I knew the battle was won.  Gnome talked the same way the dwarves did in Spanish, with the addition of "toy" in place of "estoy".     


Charlotte left the Stonesplit Gap, or Abyss Chasm (Sima Abismo), looking forward to Night Market items in her future. . .


Some stats are literal translations of the English equivalents:


Strength=Fuerza
Inteligencia=Intelligence
Suerte=Luck



Other stats are different:


Dexterity=Agilidad (Agility)
Stamina=Constitución (Constitution)
Spirit=Sabiduría (Wisdom)


Charlotte puts all of her points into Strength, Stamina, and Spirit.  Stat caps prevent me from spending them all on the first two, though at least she doesn't have to split between INT and SPRT like Angela to make her spells function.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Charlotte Part 2


In Spanish, the cannoneers don't have French names like Bon Voyage.  Instead, they're called Profesor Proyectil, Paco Hete, and Cata Pum.  "¡Catapum!" means "Bang!", and I had to look that one up on SpanishDict.  Paco Hete is my favorite name of the bunch, though.  "Cohete" is "rocket", and "Paco" is a nickname for "Francisco". It makes me think of the dog Paco Javo in Silvana Sin Lana.


Profesor Proyectil shot Charlotte to the Molebear Moors, renamed Meseta Toposo.  Toposos are what the Molebear enemies are called.  "Oso" means "bear", but I don't know where the "top-" comes from.  "Meseta" is "plateau", and "toposo" DOES have a meaning in Spanish, but it's not what the translators intended.  From now on in this playthrough, I'll call it the Meddlesome Plateau.


After Charlotte beat up all the Molebears, Wizards, and Chess Knights and reached Valsena's throne room, she met Mago Carmesí, or the Crimson Wizard in a literal translation.  Duran is called Durán to preserve the syllable emphasis, like the change from Angela to Ángela.  Unlike English, in Spanish you actually know how to stress the words when you see them in writing. 


The Hero King is Rey Insigne, or "Distinguished King", and his foe the Dragon Lord becomes the Dragon King (Rey Dragón).  All the elements have literal translations, down to Wood and Moon.  Valsena didn't have any new weapons, but Charlotte bought an Anillo Mármol, or Marble Ring, for +2 DEF and +1 MAG DEF.


Now Charlotte could stock up on Night Market stat increasing items like the Drake Scale, Bulette Scale, and Sahagin Chip.  Unfortunately, the names in Spanish are truncated because of the character limit, so they look weird.


The generically named Puerto Marina sold a Mangual Lumi. for +5 ATK, a Gorra Gazapo for +1 DEF, and a Toga de Popoi for +9 DEF.  Gorra Gazapo would be "Rabite Cap", since Gazapo is what the Mana series mascot is called.


In the Laurent resistance hideout cave, the other Amazon soldiers called Riesz "tú" instead of "vos" even though she was the princess.  Perhaps it's meant to imply more familiarity or social equality in Laurent.  To get the Minor Mallet, Charlotte backtracked to the little people of the woods named "lilipuzqueñín".  A close English equivalent would be something like "Littleputian".


The Gusthall dungeon became Grutas Ventalia, or "Windy Grottoes".  "Gruta" can be just another word for "cave", but the translators picked that instead of the standard "cueva".  Most of the battles against Harpies, Copper Knights, and others were simple with melee.


If I were smart, I would have brought some of the Night Market items that change melee attacks to Earth element.  Charlotte still managed to win against Harcypete at Level 10 with a Drake Scale, a Sahagin Chip, and many Bulette Scales.  Why more than one Bulette Scale?  Because the boss kept casting Defenseless (Indefenso)! 


Harcypete spent much of the fight flying out of reach of melee, and there was little Charlotte could do about it.  She had neither the physical strength of Riesz and the male characters, or the spells of Angela.  All Charlotte had to work with were 14 power melee strikes and 44 damage Class Strikes.


