Nereid
"Princess of the sea spirits."
Nereid (ネレイ, Nerei) is a Summon of the Mercury element. It is one of sixteen summons that is available automatically once the player has acquired the necessary Djinn.
Basic Characteristics
For a successful summoning of Nereid, the player must have two Mercury Djinn on Standby. Nereid has a base Mercury power of 60 and does additional damage equivalent to 6% of the enemy’s maximum HP. Afterwards, the summoner's Mercury Power is increased by 30 points.
In Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Nereid's summon sequence features a purple-haired girl in Japanese clothing arrive riding a giant tortoise, summoning an enormous water spout to engulf the enemy party. In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, Nereid's sequence features a blond woman clad in a dark blue dress, seen riding a hippocampus sidesaddle while wielding a trident. She brandishes the trident to call a powerful wave to rush forth and crush the party's enemies.
Analysis
Nereid is exactly the equivalent to two usages of the Mercury summon sequence. The main bonus of using Nereid is that Nereid provides a larger boost to Mercury Power, 30 points compared to the 10 points of Mercury. Nereid is typically used in the earlier portions of the game, where the player will have fewer Djinn and weaker weapons and Psynergy.
In The Lost Age and Dark Dawn, the Nereid summon must also compete to a degree with the Moloch summon, which is stronger than Nereid, and also has the useful side-effect of potentially reducing the target's Agility to 50%, making it the superior choice in many cases. However, Nereid is available automatically, whereas Moloch must be found and acquired from a stone tablet. In either case, however, as the player acquires more Djinn, Nereid will typically be ignored in favor of stronger summons like Boreas.
Cultural references
Origin: Greece
The Nereids were the fifty sea nymph daughters of Nereus and Doris in Greek mythology. They often accompanied Poseidon and were friendly to sailors braving storms. They are often associated with the Mediterranean Sea. Her Japanese name, Nerei is shortening of Nereid.
Nereid separated sprite
Nereid full sequence
| Summon sequences | |
|---|---|
| Venus | Starter: Venus • Ramses • Cybele • Judgment Collectable: Zagan • Haures • Crystallux • Charon |
| Mars | Starter: Mars • Kirin • Tiamat • Meteor Collectable: Megaera • Ulysses • Daedalus • Iris |
| Jupiter | Starter: Jupiter • Atalanta • Procne • Thor Collectable: Flora • Eclipse • Catastrophe |
| Mercury | Starter: Mercury • Nereid • Neptune • Boreas Collectable: Moloch • Coatlicue • Azul |
