There are a number of things to collect in Mina the Hollower, some of which will help make you stronger in some manner. In addition to your main weapons, you also have sub-weapons, called Sidearms, that can help you traverse and fight the many foes. In order to use Sidearms, you’ll need Joules, but you only start with a max of 20. To increase that number, you’ll have to find Joule Boxes, with each one increasing your maximum Joules by ten. This page will help you find every single Joule Box in the game.
Joule Box 1-3¶
You can buy these from the Emporium shop in Ossex. They start out at 500 Bones, with subsequent ones increasing in price.
Joule Box 4¶
Southern Outskirts: Cave Network. You’ll need a single Kear to get this one. In order to get here, you’ll need to exit to the south of Ossex, which puts you in the Southern Outskirts. On the screen with the bats, go right, past the laser-firing troopers and use the bounce pad to go into the cave at the end. Inside the Cave Network, make your way to the left, until you reach the bottom left corner, where there’s a Kear Lock. Undo it, then burrow through the hole into the northern part. The moving bounce pads here can be used to reach the center. Defeat the knight enemy here, then burrow to move the bounce pad in the middle over to the ledge on the right. This lets you bounce up to it, allowing you to go over to the first screen and open the chest for the Joule Box.
Joule Box 5¶
Western Wilds: Secret Passage. You will want something like the Drill Driver Sidearm for this, which can be gotten in Eastern Heath: Grassland. If you recall the Kear Lock to the left of the building with the Wrecker minigame, it leads to the waterfall that has some turrets firing at you. Go to the level with the spinning gear and burrow jump over the small pit on the right-hand side to find the Sidearm. With that out of the way, you can now head out to the Western Wilds, via the left path in Southern Outskirts (opposite of where you went for the Cave Network above).
You can burrow into this small pond in the Western Wilds area.
In the Secret Passage, use Trinkets/Sidearms to cross the large gap and open this locked chest.
On the first screen, with the boar enemies that slam into the ground, causing spikes to pop up, look for the pool of water. You can burrow into that pool of water to find the Secret Passage. Use the Drill Driver Sidearm in here to get to the locked chest (there’s another chest with a Kear along the way) on the upper path. Open it up for the Joule Box.
Joule Box 6¶
Backwaters: Shanty Swamp. You’ll need at least one Kear before going after this one (there is another you can get along the way for the other lock). In the first screen, where you first enter the area, you will want to head towards the bottom right corner. This is where Pinky’s Parlor is found, a shop with a special item inside. No, it’s not the items on sale, but rather the ladder Pinky uses. Buy either of the items on the left or right side (get the Kear if you need another one), then exit the shop and destroy the blocks in the bottom right.
Purchase one of the two far items to have the ladder there inside Pinky’s Parlor.
You can go to the right and find a back entrance, where you use the ladder to reach the ledge above with the Joule Box.
You can now go through this section, which isn’t particularly long, to another Kear Lock. Open it up and you’ll now be in the back room of Pinky’s Parlor. You will notice the Joule Box sitting on the upper ledge, but there doesn’t seem to be a way to get it. Well, that’s where that ladder comes into play now. If it’s on the far left/right, then you can burrow underneath the ladder and bring it into the back room. Succeed at this and place the ladder against the wall, then climb up it to retrieve the Joule Box.
Joule Box 7¶
Eastern Heath: Buckler’s Buff. This area is right off of Eastern Heath: Grassland, and you will need the Drill Driver Sidearm first (read above under Joule Box 5 for its location). You will also need a Kear for this, so make sure you get one before doing this section. Once you have the necessary items, make your way to the entrance of Mourner’s Mile: Knight’s Rest, the area on the way to Queensbury Crypt. At the gate, right before you enter Knight’s Rest, there is an Underlab and a Kear Lock. Open it up and burrow through the hole to reach Buckler’s Bluff.
This area has a lot of big pits, which is why you need the Drill Driver here (you can also see it on the left side at the entrance). Cross all of the pits, then you’ll have to use the Sidearm to get from one rope to another. This can be very annoying, as there will be both turrets firing at you, and the moving gears. Both can knock you off the ropes should they hit you, so take your time if you can. Once you make it all the way to the very top, though, you can find the chest with this Joule Box.
Joule Box 8¶
Sandfall: Sifted Sands. The last Joule Box on here is found in the Sandfall area, on the way to Bone Beach. In the large area with all of the bombs and dynamite carts, you’ll want to get to the northeastern corner. Once you arrive in the above area, ride the sands to the left and down, until you reach a line of mine carts. Head left to the two red snake enemies, then burrow underneath the wall to the left of them. At this point, go up and to the smaller area with alternating spikes. On the right side will be a bomb that is buried in the sand.
(1 of 4) Go to the left here, when you first arrive at the Sandfall: Sifted Sands area.
The goal here is to pick up the bomb and throw it to the north, so it rides the sands and explodes near the red dynamite along the wall up here. You’ll have to fiddle with timing things, since tossing the bomb right away will cause it to drift past the cart you need to destroy. Once you’ve got it, enter the hole that’s revealed and be mindful of the golden skull here, as it’s actually an enemy. You can sneak past it and go to the far right side, where you’ll see the chest with the Joule Box.
Jarrod started writing walkthroughs for games in 2002, and has been playing games since he was three years old, on the original NES. He is a huge fan of JRPGs and platformers, with Chrono Trigger being… More about Jarrod Garripoli
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