Visions of Mana: How to beat Tangoing Matsootaken

Tangoing Matsootaken is one of Visions of Mana’s early Nemeses encounters, and if you aren’t ready, it can very swiftly drop your HP to 0. An adorable Mushboom, this Nemeses encounter shows up in the second zone: Aery Passage. It’s not incredibly difficult to spot, but if you’re just running from objective to objective, you might miss this foe.

Similar to the previous zone’s Hoarding Blossjay, the Tangoing Matsootaken in Visions of Mana also has a frustrating status ailment. However, it’s far deadlier than Poison. Hence, if you want to avoid sweet dreams, here’s how to deal with this challenging foe.

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How to find Tangoing Matsootaken in Visions of Mana

Just head to this arrow, and the deadly Mushboom awaits (Image via Square Enix)

You can find Tangoing Matsootaken early in the Aery Passage of Visions of Mana, just south of the first save point. In the center of the map, there’s a giant gaping hole, with a glowing green centerpiece. Tangoing Matsootaken can be found here.

It’s a Level 6 Weed enemy, and while it is dangerous, it’s nothing a player can’t handle on their first trip to the zone. Even if you’re under-leveled, this monster shouldn’t be too much of a threat.

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How to beat Tangoing Matsootaken in Visions of Mana

The strengths and weaknesses of Tangoing Matsootaken (Image via Square Enix)

Thanks to how the game is set up, Tangoing Matsootaken should be incredibly easy for you to fight, based simply on what your current setup is. This Weed Monster is Weak to Slashing Weapons and Weak to Fire Magic. Conversely, it’s Immune to Water Magic and Resistant to Wood Magic. It’s a pretty mobile little Mushboom, and is quick to dash out of the way of harm.

However, the major threat in this fight is Sleep. This battle introduces players to the Sleep status ailment, which is one of the more deadly problems you can face in Visions of Mana.

If you get knocked unconscious by its purple haze, it could mean the end of the fight for you. You get awoken by being hit, or after a certain amount of time has passed. If you get woken up with an attack, it deals far more damage than normal.

I fought this Level 6 Nemeses as a Level 5 Val solo, and though it did take me two tries to beat it, it all came down to avoiding poison and its spinning attacks. One of its more common attacks is a jumping attack, but this is easy to evade, just like its forward thrust attack.

You don't want to get caught in the purple haze (Image via Square Enix)

The Mushboom can also dash back and then charge at you with a swift attack. However, it seemed like my FIreball spell stopped it from hitting me. It often follows this up by taking its Mushroom cap off, and spewing purple clouds all around it. This is what triggers Sleep.

If it puts you to sleep, the odds of it doing its spinning top attack are high. To do this, it will hop onto its Mushroom cap and spin in a circle, knocking you away. Tangoing Matsootaken in Visions of Mana has one other deadly attack.

Just like the Hoarding Blossjay, it can spew lots of AOE puddles of Sleep Powder that also deal damage. It’s possible that if you get put to sleep, it will just do it again for more damage.

Since you know both of this monster's weaknesses, make liberal use of them. I focused on using Fireball and Heavy Attacks, both of which can knock the monster down. If you knock it down, dash in to keep the damage going. You have to be on your toes, though, because Sleep Powder can come out of nowhere. Victory nets you 88 Lucre, 324 EXP, and the Tangoing Matsootaken Corestone.

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Visions of Mana releases on August 29, 2024, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. You can find our full review here.