Charlotte's concern was an 80 power Golpe Sónico (Sonic Strike).  Ciclón blew around the battlefield for about 20s at most.  Harcypete sometimes picked her up and dropped her to the ground asleep and unable to move until another attack hit her.  The Spanish "Lethal Harpy" did not live up to its name, and Charlotte triumphed with the help of 1 Faerie Walnut and 8 casts of Healing Light.  After the fight, she grew to Level 11 and took STR, raising her to Riesz's starting stat of 6.  


Sylph, or "Zephyr" (Céfiro), joined the other Mana Spirits on Team Charlotte, and I saved the game and took a break.  Just before the session ended, I noticed that the enemy Harpies had trouble hitting Angela and Riesz.  Messages saying FALLO replaced damage printouts.  Does this mean DEX isn't as useless as people on the Internet say regarding evasion?  To avoid making the "dead" characters more powerful, I put their points into DEX and LUCK.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Charlotte Part 3


I was going to type up part of a project unrelated to video games or any Realms Beyond endeavors, but Windows 10 is currently updating on the laptop I use for that.  Imagine a disembodied floating head of Bill Gates laughing at me for hours, and you'll have the right idea.


It was time for a Solo Charlotte update.  When fighting Zehnoa the demon door in Laurent's castle at Level 12, Charlotte enchanted her weapon with the Water element Garra Tritón, or the Poseidon Claw in English.  The usual solo cocktail of the Bulette Scale, Sahagin Chip, and Drake Scale applied.  Each lash with Charlotte's flail struck Zehnoa for around 50 damage per normal attack and 100 per Class Strike.


Zehnoa summoned Shapeshifters, or Cambiaformes in Spanish, and liked to enhance them with Strengthen.  Zehnoa itself was Jenoa.  The boss activated Trap 1 spikes for 30s damage, while Trap 2 rocks conked Charlotte on the head for 57.  As Zehnoa was a Fire element boss, it cast Fireball for 32 and roasted Charlotte with Onda Abrasadora (Scorching Wave) for 46.  Lunatique reduced Charlotte's max HP temporarily. 


8 Healing Lights, 1 emergency Chocolate, and 1 antidote herb got Charlotte through the Zehnoa battle at Level 12.  Charlotte's the "White Mage", but healing items are sometimes superior to her spells because they take effect instantly.  It's possible to die while Charlotte is silently chanting Healing Light for a couple of seconds.


Bil and Ben's only name change in Spanish was to add an extra "L" to Bil.  With the Night Market's Drake Scale, Charlotte's flail bonked Bil and Ben for 38 per regular attack and 71 per Class Strike.  They had no elemental weakness so the Poseidon Claw would have been worthless.  Bulette Scales reduced Bil and Ben's melee power to 1, though Charlotte needed multiple when one of the ninjas cast Técnica de Rayo (Thunderbolt Technique) for 41 and debuffed her DEF.



Shurikens looked fearsome though it had a modest 32 power.  Ataque Furtivo, however, sliced Charlotte open for 78 damage.  Bil and Ben didn't have the chance to use counterattacks because Charlotte had neither Level 2-3 Class Strikes nor offensive spells.  But 4 Healing Light casts were still needed to defeat them at Level 12.


Now that the Nevarl (or Nebal in Spanish) thieves were kicked out of town, Puerto Marina sold a +10 DEF Traje Grumete (Cabin Boy Suit) and a +6 Mazo Bélico (War Mace).  Just in time for the Ghost Ship. . .


If you want to attempt a Trials of Mana solo, stock up on Night Market items BEFORE you leave Beiser right after getting the Minor Mallet.  You won't be able to return to Beiser until after Beuca Island if I'm not mistaken.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Charlotte Part 4


On the Ghost Ship, Riesz was the designated victim for the ghost because she was the strongest AI character.  The books that Charlotte read to open the door to that room were La Letra con Sangre Entra (The Letter with Blood Enters), Maquillaje Espectral (Spectral Makeup), and Muerto Me Hallo (I Find Myself Dead).  Muerto Me Hallo may be a song reference.


