Mana series (Seiken Densetsu)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Kevin Part 6


Team Kevin's next stop was the Fiery Gorge, the volcano near the Burning Sands where they fought Bil and Ben.  The party was at Levels 28-29 vs. Level 34 monsters, though they had a fairly easy time.  Xan Bie the flame elemental Benevodon was simple to kill with Duran's Ice Saber, Drake Scales, and Pressure Point to enhance Kevin's strength.  Pressure Point was necessary because the sun rose just before the boss. 


About 2 Poto Oils, 1 Honey Elixir, and 1 Chocolate helped with healing.  Xan Bie sometimes tried the dirty trick of casting its own Flame Saber on the team to make them heal the boss with melee strikes.  But this was easily corrected with another Ice Saber.


Chartmoon Tower's werewolves scaled to Level 36, though they weren't nearly as dangerous as the Level 27 Feriol castle variety.  Do some enemy werewolves benefit from Kevin's glitch?  Anyway, Hawkeye finally got his due in the Dolan the goat Benevodon battle.  His Water Diversion and Fire Diversion spells were valuable for their attack power and "magical effects" debuffs, not their damage output.  Besides Moon element offensive spells, Dolan's main threat was to decrease the party's max HP.  1 Cup of Wishes, 4 Poto Oils, 1 Chocolate, and 1 Medical Herb helped Team Kevin weather the boss's attacks.  The Medical Herb was needed to make Duran grow back to normal size after suffering Mini status.


Shimmering Ruins monsters were at Level 38 when the party encountered them.  Since Kevin and friends were only at about Level 31 at the time, plenty of post-battle Healing Lights were necessary.  Lightgazer the Light Benevodon was a floating eyeball that often had invincibility frames while teleporting around.  This caused AI Hawkeye to whiff use his Class Strike 3 times in a row within a few seconds!  (Class Strike points are only consumed when the attack hits.) 



Fire and Water Diversions were useful debuffs, though Dirt Diversion was useless because it targeted the glitched accuracy and evasion stats.  Pressure Point helped Kevin's attack power because he fought Lightgazer during the day.  Lightgazer's Light spells were strong enough that Kevin and company consumed 5 Poto Oils, 1 Chocolate, and 6 Medical Herbs to get rid of Moogle status when it cast Shackles.  Moogle Claws might be a decent midgame weapon, but Moogles themselves are helpless in combat.  


Daria the Gem Valley had opponents at Level 40, but some monsters were only at Level 28 since the Benevodon scaling mechanics sometimes failed for this dungeon.  In case you hadn't noticed the first 19323 times I pointed it out, Trials of Mana doesn't often work the way its programmers intended.  Maybe not as glitchy as Final Fantasy 1, but still easily noticeable.


Hawkeye learned Thunder Technique in time for Land Umber the Earth robot Benevodon, and cast it to decrease its defenses.  Water and Fire Diversions were applied as well.  Duran finally had the appropriate elemental Saber to cast this time, allowing the party to deal over 340 damage with regular attacks.  Let alone the 400+ damage Class Strikes, although those were purely physical and only affected by Drake Scales or the werewolf glitch.  Land Umber was defeated in record time with the help of 2 Chocolates and 2 Honey Elixirs.


Pedda's equipment was too expensive to equip all of my characters, so for now I just bought the best weapon for Kevin.  The Dark Benevodon's location differs depending on which of the 3 final dungeons you get.  Kevin will never go to the Dragonsmaw on the northwestern continent where the Dragon Lord and the Black Rabite live, but instead the Mirage Palace on the southwest continent near Pedda.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Kevin Part 7


Kevin's penultimate area was the Jungle of Visions.  Angela visited this area in her playthrough, but it was only for long enough to reach the ancient city of Pedda.  Kevin needed to go west to reach the Mirage Palace instead.  Doing this was tricky because the Jungle of Visions had a "Lost Woods" style area, without any clues other than audio cues after Kevin picked the correct path.  It was already bad enough with trial and error as it was.  Imagine deaf Japanese players trying this segment in 1995 without a guide.


After a while, I figured out that the pattern went Right, Up, Left, Down, then Left.  Kevin and friends stumbled onto Zable Fahr the final Benevodon by accident when they were not at full HP or MP at Level 36.  And during the day so Pressure Point had to substitute for werewolf glitch powers.  A Light elemental Saber was not an option for these 3 heads because that was only available in one of Duran's final classes.  Drake Scales were rarely removed with Dispel Magic during the phase of the fight when only 2 heads were there.


Zable Fahr often attacked with magic like Dark Force which put pressure on the party, more so because I forgot to cast Hawkeye's Ninja debuffs on the final head.  Probably because Trials of Mana is a hectic game in a way that's hard to appreciate only by reading posts.  Someday you will get your own playthrough where I don't neglect you, Hawkeye!  8 Poto Oils, 5 Honey Elixirs, 1 Chocolate, and 1 Cup of Wishes left the inventory throughout the fight, to give you and idea of how tough it was.  Zable Fahr cast Dark Force on everyone just before its death throes, and the party rose to Level 37.


While fighting through the Jungle of Visions, Team Kevin eventually reached Level 38 and could change class again with the ??? Seeds they collected.  All 3 characters already reached some of their 2nd tier stat caps for STR, STA, and SPRT, and were forced to take INT once they were close to Level 38.


