Mana series (Seiken Densetsu)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Kevin Part 2


Kevin descended into Dwarf Tunnel and whacked Jewel Eater the mole at Level 8.  Each normal punch struck for 39 after Kevin first took damage, and Class Strike kickboxed for 74.  Jewel Eater's Protection only decreased Kevin's power by a few points. 


Jewel Eater cast Diamond Shards for 39, dashed with Hard Hit for 72, and caused part of the ceiling to collapse with a 77 Ground Slam.  This was a hard boss for most other solos, but Kevin's double hits drained its HP so quickly he only had to eat 3 Candies.


After driving out the Altenish forces from Valsena, Kevin purchased a +2 DEF and +1 MGC DEF Leather Band and a supply of Chocolates and Honey Elixirs.  Palo Port under Nevarl occupation provided a +8 ATK Bearclaw, a +9 DEF Duel Attire, and a +1 DEF Warrior Scarf.


Kevin battled the Harpies, Copper Knights, and Imps on Heavensway until the flowers put him to sleep.  He woke up in the cave base of the Laurent resistance forces, who instructed him to visit Domperi.  Kevin backtracked near Astoria to talk to the tiny Domperi, then got the Minor Mallet from Beiser to make Mini status trivial.


Kevin transformed into a werewolf at Level 10 to battle another demihuman, Harcypete.  This harpy's tricks involved blowing Kevin around with a 45 Cyclone, or deafening him with a 118 Supersonic.  Its Accelerate increase to evasion was useless thanks to Trials of Mana's questionable coding.  Defenseless was more effective, though a Stardust Herb cured this debuff.  Using that item may have been pointless, as Harcypete croaked one hit later.  Kevin's normal punches hit for 41, while Class Strikes pounded Harcypete for 85.  About 4 Candies were necessary.


Testing out the day/night cycle in random Gusthall battle proved that Kevin could revert from wolf form if dawn broke during the fight.


It was always strange to see player characters being surprised by monsters in Citadel Laurent just one room after fighting them, and Kevin was no exception.  He was at Level 11 by the time he reached Zehnoa the demon door just before the throne room.  Normal punches chipped the stone for 52, while Class Strikes shattered it for 100.


Besides summoning minions and casting Strengthen on them, Zehnoa liked to cast a few spells.  Particularly Trap I spikes for 67 and Trap II rocks for 87.  Since it was a Fire innate boss, Zehnoa also knew the 53 damage Fireball and the 74 strength Dissolving Wave.  Kevin ate 4 Candies to secure victory.


Bil and Ben were next, and fortunately it was still night.  Their nastiest technique was to cast Water Diversion, which seemed to decrease Kevin's STR for the rest of the fight besides dealing 67 damage.  Kevin's Class Strikes decreased from around 114 to 83 per hit.  Not even a Stardust Herb could restore Kevin's werewolf glitch.  Perhaps it's only applied once per fight?  Bil and Ben's other ninja powers were a 59 Shuriken, a 66 Dirt Diversion and a 94 Shadow Menace.  These evil versions of Hawkeye were so mighty that Kevin had to eat 4 Chocolates.


With the Nevarl guards gone from Palo Port, the town sold new supplies.  A Chain Glove boosted Kevin's ATK by +9, and a Chain Vest yielded +10 DEF.  The next post will cover the Ghost Ship, Beuca Island, and possibly promotion.  Kevin's 2nd tier class will probably be the least interesting upgrade in the game, but the desired 3rd tier class has it as a prerequisite.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Kevin Part 3


It wasn't until Kevin reached Level 14 that the truth about the Ghost Ship's cycle was discovered.  Apparently, the boat is cursed to permanently be daytime, since Dream Reeds couldn't be used on the ring menu.  So Kevin wasted all that time only to find out he had to battle Gova without his werewolf glitch.


Then again, Kevin's punches dealt so much damage it didn't matter.  Regular hits clobbered the ghost for 33, while Class Strikes hammered it for up to 75.  Gova never learned to simply fly out of range and render melee useless.  Kevin's low INT ensured that Gova could return fire with spells like a 53 Evil Gate, a 102 Ghostleader, and a 66 Dark Rain.  To withstand these and the unnamed 40 power "silence cloud", Kevin ate 7 Candies.


