Fans have been waiting for the release of the fifth Mana game since it was announced as an unnamed title during the series’ 30th anniversary stream aired back in June 2021. With the game set to release on August 29, 2024, Square Enix has published information on some of the Elemental Ships in Visions of Mana.
Every Elemental Ship in Visions of Mana
Currently, only three of the eight Elemental Ships in Visions of Mana have been announced (though we’ll update as soon as more information becomes available on the others).
According to Square Enix’s Duncan Heaney, Elemental Ships are tools that will allow players to perform various actions in battle, such as freezing time.
The Visions of Mana launch date trailer, which was posted to YouTube on June 12, 2024, hints at some of these elemental abilities. Although Square Enix described them as tools in their blog post, the trailer makes them seem like innate elemental abilities that each of the characters have. The truth is that the Elemental Vessels are both a tool and a skill.
When you equip an Elemental Ship to the character you’re playing, you unlock new powers that you can use to progress in the game and more easily defend yourself against enemies.
Vessel of Darkness: Shade Sight
The item, or artifact, for the Ship of Darkness is Shade Sight. Producer Masaru Oyamada comments in Square Enix’s blog post that when this “element is released, it creates a black hole that pulls in enemies.” The date announcement trailer shows Soul Guard Val pulling an enemy towards him with a beam of purple energy, which certainly confirms that this skill will work by manipulating gravitational pull.
It is not entirely clear what the Shade Sight artifact looks like from the image shown in the blog (see above), but the Elementary Intro video reveals a dark purple rod-like object with a set of what look like bat wings styled at the top.
However, not everything is very useful! If your enemy is heavier than you, using Shade Sight will pull you towards them, instead of them coming to you. If this happens, you must be prepared with great skill or you may have some accident while using your skills.
As if that wasn’t enough, Shade Sight also allows you to use a black hole with its special area effect. Enemies in the area will be sucked into the central point where you cast the effect, and will take damage as the effect continues its course. You’re immune to it, so you can run and take out your enemies while they’re stuck in the air.
Vessel of Earth: Gnome Shovel
The Vessel of Earth artifact is dedicated solely to defense. It allows you to control things created from the ground, and definitely has a similar feel and look to Earth Bender in Avatar. You will be able to use this artifact to form a dome of rocks that protects your character in battle, and that protection will extend to any allies inside the dome with you.
The Elemental Intro video shows a tank-like fighting style, focusing on using your rocks as a shield and weapon. You can literally rain rocks down on your enemies, which is sure to cause some damage when you’re trying to take out multiple monsters at once.
You’ll also be able to control golems, which will be incredibly useful for solving puzzles in the game and getting past barriers like walls. Square Enix states in its Elemental Vessels Introduction video that golems will be “valuable” for accessing new areas in Visions of Mana.
Vessel of Light: Luminous Lantern
Control the power of reflections with the Lantern of Light in Visions of Mana, including reflecting the damage you deal to one enemy onto another! While that is pretty cool, the best ability this Ship has is to damage all enemies in an area using its special area effect.
The enemies must be linked together first before using the special area effect, so it’s more of a two-part ability than something that feels like separate abilities.
Of course, the fun doesn’t stop there.
You can also use this Ship to activate new paths of light, allowing you to travel in places where it is dark or you may have gotten lost. You just need to use the lantern on statues with a bright blue light to activate the nearby path through a blue crystal. The paths are wide and may or may not have collectables on them, so it’s always worth exploring if you see an activation point.
What are Elemental Vessels in Visions of Mana?
As mentioned, there are eight Elemental Vessels available in Visions of Mana. Once you find the artifacts, you can equip any of the Elemental Vessels to the five playable characters in the game to change their class. From the videos that Square Enix has released, it looks like you might be able to switch between the characters mid-battle.
The interesting thing about the Ships is that they don’t just change the class of the character on paper; they affect the weapon choice of the character you equip it to, their overall appearance, and more. For Val, the Vessel of Earth has him wielding a sword – but, when he uses the Lumina Lantern, he becomes Paladin class with spear and shield. With the Shade Sight artifact, he even grows a set of horns!
Different classes have access to their own moveset, and can continue to unlock stats, weapon types and abilities. Outside of combat, the Ships can activate triggers scattered throughout the game world, which allows you to explore more than you could without a Ship.
Want to read more about Visions of Mana at Pro Game Guides? Read What are Visions of Mana? Release date, trailer, platforms and more! or Visions of Mana is making its way to Xbox, window revealed.
