Visions of Mana is out right now, and it sports one of the better combat systems in the Mana series.

Using the series’ iconic Mana creatures, each of the elements (Wind, Moon, Water, Fire, Earth, Wood, Light, Dark) have their correspondent special equipment called Elemental Vessels. These determine its wielder’s Class, abilities, stats, and Vessel ability. And while all Vessels can be used on the field during exploration, only up to three can be brought into combat since the game only allows you up to three players in an active party.

Here is a breakdown of all the Elemental Vessels in Visions of Mana, as well as the best Class per character. While there aren’t any major spoilers in this feature, we will put a spoiler warning as it deals with Elemental Vessels you get later in the main quest.

Elemental Vessel Breakdown

Sylphid Boomerang (Wind)

This Elemental Vessel lets you toss out giant wind currents to lift enemies in the air, rendering them helpless for aerial combos of your doing.

Luna Globe (Moon)

This Elemental Vessel lets you create a time bubble that slows enemies down temporarily. As long as they’re in the bubble, they’ll be affected by the slowdown. Conversely, the time bubble speeds up your spellcasting if you’re in it. Keep in mind that its cooldown is pretty long, so use this sparingly and when you see a big enemy miss an attack.

Undine Flask (Water)

This Elemental Vessel lets you spray enemies with damaging water, eventually encasing them in a bubble. If another party member bursts that bubble, it will deal Water AoE damage.

Salamando Candle (Fire)

This Elemental Vessel allows its user to shoot straight up to his/her target like a rocket, exploding upon impact. The impact deals Fire AoE damage to anything it hits. Has a short cooldown timer when compared with the rest of the Elemental Vessels, so use it as frequently as possible as either to get close or as a combo-ender.

Gnome Shovel (Earth)

This Vessel creates a defense earth barrier around its user. Use this if you need protection.

Dryad Sprig (Wood)

This Vessel creates a mini-grove that regenerates the health of party members in its vicinity.

Lumina Lantern (Light)

This Vessel shoots out a light that hits an enemy and “links” others in the area of its blast. If you damage a linked enemy, the damage will spread across all other linked enemies.

Shade Sight (Dark)

This Vessel lets you grapple and pull enemies to you. If it hits a larger enemy, you launch yourself towards them instead. Useful for closing gaps, and complements well with Classes that deal heavy damage like the Berserker.

The Best Class Per Character

All Elemental Vessels grant different classes to each of the five characters in the game -Val, Careena, Morley, Palamena, and Julei. You can switch their Elemental Vessels at any time outside of combat, so you are encouraged to change up your character’s playstyles and determine which ones suit your playstyle and dungeoneering in either the short or long term.

In addition, a Class doesn’t reach its full potential unless it hits past 5 or 6 upgrades in its Elemental Plot skill tree; you have to amass Elemental Points (or convert Clovers to EP) to upgrade at least two to three Classes to more than half.

You will also need to collect special items that open up more branches in the Elemental Plot skill tree. Progressing through the main story will let you at least unlock up to 8 of these plots. To unlock the remaining two for each character, you need to buy special Elemental Plot items from Niccolo’s shop, which requires Niccolo Coins that you can find all around Visions of Mana’s world. Alternatively, you can convert Cores from dead enemies and bosses into Niccolo coins.

You will get all eight Elemental Vessels through the course of the main quest, so there’s no secret Vessel to unlock through some complicated sidequest. With that said, here are our top picks based on the 30+ hours we invested into this Mana game.

Val

Best Class: Duelist (Water), Rune Knight (Wind)

Val is great at dealing damage and taking hits, so give him a Class that can at least excel at one and be decent at the other. In this case, the Duelist and Rune Knight can deal the most hurt while also applying Elemental buffs to the party.

Careena

Best Class: Divine Fist (Fire), Starlancer (Light)

Careena’s best movesets and stat boosts only arrive past the 6-hour mark when you score the Salamando Candle. She gains access to fast Monk moves with the Divine Fist class; pair this up with a defender and another attacker for big damage. Alternatively, her Starlancer class later in the game gives her reach and some much-needed defense buffs for the entire party.

Morley

Best Class: Nightblade (Moon), Samurai (Wood)

Morley’s first Elemental Vessel is apparently his best. The Nightblade is a master of high critical chances and critical hits with his mix of Light and Heavy attacks, provided you spend a lot of EP on his Elemental Plot skill tree. After you leveled up this Elemental Plot as high as you can, you can then branch out to the Samurai Class which also gives him great counters and hard-hitting sword slashes, along with a healing Elemental Vessel special in case things get too dicey. Again, the Critical Chance buffs from Nightblade will benefit any damage-dealing Class he has equipped.

Palamena

Best Class: Reaper (Dark), Archmage (Light), Magus (Earth)

Any class that gives Palamena a Flail or a Scythe is usually good because these weapons give her range and she gets a Magic Attack buff to go with her plethora of spells. She should still keep her distance away from enemies and let attackers like Morley and Val handle them, but she can jump in if the situation is less hectic. Just spam the appropriate spells from her current class to get a leg up.

Julei

Best Class: High Cleric (Light), Scholar (Water), Sage (Wood)

Any class that lets Julei shoot projectiles is usually the best one, as he’s better off being in the sidelines healing and buffing. Having said that, the close-ranged High Cleric has the best healing spells at higher Elemental Plot unlocks.