Highlights
- Upgrade partners wisely with Shine Sprites in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door to maximize battle potential.
- Goombella is a great supporter with powerful abilities to deal damage and turn the tide of battle.
- Yoshi is a colorful powerhouse in the game, offering strong attacks and the ability to customize.
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mario luckily doesn't have to go on his search for Crystal Stars on his own; instead, he will have seven different partners that will come along with him. These partners will assist him in battle, help him with adventuring through the overworld, and much more.
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These partners have a chance to be upgraded alongside Mario as well, but require Shine Sprites to do so. Since the cost is quite hefty, it's best to save some Shine Sprites for the best characters to upgrade, so players can ensure they are reaching their full potential in battle.
7 Ms. Mowz
Lacking in Offense
Available Moves:
- Love Slap
- Kiss Thief
- Tease
- Smooch
Though Ms. Mowz is certainly endearing as a cute thieving mouse who can perform some great Stylish Moves, she doesn't have a ton of use when compared to the other partners available in the game. She has the ability to heal HP and make enemies dizzy, but outside of this, she is really lacking in offensive moves.
Ms. Mowz is useful for a bit, especially for those who need some healing, but outside of this, there are better characters to focus on upgrading. A character like Goombella can provide support abilities along with additional offensive attacks that deal a good amount of damage. It's best to save the Shine Sprites for someone else, despite Ms. Mowz certainly drawing many fans in with her adorable appearance.
6 Koops
Limited Attacks
Available Moves:
- Shell Toss
- Power Shell
- Shell Shield
- Shell Slam
Koops is a character that has a lot of use at the beginning of the game when players are going up against other Koopa Troopas, and the boss, Hooktail. Although Koops' attacks and defense are quite impressive, he is unfortunately very limited in his attacks. He can only hit ground enemies, making him difficult to use against a variety of enemies.
Although Mario can be used to knock down flying enemies to allow Koops to attack them, it just isn't worth the effort when players can use other characters with a wider range. For those still at the beginning, he can be useful for a short period of time, but will most likely take a backseat once players gain access to other partners.
5 Madame Flurrie
Lacking in Power
Available Moves:
- Body Slam
- Gale Force
- Lip Lock
- Dodgy Fog
After getting access to Madame Flurrie, she can be a great partner to get players through the beginning and middle of the game, especially when gaining Star Points. She is great at her base level without any upgrades, with a multitude of powerful offensive moves, especially Gale Force. However, upgrading her just isn't worth the cost.
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Compared to other partners, Madame Flurrie just won't be able to keep up with their strength. Some of her abilities won't be as useful later on, and will only be outshined by other more powerful moves from Mario's other partners. It's recommended that players save their Shine Sprites rather than spending them on Madame Flurrie first.
4 Vivian
Strong but Difficult
Available Moves:
- Shade Fist
- Veil
- Fiery Jinx
- Infatuate
Vivian is a great character to utilize, as she can easily burn enemies with her Shade Fist ability, and cause them to take damage over multiple turns. She can also use her Veil ability to protect herself and Mario from any incoming attacks for two turns. All of her moves can do great damage, but her later abilities in the turn-based RPG can be a bit difficult to use.
When using Fiery Jinx, players will need to press the button that appears on-screen at the right time, which can be difficult to execute correctly. Infatuate is not the easiest to control either, so players will want to keep this in mind when choosing to upgrade Vivian. She is certainly worth the upgrade for those who have enough Shine Sprites available, but it is best to not have her as the first character to upgrade due to her difficulty.
3 Goombella
A Great Supporter
Available Moves:
- Headbonk
- Tattle
- Multibonk
- Rally Wink
Don't let Goombella go underestimated. Though she might not seem like the most powerful character in the game upon first glance, she is actually quite useful for dealing decent damage, while also supporting Mario. She can use her Headbonk and Multibonk abilities to take out enemies with ease, and Rally Wink to allow Mario to attack twice in one turn.
Rally Wink is especially helpful, since it can completely change the tides in battle. Allowing Mario to have one additional attack in one turn can easily grant him the ability to take out an enemy. This prevents the opposition from doing any damage to Mario or his partners, and can end the battle in less time. Goombella is one of the best characters to take from the beginning until the very end, especially when used in tandem with power-boosting recipes.
2 Yoshi
A Colorful Powerhouse
Available Moves:
- Ground Pound
- Gulp
- Mini-Egg
- Stampede
Not only can players customize their Yoshi and get one from a variety of different colors, but Yoshi is also one of the best characters to upgrade in the highly-loved Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. With Mini-Egg, not only can players get a great amount of damage to the enemy, but this move will also decrease their Attack Power. Gulp is another impressive move, allowing Yoshi to slurp up an enemy and spit it back out at another enemy.
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Needless to say, Yoshi is a fantastic investment in the game and is relatively easy to use. They will give a lot of attack power to the team, and easily trample any enemies on the opposite side. Players won't need to worry about taking out enemies quickly with Yoshi on their side.
1 Admiral Bobbery
An Impressive Offensive Partner
Available Moves:
- Bomb
- Bomb Squad
- Hold Fast
- Bob-ombast
Although Admiral Bobbery has some moves in his arsenal that will cost a good amount of FP, it is worth the high expense due to the impressive damage he deals to all enemies on the stage. One use of Bob-ombast can easily take out all enemies and force them off the stage.
Players can also put Admiral Bobbery in the front row to protect Mario, and then use the Hold Fast ability to deal back the same amount of damage to an enemy that they dealt on Admiral Bobbery. His unique moves and abilities make him one of the best characters to upgrade first in the remake of the Gamecube RPG Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. He is worth the cost of Shine Sprites and is an impressive offensive powerhouse alongside Mario.