Beuca Island was free experience for the most part, since even Tomatomen collapsed when hit with basic attacks before they could cast Healing Light.  Tomato Town sold Kevin a +10 ATK Bagh Nakh and a +12 DEF Wolf Brace.  Kevin's (and the player's) overconfidence was fatal when a Eggatrice became a Pricklebeak and immediately made him into a sculpture.


DEATH COUNT:  1


That's why you always run away from Eggatrices instead of trying to kill them to gain levels slightly faster!  The cave on Beuca Island was easy since there were none of those.  Vuscav rescued Kevin and allowed him to travel to the Altenish town Alrant to buy a +12 ATK Fiend Claw and a +12 DEF Vestguard.


Frostbite Fields's Sahagins were annoying thanks to their STR reducing attack, which dropped Kevin's damage output to single digits for regular hits.  Aside from that, Kevin pummeled the local enemies like Wizards and Potos until he became eligible for promotion at Level 18.  It was also dusk, just in time for the next boss.


These Machine Golems opened with a 124 power Grumpkin bomb, then spent the rest of the fight using Angela's 2nd tier spells such as Earthquake and Thunderstorm for 64-88 damage.  Charlotte inexplicably survived long enough that at least some of the enemy magic was the reduced strength group target version.  About 2 Candies and 1 Chocolate later, and Kevin became a Grappler at the Mana Stone.  This is the "class minimum":


HP:  340
MP:  29
 
STR:  10
DEX:  9
STA:  12
INT:  8
SPRT:  8
LUCK:  8


What magic does the Brawler get?  Nothing!  Kevin's Light class of Monk receives Pressure Point to use werewolf stats during the day and Healing Light.  Brawler's sole advantage over Monk is the extra point in STR.


Kevin's Class Strikes gained from promotions have a weird context-sensitive property.  For example, sometimes the Monk will use a grappling move on a single target, or perhaps you'll spin kick the whole screen.  Perhaps which one you get is based on your distance from the target?


(Why is Kevin's default class called Grappler anyway?  All the wrestling moves come after changing class. . .)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Kevin Part 4


Kevin trudged through the Burning Sands desert to confront Bil and Ben again at Level 19.  This was a short but bloody brawl.  Hawkeye's evil counterparts opened with a 104 Shuriken, then followed with 6-8 strength cuts.  Bil and Ben nearly defeated Kevin when they stabbed him with consecutive 160 damage Shadow Menaces near the end of the battle.  Kevin ate 3 Chocolates and punched Bil and Ben for 85 regular hits and 169 Class Strikes.


The friendly Ferolian town of Mintas sold a +15 ATK Keen Knuckle and a +13 DEF Wild Attire.  For a martial arts character, Kevin gets significant equipment bonuses.  Kevin punched out his countrymen in Duskmoon Forest, then effectively fought himself when Ludgar appeared.  Each of Ludgar's werewolf punches jabbed for 6-8.  Ludgar stole Kevin's Burst Slam piledriver and pinned him for 122.  What Kevin couldn't have as a Brawler was the 190 Seiryu Strike screen split. 


Kevin only had to eat 4 Candies as Ludgar was a counterattack boss. Kevin didn't take the bait by trying out his wrestling moves.  Kevin lacked impressive moves, but mastered the basics with 85 normal crosses and 179 power Class Strike combos.  It was always night in Ferolia because of the Moon Mana Stone, so Kevin never had to worry about his werewolf form expiring.


The elf town of Dior sold a +13 ATK Acid Claw, a +2 DEF and +1 MGC DEF Chakra Band, and a +13 DEF and +23 MGC DEF Vine Vest.  Dior has one of the few shops that sells equipment with a noticeable MGC DEF bonus, one of the mysteries of Trials of Mana game design.


At Level 21, Kevin weed whacked Grapplavine in Lampbloom Woods.  Angela and Charlotte survived longer than they should have with 1 HP, so Grapplavine first had to waste a few actions killing them.  This allowed Kevin to test his STR pre-glitch and afterwards.  Kevin's standard punches and Class Strikes hit for 64 and 150 respectively.  After taking damage, these numbers reached 117 and 227 per blow.  Kevin outclasses the rest of the cast for good reason! 


Grapplavine poisoned Kevin with a 38 Jet Blast and shot magic reducing Hammer Buds starting at 69.  Jet Blasts and Hammer Buds pelted him for around 69 and 100 once Kevin's MGC DEF shrank.  But the worst Wood spells during the "dragon plant" phase were a 142 Leaf Spine and a 256 Poison Bubble that burst with the force of its economic equivalent.  Kevin ate 4 Chocolates and 1 Candy to prevail.


