Mina The Hollower Tips And Beginner’s Guide
Mina The Hollower is a game filled with secrets, and sometimes those secrets are pretty well-hidden. We've traversed Ossex and its surroundings to bring you some of the most valuable tips and things you really need to know.
Get The Map
After you’ve made your way to Ossex and spoken to Lionel, you might be wondering where to go next. There are six generators that need to be repaired, and you can do the first four in any order. But where are those generators? You could aimlessly wander Tenebrous Isle, or you could head to the Hollowers' Guild.
Once you find your way into this room, you will be tasked with rescuing one of your fellow Hollowers. Head south and complete the mini dungeon to rescue Rhene. You can then purchase a map from Drillhardt in the Hollowers' Guild which Mina can view in her burrow.
This map doesn’t give you the frame-by-frame layout you would find on a Dungeon Map in Zelda, but it will show you the general direction of the first four generators. You can even purchase an upgrade for the map from Drillhardt that will show you how many collectibles you have left in each area.
The North-East Generator Is Our Recommended First Port Of Call
So, you’ve acquired the map, and you’re wondering which generator you should tackle first? Technically you can do them in any order. However, I strongly recommend doing the northeast generator at Queensbury Crypt first. While the difficulty between the southwest and northeast dungeons seemed comparable, the northeast dungeon houses one of the best Trinkets in the game.
The Proton Spark gives you a free revive and can be acquired by helping The Duke to his casket. This makes every encounter a bit easier if you equip it in your Underlab. After the crypt in the northeast, the developer, Yacht Club Games, recommends doing the southwest, northwest, and then the southeast dungeons.
Save The Kids
During your stint in Septemburg, you’ll come across children trapped in the dungeon. Explore the area thoroughly and rescue the kids from enemies. If you don't save them, let's just say the result isn't great. Don't make the same mistake that some GameSpot staff made, they regretted it.
This grants more Plasma Vials.
Speaking of Trinkets...
Even though the Proton Spark is probably the best trinket in the game, there’s another one I highly recommend getting in the early game, called the Primed Vial Pouch. This lets you carry two extra vials making encounters a tad easier.
In order to get it you need to enter a house south of Ossex through the chimney. Once you find more of the vial pouches scattered throughout the world you can retire this trinket for another one, but I found it invaluable in the early hours.
Grind To Improve Your Stats
After you’ve collected a certain amount of Bones, you can Bone Up. There are four categories you can invest your hard-earned bones into: Attack, Defense, Sidearms, and Bonestones.
Attack increases the power of Mina’s primary weapon, defense increases Mina’s defense stat (not her health bar), Sidearm increases the power of sidearms, and Bonestones lets you turn your bones into gems that cannot be lost upon death. The bones are their dollars, if you will.
I suggest investing a few points in Attack and Defense before touching the other two categories. Sidearms can be incredibly useful, but given their limited use, you won’t be using them nearly as much as your primary weapon. Investing in Bonestones can be smart if there’s a chance you could lose your bones upon your next death. The game will try to push you towards leveling up everything evenly, but you can back out by clicking exit.
Fund The Train Early
There is a train station in all of the major regions in Tenebrous Isle. The problem is that the train vanished, and you need to supply the funds to get a new one. You can interact with the box at any train station to donate, and once you’ve donated 10,000 Bones, you can travel freely between all five stations—it's the earliest available method of fast travel in the game.
Just don’t linger for too long after you’ve selected your ticket because the train can leave without you! This isn’t the only reason to fund the train, though. There’s an area of the map that can only be accessed via train and you’ll need to go there for story purposes. I recommend saving your bonestone specifically for funding the train before you use it to buy other things.
You Can Obtain A Permit To Wield Two Sidearms At Once
There are a lot of Mina the Hollower sidearms, and you aren’t limited to one at a time. Once you hit level 5 with sidearms, chat with Brandish in Ossex. He’ll give you a license to carry an additional sidearm. With this, you can switch between two sidearms freely. Just keep in mind that both sidearms share the same pool of mana.
The Newspaper Will Give Light Hints To Your Next Destination
Mina the Hollower has an in-game newspaper called the Tenebrous Times that recounts your accomplishments, gently points you to where you should go next, and houses a few secrets of its own. You can find a newsstand in front of each train station, and a new edition appears after repairing each generator. It’s lightly reactive, too. So, if you don’t follow its dungeon recommendations, it will note that. Be sure to check back often.
You Can Do More Than Just Look At Yourself In A Mirror
Without spoiling what these do, I will note that you should pay attention to where you find them. Maybe interact with them and see what happens. You’ll hit a point in the story where you’ll need to find at least three to progress so don’t lose track of them. If you’d like to know exactly how to get to them, and what happens when you do, check out the full guide.
