How to choose which of the game's five weapons are for you
There are five unique weapons to choose from in Mina the Hollower, each with their own moveset, upgrades, and style. And while they are easy to switch between once you have them, the early hours of the game will lock them behind decisions, exploration, and shops.
Here, I’ll walk you through which three of the game’s weapons I recommend you try first in Mina the Hollower so you can save some of your early game cash for upgrades to your health and other stats. That being said, all of Mina’s weapons are good, so I’ll also tell you a bit about why I recommend you save two of the other weapons for your second playthrough.
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Nightstar
Look, there’s a reason the Nightstar is the weapon on Mina’s cover art. It’s not only stylish — being essentially just a flail in whip form — but it’s also very easy to use. When you attack with the Nightstar, the flail will fly out in front of you, damaging anything along its path.
It has excellent range, making it great for hitting bosses from a safe distance or breaking objects across a gap. It also deals decent damage for how safe it allows you to be. The attack speed is right between the other two starter weapons, making it a great all-rounder choice to take with you into the first few hours of the game.
As mentioned, Nightstar is one of the three weapons you can start with when you first gain control of Mina on the ship in the beginning of the game. The other two are the dagger-like Whisper and Vesper, and Blaststrike Maul, the charge hammer. Nightstar is the perfect choice for a first playthrough because it’s such a great middleground option, but I’d recommend you try the other two out just in case, as both absolutely have their merits.
You can upgrade the Nightstart by purchasing it from the blacksmith in town once you already have it, and finding a copy of it in one of the red weapon chests out in the world. The first upgrade will cause you to deal bonus damage to enemies when striking them with the very tip of the flail, while the second upgrade will allow you to hold the attack button to give you control of the whip, which you can then flap around at enemies.
Battery Buster
The Battery Buster is my favorite weapon in Mina the Hollower, as I think it’s the most versatile one of the bunch. However, it’s not available in the initial selection of weapons at the start of the game, so you’ll need to purchase it in town or find it in the open world before you can use it.
The Battery Buster is a hybrid weapon, and allows you to switch seamlessly between a gun that fires balls of electricity and a melee club attack. You’ll need to use these two modes together, mid-combat, to really use this weapon to its fullest potential, as the gun has limited ammo that you’re then able to regenerate through hits with the club.
Because the Battery Buster is the only truly ranged weapon in Mina the Hollower, you’re able to cheese the game in what feels like some pretty unfair ways. Mina might feel like a classic 2D adventure game, but it also has a lot of Dark Souls/Bloodborne DNA in it. And that means there are plenty of enemy types that are built to send you back to your home base whenever you encounter them. Normally you’d need to get in a real dance with these baddies and risk your life in an up-close fight. But the Battery Buster allows you to wipe out these tougher foes by dumping all of your ammo from a safe distance. Then you can replenish your bullets by bashing an easier target.
In my experience with Mina, the Battery Buster gives you the most room to make mistakes and still come out on top. And for a first time playthrough, that’s really what you should be looking for.
You can upgrade the Battery Buster by either purchasing it from the shop after you’ve already found it, or finding it in the open world after you’ve already purchased it. Each of its upgrades allow you to hold attack to charge up the club or gun, making each much stronger.
Guardian Casket
The Guardian Casket is a massive shield that will allow you to play defense in Mina the Hollower. Unlike the other two weapons here, the Guardian Casket does have some pretty big downsides — virtually no range on its melee attack, for example, which can make hitting anything that isn’t immediately on top of you tough. However, it makes up for it with how safe it allows you to play and its incredible counterattack.
Plenty of enemies have powerful ranged attacks in Mina the Hollower, and the Guardian Casket is the only weapon to really allow you to counter that. In addition to its main bash attack, the Guardian Casket also allows you to hold the attack button to sustain a block, which will nullify any attacks or projectiles that hit it. If you attack while blocking, you can push enemies back with hits. And if you time those attacks perfectly, you can even clash with the enemy, stopping them from damaging you and hitting back with a counterattack that has way more range and damage than your traditional block.
As I mentioned before, Mina does have some of that FromSoftware energy in it, and it can be intentionally spiteful at times. But part of the reason the shield builds have always been popular in games like Dark Souls is that they reward patience with safety. If that’s the way you love to play, the Guardian Casket will really serve you well. It may drastically slow the combat, but that just means you’ll spend less time needing to restart.
Like the Battery Buster, you’re unable to start with the Guardian Casket, so you’ll need to either find it in the open world or purchase it from the blacksmith in order to get it. You can upgrade it twice by finding or purchasing a duplicate. The first upgrade allows you to toss the shield by double-tapping attack — which not only deals damage, but also works as a traversal bonus. The second upgrade allows you to perform a perfect parry with tighter timing and far more damage.
What about Whisper and Vesper and the Blaststrike Maul?
As I mentioned earlier, both of these weapons are great. And the more time I spent with Mina, the more I enjoyed experimenting with them for this guide — especially the Blaststrike Maul.
The problem with recommending either of them over the other starter weapon is that they require something the Nightstar doesn’t: good positioning. See, all three of the other weapons I recommended allow you to escape the knowledge gap that comes with playing a game like Mina for the first time. All of them allow you to either block or out range attacks that would otherwise hurt you.
Whisper and Vesper attack very quickly, allowing you to deal a ton of damage if you can get to the right place before you strike. However, they also have very little range, making them hard to use before you know the enemy’s hitboxes or movement patterns.
Similarly, the Blaststrike Maul does incredible amounts of damage when you charge it up and hit the perfect attack. But like the Great Sword in a Monster Hunter game, you need to be familiar with the bosses and their patterns before you’re able to really take advantage of these massive hits.
Again, both of these weapons are awesome. And if you enjoy the flow of them in the tutorial testing area, you really can’t go wrong when picking them up. Just know that they’re a little more punishing than the other choices you could make. As long as you’re OK with that, you’ll have a great time mastering them.
Best of luck in Mina the Hollower!