At Level 13, Charlotte challenged Gova, or Espectramal.  With better planning, I could have fought this boss using Holy Bolt from Night Market elemental coins.  Instead, Charlotte had to rely on 35 damage regular attacks and 77 power Class Strikes courtesy of the Drake Scale.  Buff items had to be applied multiple times when Gova nullified stat changes.  Antimagia also eliminated the Silence ailment, allowing Charlotte to cast Healing Light.  This was essential to victory, as Charlotte ate 7 Candies and 2 Chocolates.


Gova often flew out of melee range, similar to Harcypete.  Gova's spells in Spanishweren't too far off from the English names:  the 30 power Evil Gate became Portal Infernal, Ghostleader turned into the 70 damage Marcha Fantasmal, and the 42 power Black Rain converted to Lluvia Negra.


On Beuca Island, or the blunter Spanish name Vulca, Charlotte ran past all the Eggatrices as any solo character would have done.  For reasons known only to the Spanish writers, Tomatoman is rendered as Brujo Negro, or Black Warlock.  Their town is called Villa Brujil as well.  In Tomato Town, Charlotte purchased a +10 DEF Disfraz Poto (Poto Disguise) and a +7 ATK Mangual Acero (Steel Flail).


Enemies such as Potos and the tadpoles in Caverna Ribereña on Beuca Island were annoying to kill because they kept restoring their "party's" HP with Healing Light.  Charlotte would never have succeeded without Drake Scale STR boosts.  By the time she returned to Maia, Charlotte had reached Level 14.  Looks like I'll need to level up in the icy wasteland of Altena to be able to class change any time soon.  Charlotte's base class is Clériga, or Cleric.  She's hoping to become a Sacerdotisa, or Priestess. 


While Charlotte was talking to Richard the Hero King about Vuscav, I noticed a mistake.  All the characters talked about "el vuscav" in lowercase, as if it were the turtle's species instead of its name.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Charlotte Part 5


In the Altenish town of Alrant, Charlotte purchased a Manto de Pana (Corduroy Cloak) for +11 DEF, and a Mazo Oscuro (Dark Mace) for +12 ATK.  She whacked the enemies in Yermo Carámbano, or the Frostbite Fields until reaching Level 18 so she could promote as soon as possible.  Yermo Carámbano translates as Icicle Wasteland.


Charlotte met the Darkshine Knight just before the Labyrinth of Ice, though he introduced himself as the Onyx Knight (Caballero Ónice) in this version.  Instead of fighting her directly, the Darkshine Knight summoned 3 Machine Golems (Maquigólem). 


Each robot only tickled Charlotte for 1 damage when she had her Bulette Scale active, though 2nd tier spells like Earthquake (Seísmo) and Iceberg pounded her for 68-92 damage.  Iceberg is. . .Iceberg in Spanish.  I guess if the most famous incident involving an iceberg happened to a British ship, then everyone has to use the English word.  Anyway, this fight highlights how irrelevant enemy melee is in most cases.  Unless you forget to equip up-to-date armor like the 1st time I battled Machine Golems.  If a boss is going to kill you, it will be through a special attack or a spell.  Only about 1 Healing Light and 1 Chocolate were necessary to win.


Charlotte chose the Priestess class at the Labyrinth of Ice Mana Stone and upgraded to these "class minimum" stats:


STR:  8
DEX:  8
STA:  8
INT:  11
SPRT:  12
LUCK:  11


Charlotte's base class is what would happen if you take Angela and make her forget her spells, with some INT exchanged for SPRT.  Charlotte is the weakest character before the first promotion without a doubt.  Healing Light is nice to conserve items on occasion, but the Hawkeye solo proves you can beat the game with only consumable item healing.


Then again, Charlotte is better than GameFAQs Single Character Challenge guide writer Jai Stuart believes:  "I can't imagine Carlie taking out Full Metal Hugger on her own".    


SPRT didn't seem to do much for solo Charlotte when a Marmpoto blasted her with Lucent Beam for 130 damage, or about half her max HP.  Maybe the effects of that stat on Light element magic defense are marginal.


Now that Charlotte had her 2nd Class Strike Golpe en Salto (Jumping Strike), she didn't have to worry about killing Potos quickly before they could heal a group of monsters.  Being a low STR character against White Mage enemies stinks.


