Finally, the wait is over; Mina the Hollower is here! Blending Souls-like gameplay with the old-school design of classic Castlevania titles and top-down Legend of Zelda titles, Mina’s adventure is going to be anything but a walk in the park. For players who are unsure of what they are getting into, or for those just looking for some helpful hints, we’ve prepped a Mina the Hollower Beginner’s Guide to help all of you aspiring hollowers.
Check out our Mina the Hollower Review to get our full thoughts on the game.
Mina the Hollower Beginner’s Guide
Choose Your Weapon Wisely
During the game’s opening on the ship, you’ll need to pick your starting weapon from a choice of three: A pair of daggers, a chain mace, or a heavy hammer.
The daggers, Whisper & Vesper, provide quick but short-range attacks, allowing for successive attacks at the cost of keeping distance. In contrast, the chain mace, Nightstar, throws the mace out in front of Mina for a longer attack that can hit multiple targets, but at the cost of speed and damage. Lastly, the hammer, or Bladestrike Maul, is the slowest and hardest-hitting weapon of the three, needing to be charged up before attacking. While charging, Mina can still move to roll around, so she isn’t completely vulnerable.
While you’ll come across other weapons later on in your quest, these are the three you have to pick from right now, and you won’t be able to change them until you collect another one. So take some time to try out each weapon before going back onto the deck to continue the game. This will be your only attack to start, so be sure you are happy with your choice.
Drink Your Plasma
After a giant kraken monster attacks the ship, Mina will be given the Plasma Vials, your way to heal Mina.
While the initial description makes it sound like you refill your Plasma Vials by hitting enemies, what it actually means is you must hit enemies to increase the orange part of your health bar when you have taken damage (this is clarified in your Underlab). When you use a Plasma Vial, it will heal the amount shown on the orange bar.
However, if you do not have any of the orange plasma and use a Plasma Vial, it will do nothing. This is important, as you want to avoid wasting any of your limited healing. This may mean taking a risk and landing some hits on an enemy or two before healing yourself.
Underlab, Sweet Underlab
You’ll reach your first Hollower’s Underlab once you’ve alighted the ship; its entrance is a strange-looking hole in a tile that you enter using Mina’s hollow ability.
Inside the Underlab, you can heal and replenish your Plasma Vials, change your weapon, and use your stored Bones to level up. Use the geyser to exit the Underlab.
You also set that Underlab as your checkpoint, so if Mina dies, she will restart from that specific Underlab: remember that when you are out exploring, you don’t want to endure any unnecessary runbacks!
Bone Management
When you get enough Bones, you can level up one of your stats in the field, turn into Bonestone so they aren’t lost on death, or just have them on you. Every time you use one of the options besides exiting, the Bone requirement for that option will increase.
You can use the machine in the top right corner of the Underlab to retrieve Bones to level up, or use it to store loose ones you have on you into a Bonestone if you want to hold onto them for something else, like improving your weapon or buying trinkets and upgrades.
Break Stuff!
It is worth breaking any environmental stuff you can, from hedges and flowers to crates and candelabras, as many contain items and resources you will want/need.
You can find Bones to level up, blue potions to refill your Sidearm ammo, and yellow roses that fill your Plasma, giving you some extra healing without the risk of combat. It’s also how you find your Sidearms, so even if you don’t need the resources, it might still be worth it.
The Hollower’s Guild
When you first reach Ossex, you’ll see the Hollower’s Guild on your right by the Underlab entrance, but you can’t reach it from this side. Head up the street and go right, breaking the box in the corner and clearing your path to the Guild’s entrance. (Remember to hit the explosive block by the entrance to clear the shortcut.)
Inside, you want to burrow on the wall behind the clerk to reach the main part of the Hollower’s Guild, where you’ll meet other Hollowers and gain access to upgrades and customisation options for the Underlab.
Keep an eye out for the flashing exclamation point at the entrance, as this means there are new upgrades to see.
Ossex Gossip
If you are struggling with where to go or want some leads on a few of the game’s secrets, chat with the NPCs you find across the game, especially everyone in Ossex. You can also read the newspaper, which can be found at newspaper stands dotted around.
Those are all the tips we have to help get you started on your journey to becoming a master hollower!
That was our Mina the Hollower Beginner’s Guide! We hope it was helpful, and if you have any questions about the game, please drop them in the comments section.
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