Secret of Mana: The Mana Fortress

The Mana Fortress is a Quest in Secret of Mana (SOM).

Description

"The Mana Tree is destroyed by the Fortress, but the spirit of the tree used the last of her strength to synchronize the sword with all of the Mana Seeds. Randi vows to fulfill the will of his people, the Mana Tribe, and destroy the Fortress with his fully powered sword. The party moves on to confront Thanatos."

Drop Items

These items are found only by defeating these Enemies and getting a chest from them.

Eggplant Man - Watcher Ring
Whimper - Vampire Cape, Javelin Orb
Wolf Lord - Faerie's Ring, Glove Orb x2
Master Ninja - Faerie Cloak, Boomerang Orb
Mace Menace - Faerie Crown, Whip Orb
Fiend Head - Spear Orb, Vampire Cape.

Walkthrough

Entrance

Go up the stairs in front of you.
On the first landing, you will encounter 2 Captain Ducks and a Kimono Wizard.
Head over to the West and then take the stairs up there to the final level to the North.
This leads to a small walkway going over to the East.
Just in front of you is a Dark Stalker.
Take the stairs up found to the East past them.
This will bring you to the final level and the proper entrance to the Mana Fortress itself.

Floor 1

Just inside the Mana Fortress you will encounter 2 Metal Crabs and a Whimper.
Defeat them and head to the next room to the North.
The second room has 2 Turtlance and a Tsumani.
Go up to the left, fighting past the Turtlances.
Equip a Whip and use it to cross the gap ion front of you.
This will bring you to where the Tsunami is.
Follow the walkway to the South then East.
Step on the Purple Square on the floor to make a walkway to the North appear.
Head to the North into the next room.
This room has 2 Dark Stalkers and a Fiend Head
Defeat all of them and head into the next room to the North.
In this room you will encounter 2 Heck Hounds and a Wolf Lord.
Defeat them and head to the North into the corridor.
In this corridor, look over to the East to see a Tsunami.
To get there, you will need to break through the 4 crystals in front of you.
You can do this with either the Sword or Axe.
Go forward to the purple square in front of you and step on it.
This will raise a platform going to the East toward the Tsunami.
Defeat the Tsunami and then step on the purple square in the corner of this walkway.
This will extend a Walkway going to the West, allowing deeper access into the Mana Fortress.
Head over to the West and you will reach another Whip Access point.
Equip the Whip and cross the gap.
Going around to the West and South, you will encounter a National Scar.
Defeat it and then head to the South, going through the doorway.
In this hallway, you will encounter a Turtlance.
Going to the West, you will encounter a Tsunami.
Head to the North, into the doorway here.
This corridor has a Wolf Lord and 2 Heck Hounds.
Make your way to the West from here, going around that pit.
In the Western portion of the corridor, you will encounter another pair of Heck Hounds.
This leads into a small room with a Doom Sword and a Whimper.
The problem here is the Whimper is across an impassable gap.
Return to the previous room, go to the East and back to the room with the Tsuami and Turtlance.
Return to the Whip posts where the Turtlance is.
Equip a Whip and get across the gap on either side.
On the far side you will encounter another Whimper.
- Possible farming spot for Whimper
Defeat it then continue to the South.
This next room has 2 Doom Swords and a National Scar.
Head on through this room to the South to reach the next room.
Across the gap is another Fiend Head.
To get over there, step on the purple switch in the middle of the walkway, then go over to the East and step on the purple switch there.
After stepping on the switch, head over to the West and across the section of floor that has appeared.
Continue through to the South, fighting through any Dark Stalkers that have been summoned.
This leads into a large room with a lot of crystals around that you will need to break through.
Equip either the Sword or Axe, and cut your way through.
This time, avoid the purple switch in the middle of the room.
Stepping on the switch will respawn any of the crystals that you have destroyed.
Cut your way through to the West and head out the doorway in the Northwestern corner.
In this long room, you will encounter a Whimper, Metal Crab, and another Metal Crab to the West.
In this room, go forward and step on the purple switch.
In the Western portion of the room, you will encounter 2 Tsunami.
Take them out quickly to avoid having too many appear.
Exit out the Southwestern door.
This leads to another corridor you will need to get across.
Equip a Whip and use it to get across the gap.
Start fighting your way to the West through the 3 Captain Ducks.
Go through the Northwestern door.
This leads to a small room with a green switch Doom Sword, and Whimper, where you passed through earlier.
Step on the switch to taken to the first boss fight.

King Vampire

First, know you can run on the black in the middle of the room.
The King Vampire will be moving back and forth initially.
From there, it will start moving.
It will occasionally take a swipe at any nearby party members.
Know that the King Vampire can absorb magic from Primm and Popoi.
It can also dispel spells that you have put in place and use Dark Force to do damage based on MP.
Watch out for it leaping upwards to pounce on Party Members below.
Defeat it to clear the first floor.
Go across the room after the fight and step on the green tile to be teleported to the next floor.