Charlotte bought a +1 DEF Máscara Moguri (Moogle Mask) and a +2 DEF Anillo Lunar (Moon Ring) in the oasis town of Diin.  She gained much experience from the Bulette triceratops enemies, but was forced to shuffle out of the screen whenever a Eggatrice showed up.


Bil and Ben returned for another confrontation when Charlotte was at Level 19.  I had to be careful not to make her use Golpe en Salto because that would have activated their counterattack script.  Any Class Strike gained from promotions is treated as a sort of physical spell in the game mechanics.


Bil and Ben threw Shurikens for 46 to 84 damage, and cast Técnica de Fuego to debuff stats.  They finished off Charlotte by using Ataque Furtivo back-to-back for 145 power.  OUCH!


DEATH COUNT:  5


There was no way to deal with an outcome that bad short of either grinding far too many levels, or trying again and hoping for better random numbers.  On Take 2, one of the ninjas spent part of the fight running in place and not doing anything.  I noticed that Shuriken dealt more damage after using the Bulette Scale but before the Sahagin Chip, suggesting it was based on INT.  Técnica de Rayo decreased Charlotte's DEF and struck for 73 power, and combined with some Earth spell I couldn't read before it faded from the screen, her HP was low enough to need an emergency Chocolate. 


No major foes in Desfiladero Ardiente (Burning Pass), or the Fiery Gorge.  Only an easy way to reach Level 20 after that and the journey back to Diin.  The healing save statue just before the cutscene with Belladonna and the Fire Mana Stone hints that there was supposed to be a boss battle here, similar to the cave on Beuca Island.


Once at Level 20, Charlotte finally learned Holy Bolt.  Over a third into the game and just now she has Angela's first spell.     Charlotte will make up for her poor performance in a solo run when she gets her final promotion.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Charlotte Part 6


The town of Mintas at the entrance of Duskmoon Forest, or Bosque del Crepúsculo (Twilight Forest), sold a +13 DEF Disfraz Moguri (Moogle Disguise) and a +9 ATK Mangual Plata (Silver Mace).  The enemies in the forest were wolves and werewolves which were simple to defeat.


Ludgar the werewolf, or "Ruger", waited at the end of Duskmoon Forest.  In the cutscene before that boss fight, I learned that Goremand was Necrobufón, or "Necrojester".  Ludgar's punches only dealt 1 damage when Bulette Scale was in effect, though his Corte Ascendente (Ascending Cut) struck for 99 and the screen splitting special hit for 167. 


Ludgar is a counterattack themed boss, so he's much less dangerous if you don't rely on magic or high level Class Strikes.  Charlotte hit the lycanthrope for 40 in melee and 113 with her basic Class Strike.  Only about 2 Healing Lights were needed to win at Level 20.


Next was Lampbloom Woods, home of the elf town of Dior.  Once the elves had calmed down after Charlotte talked to her grandfather, our heroine bought a +10 ATK Lucero Alba (Morning Star), a +1 DEF Lazo de Seda (Silk Bow), and the Ropa Lagart. (Lizard Clothes) that granted +13 DEF and +43 MAG DEF.  Once again, I have no clue why the developers gave Dior armor such a huge MAG DEF boost.


Grapplavine went by the name Brote Carnívoro (Carnivorous Sprout) in Spanish.  Siren Claw altered Charlotte's melee to Wind element, and so she started flailing at the plant for 50 per regular attack and 129 per Class Strike.  Besides constantly making Charlotte nod off with Sleep Flower, Grapplavine summoned caterpillar enemies which gave her enough experience to rise to Level 22.  Try and guess what stat she picked now that it was no longer locked out as an option. 


Since leveling dispels all buffs, probably to make recalculating damage easier, Charlotte had to apply all her items again.  But she didn't need another Siren Claw because now she had the Wind element Saber spell. Since Gnome was acquired before Sylph, Charlotte learned the Earth enchantment first.  Light and Dark element Sabers are restricted to the endgame classes and cannot be replicated with Night Market items.  Anyway, with her increased power, Charlotte now hit for 63 per regular attack and 150 per Class Strike.  Even 1 innate stat point can produce dramatic results in Trials of Mana.


