Re: How to get to the first stadium, Manamon 1?
from Jayde's guide:
Amica Woods
This place is pretty big and fairly easy to get lost in. If you have issues remembering which way you've come from, this might be a good place to use flyers.
Manamon available: Wormer, Jiminar, Owlaw, Cacone
Spotlight: Jiminar
This rare pure electric type is something of a one-trick pony. It uses electric attacks quite well with a potent special attack, but that's about all it does. It's also quite fast, and has a decent HP stat, but its defenses are fairly frail. It transforms twice, first into Jiminite at level 24 I think, and then into Jimitron with the use of an item called a Lightning Element. This is not a bad manamon, but there are better/more balanced electric types out there. It may be worth picking one up, though.
Spotlight: Owlaw
This air and sound-type owl is another average manamon. It takes a little while for it to get going, but it does learn some crippling moves like Sing and Magic Lights to mess with opponents. If you like somewhat more status-oriented and tricky play, this bird may suit. It has surprisingly good attack when fully transformed, but its defenses are both fairly low, so the status strategy for which it was designed can be much more risky than on something with better tanking ability. It transforms once at level 23 into Owlex, and then again at level 42 into Fowliture.
Spotlight: Cacone
This is another fairly rare manamon in Amica Woods. A pure insect type, Cacone struggles early with a lack of strong moves, but eventually learns Fang Drain, a fairly weak insect-type attack which also heals the user a little when it hits. Cacone picks up a second type, undead, when it transforms into Bombusect at level 20, and becomes quite adept in early to mid-game due to its combination of Fang Drain, Black Bite, Horrify, Toxic Spray and Desoul, all moves which can really hassle your opponent. Bombusect's only real shortcoming is its health, which is rather low, and means that it dies fairly easily if it's hit too hard. Nevertheless, this little guy can be quite a good manamon and possesses a lot of staying power with his various forms of per-round healing, so he's not just a throwaway.
Okay, now that we've gone over the new manamon here, let's get on with exploring these woods.
Head west, and soon you should hear the distinctive sound of a tamer.
Lad Arnold
Wormer level 6, Globular level 8
Note: Globular can't hurt you, so if you don't mind taking forever to kill it, feel free to bring in a weaker manamon if you have one, and slowly chip away at it.
Reward: 40 gold
Once you're done with this guy, head to the left into a narrow little path. The chest at the end has 2 Antidotes and 15 gold for you to take. Once you do, backtrack to Arnold and start heading up. You'll notice crackling sounds nearby. These are trees, and mostly just decoration. Head up and open the chest you hear to receive another Skill Drink. Head due east, and you'll find another chest, this one containing Smelling Salts.
Now make your way back left and down to Arnold, but this time keep going down till you hit the wall. Start heading left, and keep going till the path opens up below you. This is a dead end with nothing in it as far as I know, so instead of heading down into the long grass, head due west. If you go up from here and then to the right, you should find a chest containing a Revive. There are a lot of trees around here so it's easy to bump into one and get a little turned around. Personally, I'd save this revive and not use it; they sell for 2000 gold at Manamon Marketplaces in any city or town, and right now that gold goes a lot further than the revive would.
Once you're done getting that chest, backtrack to where I told you the long grass started, and head just a little to the east, and then north. You should hear some trees on your left, but feel free to ignore them. Heading north will eventually put you within hearing of another tamer. Head straight up to battle her.
Insect Collector Jessa
Wormer level 3, Wormer level 5, Cacone level 7
Reward: 43 gold
Head north past Jessa till you hit the north wall, then left for another battle.
Lady Janine
Murkit level 7, Owlaw Level 5
Be aware that this murkit knows Bite, which will hit a little harder than you're probably used to. Also, Owlaw has the move Magic Lights, which is probably your first taste of the confusion status.
Reward: 43 gold
If you head due west from Janine, you'll find someone who will heal up your manamon for free!
From this helpful person, keep heading to your left. Depending on how close to the wall you are, you may hear something bumping and rattling below you. This is just a bench, completely useless except as a navigational aid. It's not hiding anything, so skim on past it.
You're roughly at the halfway point of the woods now, so just push on a little further.
