You get spotted by Croco as soon as you reach Bandit’s Way. After a few moments of bantering, He will run deeper into the area. The way ahead will be split into two paths. Take the left path to the save point to save your game. Afterward, clear the monsters in the area to level up your party.
You will have to level up Mallow to get the support skill HP Rain which heals 1 party member to make the fights easier here. After clearing the area, go to the bottom right of the map to reach the next area.
Enemies in the Area
| Enemy type | Name | Hitpoints | Exp points | Coins | Item drop %5 | Item drop %25 |
| Mob | Goomba | 15 | 1 | O | ||
| Mob | Sky Troopa | 10 | 1 | 1 | Mushroom | |
| Mob | Spikey | 20 | 1 | 2 | Honey syrup | |
| Mob | K-9 | 30 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Mob | Frogog | 80 | 3 | 4 | Mushroom | Able juice |
| Area Boss | Croco | 320 | 16 | 10 | Flower tab | Flower tab |
The enemies here will be a group of mixed mobs in a party of up to 3 members. Mario needs to be at level 3 to easily defeat most of the enemies with one hit. The new mobs that you encounter, like the K-9 and the hardier Frogog will take around 3 to 4 timed hits to put down so watch your health points and use a mushroom when you need to.
When faced with either of the two enemies in a mob, focus on defeating the easier enemies first then focus your attacks on one enemy at a time. Be mindful of your Hitpoints and use timed attacks and defense to defeat them as fast as you can.
Bandit’s Way Area 2
Croco will be waiting for you in the next area. After he talks to you he takes off to the mountain and snags a gold coin hanging from one of the two yellow platforms suspended in the air. Jump on the red rotating flower and propel yourself to the top of the mountain.
Head towards the suspended platforms to your right. Below you will be the K-9 mobs waiting for you to fall off. Step on the first platform and jump towards the next one. This will make the first platform move ahead of you where you have to jump and land on it for the other one to move forward. Do this until you reach the next mountain near the exit.
Make your way down the mountain and hop onto the red rotating flower. Press the jump button when you are facing the blue flower next to it for you to jump there. If you time this right, You unlock the hidden treasure chest with a Kerokero Cola which is a consumable item that heals and replenishes all your points in the party.
Bandit’s way area 3
Follow Croco North while prioritizing leveling up. By this time, You would have unlocked Mallow’s HP Rain support which will make leveling up easier with his healing spell. Take the right path near the exit and grab the recovery mushroom there before proceeding to the next level.
Bandit’s way area 4
Croco messes up the angles on the rotating platforms and runs away. Stepping on one plarform makes the other one rotate clockwise while jumping off them makes them stop moving. Position the platforms until you can jump and loot the first box.
There are two ways you can navigate the platform. One is to step on one until the other rotates up to where you want it and jump on it to make the other one rotate.
Another way is to stand on one platform then hop to the ground to make it stop the jump and step on the next platform to make the previous one rotate to where you want it.This is useful when you can’t seem to time your jumps to the next platform and ending up in an unwanted battle with the monsters below.
You get a Star power-up from the box. Head to the ground and start bowling over mobs as they appear. Don’t forget to hold the B button to run faster and chase down all the enemies in the area.
After the power-up runs out, Head back up the platforms and navigate it until you get to the second jump box containing a flower. Hop back down and find the exit to the area on the right side of the screen.
Bandit’s way area 5
The final area in Bandit’s way is a dead end. Look for Croco in this area and sneak behind him to corner the bandit. If he spots you before you get to him, He will run away so be very careful when approaching him.
The best technique here is to hold down the B button to run when you catch him from behind. Also, if you see him and gauge that you won’t be able to nab him before he turns his head your way, Get yourself caught and make him run away.
Chances are he might just hide beside you for you to collar him. Do this three times to initiate the Boss battle.
Boss fight Croco
Croco pretends to give back the wallet and coins he stole but starts a fight instead. Depending on your level and the equipment you have slotted, His attacks can reach from 15 to 27 damage that can wipe you out in two to three hits. You could block some of the damage with timed defense but his bomb attack cannot be blocked.
Start the fight by using a fire attack on Croco. He gains burned status from it which decreases his defense and proceeds to demolish him with hammer attacks or timed jumps to damage him.
Mallow doesn’t have any weapons at this point so focus on his healing skills when things get hairy. If you have lots of Fp items to spare, you can use his thunder skill to deal a moderate amount of damage but it’s best to save the Fp for Mario’s skills which deal a lot more damage.
Depending on the damage you deal, He will use his bomb skill to cause lots of damage. Make sure you have enough Fp to use Mallow’s healing or let him use a mushroom to replenish the lost HP points the bomb makes. Croco usually uses his bomb skill on the third or fourth turn.
After the fight, He returns the frog coins and wallet he stole from Mallow and escapes. He also drops a flower tab for you as he leaves. Use the trampoline that materializes in the area to take you to the entrance of the bandit’s way and make your way back to the mushroom kingdom.
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