Visions of Mana is the first non-remake installment in the franchise since Heroes of Mana, sparking excitement among players eager to discover its character progression system.
Role-playing video games focus on adventures, heroic battles, challenging choices, and memorable faces – but genre fans understand that character development makes them the most fun. By picking from available professions, races, or appearance traits, we can pour a bit of our soul into each upcoming playthrough and make the experience more personal. VoM is the same regarding this part, and our thorough class guide explains everything about its character progression system.
The Party System
Party refers to a team of heroes you guide on their grand journey. VoM features five playable characters, including three under your control.
Each has a unique personality, skills, and backstory, allowing for the creation of a cooperative group. Things get even more diverse when players begin experimenting with different combinations of Elemental Vessels, creating 45 unique classes across all five characters. There are also supporting characters unavailable for players to control. Okay, let’s see what these mysterious Elemental Vessels are and how they can come in handy on your adventures!
Elemental Vessels and Classes
Given that Val is the leading protagonist of the VoM game, we can start explaining the class system using this hero. There are eight Elementals and their corresponding Elemental Vessels. Each character can use these artifacts to access a unique class, type of weapon, and class strike.
For example, Val becomes a Rune Knight after equipping the Sylphid Boomerang (Wind Elemental Vessel) but switches into a Weapon Master after arming the Gnome Shovel (Earth Elemental Vessel). In summary, Vessels are containers for mana of different elements that allow our characters to wield their powers during adventure and combat.
Elemental Vessels are scattered across the game’s chapters. If you want to change the class of one of your characters, equip them with an Elemental Vessel of your choice. Doing so changes their skills, passives, attacks, and appearance. Remember, however, a character can only use one Vessel at a time, so experiment with different combinations and see what suits your playstyle best.
Elemental Plot
Elemental Plot is a system where you can spend your Elemental Points to gain new active and passive abilities. The more Elemental Vessels you find, the more plots within the class unlock. Also, each class uses a unique dedicated set of powers, so this is where you can develop your favorite skills.
Where to find each Vessel?
- Sylphid Boomerang (Wind) – Progress through Chapter 1
- Luna Globe (Moon) – Progress through Chapter 1
- Undine Flask (Water) – Progress through Chapter 2
- Salamando Candle (Fire) – Progress through Chapter 4
- Gnome Shovel (Earth) – Progress through Chapter 4
- Dryad Sprig (Wood) – Progress through Chapter 4
- Lumina Lantern (Light) – Progress through Chapter 5
- Shade Sight (Darkness) – Progress through Chapter 5
Elemental Vessels and Class categories they unlock for each playable character
Sylphid Boomerang (Wind)
- Val – Rune Knight
- Careena – Dancer
- Morley – Nomad
- Palamena – Rune Seer
- Julei – Piper
Luna Globe (Moon)
- Val – Aegis
- Careena – Moon Charterer
- Morley – Nightblade
- Palamena – Majesty
- Julei – Occultist
Undine Flask (Water)
- Val – Duelist
- Careena – Dragon Master
- Morley – Ascetic
- Palamena – Grand Diviner
- Julei – Scholar
Salamando Candle (Fire)
- Val – Liege
- Careena – Divine Fist
- Morley – Rogue
- Palamena – Masquer
- Julei – Gatekeeper
Gnome Shovel (Earth)
- Val – Weapon Master
- Careena – Warrior Monk
- Morley – Ninja Master
- Palamena – Magus
- Julei – Hunter
Dryad Sprig (Wood)
- Val – Edelfrei
- Careena – Conjurer
- Morley – Samurai
- Palamena – Beastleader
- Julei – Sage
Lumina Lantern (Light)
- Val – Paladin
- Careena – Starlancer
- Morley – Sovereign
- Palamena – Archmage
- Julei – High Cleric
Shade Sight (Darkness)
- Val – Berserker
- Careena – Maverick
- Morley – Soothsayer
- Palamena – Reaper
- Julei – Necromancer
Ability Seeds
VoM lets its players develop their potential with Ability Seeds. That way, playable characters can use new skills, often for increased combat effectiveness. This method involves enjoying such an advantage without switching classes or upgrading weapons. Initially, each hero can use only two slots for such seeds, but following the storyline expands this collection to ten.
How do you unlock more seeds and seed slots? The former can be obtained by finding treasure chests and converting monster and boss corestones into Ability Seeds. The latter requires more effort, as you must acquire the Chalice item dedicated to the hero whose number of Seed Slots you want to increase. These items are exclusive to each character.
Conclusion
With Elemental Vessels and Ability Seeds, players have plenty of opportunities to experiment with different builds. Combining old-school JRPG journey with a satisfying progression system, VoM brings back nostalgic memories of simpler times in gaming.
This video game represents what Mana fans hoped to experience – an engaging, cozy, and comforting adventure. If these are the qualities you’re looking for, feel free to explore deals for this and other Mana titles on our marketplace. And if you’ve already played Square Enix’s latest masterpiece, let us know how you liked it!
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