Okay, so you're past the bench, still heading west. The path will appear to open up to the north, but don't go there yet. It's only a few spaces, and what you want is westward from here. Instead, keep heading west, and you should hear another tamer nearby. Time for another fight.
Gentleman Alex
Wormer level 10, Jiminar level 7
Jiminar can paralyze you with Electric Shock. Be careful if you own an Owlaw or an Aquaffe; the attack isn't particularly powerful, but it can surprise you. Also, if Alex has a level 10 Wormer, I want to know how he did it. Wormer is supposed to transform at level 9, and in this game there is no way to stop level-based transformation as far as I know.
Reward: 58 gold
So Alex is defeated. From here, get to the south wall and head a long ways west. You'll start to hear a weird metallic rattling sound. This is a helpful sign with a tip, which reads: "Head forward from here if you are headed for Hazeldale City". Forward means up, by the way, but we're not going that way right yet.
Instead, get back to the south wall if you did choose to investigate the sign, head west, and open the chest you hear to receive 3 Herbs. Score!
Just north of the chest is a man blocking a little path to the west. This is important later, but for now just skim past him and head north, then east, then north when the path opens up again. You should hear the sign nearby.
So, heading north, with the sign fading behind you, hug the east wall as you travel. Eventually you will hit a corner, with a chest directly to your right and a sign somewhere off to your left. Open the chest to receive 100 gold. Now head left toward the sign. This one reads: "Hazeldale City is left from here". That's not quite true, but it does mean we're getting pretty close to the end.
From the sign, head up to the wall and then start going to your left. You'll hit a wall, so start going down. This is why I said that the sign wasn't quite correct. You're going to have to sort of loop around before you hit the city. Keep travelling downward, following the west wall, and eventually you'll come across another tamer.
Or not. It's just a helpful person who's telling you about the signs I've already touched on. Go ahead and travel to the south wall, then start going west again. Eventually the path will turn north, then west. Keep hugging the wall as it bends, and before you know it, you'll be heading north into Hazeldale City.
Hazeldale City
This is definitely the biggest city you've been to so far, and there's a fair bit to do before you can leave.
The first house you're likely to come across has a couple of people in it. One of them wants your Jiminar in exchange for his Feruddae. Feruddae is a fairly defensive pure steel type which takes awhile to really come into its own, and Jiminar is quite rare. If you've got a spare Jiminar you don't want, go ahead and make the trade, but it's possible to catch Feruddae later, and quite easily, so I would personally skip this one unless you have a burning desire to have this manamon early in the game.
Leave this place, and head west over the clanking sewer grate until you come to another building. This is the Manamon Hotel, but as soon as you enter, you get jumped by a boy who wants to battle. Don't worry though. He talks for awhile and then stands right next to the door waiting for you to talk to him. Feel free to head straight up and heal your manamon first, then go back and talk to Yavin to experience your first two-on-two battle.
Manamon Tamer Yavin (double battle)
Fyste level 9/Eagala level 9
Eagala is a pure air type, and Fyste, you will remember, is a pure fighting type. Neither is particularly threatening, but don't waste a lot of time trying to set up. Just kill them both quickly. This fight isn't too difficult.
Reward: 67 gold
Now that Yavin is gone, go ahead and heal up again since we're right here anyway.
Can you hear the person nearby to the east? This is the stat checker. He can tell you roughly how good your manamon is in all its stats. It's free and painless, so go ahead and talk to him.
Spotlight: The Hazeldale Stat Checker
At the beginning of the game, it doesn't matter so much, but if you later want to battle competitively or make the absolute most of your manamon, you'll be visiting this guy a lot. He ranks your manamon's stats and tells how good they are.
When a manamon is generated, it is given a random number in a given stat between, say, 0 and 7. This number is hidden, except from this person, and the number determines roughly where a manamon is strong and where he's not.
An example: AT level 100, a Squirmunk who has a higher number here in special attack will have greater potential for higher special attack through its lifetime.
The differences aren't enormous, and don't fret or restart if you have, say, a Leefox said to have terribly underdeveloped attack. You may never be able to fix that deficiency, but you don't need every single point of stats you can get in order to finish the game either.
