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Mina the Hollower is filled with secrets. Taking inspiration from Link's Awakening and Dark Souls, there are puzzles and hidden items in nearly every frame. Here are 11 tips to get you started on your adventure. 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 make your way here. After you've completed this mini dungeon, you can purchase a map from
Drill Hard which Mina can view in her burrow. The 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 from Drill Hard in the Guild Hall that will show you how many collectibles you have left in each area. 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 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 this guy, the Duke, to his casket. This makes every encounter a bit easier if you equip it in your hollow. After the crypt in the northeast, the developer recommends doing southwest, northwest, and then the southeast dungeon. Even though the Proton Spark is probably the best trinket in the game that I've found so far, there's another one that I recommend getting ASAP 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 this house south of Asex through the chimney. Once you found more vial pouches scattered throughout the world,
you can retire this trinket for another one, but I found it invaluable in the early hours. 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, side arms, and bone stones. Attack increases the power of Mina's primary weapon. Defense increases Mina's defense stat, not her health bar. Side arm increases the power of side arms. And bone stone lets you turn your bones into gems that cannot be lost upon death. The bones, after all, are their dollars. I suggest
investing a few points in attack and defense before touching the other two categories. Side arms can be incredibly useful, but given their limited use, you won't be using them nearly as much as your primary weapon. Meanwhile, investing in bone stones can be smart if there's a chance you could lose your bones upon the next death. The game will try to push you towards leveling up everything evenly, but you can back out by clicking exit. Aside from leveling up, there's a lot to spend your hard-earned bones on in Asex. There's a blacksmith that sells and upgrade weapons, a provisioner that sells permanent upgrades such as increased health and vial pouches. Drill
Heart, as mentioned before, in the guild hall offers upgrades for your den. And there's even a clothing store that sells different outfits with different perks. I would advise against buying a new weapon early on unless you really don't like your starting weapon. That said, once you find a weapon you like, definitely upgrade it sooner RATHER THAN LATER. THE BEST PLACE TO SPEND YOUR BONES though is with the provisioner. The permanent upgrades he or it offers are invaluable.
During your stint in September, you'll come across children trapped in the dungeon. Explore the area thoroughly and rescue the kids from enemies. I did not save all of them and I regret it. Don't make the same mistake I did. There is a train station in all of the major regions. The problem is that the train vanished and you need to supply the funds to get a new one. You can interact with this box at any train station to donate and once you've donated around 10,000 bones, you can travel freely between all five stations. Just don't linger for too long after you've selected your ticket because the train can and will 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 get there for story purposes. I recommend saving your bones don't specifically for funding the train before you use it to buy other things. There are a lot of side arms in Mina the Hollower and you aren't limited to just one at a time. Once you hit level five with side arms, chat with this guy in Ossex. He'll give you a license to carry an additional side arm. With this, you can switch between two side arms freely. Just keep in mind that both your side arms share the same pool of mana.
Occasionally, as you're exploring the city, this dude might run up on you and steal your bones. Smack him before he gets close and he'll run away. After a couple wallopings, he'll turn into a pile of meat and bones and flee into the building underneath the train station. If you give him a thousand bones, he'll give you a trinket called the bell of grace. This gives Mina a chance to hold on to her spark upon death and on a sparkless demise, you'll keep half your bones. 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 slightly reactive, too. So, if you don't follow its dungeon recommendations, it will note that. Be sure to check back often. The mirrors. Now, I don't want to spoil what these do, but you should take note of 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 find them, head over to gamespot.com and check out our guide. There's a lot to uncover in Mina the Hollower, and this should get you started on your adventure. Be sure
to leave additional tips in the comments below to help your fellow Hollowers. We'll see you next time.