??? Seed randomness was annoying, so I'd make several trips to the Mana Sanctuary to promote one character at a time.  This was an attempt to remove the possibility of getting duplicate class change items for the same character, but apparently it didn't work.  Some ??? Seeds still gave Kevin's Auras even after he promoted.  When I got around to Duran, I just took the first eligible class and promoted him without bothering to reset again.


Hawkeye as a Nightblade (Dark/Dark)

STR:  15
DEX:  18
STA:  15
INT:  15
SPRT:  14
LUCK:  17


Kevin as a Warrior Monk (Light/Dark)

STR:  15
DEX:  14
STA:  18
INT:  13
SPRT:  14
LUCK:  14


Duran as an Edelfrei (Dark/Light)

STR:  15
DEX:  14
STA:  18
INT:  13
SPRT:  14
LUCK:  14



The Nightblade learns status ailment skills, including one that can lower boss's max HP.  The Edelfrei can cast some elemental Sabers on the whole party, and learns Moon Saber and Leaf Saber to allow party members to heal HP or MP when they attack in melee.  The Warrior Monk also gets Leaf Saber, but more importantly, it can cast Healing Light on the entire team, like Charlotte.  Unfortunately the Warrior Monk has weaker attack power than Kevin's other final classes.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Kevin Finale


Like the Dragonsmaw in Angela's playthrough, the Mirage Palace contained some boss rematches.  However, instead of the early game bosses, Team Kevin confronted Grapplavine, Zehnoa, and Gova.  Gova right before the end of the dungeon was particularly annoying because the ghost liked to float out of melee range and cast Dark Curse to debuff a party member, or Ghostleader for damage.


In general, the party relied on melee and Class Strikes, with the help of Drake Scales and Hawkeye's Ninja magic.  Lightning Technique came in handy for its defense reduction.  Kevin's Leaf Saber was more useful for the random enemies to keep his MP full for Healing Light.  Healing Light was much more viable in combat when it could be used on the whole team at once.  Kevin spent so much time in the Mirage Palace that he would become a werewolf, then go back to his normal form several times.


Before reaching the palace proper, Kevin had to cross a slimy "moat" by clearing all the paths surrounding a save point.  Grapplavine and Zehnoa's battles covered two of them.  Other paths included climbing a shorter version of Chartmoon Tower, and fighting random enemies in cramped rooms with backgrounds matching earlier areas.


The more interesting paths were related to the story, or at least were random incidents.  In one re-enactment of Stonesplit Gap, the party had to AVOID killing all the enemies in certain rooms, or else the stairs down would be blocked.  At the bottom was a treasure chest with dialogue resembling the Pandora's Box myth.  No harm came directly from opening it, and in fact it was the switch needed to clear the path.  But the party still had to fight their way through the monsters on the way back up.


One area was another tower with an illusion of Karl the wolf running down the stairs.  I wasn't fooled and continued climbing to clear the area.  The most frustrating path was a re-creation of the destroyed village of Astoria from the beginning of the game.  All its inhabitants were ghosts and refused to speak, and the doors opened but did not allow Kevin to enter the buildings.  According to one guide, the way to proceed was to talk to an old man that was hard to find, then go back to the entrance and talk to a salesman wearing a turban.  He then turned into an easily-defeated Ghost.


After Kevin crossed the moat, he had to deal with many annoying enemies.  Peepers were as deadly as they were in the Angela playthrough when they cast Roulette Spin.  One type of robot often cast Lightning to Silence the party too.  The puzzle here was based on flipping switches, with no hints as to what I was supposed to do.  Even an FAQ admitted there weren't enough clues.  After running around the true Mirage Palace many times, Kevin fought Charlotte's friend Heath.


Heath didn't fly around for the whole battle like the Crimson Wizard did in the Angela playthrough.  Instead, the party trapped him in a corner for part of the fight.  Not that he was weak, though.  His summons based on Norse mythology, like Jormungandr, tended to inflict ailments like Poison, Mini, or Silence.  Marpoto Oil was necessary with the lack of Charlotte's ailment curing spell.  Heath had his own Healing Light that could restore 650s HP per cast, since he was the son of a Wendel priest.  Heath sometimes cast Ghostleader for offense and Dark Curse for debuffs, like Gova.  


Dark Curse was so effective against Hawkeye that he was only dealing about 10 damage per slash.  I forgot that this had happened for a moment and wondered if he was always that weak, but then Drake Scales restored his damage output to 90s per attack.  Hawkeye still wasn't as strong as Kevin and Duran, but at least he wasn't dead weight!  Hawkeye applied his usual Ninja debuffs, along with a Weapon Smack to decrease Heath's max HP.  Kevin was forced to fight in his beastman form without his favorite glitch.


After the battle, Heath explained that his father was the Dark counterpart to the Priest of Light in Wendel, and eventually became corrupted when he tried to learn forbidden resurrection techniques.  This Masked Mage planned to become a lich god.


The corrupted Mana Sanctuary barely counted as a dungeon, and its boss the Masked Mage was easier than the Dragon Lord in Angela's playthrough.  Kevin and friends were at Level 47, leaving them vulnerable to the lich's Annihilate.  These instant death spells consumed 3 Cups of Wishes, but other spells like Ancient Curse, Dark Force, Lucent Beam, and Meteor Volley were easy to deal with thanks to Hawkeye's debuffs and Kevin's healing.


