The Ice Citadel of Lorimar
Once you’re ready for the next level, go talk to Tess. She’ll reveal that monster are attacking the Ice Citadel in Lorimar. No one can get in as it’s protected by a strange barrier. But we, of course, have the Stone of Gaia, and this sounds just the situation he was talking about, so we’ll reassure Tess that we can handle it (seeing as she’s from Lorimar and all) and save the day.
Set out from the Village, and once more a new spot will appear in the map, this time on the northwestern isle of Lorimar. Set a course and engage (you may want to read the next couple of paragraphs with regards to gem equipment, but it is not essential).
You arrive before the gates of the Citadel, surrounded by a purple barrier. Without hesitation, your character will release the power of the Stone of Gaia and the Branch of Treant, and the barrier will be broken. Time to find out what’s going on inside.
Before we go on ahead, a quick run-down of the game mechanics for this level. You’ll now be facing patches of ice (patches can be read as “huge ice-rink sized stadiums worth” in some zones), which prevent you from turning quickly, if at all, and will have you sliding all over the place. At certain parts, it’s important to start walking on these diagonally to catch on to the edge of your turn, but we’ll get to those. Note that if you have the Virtue of Balance equipped, this will allow you to talk on ice with no hinderance, same as we did before with the quicksand. Again, this will leave you without 2×2 of your gem frame, so you judge. Personally, I find that I can get along without it just fine.
Even better, there is a third way to deal with this ice! At the edge of the ice you’ll notice a series of cracks. Bring down a focused hammer attack on to this, and watch the ice crack away!
Also you’re going to be in danger of getting turned into a snowman on a regular basis. Again, we could use gems to counteract, but hopefully by now you should be used to avoiding danger like the plague, so we’ll trust your acquired skills. In any case, if you’re having problems, there’s always the 4th Zone save-point to rearrange your tackle.
Terrain-wise, we now have small and large ice blocks that are destroyed with msword and hammer respectively as in previous levels. Beware of the lighter small icicles, as they will be the ones doing the freezing into a snowman on you and the enemies (don’t you just lng for those days in the Mana Tower where all you’d get were spikes, eh?).
-1st Zone
Gleamdrop: Eliminate all monsters
Gleamwell: Hidden by ice
This zone is designed to get you quickly used to your new dangers. There’s nothing special here, aside from large amounts of blue rabites, and a huge patch of ice (yes, Sanka, ice!) over on the right. The Gleampool is hidden under the top-right-most large block of ice.
-2nd Zone
Gleamdrop: Eliminate all monsters
Gleamwell: ——–
Now we’re inside the castle itself, so we’re back to pots, but still huge quantities of ice on the floor. You’ll also find that you can slow your advance on the ice by pushing the crates that you find alone the way, but this will slow your progress and open you to attack. Another good thing is that you can use your hammer on these and on the enemies to place a nice game of billiards with them, and get them out of the way. Remember though, chances are you’ll pot the cue-ball if you’re not careful.
Take the route round to the left, defeating all your enemies, and move on.
-3rd Zone
Gleamdrop: Defeat a certain group of monster
Gleamwell: Hidden by ice
Back outside, the first thing we’ll see is a chest just next to us. Careful, it’s a trap! Use the bow on him to try and knock him out. Now head on down and toward the right, getting rid of Chobins and the flying piñata enemies along the way. The Chobins are the group to defeat in this zone.
Now, about half way across the stage you’ll see a path leading upwards with a really blue ice-patch. This one is much more slippery than the standard white ice, and as soon as you get into motion, you’ll lose control of your character. The way to tackle this is to run at it diagonally (up-right). Now your character will use the wall for friction and stop a few paces to the right. Do it again, and same thing, they’ll stop a bit further to the right. A third time will have you catching on the edge of the turn and walking up it. You’ll be rewarded with 6 chests, but beware, they are guarded by 6 rather mean werewolves, so get ready for some pain and gain. Incidentally, this is their first appearance, which coincides nicely with Secret of Mana when you visit Elinee’s Castle. Ah, nostalgia how I love thee…
When you’re done exploring and have the Gleam drop in your hands, go to the top right corner of the stage, and the left block o ice will have the Gleampool.
-4th Zone
Gleamdrop: Defeat a certain monster
Gleamwell: ——–
Back in the… warm? We’ll find ourselves surrounded by vase. Time to do as the bull’s do in a China shop. To make quick work of it, put your Flail on, and then when you reach the crates, hammer them. If you nee to stock up on Candy, this is the place to do it.
