Trials of Mana ‐ Seiken Densetsu 3 (SNES) - RetroAchievements/guides GitHub Wiki
| Trials of Mana (SNES) | |
|---|---|
| Set Difficulty | 4-5 |
| Approximate time to master | 50-60 Hours |
| Minimum number of playthroughs needed | 3-4 |
| Number of missable achievements | 0 officially (realistically 46) |
| Does difficulty affect achievements? | N/A |
| Hardest achievement of the set | It's a Secret to Everybody (25) |
| Guide Author | Lakeyzer |
- Introduction
- About This Guide
- Character Combinations
- Class Changes
- Technically Missable Overview
- Quick Start
- Achievement Overview
Trials of Mana is the third game in Square's Mana series, released for the Super Famicom in 1995. It came out only in Japan, as Seiken Densetsu 3, so for a long time Western players knew it through a fan translation. It finally got an official English release in 2019 as part of Collection of Mana on the Switch.
The series started on the Game Boy with Seiken Densetsu (1991), released in the West as Final Fantasy Adventure. The second game, Seiken Densetsu 2, is the one most people know: Secret of Mana (1993) on the SNES. Trials of Mana builds on that with real-time combat, a party of three chosen from six heroes, and a class system that branches into Light and Dark paths. Which heroes you pick changes the story, the final dungeon and the final boss, and that is exactly what makes mastering this set a puzzle.
A note on names: Names vary between the fan translations and the official release. This guide uses the names from the RetroAchievements set, so they match the achievement list, but your game may show something slightly different. For example, the set calls him Hawkeye, while some translations call him Hawk, and the class Sword Master can show up as Swordmaster. If a name in this guide doesn't exactly match what you see on screen, it's most likely the same thing under a different name.
This guide is to help new players limit the number of playthroughs they need to master the game, without giving too many spoilers. I won't go over every achievement and this won't be a guide on how to play the game, there are tons of those out there. If you've never played the game, the achievement list can be a little overwhelming, at least it was for me. None of the achievements are listed as missable, but some actually are, and if you just play the game with the idea that you can master it later, you're in for a rough surprise. The game already requires at least 3 full playthroughs to master (probably more for most), but if you make certain choices you may have to do several more. Therefore this guide is a small (almost) spoiler free introduction so you can play the game carefree, with the option to master it in the least number of playthroughs.
⚠️ Disclaimer: At the time of writing I haven't mastered the game yet, I completed 1 run. Along the way I made some choices that force me into extra playthroughs, and I wrote this guide so you don't make the same mistakes. Some of the advice, like the Hybrid Route, is based on planning rather than a finished mastery, so if you spot something that's off, please let me know!
The main reason 3 playthroughs are required is that the six characters are split into three pairs, and each pair has its own story. A lot of the events in these stories have achievements, all the way up to the final boss. Which story you get depends on your first character (the lead), so you need a playthrough led by one character from each pair.
Some story achievements need a specific character in the party. For example, A Mother's Love (10) needs Angela and I Am Your Father (5) needs Duran, and both can only be done in the Duran & Angela story. If you lead with Duran but leave Angela out, you'll need another Duran or Angela run just for that one achievement. So for every run, pick a lead and bring their partner.
⚠️ Make sure your party always contains one of these character combinations
| Combination |
|---|
| Duran & Angela |
| Kevin & Carlie |
| Hawkeye & Lise |
Your third character is up to you, although some compositions are stronger than others. Just keep Lise in mind, because you will need to bring her along twice.
Story achievements only happen in that pair's story, so you need one of them as lead. The ones marked with a character also need that character in the party.
| Duran & Angela | Kevin & Carlie | Hawkeye & Lise |
|---|---|---|
| A Soul Trapped in Dark Armor (10) | Scared Stiff (10) | The Vampire (10) |
| The Wizard of the Crimson Lotus (10) | Legacy of Darkness (10) | In the Name of Love (10) |
| Dragon God (10) | The Incarnation of Death (10) | Ruler of Two Worlds (25) |
| It's a Secret to Everybody (25) | Kevin: Let Me Show You a Little Trick (10) | Hawkeye: Uncursed (5) |
| Duran: I Am Your Father (5) | Carlie: Don't Leave Me! (10) | Hawkeye: Revenge! (10) |
| Angela: A Mother's Love (10) | Lise: Where Are You, Eliott? (10) |
Character achievements need a specific character in the party, but should be possible in any story.
| Character | Achievement |
|---|---|
| Duran | I Won't Return Until... (5) |
| Kevin | Eater of Souls (5) |
| Angela | Reaping His Wild Oats (5) |
| Carlie | Mama and Papa (5) |
| Lise | A Man with Red Eyes (5) |
| Lise (without Hawkeye) | Love Triangle (5) |
Simply put: if every run has a lead and their partner, you get all of these along the way, and you're on track for mastering this set in the least number of playthroughs.