I feel this needs saying, what with all the rampant misunderstandings going on in playthroughs and board posts I've seen.
Train points, as given to you when you level up, have absolutely nothing to do with this stat checker. If he says your attack is underdeveloped, nothing in the world you can do will change this. If you put train points into that stat, it will rise, of course, but it will never be as high as it otherwise might have been. The values the stat checker fixates on are set when the manamon is generated. Please be clear on this.
The stat ratings are below:
0 = terribly underdeveloped
1 = not so good
2 = decent, but a bit lacking
3 = decent
4 = decent, more great than not
5 = well-developed
6 = remarkable
7 = perfect
Yeah. The middle three are kind of similar, eh? I personally tend to accept stats that are 4 or better only when trying to breed competitive manamon later on, but for now, it's mostly a point of interest. Feel free to leave the hotel, head around its west side and go north. You'll hear a building eventually. Head inside, and you'll find out that this house has a back door which leads out toward the belltower. Do you remember someone talking about the theft of a bell before you entered the woods? Well, now that we're here, we might as well investigate, right? First, though, there are some goodies in here. Talk to the person in the far northwest corner for a Paralysis Vaccine. Open the chest in the southwest corner and commit a little theft, to the tune of 200 gold. Finally, go to the east wall, go left once or twice, then tap enter while going up toward the northeast corner. Somewhere in this area, on the right side of the house, is yet another hidden Revive. Now that you're done looting this high-traffic home, head through the house, out the back door and..
Belltower Front
Manamon Available: Squirmunk, Vibragen
Spotlight: Vibrogen
This little guy is a sound and poison type and transforms around level 22 or 23 I think into Recobrah. He has high attack and special attack, coupled with decent speed, but his defenses are fairly low and he's weak to a fair number of types. He's great in the early game and learns some very powerful moves, but he tends to get killed rather easily later in the game. Nab one if you want one, then head into the interior of the belltower.
Or don't. This is actually a really excellent place to train a level or three. The Squirmunk here are usually level 7 or 8, and sometimes attack in pairs. In fact, the only way to find a Vibrogen is if you find it with a pair of Squirmunk; it will never appear on its own.
Onward!
There's a hidden Smelling Salts along the south wall of this small area, fairly near the southwest corner. There is also a chest to the left of the belltower itself containing 3 Flyers.
When you're ready, enter the building. If you came here before defeating Yavin, there's someone blocking the door.
Belltower F1
Manamon available: none throughout this area
This floor isn't very large. You'll hear a couple of people and a clanging sound that's actually a ladder to the next floor. Head east and then north of the old guy who talks about the ladder, then slip a little further east to grab a Smelling Salts just lying loose on the floor. With this in hand, feel free to retrace your steps to the ladder and climb up.
Belltower F2
As soon as you climb the ladder, head straight down to the wall, then west a bit and pick up the hidden Super Encounter Down by hitting Enter. This item, when used, stops encounters with feral manamon for awhile. I personally never use these, but I know a lot of people who swear by them. With your new item in hand, head up and fight the tamer who accosts you.
Genius Roy
Chingle level 5, Chingle level 5
Reward: 60 gold
You're going to be seeing a lot of Chingle. It's a pure sound type, and some of them can use Sing to put your manamon to sleep. Thankfully, Chingle isn't too dangerous at low levels, so this is fairly easy experience for the most part.
After defeating Roy, head west and then north to face another tamer.
Genius Janna
Chingle level 7, Chingle level 8
Reward: 73 gold
Now, let's backtrack a bit. Instead of heading up the ladder near Janna, go back down toward the ladder down to floor 1. Head east of the ladder, then north. Hear that item? It's a Total Cure, which will heal any status ailment when used. Pick it up, then feel free to head up to floor 3.
Belltower f3
Head east and a bit south, and pick up the Antidote. Then head further south and face a tamer.
Detective Bill
Chingle level 10
Reward: 36 gold
Head east, south, and another tamer will jump you.