(No commenter has tried to guess what the additional variant is.  Or more likely, no one else on this board cares about a 1995 game that was only officially released in English for a Switch compilation 24 years after.)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Kevin Part 5


Kevin bullied Rabite palette swaps in the Sanctuary of Mana until reaching Level 25, then pulled the Sword of Mana out of the branch.  He was forced to deliver it to Goremand in Ferolia while clobbering werewolves along the way.  Kevin made a stop in Mintas and purchased a +14 ATK Bone Knuckle, a +15 DEF Battle Suit, and a +3 DEF and +1 MGC DEF Redmoon Horn.  (Bone is somehow superior to metal in Trials of Mana. . .)


Kevin was far better at surviving in Ferolia's castle than Charlotte and killed many enemies for experience instead of running away.  The only trouble was when the enemies cast Healing Light on themselves.  It seems the werewolf glitch expires for the "screen" you're on if you level up in combat, similar to stat changing spells.  This made one encounter longer than it should.


Copper Knights, Harpies, and Imps fell to Kevin's fists until he gained Level 28.  Dangaard was the 1st Benevodon to succumb.  The world map "cutscene" didn't change the time from night to day, so Kevin could benefit from werewolf powers.


Since the werewolf glitch only occurs when you take damage in battle, and each Dangaard phase is treated as a separate battle, you get to see how much stronger Kevin becomes.  Each of these damage values is PER HIT, not per button press.


Before glitch:  76 regular attack, 182 basic Class Strike
After glitch:  142 regular attack, 280 basic Class Strike


Kevin also tried out a 405 Abyssal Slice once because the Class Strike gauge went too high.  Too bad higher tier Class Strikes are single blows instead of double.  Dangaard as the Wind boss had an affinity with a 91 Cyclone, a 145 group and 267 single target Thunderball, a 152 Thunderstorm, and a 276 Air Rush that also dropped Kevin's DEF.  Dangaard's typhoons forced Kevin to unwrap 7 Chocolates, but otherwise it was a simple battle as long as the current HP threshold was high enough.


The cat merchants became available after Dangaard died, and sold Kevin a +14 ATK Ghost Fist, a +16 DEF Amber Attire, a +2 DEF Wolfsmane, and a +2 DEF Fiend Fang.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Kevin Part 6


Had just enough time this afternoon to play another Trials of Mana session.  Land Umber was the obvious next target.  Its lair of Gem Valley Daria is a bad place to grind due to the chance of Eggatrices, so Kevin brawled with the enemies in Labyrinth of Ice instead until he grew to Level 30.  Oddly, no Eggatrices appeared when Kevin made his descent into the cave.


There was one detail Kevin neglected when confronting the golem:  the day/night cycle.  His werewolf form had expired at some point before the final room of the dungeon.  Kevin paid for it by only dealing about 40 damage with normal punches and 144 with Class Strike hits.


Land Umber didn't hold back unintentionally like Kevin.  It knew a variety of Earth spells and made use of its massive fists.  Land Umber's preferred moves seemed to be a 193 Hammer Punch and a 232 Earthquake.  The group version of the latter shook for around 170 when Charlotte was still alive.  Stone Cloud enveloped Kevin for 251 and Crushing Blow bounced him around like a pinball for 271.  And a Hyper Cannon launched for 338. 


No wonder Kevin's metabolism made him eat 8 Chocolates and 6 Honey Elixirs!  Worst of all was when Land Umber cast Protection late in the battle to increase its DEF, reducing Kevin's regular attacks and Class Strikes to 7-9 and 113 respectively.  Kevin won via his fast Class Strike gauge and massive max HP, not by the player's tactics.  Kevin's health after gaining Level 31 from the battle was 600, more than Angela or Charlotte would ever have.



This was the most exciting Land Umber match in any of the playthroughs.  Wonder how many more Benevodon battles Kevin can win as a man instead of a beast?

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Kevin Part 7


Kevin fought Mispolm by day at Level 32, and had reached the Brawler STR cap of 16.  His normal punches poked the pumpkin for around 80, while Class Strikes reached 190.  When Mispolm wasn't trying to grab Kevin with its 32 power "tentacles", the Benevodon cast Wood spells.  Two of its attacks were confusingly labeled Grumpkin:  a 179 version with many pumpkins bouncing around, and a 129 "single pumpkin" variation.  Bumpkin was a pint-sized pumpkin with 58 damage.  