Drake Scales and Kevin's werewolf form increased the party's damage to the point where much of the fight was simply bashing A, or B when the Class Strike gauge was full.  When the music changed for the 2nd phase of the fight, the Masked Mage tried to save himself with Protection spells, only to take another Lightning Technique.  The background shifted from a purple void to a desert landscape and back again, and I knew I won when Kevin suddenly lost his werewolf sprite.


Duran became a leader of the Valsena knights, Kevin's father approved of him making peace between humans and beastmen, and Hawkeye's thieves were going to "steal water from nature itself" in the absence of mana.  (Or some line similar to that.)  Nevarl has about as much of a chance as Altena without magic stabilizing the climate, in spite of the ending's hopeful tone.


Team Kevin had a much faster pace than Team Angela.  Angela had to reach Level 18 and class change to beat Zehnoa and Bil and Ben in Laurent, much less survive the rest of the game, while Kevin waited until Vuscav's Mana Stone hunt.  Playing with Angela felt like trying Secret of Mana with weaker characters due to constantly casting spells, while Kevin's route was closer to a beat em up.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Hawkeye Attempt Part 1


Solo runs didn't seem viable during the solo Angela playthrough because of the instant deaths spells that late game enemies like to cast, but then I learned that they only apply if your level is lower than the enemy using them.  Kevin's route with 3 characters was fun but easy.


Enter solo Hawkeye.  Why Hawkeye?  There is only 1 endgame dungeon that I hadn't experienced, and to get there you have to pick either Hawkeye or Riesz as your main character.  I also thought that I wasn't using Hawkeye's potential during the Kevin playthrough, since he spent most of the time as a pure melee AI character, and I'd often forget to use his spells in boss fights.


Hawkeye sets himself apart from most of the Trials of Mana cast by hitting enemies twice with one basic attack, which makes it easier for him to fill his Class Strike gauge.  Kevin is the only other character that can do this.  Unfortunately, there are some downsides.  Hawkeye learns no healing spells, or even Moon Saber to drain HP from enemies with melee strikes.  His HP is low compared to other physical protagonists like Duran and Kevin.


I'll be using Kevin's Light/Light class if possible, which grants him special spells that can nullify magic, increase max HP, or inflict status ailments on a group of random enemies.  The Dark classes based on the Ninja seen in the Kevin playthrough are based on decreasing enemy stats.


Hawkeye's initial stats looked like this when he escaped from Nevarl Fortress in the desert:


Level 1 Stats
 
HP:  86
MP:  8
STR:  3
DEX:  6
STA:  3
INT:  3
SPRT:  3
LUCK:  6


Too bad his best values are in the malfunctioning DEX and LUCK!  DEX is required for many of Hawkeye's spells, but this applies mostly to the Dark classes.  Hawkeye still easily defeated the Rabites and Mushbooms in the Astoria region.  His 1st "teammate" Angela joined at Level 4 just outside Cascade Cavern.  This was annoying because she would be difficult to kill off. 


To fulfill the spirit of the solo, I tried to make companions as irrelevant as possible by refusing to buy them equipment and healing Hawkeye with items instead of sleeping at inns.  Dead allies in Trial of Mana are resurrected with 1 HP after combat ends, much like Super Mario RPG and Chrono Cross.  So the idea was to reduce everyone to 1 HP so they would perish again and again.


In Wendel the holy city, Hawkeye bought a Dagger for +4 ATK and Fatigues for +7 DEF.  All mentions of ATK and DEF increases will be relative to previous equipment bonuses, not the absolute value.  He also made sure to stock up on Candies.  It was annoying that Candies for the non-combat reserve menu had to be bought one at a time rather than in bulk.  Hawkeye could only have up to 9 of any item in the ring menu in battle, so long combats were a test of resources.


To avoid healing Angela, I used the Switch version's "Quick Save" (i.e. a save state) in the gold statue save point room.


Hawkeye took on Fullmetal Hugger the crustacean monster at Level 5.  Each of his Dagger slashes cut off about 14-15 HP, and the dual hit Class Strike hit for 32-34.  Fullmetal Hugger sometimes retaliated with a Poison breath, which was cured with a Medical Herb.  Eye Beam zapped Hawkeye for 22, Bubbleblast doused him for 53, Holy Bolt smote him for 32, and Dive Bomb pounded him for 66.  Spells in Trials of Mana cannot be dodged by moving around, just like in Secret of Mana. 


When Fullmetal Hugger lost one eye, it cast Healing Light to restore about 88 HP, which was insignificant to even a solo character's power.  Hawkeye ate 3 Candies and won at Level 5 with 115 max HP.


Duran forced himself onto the team during the Jadd Stronghold prison escape.  Hawkeye fought several beastmen on the way to the port and managed to reduce Duran's HP to 1 by triggering a Polter Box mimic trap.  Guess what duty the other characters are assigned to?    


Angela had some funny character interactions with Duran, since both were connected to the Crimson Wizard.  According to her, the Crimson Wizard "doesn't even call me by my royal title!  Oooh!  It makes me so mad!"  I don't remember Angela being this conscious of her status when she was the main character.


The town of Maia had no new equipment for Hawkeye other than a Leather Cap for +3 DEF and +2 MGC DEF.  Following the yellow brick road to the west didn't lead to friendly Munchkins, but instead poisonous Assassinants and Chobin Hoods that sometimes threw Dart spells for 44 damage.  These weren't so difficult as long as Hawkeye stuffed some Candy down his throat occasionally.


