Mina the Hollower: All Spark Container Upgrade Locations

Mina kicks off the adventure with one single spark to her name. Each Spark Container Upgrade picked up tacks on another slot, bringing the total capacity to four sparks once all three upgrades are tucked away. Equipping the Spark Catcher trinket on top of that unlocks a fifth slot, which lands you at the absolute spark ceiling the game has on offer.

Every spark held when Mina dies either lingers in the air or latches onto the enemy that put her down, giving you a real shot at scooping it back up before your Bones disappear for good. Sparks also pull double duty by opening the spark doors scattered across Tenebrous Isle, those silver-gold doors with circular sockets that gate off loot rooms, hidden shops, and strategic shortcuts.

Here’s the full rundown of every location worth tracking down to max out your spark capacity:

• Spark Container 1 -> Ossex: City Center, Emporium (purchase for 1,500 Bones)
• Spark Container 2 -> Mourner’s Mile: Knight’s Rest (restore the headless statue)
• Spark Container 3 -> Septemburg: Wastewater Canal (defeat the Dark Deluxy boss)
• Spark Catcher (trinket) -> Backwaters: Shanty Swamp, Pinky’s Parlor (purchase for 500 Bones)

The fastest Spark Container to grab is sold at the Emporium on the east side of Ossex: City Center. The shopkeeper running the place has a habit of pulling Mina inside as soon as she walks past, which makes the location nearly impossible to miss on a first pass through the zone.

The Spark Container costs 1,500 Bones, which makes it a hefty investment early on. Make sure to farm enemies and clear the surrounding rooms before walking up to the counter, or you’ll be heading back out empty-handed. It’s also the only Spark Container in the game you can buy outright, which makes it the most reliable first upgrade to lock in some death insurance.

This one takes a lot more legwork than the first. You’ll need to have already cleared Queensbury Crypt and defeated the Duchess boss, then restored the spark generator inside and used the southern shortcut to head back out. Once you’re back in Mourner’s Mile: Knight’s Rest, step onto the pressure plate and burrow through the tunnel right next to the nearby doorway.

Head northwest, spending two kears to unlock the gates along the path. Climb the rope and burrow through to pick up the missing statue head. A ghostly apparition chases you the entire time you’re carrying it, so move with purpose. Drop south using the ledges, dodge or clear the enemies in your way, and make for the southwest exit where the headless statue, the crow, and the hunchback wait near two gravestones. Throw the head onto the statue to open the western gate and grab the chest containing the Spark Container.

This one is by far the most involved of the three, gated behind a secret boss encounter. Start by restoring the Septemburg spark generator, then head directly south of it, right next to the Underlab entrance, where a fresh path opens into the Wastewater Canal. In the room with the large boar enemy, look for a cracked wall in the northeast corner and hit it to reveal a spark door demanding two sparks to enter.

Past the door, you’ll meet Luxy, a moth searching for the nearby spark generator. Her light lets you see through dark sections of the canal periodically, but it also triggers a shockwave that can knock you straight into the pits. Move methodically by waiting for her light bursts to read the platform layout, then dash across before the next blast. Once she reaches the generator, she gets corrupted and transforms into Dark Deluxy, the secret boss who darts around fast and scatters lingering pollen clouds. Take her down, use the Plasma Vial she drops to heal her, and she’ll revert to Luxy, leaving the prized Spark Container behind.

The Spark Catcher isn’t a Spark Container Upgrade in the strict sense, but this equippable trinket tacks on one extra spark slot while worn. Stacked with the three classic Spark Containers, it pushes you up to the five-spark cap, the absolute ceiling on what you can carry before death.

The trinket sells for 500 Bones at Pinky’s Parlor in Backwaters: Shanty Swamp, making it the cheapest spark-related upgrade in the entire game. To reach the shop from Swamp Station at Nox’s Bayou, exit the large Shanty Swamp lake to the north, then turn right on the next screen and spend one kear to open the path. Coming from Ossex instead, head out through the south gate, push west into the Western Wilds, then drop south until you run into Buffo the frog, with Pinky’s Parlor sitting just east of his spot.