Fighting monsters is a large part of what Visions of Mana players will end up doing during their playthrough. Mashing buttons works in easy and beginner mode, but at higher difficulties, when enemies start becoming more aggressive and deal a ton of damage, a strategic approach becomes necessary.

A poorly explained part of combat in Visions of Mana is its elemental weakness and resistance system. Other than a brief pop-up guide at the beginning, the game doesn't offer much information about how to identify enemy weaknesses and strengths.

visions of mana screencap
Visions of Mana: All Elemental Vessels (How to Change Class)

You can change the Class of your characters in Visions of Mana with the use of Elemental Vessels.

Visions of Mana Elements Explained

visions of mana weakness and resistance chart

Visions of Mana, like the previous Mana games, has a relatively simple element system that defines what is effective and what is not in combat. Every enemy has an innate elemental type, which could be any of the following.

  • Fire
  • Water
  • Earth
  • Wind
  • Wood
  • Moon
  • Light
  • Darkness

Weakness

Of the eight elements in Visions of Mana, six come in pairs that are weak to each other. The remaining two, Wood and Moon, stand-alone and have no weaknesses. The pairs are as follows:

  • Fire Water
  • Earth Wind
  • Light Darkness

Wood and Moon are not weak to each other.

The way these pairs work is actually quite simple. Let's take the Fire/Water elemental pair as an example. If an enemy is of the fire type and they are attacked by a water-type move, the move will be super effective. Similarly, if the enemy is a water-type creature and they are hit by a fire-type attack, the move will be super effective. This means that if you're using Fireball against a fish, it'll likely be super effective against them. Anything else, meaning Earth, Wind, Light, Darkness, Wood, or Moon against the same creature will deal a normal amount of damage.

Resistance

For resistances, the formula is even simpler. If a character is attacked by an element of the same type as them, they resist or are outright immune to that type of damage. This means a fire-type creature resists fire damage, a water-type monster resists water attacks, and so on.

Immunity

Immunity is often decided on a case-by-case basis. There is no set formula for which enemy type is immune to which element. However, common sense still prevails. A blob of water will likely be immune to water, and attacking a wind elemental with a tornado likely won't yield any results.

visions of mana dismount pikul
Visions of Mana: How to Dismount Pikul (& How to Summon)

Players who are confused about how to get off their Pikul mounts in Visions of Mana can find all the information that they need here.

How to Check Enemy Elemental Weaknesses

There are three main ways to check for elemental weaknesses of any enemy that players may come across during their journey.

Health Bar Indicator

resistant to damage in visions of mana

Every monster you encounter in Visions of Mana will have a health bar above its sprite. Sometimes, a colored icon may appear at the left corner of this bar, next to the level number. This is an indicator that shows whether the enemy is weak, resistant, or immune to the type of damage wielded by the currently controlled character. There are three possible icons.

Green Tick

Enemy is weak to the type of damage your currently controlled character deals.

Orange Triange

Enemy is resistant to the type of damage your currently controlled character deals.

Red Cross

Enemy is immune to the type of damage your currently controlled character deals.

Note that in addition to elemental damage, there are two types of physical damage: slash and strike. Some enemies may be weak, resistant, or immune to the physical aspect of your character weapon, which will be not indicated next to their health bar. What this means is that if an enemy is resistant to slash damage it will not show up in their health bar even if you're wielding a slashing weapon. You'll have to rely on other clues to tell if that is the case.

Damage Numbers

damage numbers in visions of mana

Every time players attack an enemy, a damage number pops up to show how much damage was dealt. The color of the damage number indicates if the enemy was weak, resistant, or immune to the type of damage they had just received. Golden means it was super effective, blue means resistant, grey means immune, and white means normal.

Bestiary

bestiary in visions of mana

After players defeat an enemy in combat, an entry for that enemy gets added to the player Bestiary (found in Guides). Inside, players will be able to view an in-depth weakness and resistance profile for that particular enemy type. This is the definitive way of planning out optimal party setups for particularly difficult fights.

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Visions of Mana Tag Page Cover Art
Visions of Mana
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7 /10
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Released
August 29, 2024
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

Developer(s)
Ouka Studios, Square Enix
Genre(s)
Action RPG