The Gleampool is in the bottom left corner of the room in clear view, so now you just need to get the drop from the Walking Armour up at the top. He shouldn’t pose too much of a threat, and you can use the crates to your advantage here. If you’re at the suggested level and have the right weapons, you should find he’ll go down with 3 or 4 slashes of the sword.
Time to save. You shouldn’t have anything of particular interest to go equipping, so just move along.
-5th Zone
Gleamdrop: Defeat a certain group of monster
Gleamwell: Hidden by ice
A rather non-eventful zone this one, although we do get a glimpse of a new monster, resembling an ant-eater of sorts. His rolling attack is quite nasty (bit like the Mad Mallard’s one) so watch out. And it’s exactly these guys we need to defeat to get the Gleamdrop. So, have at them, cowboy, then take the drop over to the far right. The Gleampool is hidden, quite obviously, under the large ice block surrounded by spikes and more ice.
-6th Zone
Gleamdrop: Eliminate all monsters
Gleamwell: ——–
And back inside again. This level sees the return of our good ol’ friend Shadow Zero. Not quite as friendly as he used to be in days passed, he can inflict blindness on us, which can be a bit of a pain if we’re trying to navigate among spikes. Go through the rooms one by one killing off 4 Shadow Zeros at a time, and removing the anteaters from our path down the middle. Once we’ve gone through the lot, take the drop to the visible pool at the far right, and on we go.
-7th Zone
Gleamdrop: Hidden in a chest
Gleamwell: Hidden by ice
Now things are getting interesting… Good job we practiced with those wearwolves before, eh? Anyway, you’ll find yourself doing quite a bit of switching between the Bow and the Hammer for this level, as some enemies like to keep themselves out of reach. The lower-left section has nothing special. The Gleam Pool is found in the iceblock below and just a bit to the left of the gold chest in the top centre section of the zone. Careful, that gold chest is a trap, while we’re at it, as is the second silver one in from the left. The one at the far left corner has the Drop.
The right portion of the level has nothing special at all in the bottom, and the top has two more trapped chests (the silver ones) and a bronze chest, so you don’t really have to go here at all unless you feel like exploring and getting a Gumdrop.
-8th Zone
Gleamdrop: Eliminate all monsters
Gleamwell: ——–
A short level, get the two chests just below you for some meager Lucre, then head for the upper right. Four walking armours await you with eager eyes. You can either brings some crates with you (which I think is a waste of time) or charge in there (which I recommend personally). Best thing to do is knock the vases down, wait for one or two to come out, and hit them with your hammer. This will disperse them so you can pick them off one by one, and they’ll be a bit weaker than before. Take them down, get the drop and exit via the Gleampool at the right of the central passage.
Save and prepare for battle…
We’ll run in to a room (on ice) and find the “Man”. He’ll turn round rather bewildered at the fact you made it in here. But he then remembers Treant and Gaia and all becomes clear. This doesn’t rock his confidence, as the next stage of his plan is already underway. But he’s not letting on.
He tells us of a time when land-dwellers tried to harness the power of Mana in vessels and use them as channeling orbs, but when chaos engulfed the world ten years ago the orbs were buried underground, where they reside now. His plan (oh, so he IS letting on?) is to release all those orbs in one shot and destroy the world, and he puts it down to the will of the Mana Goddess.
He then summons Landmund forth to take you down, who happens to be a rather nasty malevodon, with again, a barrier raised. So he’s behind the monsters! But this time the sword isn’t working… The man tries to taunt you with ideas that maybe you’re not the hero you think you are, and the sword has abandoned you.
A brilliant light fills the room suddenly, and Tess’ voice commands you to focus.. to believe! Finally the barrier gives way, much to the man’s dismay, an the time for battle begins.
– Boss Battle : Landmund –
This boss is a pice of pie, again so long as you’ve come prepared. The three attacks he had time to inflict were first to breath in deep diagonally and release three clouds of toxic gas. If you stay near him on the opposite side of his intake, you’ll avoid the gases with ease. Take a few shots at him.
Second attack, he’ll raise his fists and hit the floor, so don’t be in front of him. This will knock you to the ground, and icicles will start to fall. They don’t do much damage, but you’re best to avoid if possible. Just above the boss to the right I found to be a good spot.