Machine Golems, or whatever those 2 Altena robots on the bridge were called, were harder than anything else Hawkeye had encountered.  They immediately shot a Rocket Launcher that cut his HP to 14/125!  He ate 5 Candies during the battle for good reason.  Weirdly, the robots' melee was much weaker than their spell and only dealt about 5 damage.  Hawkeye didn't lack for damage output with 32 per Class Strike hit.


Going down through Stonesplit Gap into the dwarf village yielded a +5 DEF Camo Cloak and a +8 ATK Baselard.  Playing through a solo is cheap when you don't have to equip your partners, leaving plenty of money for consumable items.


Hawkeye confronted Jewel Eater the mole at Level 7, probably close to the minimum that was viable without good luck.  Hawkeye slashed the Earth element boss for 15-16 with normal hits and 30s-41 with his Class Strike.  Jewel Eater retaliated with 34 damage Diamond Shards, Hard Hit for 66, and the rockfall Ground Slam for 72.  The mole also had some kind of DEF decreasing melee move. 


Jewel Eater's Protection late in the fight only reduced Hawkeye's damage by a few points, making it an underwhelming buff.  Impediment the accuracy/evasion debuff was pointless because of the glitched mechanics.  But Jewel Eater's power was so great that Hawkeye had to eat all 9 Candies to survive.  Granted, he had a Chocolate he won from a treasure chest, but he still couldn't last much longer.


I accidentally figured out how to take screenshots on the Switch when my finger stumbled over the bottom left button while in the Stonesplit Gap save point room.  Unfortunately, Nintendo is silly and won't let you send them to your email.  Even my crummy phone can do that!


(Not that Realms Beyond would probably accept them anyway, given its strict file size limit.)



Hawkeye Stats
 

Level 7
 
HP:  134
MP:  13
STR:  6
DEX:  6
STA:  5
INT:  4
SPRT:  3
LUCK:  6


Obviously, most points go into STR and STA.  INT was chosen once because STR and STA were forbidden for that level.  INT also governs magic defense, so it was worth taking.  As far as DEX, that will automatically rise to the "class minimum" when Hawkeye promotes, and it's pointless right now because his default class gets no spells.  LUCK reduces the likelihood of activating treasure chest traps, but then again triggering them is a good way to injure Hawkeye's "partners".

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Hawkeye Attempt Part 2


Molebear Moors and Valsena's castle were such anticlimactic "dungeons" that even a solo character could clear them easily.  Valsena the town didn't have much equipment, only a +2 DEF, +1 MGC DEF Cicada Earrings.  What was worth investigating, however, was the consumable item shop.  Valsena was the first city to sell Chocolates and Honey Elixirs, increasing Hawkeye's stash of ring menu healing items.


The town of Beiser on the yellow brick road opened up now that the guards were no longer suspicious of an Altena invasion.  This gave access to the Night Market, home of consumables Hawkeye couldn't buy anywhere else.  Poto Oils provided additional healing ring menu slots based on SPRT.  Temporary stat increasing items like Drake Scales for STR and Sahagin Chips for INT/SPRT were valuable for bosses.  Stuff like the Bearclaw and Poseidon Claw could mimic Saber spells to change physical attacks to a desired element.  So long as the element wasn't Light or Dark.



Heavensway and the Gusthall contained some annoying monsters like the Copper Knight who could copy Duran's Gladiator class and Spin Slash for heavy damage.  Zombies had Poison status attacks as usual.  Imps inflicted Mini status, but that was easily cured with the infinite use Minor Mallet from a mandatory filler quest.  Harpies were inaccurate against the other characters.  It was amusing to see the MISS message appear as Angela was smacking one for 1 damage!




Hawkeye confronted Harcypete the Wind elemental monster at Level 10.  With the Bearclaw to change to Earth damage, a Drake Scale for STR, and a Sahagin Chip to increase magic resistance, the fight was easy.  Harcypete flew around the arena and was difficult to strike in melee, though its Cyclones did little damage compared to Hawkeye's 84-110 Class Strike slashes.  Only 2 Candies were needed to win.


I was feeling cheeky, so I put all my Candies into the reserve menu to try to trick the game into giving me 9 free Candies from the Laurent castle barrel.  It worked because the code only looked at the ring menu.


Laurent's castle contained Copper Knights, and Assassins who imitated Hawkeye's Ninja class and used its Class Strike.  Assassins also threw 59 damage Shurikens.  Evil Swords were so pathetic that they often failed to kill Angela and Duran even when they were at 1 HP.  This was because the weakest of attacks staggered them.


Hawkeye was not ready for Zehnoa the door statue demon at Level 10.  The problem was not so much the boss itself, but the constant summoning of minions like Copper Knights and Mad Mallards.  Zehnoa also increased their attack power with Strengthen.  The solo hero couldn't keep up with so many melee hits, combined with Trap 1, Trap 2, and Fireball.


DEATH COUNT:  1


Hawkeye tried again at Level 13 after stomping around the castle a few times, much like Angela did in her playthrough.  But Hawkeye by himself was better than a team of Angela, Charlotte, and Riesz.  Partially because I learned more about the game, and partially because Trials of Mana is biased against magical offense.  Bosses love to counter magic with their own special moves. 


A Poseidon Claw changed Hawkeye's melee to Water, and he consumed the typical Drake Scale and Sahagin Chip.  6 Candies and 1 Poto Oil were used.  The Poto Oil was there to avoid wasting a Candy.  Just after Zehnoa shrank Hawkeye down to hobbit size with Change Form, the fight ended.