Grapplavine's "dragon head" emerged in the 2nd phase of the fight, and started casting Semilla Dura (Hard Seed) to lower her magical defenses.  Every time that happened, Charlotte had to eat another Sahagin Chip.  Consider that only 9 of any consumable item can be carried on the ring menu, and there was a possibility of losing if the boss endured long enough. 


Espina (Thorn) was a Wood element spell that pierced Charlotte for 73, but Poison Bubble was by far the most threatening.  If Grapplavine cast a combo of Semilla Dura + Poison Bubble, Charlotte would have to chew on a Chocolate to be safe.  About 5 Chocolates were needed along with 10 Healing Light spells, and all the Sahagin Chps were gone by the end.


Charlotte watched the Altena and Nevarl faction villains die in the Mana Sanctuary, and was forced to go to the beastman kingdom of Ferolia to give Goremand the Mana Sword to save Faerie.  She learned quickly that fighting the Level 27 werewolves was a mistake.  The silver variety restored the others' HP with Healing Light endlessly, as there was no way Charlotte could kill them quickly enough even with a Drake Scale and her 2nd tier Class Strike.  So she walked backwards out of the rooms instead.


Along with all the other factions in Trials of Mana, Ferolia must have hired Kawazu as their castle architect.  So many of the passages lead to dead ends that it felt like a Final Fantasy 2 dungeon.  This was the result of failed attempts to navigate the castles while werewolves were clobbering her:


DEATH COUNT:  7


Eventually I gave up and looked at GameFAQs to learn the way to reach Goremand and get out of that maze.  The guide written by Loopy for "Seiken Densetsu 3" is helpful, and I've used it for all my playthroughs.


Ferolia is a case where the random enemies are unusually strong.  Even Kevin with a full party had trouble there if my memory isn't faulty.  But during the failed Angela solo I learned a trick for grinding during the Benevodon chapter.  Gusthall has the same relatively weak monsters, just at a higher level.  It's much safer compared to the other regions, and the enemies gain 2 levels for each Benevodon killed.  So solo challenge players should consider saving Dangaard for last.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Charlotte Part 7


Charlotte's training sessions were more perilous than they would have been for Riesz, Kevin, or Duran.  A Copper Knight once threw her into a spin attack blender in the Gusthall.  When Charlotte decided to take her chances in the Labyrinth of Ice, the local enemies built a snowman around her.


DEATH COUNT:  9


Charlotte returned to the Gusthall and persevered until she reached Level 28, putting points into STR, STA, and SPRT as always.  She upgraded her equipment with +14 ATK Mangual Mitri., a +15 DEF Manto Fulgente (Glittering Mantle), and a +1 to DEF and MAG DEF Aro Defensor (Defense Earring).  The pre-Benevodon shop depends on which villain faction you fight in the end, and since Mintas was the beastman town, that's where Charlotte shopped.


After reaching the desired level, Charlotte ascended Chartmoon Tower, which had the blander name Torre Astral (Astral Tower) in Spanish.  The werewolves here were as lethal here as they were in Ferolia's castle, and a certain screen-splitting special also bisected Charlotte.


DEATH COUNT:  10


Charlotte took the same approach in Chartmoon Tower that she did in Ferolia:  RUN AWAY!  Apart from the "trap rooms", forced encounters are rare in Trials of Mana, so solo characters can flee from the most dangerous opponents.  Unlike in Ferolia, some of the enemies were Vampiresas (Vampiress) that were weak to Holy Bolt and took over 300 damage from it WITHOUT a Sahagin Chip boost.


Our heroine's offensive magic was useful for more than taking out the undead.  Dolan the goatlike Benevodon may not have had an elemental weakness, but Holy Bolt smote it for 157.  Certainly an improvement over the 75 damage basic attacks that Dolan sometimes blocked with its claws.  Holy Bolt only cost 2 MP per cast, but the length of the battle required 4 Faerie Walnuts to restore 20 MP each after the initial MP supply ran out.