Lad Joey
Murkit level 10
Reward: 28 gold
With Joey out of the way, go just north of him and then east to find a chest. This one contains a Strong Herb, which heals up to 100HP. You probably won't need it yet, but keep it on hand for later.
Strong Herb in hand, backtrack to the west and head south, then east. You should hear a tamer to the east, so make a dash in that direction for another battle.
Lad Joshua
Squirmmunk level 10
Reward: 27 gold
With Joshua defeated, the only thing to do is take the ladder up another floor. Don't worry, we're nearly done.
Belltower F4
From the ladder, go north, east and then hook south for a chest containing an herb. Backtrack to the ladder, then go north a ways until you're spotted by another genius dying to prove his superior battling skills and intellect. Waste him.
Genius Perry
Chingle level 10, Jiminar level 8
Reward: 83 gold
Once the genius is out of the way, head north and then to the west into a dead end. Press Enter here to pick up a hidden Rare Jewel and 100 gold!
Now go east and enter the narrow pathway heading vaguely east and south. As you approach the ladder, pick up the item, which is another Rare Jewel. These are used only for earning money, but they sell for a lot of gold, so snatch it up and continue.
Belltower f5
head to the west wall and swipe the item you can hear. This is a Daedalus Dust, which will transport you out of certain dungeons when used. Hold onto it for now, and continue on.
The only other thing to do up here is to talk to the man you can hear. He's your toughest fight so far, so get ready.
Bellmaster Sagose
Chingle level 10, Murkit level 13, Chingle level 12
Reward: 227 gold
After a little more talk, Sagose will give you your very own Chingle!
Spotlight: Chingle
This is a pure sound type for now, and doesn't have an easy time of it at first. He doesn't learn a lot of good attacks for awhile, and when he transforms into Belaard at level 30, he picks up a holy type and a significant stat boost. The Chingle family is not a bad choice, but it has a few problems. It has nice attack and special attack, but its speed is mediocre at best, and its physical defense is a little problematic (especially since it is doubly weak to both ghost and undead, which generally use physical attacks to deal damage...and trust me, you're going to see quite a bit of those eventually). Holy types should ideally be able to combat undead, but Bellaard usually can't. Bear this in mind, and use it or put it away in the transportal as you see fit.
Now that you've finished this place, feel free to either walk out or use your newly-acquired Daedalus Dust to get back to Hazeldale City.
head back through the house, and once you're into the city proper, go to the hotel and heal your manamon. We're going to visit the marketplace first, but after that, it's stadium time! Now that we've dealt with the belltower, the Hazeldale stadium is open, and it's high time we got that first key.
But first, the marketplace. It's just below the hotel, so let's have a look, shall we?
Shop list
Mananet: 100 gold
Herb: 300 gold
Antidote: 100 gold
Scorch Ointment: 50 gold
Paralysis Vaccine: 50 gold
Smelling Salts: 50 gold
Encounter Down: 175 gold
Bone Dagger: 500 gold
Flyer: 30 gold
Spotlight: Equipment
We haven't come across this yet, but here's our first example. The Bone Dagger is a piece of equipment you can give to a manamon. In this case, it will raise attack by 5 points and lower special attack by 3 points when equipped. If you have a physical manamon like a Leefox or a Murkit, picking one or two of these up is a really excellent idea. 5 points doesn't sound like a lot, but at the early stages of the game, it's nearly a 20% increase.
While you're here, make sure to sell your rare jewels for a cool 3500 gold apiece. And if you think you might want more gold for herbs, mananets or the like, go ahead and sell the revives you picked up too. Between the two rare jewels and the revives alone, plus your starting gold and the little caches you've found, it's possible to have over 16000 gold if you haven't spent any yet. Buy what you think you'll need, then leave.
Now that we've visited the market and have equipped ourselves, it's time to explore the rest of Hazeldale.
Remember the house in the east with the guy who wants your Jiminar for his Feruddae? Behind that house you'll find a gate to a placed called Sqien Path. You'll be going here soon, but for now the gate is locked, so ignore it and continue north. And here we have...
Hazeldale Stadium
Type Specialization: Sound
You might have guessed this was coming, but here we are in our first stadium. Some stadiums have puzzles or tasks you have to complete, but this one only presents two lesser tamers before you can face the stadium leader. The first one can be fought by heading straight north from the entrance.