Bil and Ben fell to the master Nevarl thief at Level 13 too.  I was surprised to see that happen!  These Ninjas didn't have elemental weaknesses, so no Bearclaw or anything like that.  Bil and Ben threw Shurikens for 66 damage that decreased Hawkeye's irrelevant glitched accuracy, and Shadow Menace struck for 82.  Hawkeye returned the favor with 88-90 per hit Class Strikes and 40s regular attacks. 


What made the fight unusually easy was a case of bad pathfinding.  Either Bil or Ben got stuck running in place on the left side of the screen at one point and refused to attack.  This wasn't my attempt to exploit the AI, but just chance.  It allowed Hawkeye to pick off one of them and then concentrate on the other.  Only 3 Candies were required to stay alive.



Hawkeye Stats at Level 13
 
HP:  207
MP:  21
STR:  8
DEX:  6
STA:  8
INT:  5
SPRT:  3
LUCK:  6


Team Angela needed to promote and be at Level 18 to defeat Bil and Ben, but Hawkeye did it by himself 5 levels lower.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Hawkeye Attempt Part 3


Just before boarding the Ghost Ship, Hawkeye bought a +8 ATK Sharktooth and a +12 DEF Soft Leathers.  Whenever I see "leathers" in the plural, I think of the Spanish expression "en cueros", which would hint that Hawkeye was wearing nothing at all!


When it was time to choose which character a ghost would temporarily boot out of the party, Duran made a "give up the ghost" pun.  I had no regrets leaving him behind.


Gova the Dark element boss had the annoying habit of flying out of melee range.  Its shadowy spells like Evil Gate, Ghostleader, and Dark Rain could deal anywhere from 22-45 damage, requiring 4 Candies and 1 Poto Oil to restore Hawkeye's HP.  His normal slashes with Dragon Scale application cut open Gova for about 41 damage, while his Class Strike sliced for 88.  Hawkeye abandoned the Ghost Ship at Level 13.


Beuca Isle had new equipment in Tomato Town:  a Steel Dagger for +9 ATK, and a Skanda Cloak for +11 DEF.  The Eggatrice and its adult form Pricklebeak hit hard and fast, and had the ability to instantly kill Hawkeye by petrifying him.


DEATH COUNT:  2


There was a simple way to deal with these enemies:  fleeing like a Final Fantasy Bard.  Beuca Island had no mandatory Pricklebeak battles, so Hawkeye dashed to the less perilous Seaside Cavern as soon as possible.  


Potos inside Seaside Cavern were obnoxious due to healing the other enemies constantly, and Marmpotos seared Hawkeye with 90 damage Lucent Beams since his SPRT was so low.  There was no boss on the island, however, so the random battles were difficult but manageable.


Hawkeye could now return to the Night Market whenever he wanted, so he stocked up on stat buff items, including Bulette Scales for DEF.  Frostbite Fields was his next destination since the Water Mana Stone was located at the entrance of the nearby Labyrinth of Ice.  It was impossible to continue the plot without doing so anyway, and Hawkeye was almost ready to class change.  Alrant, the Altena town closest to Frostbite Fields, sold a +9 ATK Misericorde and a +12 DEF Chain Tunic.



Frostbite Field's monsters were difficult for a solo.  Sahagins decreased Hawkeye's ATK to the point where he was scratching enemies for 1 damage, until he restored his stats with a Drake Scale.  Potos and Marmpotos acted the same way they did in Seaside Cavern.  And Wizards cast spells like Fireball and Evil Gate that struck for around 50 damage per cast.  


The "boss" fight of 3 Machine Golems was an anticlimax after the slog through the Frostbite Fields.  With the help of a Drake Scale, Sahagin Chip, and Bulette Scale, Hawkeye's stats were so high that he only lost about 9 HP during the whole battle.  Then again, that must be because the robots insisted on melee instead of firing a Rocket Launcher. 


Since Hawkeye was already at Level 17, he fought random Frostbite Fields enemies until he reached Level 18.  When he converted into the Light class Ranger, Hawkeye now threw daggers at all enemies on the screen with his 2nd tier Class Strike.  Some points in INT and DEX would be needed for ailment and damage spells.


Hawkeye as a Level 18 Thief:


HP:  276
MP:  29
STR:  9
DEX:  6
STA:  9
INT:  6
SPRT:  5
LUCK:  6


Hawkeye as a Level 18 Ranger:


HP:  276
MP:  32
STR:  9
DEX:  12
STA:  9
INT:  9
SPRT:  9
LUCK:  12


The MP increase probably came from raising INT to the Ranger minimum.  Whenever you upgrade to a new class in Trials of Mana, all stats are raised to the maximum value of your previous class.  That's why players will see a dramatic increase in the marginal DEX and LUCK.  It also means you don't have to give INT or SPRT to your melee characters during their time in the  1st class to learn spells in their 2nd.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Hawkeye Attempt Part 4


To find the next Mana Stone, Hawkeye crossed the Burning Sands near his home of Nevarl Fortress.  Many of the monsters he fought there were Bulettes, a kind of triceratops that was slow, had no spells, and was easy to kill.  Hawkeye benefited from their scales much more than they did!


But Pricklebeaks also resided in the Burning Sands.  Guess what happened when I tried to make Hawkeye fight a few?