⚠️ Make sure to bring Lise in 2 runs, because of the achievement below.
This one is technically missable. If you don't bring Lise on a run without Hawkeye, you have to replay a small part of the game.
Love Triangle! (5) With Lise in the party but without Hawkeye, witness a kiss
⚠️ Finish It's a Secret to Everybody before moving on from your Duran & Angela story.
This one is also technically missable. It can only be done in the Duran & Angela story (Duran or Angela as lead), so if you finish that run and overwrite your save without getting it, you'll have to replay that whole story.
It's a Secret to Everybody (25) Kill the Black Rabite
Technically you're now ready to create a party that keeps you eligible for all achievements in 3 runs, but there is more to keep in mind, most importantly, the Class Changes.
At a certain point in the game you can change the class of your characters. Why these achievements aren't listed as missable I don't really understand, because they definitely are. If you change your class and save, you will need to replay most of the game with the same characters to get all of the Class Change Achievements.
Every character can choose between 2 classes at 2 stages of the game, at level 18 and level 38. The class you choose at level 18 determines the choices you can make at level 38. Every choice is an achievement, which adds up to 6 Class Change Achievements per character, 36 achievements in total. Every character gets the following choices.
| Level 18 | Level 38 |
|---|---|
| Light | Light / Light |
| Light / Dark | |
| Dark | Dark / Light |
| Dark / Dark |
As you can see, once you make your choice at level 18, your choices at level 38 are locked in. If you choose the Light path at level 18, then at level 38 you can choose either Light/Light or Light/Dark; the Dark/Light and Dark/Dark classes become unavailable.
The class change at level 38 differs a little from the level 18 change, because now you need special items, there is one for each possible class per character. That means 4 items per character and 24 in total.
You don't have to know any of this until you get to level 38, so you can skip this for now and look at a Class Change Example
You can only get these so called Proofs by farming ??? Seeds. When planted at an inn (there is a pot in every in to plant seeds) a ??? Seed will give you a random proof. If you did not change your class, the seeds can give you any of the 4, but if you chose either Light or Dark at level 18, the seeds will only give you the proof needed for your path.
Getting all the proofs can be a little annoying, because it won't just give you what you need, you can get doubles or more. Thankfully there is a trick. First, you farm all the seeds you need, that's 12 seeds if none of your characters changed classes at level 18, but for every character that did change class you 2 seeds less. Second, you plant a ??? Seed at an inn and if it's a proof you didn't have yet, you save and then plant the next seed. Save after every unique seed you get and just reset if you got a double. Because of how RNG works in this game, you will now get the same proof every time, until your gained experience changes, so kill some enemies and come back to plant your next seed.
Let's take a look at Duran to see how achievements get locked when you change classes.
If you choose the Knight (Light) for Duran, you will only have access to the Paladin (Light/Light) and Lord (Light/Dark) at level 38.
Knight Have Duran the Fighter embrace the path of duty, honor, and Light as a Knight of Forcena - ✅ Paladin (Light/Light) - ✅ Lord (Light/Dark) - ❌ Sword Master (Dark/Light) - ❌ Duelist (Dark/Dark)
If you choose the Gladiator (Dark) you will only have access to the Sword Master (Dark/Light) and Duelist (Dark/Dark) at level 38.
Gladiator Have Duran the Fighter embrace the path of greed, glory, and Darkness as a Gladiator - ❌ Paladin (Light/Light) - ❌ Lord (Light/Dark) - ✅ Sword Master (Dark/Light) - ✅ Duelist (Dark/Dark)
It is possible to get all of these achievements in only 3 runs, but it's probably safer to take a little longer. You have 3 routes you can take here: the fast and difficult one, the easier and time-consuming one, or my experimental hybrid route.