Floor 2

Having ascended to the second floor, you will encounter a few foes.
You will immediately encounter 2 Heck Hounds.
Head through either side to the next room.
Going to the Northwest, you will encounter 2 Shape Shifters and a Wolf Lord.
Continue to the North into the next room after defeating these foes.
This leads into a short corridor with a doorway to the North.
This corridor has 2 Turtlances and Tsunami.
The next room has 2 Dark Stalkers and 2 whip posts.
Defeat the 2 Dark Stalkers and head through the across the room using the posts.
This brings you into another large room with another set of Whip Posts.
There are a number of breakable crystals in front of you.
In this first section of the room, you will encounter 2 Captain Ducks.
Cut through them and turn to the right, using the Whip to cross the gap.
Go over to the West, and make your way to the top Northwestern corner.
Cross the gap once again using the Whip.
Break through the crystals to the East and encounter the Whimper.
In the final section of the room, you can encounter a Metal Crawler.
Turn to the South and head through the doorway.
This next room has a Fiend Head, Heck Hound and a Wolf Lord just in front of you.
In the Eastern portion of the room, you will encounter a Shape Shifter.
Head to the East using the middle walkway in the room, fighting your foes.
Continue on through to the next room with a twisting walkway.
Just in front of you is a Turtlance, heading over to the West, then North and finally East.
Along this way you will encounter a Tsunami.
Reaching the Northwestern corner of the room, take the walkway going through South, and not East to continue forward.
You will also encounter a Marmablue as you make your way to the East.
Going to the East, you will encounter another Tsunami.
Follow the walkway to the North, where you will encounter the sole Basilisk as you go to the East.
Head to the Southwest and through the doorway here to the next room.
Going to the South you will pass by a Turtlance.
Go forward and step on the purple switch in front of you in this room.
Head to the South and go across the walkway.
Step onto the green tile to bring yourself to the next boss room.

Dread Slime

The Dread Slime it can be a difficult fight.
It is weak to Shade and that is what you will want to use the most of against it.
Unlike the Lime Slime, this one will constantly expand.
The party will get pushed away and physical attacks will do less damage over time.
It is best to use Dark Force to do heavy damage against it.
Just attack as best you can and use all the spells available.
It will not take long before the Dread Slime will fall.

Floor 3

Head to the North from the boss room and into the next room.
This room there are 2 Dark Stalker and a Master Ninja.
In the Northern part of the room, you will find some crystals blocking your way.
Break them, defeat the Master Ninja and go through the Northern door.
This leads to a large room with a few large platforms in it.
To the West, you can find a Whimper, Mace Menace, and Doom Sword.
Continue to the North into the next room.
This room has a Wolf Lord and a Heck Hound.
Go to the West after defeating them and use the Whip to get across the gap here.
On the other side of the gap, you will encounter another Wolf Lord.
Turn to the South and go through the door there.
In this long room, you will encounter a Master Ninja just to the South of you.
To the West, you can see a Dark Stalker and a Fiend Head.
Defeat all of them and go over to the West.
Enter into the Northwestern door into the next room.
You will immediately encounter an Armored Man, head to the West where you will encounter a Mace Menace, then a Dark Knight.
Head through the Southwestern door to continue forward.
Go to the Southwest, starting to fight through the Heck Hound and Shape Shifters.
Continue to the Northwest through the door.
This leads to a large room with a few Ninja inside: Dark Stalkers and 2 Master Ninja.
Make your way to the Northwest to reach the next section of the room.
Turn to the South and start to the Southeast from there, where you will encounter a Fiend Head.
Head through the door to continue forward.
This leads to another large room with a number of enemies.
Just inside this room you will encounter a Doom Sword.
Head to the Southeastern corner, where you will encounter another Mace Menace.
Head to the West, follow the walkway to the West and North.
You encounter another Metal Crab and Mace Menace.
Defeat them as you wind along the walkway and then to the South and through the next doorway.
Another large room is what you are in.
Immediately you will encounter 2 Wolf Lords.
In the middle of the room, you can see a Whimper that you cannot reach aside from using ranged weapons or magic.
Defeat the Lords and head to the South and through the door to the South.
This leads to the Southward walkway.
On this walkway, you will encounter another Tsunami and Fiend Head.
This room has 2 parts to it.
In the Western portion, you will encounter 3 Master Ninjas.
Go to the East and break through the crystals blocking your way.
On the other side you will encounter 3 Mace Menaces.
Defeat them and go through the Northeastern door.
This leads to a small room with a half circle pattern with a green tile in the middle.
Otherwise, in this room, you will encounter a Whimper and 2 Tsunamis.
- This is the point of No Return, leading onto the final Boss fight against the lass bosses of the game.

This bring you to an empty room, head across it to the East and step on the next green tile.
This leads you to the final room of the fortress, where you find Thanatos and Dyluck.

Dark Lich

This is the second to last boss fight in the game, going against the Dark Lich.

Throughout the fight, the Lich will be sunken into the ground.
While submerged, you will not be able to hit it with physical attacks.
To hit the Lich at any time, you will need to attack it with Magic.
Use Lucent Beam to do heavy damage, and you can enhance your weapons with Holy Saber to do more damage.