DEATH COUNT:  3


Even at a higher level, it was too difficult to kill Pricklebeaks without being petrified.  So Hawkeye ran away from any screen that had one.  The Tomatoman cast Chess Knight for 74 damage, and the duck enemies with the WWII like army helmets threw 113 damage Bumpkins.  


Hawkeye's new Ranger Class Strike was effective for clearing out all visible enemies.  It was the only advantage he would have over the Ninja class on the Dark path.  The Arrow spell Hawkeye tried before being petrified wasn't worth losing Thunder Technique for!


Diin, the oasis town, sold underwhelming equipment:  a +1 DEF Feather Cap, and +2 DEF Cobra Earrings.  The weapons were the same as in Alrant for players who sought the Fire Mana Stone first instead of the Water one.


Bil and Ben demanded a rematch at the entrance of the Fiery Gorge volcano.  Hawkeye applied a Drake Scale, Sahagin Chip, and Bulette Scale as usual.  With all the buffs active, Hawkeye swiped for 56 per regular hit and 125 per 1st tier Class Strike.  I didn't bother trying the upgraded Ranger version because bosses sometimes counter high level Class Strikes in this game.


Bil and Ben threw Shurikens at Hawkeye for 45 damage, bashed him with Shadow Menace for 140 (!), and once decreased his DEF with Thunder Technique.  Hawkeye consumed another Bulette Scale to correct that.  Night Market items aren't just there to make your characters stronger, but to cure debuffs as well.  Hawkeye did better as a Ranger than Bil and Ben did as Ninja Masters, and won after eating only 2 Candies and 1 Chocolate.


(Ninja Master is another Hawkeye class, available by taking the Dark/Light path.  Its specialty is casting the Ninja's elemental debuffs on multiple enemies.  The Hawkeye the AI used in the Kevin playthrough was a Nightblade, or the Dark/Dark class.)



Mintas on the outskirts of the Duskmoon Forest sold a Katara for +11 ATK, and a Radiant Cape for +12 DEF.  I was dreading the encounter with the werewolves a bit, but they were easy so long as Hawkeye kept up his diet of empty calories. 


Ludgar was also much easier than in the Kevin playthrough, possibly because I wasn't using 2nd tier Class Strikes to avoid possible counters?  With a Bulette Scale, Ludgar the werewolf's paws tickled Hawkeye for 1 damage each.  Until he copied Kevin's 108 damage Burst Slam and split the screen with a 176 power Seiryu Strike.  How does the damage formula work anyway?  Do Class Strikes ignore part of DEF or something?  Ludgar couldn't take many hits, and died after Hawkeye consumed 1 Candy and 1 Chocolate.



Hawkeye Stats as Level 20 Ranger
 
HP:  305
MP:  35
STR:  11
DEX:  12
STA:  9
INT:  9
SPRT:  9
LUCK:  12


So far this playthrough has been surprisingly simple.  Two deaths could have been prevented by running away from Pricklebeaks instead of fighting them.  Hawkeye will have to level to at least 50 before the end of the game to become immune to instant death spells like Roulette Spin from Peepers, even if he doesn't need the higher stats.


For now, Hawkeye will delay putting points into INT until the Wood element is unlocked after beating Grapplavine, so he can get Sleep Flower.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Hawkeye Attempt Part 5


Lampbloom Woods was mostly uneventful, except for buying a +14 ATK Elfin Dagger, a +1 DEF and +1 MGC DEF Faerie Cap, and a +13 DEF and +29 MGC DEF Elf Vest.  I have no idea why the body armor in this area gave such a drastic improvement in MGC DEF.


Grapplavine the dragon head plant wasn't difficult, but its Sleep Flower sure made it annoying!  Hawkeye would often snooze for a few seconds until one of the Assassinant minions stung him.  He practiced the usual Drake Scale, Bulette Scale, and Sahagin Chip.  To save me having to write more pointless text, assume Hawkeye does this for every boss fight for the rest of the game. 


Hawkeye had a few spare Hand Axes in his inventory, so he tested them out by chucking them at Grapplavine.  They slashed for about 140 damage, much better than Ranger's trap themed spells at least.  When Grapplavine took its opponent seriously, it cast Poison Bubble for around 118-184 Wood element damage.  Leaf Spine explosions looked flashy, but only hurt Hawkeye for about 88.


Hawkeye struck back with 74 per regular hit and 243 with his Ranger Class Strike.  Normally, the Thief Class Strike would be used because it hits twice, but there were enough enemies swarming around that throwing daggers was more practical.  After devouring 6 Candies and 3 Chocolates, Hawkeye weeded Lampbloom Woods at Level 21 and gained Dryad's spells.  He spent his Level 22 stat point on INT to learn Sleep Flower.


But that was a wasted point apart from the magic defense.  Sleep Flower had a long charge time relative to its duration.  Hawkeye tried it out on Evil Ninjas in Nevarl Fortress when he had to surrender the Mana Sword to the villains Belladonna and Malocchio.  Evil Ninjas fought the same way Bil and Ben did, with elemental debuffs and Shadow Menace.  Finding the throne room took longer than it should have, as sensible architecture had not been invented in the Trials of Mana world.


Hawkeye's first trophy in the Benevodon hunt was Mispolm the Wood element pumpkin.  But to get to this boss, he had to fight the Level 28 Mushglooms, Chobin Hoodlums, Queeneebs, and some other enemy I can't remember.  An enemy spell that looked like it was raining missiles exploded for more damage than Hawkeye had max HP.