Don't change classes the first chance you get, which is at level 18. Changing classes makes your characters more powerful, so the middle part of the game will be a lot more difficult if you don't make the change. You will then change classes at level 38 to get all achievements for 3 characters in a single run. You can of course change classes at level 18 and reset, to unlock those first achievements already. Do this twice, once for each class. You will need to change and reset a few times at level 38 anyway to get all achievements.
You can try this route without any risk. If it gets too difficult, you can make the switch to the easier route at any time.
If playing the middle part of the game without the class change seems too difficult, you can choose a different solution. Right before you change classes, copy your save file (you can simply save to a different slot when saving the game). In one save you change classes and finish the rest of the game. In the other save you change into the other classes and replay the middle part of the game until level 38, where you make the second class changes.
Technically it is possible to change class at level 18 on your first run, as long as you bring all 3 characters along on your subsequent runs. This can make your first playthrough a lot easier and it saves you a lot of time. If you then take the fast route on your later runs, you can even change class on 1 of the characters, making the difficulty of the fast route slightly lower.
Here is a possible example that allows you to change class right away in your first run.
Be mindful though, I haven't tested this fully myself, so it can still be quite hard to play the middle part of the game on the second and third runs.
1. Kevin - Carlie - Lise 2. Duran - Angela - Carlie 3. Lise - Hawkeye - Kevin
All of the characters from your first run return in a later run, where they can pick the path not chosen earlier.
This setup gives you a healer every run, and you bring Lise twice, so you won't miss Love Triangle! (5).
| Run | Position | Character | Level 18 | Level 38 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First | Kevin | Bashkar (Dark) | Dervish / Death Hand |
| Second | Carlie | Priestess (Light) | Bishop / Sage | |
| Third | Lise | Rune Maiden (Dark) | Dragon Master / Fenrir Knight | |
| 2 | First | Duran | Hold | Paladin / Lord / Sword Master / Duelist |
| Second | Angela | Hold | Grand Divina / Archmage / Rune Master / Magus | |
| Third | Carlie | Enchantress (Dark) | Necromancer / Evil Shaman | |
| 3 | First | Lise | Valkyrie (Light) | Vanadis / Star Lancer |
| Second | Hawkeye | Hold | Wanderer / Rogue / Ninja Master / Nightblade | |
| Third | Kevin | Monk (Light) | God Hand / Warrior Monk |
Hold means: skip the class change at level 18. Once the character reaches level 38, save (this can be done right before the class change area) and go through all four combinations, resetting in between:
- Light → Light/Light, then reset
- Light → Light/Dark, then reset
- Dark → Dark/Light, then reset
- Dark → Dark/Dark
Whatever you choose on your last try is the class you keep, so do your favourite one last.
Don't forget: only the lead character plays their own prologue, and each prologue has an achievement. With this route Kevin, Duran and Lise are the leads, so start a quick new game with Carlie, Angela and Hawkeye as lead. You only need to play until the end of the prologue.
Pervert! (5) In Jad, wake Angela up while controlling a male character
You can try this every run and it's very early in the game, but technically it is missable.
Pay to Win (10) Buy the Gunpowder from Watts
You can get the Gunpowder in two ways: buy it, or get it without paying. Each way has its own achievement, but you can only do one of them per run. Get Play to Win! (5) (the free way) in your first run, and buy the Gunpowder in your second or third run.
Love Triangle! (5) With Lise in the party but without Hawkeye, witness a kiss
Just make sure to pick Lise in 2 of your runs and this should automatically trigger during the playthrough without Hawkeye.
The 5 following achievements aren't actually missable, but if you forget about them on run with the required character, you do need another partial playthrough.
It's a Secret to Everybody (25) Kill the Black Rabite
This is probably the toughest achievement of the set, but it's not truly missable. Just make sure you don't overwrite your Duran & Angela story save before unlocking it.
I Won't Return Until... (5) After the invasion of Forcena, witness Duran's determination when he returns home
This one needs a specific action. Don't forget to do it on a run with Duran in the party.
Reaping His Wild Oats (5) With Angela in the party, speak to King Richard about Queen Valda
This one needs a specific action. Don't forget to do it on a run with Angela in the party.
