Mina the Hollower Weapons Guide: Choosing Your Arsenal
Before you commit to a weapon and get yourself flattened by the Nether Kraken, you need to understand how combat actually works on Tenebrous Isle.
The game throws a massive decision at you within the first few minutes. Your ship gets attacked, you run below deck, and a boatswain points you toward a chest containing three very different tools of destruction. You get to test them out in the room, but once you head back up those stairs, you are stuck with your choice for roughly your first two hours of playtime. You really do not want to be stuck with a slow hammer if your reaction times are sluggish.
Once you finally reach the city of Ossex, your options open up drastically. I highly recommend taking a detour to unlock the map and Underlab upgrades so you can easily track down the hidden merchants I am about to mention.
The Starting Weapons
You have three options right out of the gate. They all scale off the same attack stat, so you never have to worry about ruining your build if you decide to switch things up later.
Whisper and Vesper
These twin daggers are incredibly fast and forgiving. You can tap the attack button to unleash a flurry of stabs that push your enemies back. Since Mina relies heavily on burrowing into the ground to flank enemies, these daggers are perfect for popping up right behind a monster, slashing twice, and diving back down.
The catch is the awful range. You have to stand directly on the adjacent tile to land a hit. If you get sloppy, you will bump into the enemy and take contact damage. Upgrading them eventually gives you a lunging attack to close the gap quickly. A second upgrade lets you charge up a high damage dagger throw. The downside to the throw is that you have to physically run over and pick the dagger back up before you can throw it again, though your movement speed increases while you are missing one.
The Nightstar
This is my personal favorite for the early game. It is a crushing mace attached to a chain, and it gives you a crucial buffer zone between you and whatever is trying to eat you. You can hit targets up to two tiles away.
The drawback is that swinging the Nightstar temporarily roots you in place. You have to commit to your attacks. You can bypass this restriction slightly by attacking while jumping. Later on, you can upgrade the Nightstar to deal massive critical damage if you hit the enemy perfectly with the very tip of the flail.
The Blaststrike Maul
Before you pick the giant hammer because it looks cool, be warned that it is easily the hardest weapon to master. Tapping the attack button does a painfully slow swing right in front of your face. To get any real use out of it, you have to hold the attack button to charge a massive two-tile swing.
The massive benefit of the Maul is that while you are holding the charge, pressing a direction makes you perform a dodge roll packed with invulnerability frames. If you can read enemy patterns perfectly, you can roll through their attacks and crush them. If you mess up the timing, you are going to take a lot of damage. Prioritize health upgrades if you take this route.
Expanding Your Arsenal In Ossex
Once you survive the intro and make your way to Ossex, you can finally buy whatever weapons you skipped. Running back to town every time you want to swap gear gets old quickly, so make sure you read up on how to use the fast travel network to save yourself the legwork.
Head to Legovich's Arms, the orange-red building west of the central fountain. Legovich sells the starter weapons you missed, plus two entirely new armaments. Your first purchase costs 2,000 Bones. Every purchase after that jumps to 2,500 Bones. There is a catch here. The moment you try to buy your second weapon or upgrade from Legovich, you trigger a surprise boss fight with Armand. Prepare yourself before you hand over the cash.
If you want to avoid Armand temporarily, you can find a secret merchant in a back alley west of the main shop. You need the Umbrella or Iron Steed Sidearm to cross the gap to reach her. She sells the exact same advanced weapons but charges a staggering 5,000 Bones. She also takes time to procure them, requiring you to go clear a tower before you can collect your purchase.
The Guardian Casket
This is a massive shield that completely changes the flow of combat. Pressing attack does a very short range shove. Holding the button keeps the shield raised to block incoming hits. Taking a hit cracks the shield, and taking another breaks your guard temporarily. You can still tap the directional buttons while blocking to emit point blank pulses.
The real power is in the parry. If you block at the exact moment a melee attack lands, mechanical claws shoot out of the casket, dealing heavy damage, knocking the enemy back, and deflecting projectiles. Upgrading it lets you double tap to trigger a spinning area of effect attack that doubles as a temporary platform.
The Battery Buster
Yes, they gave the mouse a gun. The Battery Buster holds eight shots, represented by blue dots trailing behind you. It fires ricocheting orbs across the screen and is the only weapon that lets you shoot diagonally.
You can seamlessly swap between shooting and melee mode. When you switch to melee, your trailing dots turn red. Every time you smack an enemy or a breakable object with your melee attack, you reload one bullet. It is the most versatile weapon in the game. Upgrading it lets you charge your shots for massive damage.
If juggling ammo counts and dodge rolls is stressing you out, you can always just go relax by the water. Check out my complete fishing guide to track down the rod and fill out your trophy shelf instead.
