The first Lionclad: How to find, defeat, and reap the spoils of Mina the Hollower’s Lynel equivalent

“Iron clad strategies for a trying, rad battle”

Mina the Hollower is shockingly non-linear, with a huge, detailed world to explore and challenging surprises around every turn. One of those challenges is discoverable right after the opening area of the game. After beating on mousecops on your way to town, you meet with your old buddy Baron Lionel, get through one last scrap against your presumed rival (name of Thorne), you can finally start freely explore the world. That means you can also stumble upon some battles that are way too hard for your average player. 

Case in point, one screen away from where you beat Thorne, to the left, behind some bushes, you can discover a small area holding a tempting red treasure chest, hiding behind some strange vegetation and a yellow block with a “05” on it. Walk over to it, with a whistling sound that implies a fall from an improbable height, you’ll meet an equally red, but much meaner, lion-headed knight called a Lionclad. 

At this stage of the game, there’s actually no good reason to beat the Lionclad, even if you could. You need 5 vials of plasma in order to open that yellow block and get the chest, so you won’t want to come back until you can carry at least that many. I needed 6 in total, because even with the winning strategy I’m about to lay out for you, I ultimately needed to chug down one vial to even survive, before dropping the other five in the slot.

IRON CLAD STRATEGIES FOR A TRYING, RAD BATTLE

That’s partly because I am not very good at Mina, so keep that in mind as you consider if these strategies will work for you. While I’m not so terrible that I can’t get through it, I did die on most bosses the first couple times, and even some standard enemies when I got sloppy. So if you’re like me, this plan should be enough to help you defeat this super-hard optional side boss.  With a health bar two to four times bigger than yours, a front-facing shield, and attacks that can kill you in one or two hits, it feels like the introduction of the Lionclad in this otherwise unassuming garden is to teach players that Mina is the kind of game that will show you a new problem at any time, and also trust you to not take it on until you’re ready. 

So, let’s get you ready!

I couldn’t beat this guy until I had thoroughly scoured the area around town for treasures and beat the boss of the Old Graveyard, the first recommended “dungeon” of the game. First I upgraded how many vials and joules (the ammo for your sidearms) I could hold, farmed for bones, went the shop and bought a couple of health upgrades, boned-up my attack, defense, and side arms stats, and maybe most importantly, got both the trinket and the side arm that are found at the end of that Old Graveyard. It was also helpful get the ability to hold four trinkets at a time, though, in the end, I really only needed three; The Windfall Charm (which allows you to get plasma from picking up  joules and also increases the chances of joule drops, and is found by throwing an axe at the kite flying on the east side of town), the Primed Vial Pouch (found by entering a house in town from a hole in the roof) and the Proto Spark (which, like a fairy in Zelda, allows you to come back to life mid-battle, and is given to you as a going away present from a dandy dude called the Duke, after you lead him to the Graveyard’s boss and meet his “special request”). 

But the real secret to beating the Lionclad is to use the Mist Jar sidearm, which you can get in a couple of places in the Graveyard. I used the multi-sidearm orb found right outside right outside the Old Graveyard boss room. The Mist Jar doesn’t damage enemies, but like the phase locket in Shovel Knight, it allows you to pass through them unharmed. So does hollowing, at least for most attacks, so you may be wondering “what the heck is so great about the jar?!” Well, it has two advantages over Mina’s signature ability – it has no start up time, and it gives you plasma when you pass through an enemy. So if your timing isn’t perfect, you are much less likely to take a hit. And if you do, you can use that sweet, salty plasma to get some health back. 

I imagine it tastes like salted caramel. Blood-soaked, salty caramel. 

With all that good stuff equipped, return to the Lionclad’s little field and get ready to phase through him as soon as he attacks. He has three different moves – a throwing energy sword reminiscent of Link’s full-health attack in the original Legend of Zelda, a double sword lunge (like the one used by the knights in the graveyard), and a unique fire-breath move that can hurt you even if you are underground hollowing. The Mist Jar protects you from all of them, so if you wait just until he starts an attack, the phase behind him, you should be able to attack him for one or two safe hits before he starts his next move.

Having 30 joules to start with the Mist Jar really helped me, but if you run out, you can get more from destroying the bushes in the top middle of the screen. If you take a hit and are about the die, phase through him to get some yellow in your health bar, then retreat to the area behind the wall near where you entered from the right. Don’t stay there too long, as he will eventually get back there through the path on the bottom of the screen, but you should have enough time to suck down at least one bottle of the yellow stuff before he gets to you.

But remember, you need 5 vials of plasma to get through that vial block and to the red chest, so only heal if you have more than 5 vials to start with. Alternatively, if you want the chest but don’t want to beat the Lionclad first, you could try to destroy the green vegetation in front of the plasma sucking block while dodging it’s attacks then use your plasma to get through while still alive, but this was impossible for me, even when I played from a separate save file with infinite health turned on.

The reward for all this struggle and strife is a permanent upgrade for main weapon. For me, my Nightstar got the ability to shock enemies, and flail around if I held the button down after using it, just like in Super Castlevania IV. You also get some cool art of Mina getting powered up, reminiscent of the “you got equipped with” screens from the classic Mega Man games. 

Moments like this are why Mina the Hollower is arguably the best Zeldavania in modern history. Yes, I just made up that term now. No, I don’t expect it to stick. But I’m saying it anyway, because it’s true.