What really made Kevin go through 9 Chocolates and 2 Honey Elixirs was a 260 Barrage Sting thorn and the 227 Poison Bubble.  Sleep Flower wasn't a notable hindrance as the status was cured after being hit.  


In Labyrinth of Ice, Kevin acquired a ??? Seed needed for promotion from a Parpoto's chest. . .which also rolled a Reaper trap.  That's what he deserves for never picking LUCK as his level up stat.  


DEATH COUNT:  2


The fatality was only a formality.  Angela and Charlotte ran to a safe room where Kevin revived with 1 HP and healed himself with a Honey Elixir.  Trials of Mana only respawns enemies in a room if you move two screens away from it.  And treasure chests only drop after combat ends in the first place.



Attempting to fight Fiegmund at Level 34 with both the daytime form and the hidden variant restriction was a mistake, or so it seemed.  Kevin's normal punches struck for 54, while his basic Class Strike hit for 164.  This damage disparity hints that Class Strikes at least partially ignore DEF, even the starter one that's more of a "guaranteed critical" than the upper level "physical spells".


Fiegmund threw many Water spells at Kevin, such as an 80 Icicle and a 167 Spike Freeze.  Usually when the boss was on the underside of the platform and out of melee reach.  What made this Benevodon special were its other two spells:  Frozen Crack and Cold Blaze.  Frozen Crack had a STR decreasing side effect in addition to its 293 damage.  Kevin might as well have been Angela or Charlotte when his regular punches went down to the minimum 1 power.  His Class Strikes still hurt for 61.


Then came a 238 Cold Blaze that imprisoned him inside a snowman, followed by another that gave him hypothermia.


DEATH COUNT:  3


Snowman is the worst ailment for a solo character, unless you count instant death and petrification as "status effects".  Unlike sleep, snowman doesn't wear off after an enemy attacks again.  All you can do is wait and hope you thaw out.  There was one solution to Frozen Crack's STR debuff that I didn't think of at the time:  Stardust Herb.  This item is hardly ever used in solos, but with the secret variant, it would have come in handy.


Instead, Kevin got even by turning into a werewolf and gashing Fiegmund's face.  Before the glitch and after Frozen Crack, normal attacks and Class Strikes slashed for 85 and 211.  In the middle phase with the glitch, Kevin's enhanced STR normal and Class Strike blows pulverized Fiegmund for 164 and 333.  Only 3 Chocolates were eaten that night.


Cat merchants sold new equipment when the 4th Benevodon perished.  A +16 ATK Cressure, a +19 DEF Indigo Attire, and a +1 DEF Demon Mask would have helped with Fiegmund. . .

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Kevin Part 8


While listening to 372 Pages making fun of a Dan Brown novel, Kevin pounded the Marmpotos and Parpotos of Shimmering Ruins until he reached Level 38.  A "Mage Aura" from a ??? Seed promoted him to the Dark/Dark class Enlightened.  Did Square get the branches backwards?  The Dark/Light class is called Fatal Fist.  The benefits of this job will be seen in future updates.  The Enlightened "stat minimums" are below:

HP:  719
MP:  60
 
STR:  16
DEX:  15
STA:  18
INT:  14
SPRT:  13
LUCK:  13


To preserve some challenge, Kevin battled Lightgazer the bouncing eye during the day.  If a normal punch connected, Lightgazer took 95 damage.  Class Strikes dealt 215 per hit.  "If" is there for a reason:  Lightgazer seemed to have a higher base evasion than other enemies.  


Lightgazer's spells tested Kevin's SPRT and made him eat 9 Chocolates and 6 Honey Elixirs.  The weakest was the group target Holy Bolt for 92, while the single target version smote him for 143.  Lucent Beam lasers shone for 233, and Gush Blast blinded Kevin for 359.  Shackles surged for 404 and transformed Kevin into a Moogle until he cured himself with a Medical Herb.  Six Stardust Herbs nullified Lightgazer's attempts to subtract Kevin's STR.


Only two more Benevodons before the final dungeons:  Xan Bie of Fire and Dolan of Moon.  Since Chartmoon Tower is in Duskmoon Forest, Kevin can't try a "no werewolf" optional challenge with Dolan.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Kevin Part 9


A Game Over occurred while battling in Fiery Gorge.  Kevin was up against a Swordster and one of the duck enemies when he grew to Level 39 and learned Moon Saber.  Kevin was low on HP, so it seemed like it was time to try out an HP-absorbing element, right?  Wrong.  Kevin was such a miserable magician that Moon Saber must have taken about 5 seconds to cast!  Just enough time for the monsters to clobber him.