Musician Jack
Vibrogen level 10, Owlaw level 11
Reward: 77 gold
After beating Jack, head north and a bit west, and the second tamer will demand a fight.
Musician Bella
Chingle level 14
Reward: 46 gold
Now it's time to face the stadium leader. Make sure you're fully healed and ready for a tough fight. Save your game, then head north and speak with the person you find.
Stadium Leader Odin
Vibrogen level 12, Owlaw level 13, Hydrake level 15
Odin starts with a fairly standard Vibrogen. It's pretty frail, so you shouldn't have any serious issues taking it down. It can use Glare to paralyze your manamon though, so be aware of that.
Next up is Owlaw. It has both Sing and Magic Lights, but is otherwise not a threat. Honestly, the first two manamon are quite tame compared to her ace, so take them down with as little fuss as you can.
Hydrake is the star of this show. A manamon with three types (water, plant and sound), Hydrake also has a special ability which will damage you a little whenever you hit it physically. Air, poison and insect attacks do decent damage to Hydrake, so you might find that the best way to bring it down is with a combined assault. It has the special-based plant move Power Leaf, which spells danger for Aquaffe users and will do respectable damage to the Leefox line as well because of Leefox's secondary earth type. It also possesses Bubble as a weak water move and Sucker Root, a weak physical-type plant move for another way to gain its health back slowly.
if you're really struggling with this fight, and have taken the time to catch and raise a Wormer or Globular into Skirial, a Skirial will utterly destroy Hydrake even at level 15.
Reward: 870 gold
For beating her, Odin gives you the Amplify Key, the first of the seven keys you will need in order to complete your journey. She also hands over a Megaphone, which will boost the power of sound-type moves if it is equipped. After you're done here, head out and have a little rest at the hotel. You've earned it.
But first, you're bumped into by a person who tells you that online functionality is possible now. He also gives you the Battle Recorder, which as of the writing of this guide I have as yet never used. Yay! Online battling and trading are now possible. Just head up, then all the way to the right and all the way up, and talk to the man to your left.
Spotlight: Online Functionality
Manamon possesses some online functionality which lets players connect to each other in order to battle or trade. These features still have some kinks to iron out, but they both do work so long as at least one participant in the trade knows how to forward ports 15000 and 15001. Online trading and battling also requires that someone's IP address be known, which some may see as a serious security risk. There are a few manamon which transform only when traded, and there is no way to get the other starting manamon once you've chosen your own, but in general, trading is not at all necessary to play through the game successfully.
You will also notice in your menu an option called Unknown Gifts. This will allow you to connect to VG-Storm directly and receive whatever promotional item or manamon they are offering at the time. In the past, a Jiminar with Power Surge and Stun Volt was being offered, as well as a Monja with some new attacks and perfect defenses (that is, the Hazeldale stat checker will say that the defenses are perfect). For quite awhile, the Unknown Gift was a Gronk with a few moves it doesn't normally have (Laser Arm, an electric and steel move, and Daring Comeback, to name two), plus a free Revive. Most recently, the gift manamon was a level 15 Feefeye with a Smoke Element; the Feefeye got Call to Arms and Poison Dart, the former of which is an excellent move (raises attack and defense by 1 stage each) and the latter of which is a wasted moveslot. The current offering is a level 10 Loonis with Wing Slash and Inner Healing. Mine had pretty bad stats across the board, sadly, so this is a serious gamble. Inner Healing makes Sacroloon borderline unkillable in the hands of a player who builds it properly, and Wing Slash is...well, it's not a bad move, but Loonis is not known for its attacking prowess. Heaven's Winds is probably better in most cases. Feefeye, Loonis, Monja and Gronk will be covered in a little while, but in due time, more gifts are likely to be available. You can only ever receive a gift once per playthrough, however, but there is nothing stopping you from playing the game again and taking the same gift you got last time. Old gift manamon are no longer available, unless you can find them in trade.
When you're done here, heal your manamon in the bed, and you'll get a short cutscene. Once that's done, head out of the hotel, then go east.
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