Mama and Papa (5) With Carlie in the party, learn about Carlie's parents in Diorre
This one needs a specific action. Don't forget to do it on a run with Carlie in the party.
A Man with Red Eyes (5) With Lise in the party, hear a rumor about Eliott in the Black Market
Not truly missable, but this one needs a specific action. Don't forget to do it on a run with Lise in the party.
These achievements only happen in one story and need a specific character in the party. If you lead with one character of a pair but leave the partner out, you'll need another run in that story just for these. Bring both characters of the pair and they'll come up naturally. See Character Combinations for more details.
| Story | Achievement |
|---|---|
| Duran & Angela |
 I Am Your Father (5)Duran in the party |
 A Mother's Love (10)Angela in the party |
|
| Kevin & Carlie |
 Let Me Show You a Little Trick (10)Kevin in the party |
 Don't Leave Me! (10)Carlie in the party |
|
| Hawkeye & Lise |
 Uncursed (5)Hawkeye in the party |
 Revenge! (10)Hawkeye in the party |
|
 Where Are You, Eliott? (10)Lise in the party |
As explained in Class Changes, the achievements for changing classes are actually missable. Be sure to read that section before you reach level 18.
This is an overview of all classes and their achievements for every character.
| Level 18 | Level 38 |
|---|---|
|
Knight (5) Light |
 Paladin (5)Light/Light |
 Lord (5)Light/Dark |
|
|
Gladiator (5) Dark |
 Sword Master (5)Dark/Light |
 Duelist (5)Dark/Dark |
| Level 18 | Level 38 |
|---|---|
 Ranger (5)Light |
 Wanderer (5)Light/Light |
 Rogue (5)Light/Dark |
|
 Ninja (5)Dark |
 Ninja Master (5)Dark/Light |
 Nightblade (5)Dark/Dark |
| Level 18 | Level 38 |
|---|---|
 Monk (5)Light |
 God Hand (5)Light/Light |
 Warrior Monk (5)Light/Dark |
|
 Bashkar (5)Dark |
 Death Hand (5)Dark/Light |
 Dervish (5)Dark/Dark |
| Level 18 | Level 38 |
|---|---|
 Sorceress (5)Light |
 Grand Divina (5)Light/Light |
 Archmage (5)Light/Dark |
|
 Delvar (5)Dark |
 Rune Master (5)Dark/Light |
 Magus (5)Dark/Dark |
| Level 18 | Level 38 |
|---|---|
 Valkyrie (5)Light |
 Vanadis (5)Light/Light |
 Star Lancer (5)Light/Dark |
|
 Rune Maiden (5)Dark |
 Dragon Master (5)Dark/Light |
 Fenrir Knight (5)Dark/Dark |
| Level 18 | Level 38 |
|---|---|
 Priestess (5)Light |
 Bishop (5)Light/Light |
 Sage (5)Light/Dark |
|
 Enchantress (5)Dark |
 Necromancer (5)Dark/Light |
 Evil Shaman (5)Dark/Dark |
Don't want to read everything, but get started without the risk of missing anything? Start your first run with:
Kevin (lead) - Carlie - Lise
This party keeps every route in this guide open, so you can start playing right away and decide later.
- Carlie learns Heal Light without a class change, so you always have a healer.
- Lise is in the party without Hawkeye, so Love Triangle! (5) is taken care of in your first run.
- When your characters reach level 18, save to a second slot before changing classes. With that save you can still take any route from Limiting playthroughs, including the Hybrid Route.
- Your next runs need Duran or Angela as lead, and Hawkeye or Lise as lead. On the Duran or Angela run, get It's a Secret to Everybody (25) before you overwrite that save.
- Only the lead plays their prologue. For the other prologue achievements, start a quick new game with each of the other characters as lead and play until the prologue ends.
- Check the Technically Missable Overview to make sure you don't skip the early game missables.
If you follow this guide by choosing one of the suggested paths, you can play the game freely, without the risk of missing anything. Enjoy!
A complete list of all 100 achievements. Progression achievements are part of the main story and can't be missed, 🏁 marks the achievement for finishing the game. Missable achievements are the ones from the Technically Missable Overview. For achievements that need two characters (marked in bold), bring both of them in the same run, with one of them as lead.