DEATH COUNT:  4


Xan Bie was fought at Level 40, and during the day to make it more interesting.  Until the brawl took so long that the sun went down and Kevin turned into Jacob Black.  The damage calculations will take some explanation due to the various factors involved. 



Changing your physical element with a Saber DOES offer an attack power increase even without exploiting a weakness, but only temporarily.  Unlike every other buff in the game which lasts until either the end of combat, or when dispelled or debuffed.  This could account for the "buff delay" seen in earlier solos when the game struggles to calculate both the Saber and Strengthen/Drake Scale.  It was easier to test with Moon Saber because it's never "super effective" in the Pokemon fashion.  And even after the extra damage expires, the element still remains.  So Moon Saber still healed Kevin for a minor amount with each attack.



With Moon Saber boost:  88 normal, 227 Class Strike
Without Moon Saber boost:  66 normal, 192 Class Strike
Werewolf without glitch:  100 normal, 245 Class Strike
Werewolf with glitch:  193 normal, 383 Class Strike


Xan Bie as the Fire Benevodon cast appropriate magic, like a 170 Explode, and Lava Wave, Gigantaburn, and Heat Beam for 340s.  (It was a bit hard to read the numbers at this time, so they may not be exact.)


A Stardust Herb cured the magic defense penalty from Gigantaburn, but the DEF drop from Heat Beam wasn't a problem when the boss barely used physical attacks, if at all.  Xan Bie hid inside a rock and restored its HP for 440s with a spell, though this wasn't enough to keep Kevin's paws from tearing it apart.  Two Chocolates and two Honey Elixirs healed Kevin throughout the fight.



Duskmoon Forest and Chartmoon Tower's true mechanics revealed themselves in this playthrough.  The story says this region has a permanent night because it's the home of the Moon Mana Stone, that's not true.  Instead, it seems to be "frozen" at whatever time you enter.  Kevin flew to Mintas during the day, so he never transformed for the entire trip.  Dream Reeds couldn't be used from the ring menu either.


Kevin was still good enough to beat up the lesser werewolves in Chartmoon Tower, and grew to Level 41 in the meantime.  Dolan may have been the Moon Benevodon, but functionally it was a "neutral" boss that happened to specialize in Moon magic.  Moon Saber didn't heal the enemy and provided the same short-lived boost that it did for Xan Bie.


With Moon Saber boost:  91 regular, 230 Class Strike
Without Moon Saber boost:  66 regular, 193 Class Strike


Dolan's Gravity Crush slammed the tower's roof for 252.  Moon Spiral flashed for 452 and decreased Kevin's max HP from 761 to the still-decent 609.  Half Eclipse wasn't used often, but would have been worse for Kevin than for other solos because of his high HP growth.  Howl was weak in previous solos but deafened Kevin for 200, making me suspect that it's DEF based.


Even with the HP drain property of Moon Saber, Kevin still had to eat 8 Chocolates and 5 Honey Elixirs when he saved the hardest Benevodon in the non-linear sequence for last.  Moon Saber restores about 13% of damage dealt based on my notes, which can be useful if you need to delay using items over a very long fight.  But in most circumstances you shouldn't run out of healing items anyway.


Kevin purchased a +17 ATK Rot Knuckle, a +19 DEF Demon Brace, and a +1 DEF and MGC DEF Cryptid Mask at Pedda, the final town.  Our hero leveled to 47 this morning, so no more long grinding sessions are needed!  He hit his final STR cap of 18 at Level 42.


EDIT:  Jungle of Visions really is the easiest of the penultimate dungeons in terms of power leveling.  No Basilisks from Crystal Desert to petrify you, or Dark Assassins from Night Cavern to disembowel you with Split Slash.  Shamanions in Jungle of Visions are irritating when they cast Healing Light, and they only appear during the day so you can't gash them with werewolf claws.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Kevin Part 10


Kevin fought Zable Fahr the Benevodon of Darkness in werewolf form, and he might not have won otherwise.  Using Stardust Herbs to cure stat decreases also seemed to "cure" the werewolf glitch, and so he only damaged the Center head for 96 normal punches and 255 Class Strike kickboxing.  Since all of Zable Fahr's heads have different stats and attacks, they will be displayed like this:


Right

Evil Gate-70 to a group, 124 single target, once healed Left head
Dark Force-258


Left

Unnamed "lick"-53
Unnamed "fire breath"-215
Fetid Breath-410s
Diabolical Blast-344, only used after Center appeared this time
Dark Beam-163 to 250s, decreased MGC DEF and was used CONSTANTLY



Center ("true" form of boss)

Southern Slice-370 to 510
Dark Force-250s
Gremlin-218?