DEATH COUNT:  4


At this point, I decided to fight dirty.  Hawkeye ate a Drake Scale before every fight from here on out to crush enemies before they could fire artillery, activate a 130 damage Musheruption, throw a 130 damage Silver Dart, or Summon Bees for around 200 power.  Night Market items were already cheap, and even more so when there was only 1 character to equip.


At Level 24, Hawkeye met Mispolm face-to-face.  Despite Moon being the opposite element to Wood, the pumpkin was weak to the Wind element from the Siren's Claw item buff.  Mispolm shot its fellow pumpkins known as Bumpkin and Grumpkin for 34-123 damage.  Barrage Sting and Poison Bubble were more threatening with 140s-150s damage.  Like Grapplavine, Mispolm liked to cast Sleep Flower on occasion, but Mispolm had no minions to summon.  


Hawkeye cut Mispolm for around 70 per basic hit and 160 with the Thief Class Strike.  Then I actually remembered to use the Siren's Claw halfway through the fight and his damage output rose to 160s per basic hit and 300 per Thief Class Strike.  Remember that Hawkeye hits 2 times with those moves. Mispolm was sessile and an easy target, but forced Hawkeye to consume 6 Chocolates and 5-6 Candies after a series of spells.


Just before descending into the Daria gemstone caves, cats sold Hawkeye a +25 ATK Rugged Blade, a +2 DEF Bear Galea headgear, a +2 DEF and +1 MGC DEF Dryad Ring, and a +28 DEF Fluorspar Vest.  One of the cheaper weapons that he didn't buy was a "Dance Dagger".  Unlike Sullla's favorite FF5 solo weapon, it wouldn't randomly roll Swords Dance for much more attack power.  Weapons and armor in Trials of Mana are purely stat upgrades, and don't seem to have any other effects.


The "use a Drake Scale before every random fight" tactic was as effective in Daria as it was in the Wandara Woods where Mispolm lived.  The main enemy to watch out for was the Prime Slime that tended to cast Poison Bubble.  Eggatrices dwelt in the cave too, and Hawkeye slowly backed away in panic into the next screen if he saw them.  ("Combat mode" movement is slower than regular movement.)


Land Umber the Earth robot Benevodon had the same Wind element weakness as Mispolm, so the Siren's Claw increased Hawkeye's power dramatically.  Each normal knife slash hit for 180s, and the Thief Class Strike tore it apart for 360s.  Saber buffs apply to only the starter Class Strike, not to promoted versions like the Ranger's multitarget dagger throwing.  Land Umber occasionally attacked with Hammer Punch, Earthquake, or Stone Cloud, but the fact that Hawkeye ate 5 Candies and no Chocolates should tell you that these moves weren't as dangerous as Poison Bubbles from the regular enemies.


Jai Stuart's "Seiken Densetsu 3 Single Character Challenge FAQ" has good advice in general, but the strong emphasis on "Level Up. . .Like Mad" seems unnecessary so far.  Solo Hawkeye has so far cleared dungeons 4 levels above his, with his weaker 2nd tier class, and with the disadvantage of his "specialty" stats DEX and LUCK being useless.  GameFAQS writers like leveling more than they should.    



Hawkeye Stats as Level 26 Ranger
 
HP:  398
MP:  44
STR:  13
DEX:  12
STA:  12
INT:  10
SPRT:  9
LUCK:  12

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Hawkeye Attempt Part 6


Fiery Gorge and its Fire Benevodon Xan Bie was Hawkeye's next target.  Random enemies were easy and not worth noting here.  To fight the flames that floated around the arena, Hawkeye used a Poseidon's Claw on himself to change his weapon's element to Water.  Saber type effects must have a delayed effect in this game, because Hawkeye started off dealing 120s per normal hit and 270s per Class Strike hit, then later on 190s per normal hit and 370s per Class Strike hit.


Xan Bie scorched Hawkeye with 180 power Heat Beams, sizzled with 182 power Lava Waves, spread shrapnel with 82 power Explosions, and once fried him with a 170s Gigantaburn.  5 Chocolates somehow managed not to melt in the volcano, and thus Hawkeye survived the battle at Level 27.


In the Shimmering Ruins, Magic Tezlas preferred to temporarily decrease Hawkeye's max HP.  This wasn't as bad as it sounded, because even the palette swaps of the Copper Knight liked to shine Healing Light on themselves rather than Spin Slash or something. 



Fighting Lightgazer the Light Benevodon floating eye, however, was much more difficult.  Hawkeye had no Saber item for Darkness because those weren't sold at the Night Market.  He had to settle for 120s regular hits and 250s Class Strike blows.  Lightgazer bounced around the arena, pointing 222 damage Gush Blast lasers and 124 power Lucent Beams, and smiting Hawkeye with 70 damage Holy Bolts. 


Lightgazer's most threatening spell was Shackles, a 230s damage spell that also morphed Hawkeye into a Moogle.  He was helpless as a Final Fantasy mascot and had to eat a Medical Herb to cure it.  Just in case Lightgazer cast Shackles often, our hero brought some Marmpoto Oil if the Medical Herbs ran out, but they weren't necessary in the end.  About 3 Candies, 6 Chocolates, and 1 Honey Elixir healed all the SPRT powered Light magic.