Third attack, which can catch you easily off guard, is to roll diagonally down in your direction, get to the corner of the screen, head up, then diagonally down to the oposite corner, and back up diagonally to the centre top. After this his pattern will move to the first or second attack.
I found that slashing at him full on, he didn’t get a chance for another attack, and so should be the case for you if you’ve been following my level and weapon advice.
After receiving your reward, Landmund will split into the two last benevodons (Water and Earth) and disappear, leaving you alone with the man again, who states the eight benevodons are now all born. He’s impressed at your ability to call on the sword’s power so well, but smirks at your threats to bring him to the sword. As you raise the sword to him the sword leaps from your hands and strikes you down instead.
The man explains that the Sword of Mana was created by the Mana Goddess, and cannot be wielded by mortal hands, and answers only to him, the Mana Lord. He then takes possession of the sword, and prepares to move in for the kill.
At that moment, Watts enters the scene with Tess by his side. While Tess tends to you, Watts stands his ground firm in the path of the Mana Lord, who comments on Tess’ grace from the Mana Goddess. His amusement is short lived, as the earth begins to shake. The time has come, and he smiles. The channeling orbs are rising.
A terrible dark whirlpool raises skyward from the Citadel, piercing the clouds with an evil aura. The Mana Lord then bids the children of Mana farewell, and vanishes.
Watts and Tess take you back to Moti’s. Tess watches over you as you sleep, while Watts and Moti discuss these latest discoveries. Moti ponders the nature of good becoming evil if the wrong hands attain its power, with Mana being no exception. Watts doesn’t seem to like all the sitting around philosophizing, and is eager to do something about this madness. But how?
Moti explains that the only thing that can counter Mana’s force is the holy sword the Mana Lord now has possession of. The room falls silent in quiet and glum contemplation, until a voice comes claiming they can help.
The group turns to see the Stone of Gaia and the Branch of Treant reveal their faces before everyone. Treant prophesies the tempest soon hitting the verdant kingdom of Wendel, a Mana Storm that must be stopped. At the centre of that storm, Gaia explains you must strike with the power of all eight elemental spirits combined. At that moment, when calm sets in, they will suppress the Mana surge.
Watts is all for it, but Moti reminds him of the danger of plunging in like that. Danger? Excitement? Who else, but you could be up for the challenge. You rise from bed, and walk over to the group, still wounded, and claim that you’ll go and get things sorted. Tess worries still about your healing not being complete, but the brave hero you are put it down to being a mere scratch… there’s work to be done!
(Author’s Note: it always happens, the heroic music sets in, and suddenly I get all wishy-washy and can’t write without going all hell for leather with the “let’s save the world” style of writing.)
The village… nay, the WORLD is counting on you, and you’re not about to let them down. We must head for the storm, and when we’re at the centre, call on Gaia, Treant and the spirits to bring this evil scheme to an end! Let’s get out there and show them they can’t mess with the children of Mana!
Our new mission awaits, we must now head to Wendel to subdue the Mana tempest.
Or so you think! No, now we’ve managed to get the heroic streak out of our heads for two seconds, and are lulled into peace once again by the tunes of the Mana Village, it’s time to think straight and get our priorities right.
First off, we want to get some subquests done and bring our level up to a nice healthy 40 (which shouldn’t take long ’cause you’re at 30… ’cause you ARE at 30, right?). Consider at this point a Heart of Progress if you haven’t already got one. Though remember, this takes up a considerable amount of your gem frame, so make sure you’re strong enough for the task (these enemies aren’t easy pickings either). You’ll find that by doing a couple of the character subquests, a couple of Dud services, and maybe go back and get a Gold Rank on a level or two you’ll make it to 40 in no time. You could pass off with just 35, which will give you the capability for the latest weaponry, but at this point you may as well put in that little bit of extra effort, it’ll make your life a whole lot easier.
The subquest you receive from Watts is particularly good (I think I managed a whole 3 levels). You will also have the elemental subquests for Gnome and Undine available to access now.
When you’re ready, and have the right level and kitted yourself out, head for
Brightwood in Wendel, down at the bottom of the map. It has a large cyclone of
darkness hanging over it, you can’t miss it.
Subquests Available: Why He Disappeared (Watts), A Stone Sleeping for an Age (Tess), Benevodons of Water (Undine), Earth (Gnome).