Explosión Lunar was the threat in this battle since it blasted Charlotte for 208 damage and reduced her max HP to 320 temporarily.  Half Eclipse cast a shadow for 146.  Couldn't get the Spanish name for Half Eclipse since Trials of Mana has a fast text speed.  If either of those attacks hit while Charlotte was in the spell chant animation, I made sure to have her eat a Chocolate afterwards for instant healing. (5 Chocolates total.)  Carga Aplastante (Crushing Charge) and Rugido (Roar) were less dangerous with a 21-57 damage range.


Healing Light saw occasional use, but it was comparatively weak by this point and didn't even restore all of Charlotte's HP!  She had to eat a Candy once to top off her health after casting the spell.  Healing magic can be convenient, but it's weaker and not as safe as consumable items.


The cat merchants appeared outside Chartmoon Tower after Charlotte's victory and sold a +1 DEF Anillo Radian. (Radiant Ring), a +2 DEF Capuz Porobin (Porobin Hood), a +15 DEF Toga Destello (Sparkle Toga), and a +12 ATK Mazo Bendito (Blessed Mace).  After this shopping spree, I turned off the game for the night.  Charlotte is still at Level 28.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Charlotte Part 8


Charlotte beat up the knights, imps, birds, and harpies in the Gusthall once again to reach Level 30.  With her Mazo Bendito, she could crush all of them without even having to eat a Drake Scale.  Then she flew on Flammie to Wandara Woods, or Arboleda Misteria (Mystery Grove) as it looked in Spanish.  Charlotte was cautious enough to use Drake Scales to fight enemies like the Reinabeja (Queen Bee) that had killed other solo characters.


Mispolm the Wood element Benevodon kept its English name, but at least its exploding pumpkin attack still had a pun.  That move was Malabaza (Bad Pumpkin), and it sent 41-79 power shrapnel depending on the attack animation.  Espinas Mortales (Mortal Thorns) pricked Charlotte for 116 damage, and Poison Bubble enveloped her for 147.


Charlotte enhanced her melee with the Wind element Saber.  Don't know why the Spanish translators named it "Galvanic Leaf/Page" (Hoja Galvánica).  Also don't know why both Grapplavine and Mispolm are weak to Wind even though Moon is the "opposite" element of Wood. 


Charlotte's melee and Class Strike first hit for 160 and 312 respectively.  A bit later in the fight, and the damage was up to 222 for regular attacks and 405 for Class Strikes.  Perhaps Trials of Mana has some kind of delay when you're combining a Saber element with a Drake Scale STR boost.  Overall, the fight was easy and Charlotte triumphed after casting Healing Light about 8 times.


Our heroine grew to Level 32 in the Gusthall before descending to Daria, which the Spanish translators gave the subtitle "Valley of Amber" (Valle de Ámbar).  This was a terrible place to grind because of the frequent Eggatrice (Cocatriz in Spanish) encounters that carried the risk of petrifying Charlotte and causing an instant Game Over.  So Charlotte ran past any screen where they appeared.


Land Umber the Earth golem was renamed Terracechador (Land Stalker).  Charlotte once again cast her Wind element Saber to take advantage of the Benevodon's weakness.  Her attacks had the same delayed buff effect that happened in the Mispolm battle, starting at 132 per regular hit and 286 per Class Strike, then 195 and 378 respectively.  After Land Umber tried to save itself with a Protection DEF increase, regular attacks pounded the robot for 164, and Class Strikes hit for 346.


When Land Umber attacked, it preferred dropping Earthquake (Seísmo) rocks on Charlotte's head for 92.  Puño Aplastante (Crushing Fist) hammered her for 151, and the one use of Hipercañón (Hyper Cannon) burst for 192.  Charlotte was never in danger and won her 3rd Benevodon battle with 5 Healing Light casts.


If you see the word "Class Strike" regarding a boss fight, assume I'm using the Level 1 version.  Those are treated as stronger melee attacks in the game's code since they can still be used while Silenced, and can have elemental properties from Saber spells.  Class Strikes that are gained from promotions are blocked by Silence, are non-elemental, and activate boss counterattack scripts in the same way that offensive spells do.