Hawkeye bought a new weapon and some armor from the cats at the Chartmoon Tower entrance.  A Sylvan Knife increased his ATK by +14, a Black Hood gave an pitiful +1 DEF bonus, and a Cloak Mantle provided +16 additional DEF.  He certainly needed them while fighting the Level 36 werewolves that copied Kevin's Healing Light and Class Strikes!  The dungeon itself had a "Let's Make a Deal" format where Hawkeye had to guess the correct door to ascend, or fight some random enemies.


Dolan the Moon Benevodon was so large only its head, arms, and paws were visible.  Moon did not have an elemental weakness available at the Night Market, ensuring the fight would drag out for a while.  Hawkeye's knife slashes dealt a meager 90s damage, the Thief Class Strike hit for 230s, and the Ranger dagger throws hit for 360s.  Dolan often cast spells like Gravity Crush, Moon Spiral, and Half Eclipse for 210s.  Howl was a more modest 110s power. 


Hawkeye bashed himself with the Minor Mallet to get rid of the inevitable Mini status ailment that Dolan liked to use.  That's why you should always keep that in your ring menu!  Dolan inflicted so much damage that Hawkeye had to eat 5 Candies, 9 Chocolates, and 1 Honey Elixir to win.  The "instant cast" property of healing items means that Hawkeye can usually win a drawn out fight, but can fall to powerful single hits due to his low max HP compared to other characters.


It was at this point that Hawkeye's low level was starting to catch up to him, though it was better for him to fight Dolan now than to wait for his level to scale higher after more Benevodons died.  The next Benevodons Hawkeye will have to face are Wind and Water, which do have weaknesses to Night Market "Saber items".



Hawkeye Stats as Level 30 Ranger
 
HP:  459
MP:  50
STR:  14
DEX:  13
STA:  14
INT:  10
SPRT:  9
LUCK:  12

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Hawkeye Attempt Part 7


The Labyrinth of Ice was not as labyrinthine as the regular castles in the Trials of Mana world.  Although Hawkeye was Level 31 while fighting the Level 38 monsters, they were easy to kill.  Even Fiegmund the Water Benevodon just sat there taking hits for a while after Hawkeye increased his power with the usual items and a Cerberus Paw for Fire element weapon attacks.  At maximum strength, regular melee dealt 230s, and the Thief Class Strike slashed for 430s.


Besides having worse AI than a Pokemon, Fiegmund's gimmick was to jump on the underside of the platform and become temporarily invincible to melee.  No need to fear, the Spikes spell was here!  Which inflicted about 55 damage.  Good job, Ranger Hawkeye.  You gave up Ninja magic for that.  Fiegmund probably countered Spikes, too, since it cast 2 Spike Freezes of 110s power in rapid succession.


Fiegmund's other tricks were dislodging 170s power Icicles from the ceiling and combining Mental Boost and Frozen Crack for a 330s spell that nearly killed Hawkeye.  He consumed 5 Candies and 1 Honey Elixir to win.


Gusthall version 2 had the same enemies as version 1, only they were level 40 this time.  The Imps and Harpies were about as easy as they were the first time, and I considered leveling here.  But I wanted to see if Hawkeye could beat Dangaard the Wind Benevodon at Level 32 instead.


Hawkeye fought Dangaard while riding on Flammie's back.  Every so often, Dangaard would change the scrolling from vertical to horizontal.  Maybe it liked to play the NES game Life Force, which had a similar scrolling trick.  Each orientation change revived the dead characters with 1 HP and forced Hawkeye to reapply his buff items, since they counted as separate fights in the code.  According to my item supplies at the end of the fight, there were 4 phases total.  


The Bearclaw was chosen for its Earth elemental damage.  Regular melee hit for 230s, the elemental Thief Class Strike smacked the two-headed bird dragon for 360s, and the single hit nonelemental Ranger Class Strike pierced its hide for 440s.  Sometimes I forgot to use the Thief Class Strike before filling up the bar all the way to Ranger.


Dangaard's spells weren't as strong as some other Benevodons' powers.  Cyclone winds blew for 90s, a Thunderstorm struck for 104, Thunderballs were thrown for 140s-150s, and the rarely seen Air Rush passed by for 210s.  With the power of 4 Chocolates, Hawkeye survived these attacks.


The plot forced Hawkeye to fly to Pedda, near Kevin's final dungeon, the Mirage Palace.  This town was destroyed by Angela/Duran's villain the Dragon Lord years ago, but sleeping at the inn sent Hawkeye back in time so he could buy equipment and gather clues about the Dark Benevodon's location.  His +14 ATK Crescent Dirk, +1 DEF and MGC DEF Dark Goggles, and +18 DEF Thief Cuirass would be the best accessories he could get unless he got a lucky roll with random Gear Seeds.


Hawkeye's playthrough will stall for a bit because of one annoying tactic enemies in the endgame use:  instant death spells.  This includes mandatory fights, so he can't run away from Roulette Spin or Annihilate the same way he escaped the Pricklebeaks' petrification.  But instant death spells fail if the player character's level is higher than the monster casting them.  Zable Fahr the Dark Benevodon is at Level 46, and final bosses for every route are at Level 50.  Time for long grinding sessions!  ("Level like mad" from the FAQ is vindicated, if only for this part.)


So far Hawkeye has done well.  He hasn't even made his final class change yet, and almost all the Benevodons are dead already.


   
Hawkeye Stats as Level 34 Ranger
 

HP:  514
MP:  58
STR:  14
DEX:  14
STA:  15
INT:  12
SPRT:  9
LUCK:  12