Left head, when it was by itself, was the most difficult part of the battle.  Kevin's punches rarely seemed to connect while Left head cast the spells listed above.  After Center appeared and revived Left and Right, Left continued to deal much of the damage with its "fire breath" and Diabolical Blast.  Center only cast the instant death Annihilate just before Zable Fahr's death animation, which would have failed anyway due to Kevin's level.  Kevin ate 9 Candies, 9 Chocolates, and 8 Honey Elixirs.  That was nearly all of his stock of healing items.



Goremand the jester was a joke like his profession implied.  At least compared to Zable Fahr.  He spent most of the fight hopping around with his 2 invincible illusion clones and swinging his scythe for 22 damage.  Goremand rarely cast 1st level spells like Holy Bolt and Fireball for 150 and 110 respectively.  Kevin took the battle more seriously and swiped at Goremand with his werewolf paws.  Normal blows dealt 193 while Class Strikes gouged Goremand for 408.  Kevin only needed to unwrap 3 Chocolates to win.



Mirage Palace was a bit like the "Void" dungeon from Final Fantasy 5 in that much of it was a remix of previous locations.  Kevin needed to talk to ghosts in a fake Astoria, climb a tower with the graphics of Citadel Laurent while ignoring a fake Karl, fight a gauntlet of enemies while teleporting around the world, and open a "Pandora's Box" at the bottom of a false Dwarf Tunnel.


For the purposes of this report, the 1st area of Mirage Palace meant boss rematches, like every other final dungeon.  First was Grapplavine in the east chamber at night at Level 48.


Before glitch:  155 normal, 315 Class Strike
After glitch:  256 normal, 470 Class Strike


Grapplavine put up a worthy fight against Kevin when its "dragon head" appeared and lowered Kevin's magical defenses with Hammer Bud.  The damage values before and after this debuff will be listed below:


Poison Bubble-310 before, 428 after
Jet Blast-38 before, 104 after
Hammer Bud-40 before, 106 after
Leaf Spine-243 (only appeared after)


Kevin refused to cure his MGC DEF decrease with a Stardust Herb lest he forfeit his werewolf glitch.  Sleep Flower dragged out the first phase of the fight.  Still, Kevin won with the help of 6 Chocolates and 1 Honey Elixir.


Zehnoa returned in the western area of the dungeon, behind a few doors of a fake Chartmoon Tower.  Dawn broke before the battle, so Kevin was in his normal form.  The shapeshifting monsters that Zehnoa summoned only scratched Kevin for about 1 per hit.  Instead, the threat came from Zehnoa's spells:


Fireball-126
Trap I-184
Trap II-273
Dissolving Wave-252



Kevin's own damage output was more diverse than usual.  The Class Strike gauge filled up quickly when Kevin punched twice per A button press and often hit more than one enemy.  His jabs struck for 94, his basic Class Strike hit for 234, an Abyssal Slice cut for 364, and a screen splitting Suzaku Aerial parted their bodies for 509.  Zehnoa didn't seem to be a counterattack boss, so Kevin was able to get away with his flashier moves.  He ate 7 Chocolates and 1 Honey Elixir, and came close to losing near the end when he was down to 81/828 HP.  Good thing healing items are instant!



Gova the ghost floated around an open hallway above the "true" Mirage Palace.  Kevin was a werewolf once more, and his only pre-glitch attack was a regular attack for 103 per hit.  Afterwards, Kevin's normal punches struck for 207 and his Class Strikes slammed for 419.  Our hero ate 4 Chocolates to win, after facing the following Gova spells:


Evil Gate-124
Dark Rain-163
Ghostleader-251


Heath would have been harder than all previous bosses combined if he didn't have a habit of floating into the corner and getting stuck.  Kevin was at Level 50 and ensured he'd be in werewolf form by using Dream Reeds before the battle.  The damage outputs for the various summons and spells were hard to record as some appeared at the beginning when useless Charlotte and Angela were still alive:


Seraph-360s and Silence status
Jormungandr-Between 300 and 400?
Freya-Unknown, but probably similar to two previous spells
Ghoul-240s
Ghostleader-374
Ghost-315


What made Heath hard was not his constant magical chanting, but his penchant for 545 power Healing Lights.  Even for an overpowered character like Kevin, that amount of enemy HP restoration would have soon exhausted his healing supplies without the "corner AI glitch" to shorten the fight.  Kevin's normal punches hit for 197.  Basic Class Strikes whacked Heath for 410s, and a Backspin pile driver slammed him for 820s once.  Kevin swallowed 4 Chocolates and 1 Honey Elixir to survive the penultimate boss.


Next update will be the last for this playthrough, and you'll learn what the secret variant condition is if you haven't already guessed it.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Trials of Mana Solo Kevin Victory


Masked Mage is normally the easiest final boss, but not when you arbitrarily ban shopping at Beiser's Night Market!  Readers may have noticed the abnormally high enemy damage output, and the relative lack of Sabers.  That's the true challenge of the Solo Kevin run, which leaves out the following common items from other solos:


Drake Scale (STR increase)
Bulette Scale (DEF increase)
Sahagin Chip (INT/SPRT increase)
Poto Oil (Healing item based on SPRT, comparable to Chocolate in most cases)


Minor Mallet is technically a Night Market item, but you get it for free and it's required for the plot.  So it doesn't count.


Masked Mage had a many attacks at his bony fingertips, and will be listed below for convenience's sake:


Dark Force-178 group target, 259 single target
Lucent Beam-271
Cold Blaze-309 and Snowman status (only appeared once)
Poison Bubble-357 and Poison status
Frozen Crack-387 and magic stat drop
Unnamed "claw"-351
Stone Cloud-310
Meteor Volley-510
Ancient Curse-604


Without a Sahagin Chip, that Ancient Curse would have been enough to vaporize Angela or Charlotte at once. And Meteor Volley appeared often as well.  The background changed throughout the battle from a purple void to a desert to underwater.  For example, Poison Bubble seemed to appear in the underwater phase.


Kevin punched away at the boss, but Masked Mage was a well-preserved skeleton and outlasted 8 Honey Elixirs, 9 Candies, and 9 Chocolates.  Masked Mage's Protection spell reduced Kevin's damage considerably.  Moon Saber mitigated some of the enemy attacks, but it was used too early and Kevin seemed to sacrifice the werewolf glitch afterwards.  Trying to save the final Honey Elixir for later was a mistake, and one Meteor Volley turned Kevin into a fossil.


FINAL DEATH COUNT:  5


The tactic on Take 2 was to delay Moon Saber as long as possible to exploit the werewolf glitch, while using Candies first.  Kevin guzzled sugar quickly, and all healing items were gone by the time he finished the game.  Trials of Mana seems more "deterministic" than other RPGs of the time because of the AI routines and low variance for damage rolls, so it was surprising to see such a different Masked Mage battle on the 2nd try.  The lich pulled out several spells that were never seen on the 1st attempt:


Southern Slice-395
Barrage Sting-390
Shackles-470 and Moogle status
Hyper Cannon-518
Annihilate-Instant kill if lower than Masked Mage's level, or nothing if above


Even some spells seen before were used differently.  Stone Cloud was rare on Take 1, but somewhat more common on Take 2.  Moon Saber saved Kevin at the end when all his supplies were exhausted.  At one point, he barely survived a Meteor Volley with 69 HP! 


Kevin's attack power varied throughout the battle, possibly involving some glitches I don't know about:


Werewolf glitch-210s normal, 430 Class Strike
Stardust Herb + Moon Saber boost-114 normal, 275 Class Strike
Unknown glitch?-269 normal, 506 Class Strike
After Protection-69 normal, 228 Class Strike


This was a close victory, but there were still a few options if Kevin failed on Take 2.  He could have used stat debuffing items from random drops, or rolled Gear Seeds at an inn until finding his best weapon.  The Night Market ban turned the Kevin solo from routine playthrough into a true challenge.


Any future Trials of Mana runs will be "Unrestricted Leaders", to use the Civilization term.  It's possible to send a solo hero outside of their storyline if you pick them as your 2nd character when starting a new file.  So you can do things like make Angela fight Masked Mage, or pit Charlotte against Dark Majesty.  For now, I'll probably want to play something else. . .