The first real mission and dungeon of Metaphor: ReFantazio sees an introduction to the proper gameplay cycle and opens up the world considerably to allow you to do what you want at your leisure. There isn’t much time for leisure, however, as there’s a floating castle in the sky and a main quest that lets themselves be known.
This page acts as a comprehensive walkthrough of this portion of the main story quests in Metaphor: ReFantizio.
You lose a few days by riding by carriage, which will become a minor theme of this game. Once you get back to the city, head to the right so you can get to the long street with your inn destination. Here, you’ll meet two lovely ladies who will become key to your journey - Fabienne and Maria.
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You get to learn just what exactly the plan to assassinate Louis is (rickety though it may be), it’s up to you to head downstairs and talk to Maria. Doing so will allow you to spend some time with the plucky girl, but more importantly, you create a pinky promise bond with her and unlock the Healer Archetype!
Once you awaken the next day, you need to head to the giant cathedral. It wouldn’t hurt to buy some weapons on the way, but also, to go see More if you get the chance. This way you can study up on the Healer and inherit one of the skills. Heads up, you’ll be needing Light magic for the next leg of the journey.
The Age of a New King Draws Near
Following this, it’s time for an immense amount of plot that sets off the story proper. The spirit of the deceased king hoists the castle into the sky and declares that an SMT-esque contest will decide who takes the crown next. Before you can really discern what in the Hamlet is going on, Grius is introduced to the fatal miscalculation of “unknown variables”.
Once the initiation point explodes, a necromancer makes his presence known and you’re forced to face an undead militia. This is also your introduction to status effects, as Strohl gets hit with Anxiety at the sight of all this. This is where you’ll need your Light magic, and don’t bother with Ice magic because they block it.
As you continue into the building, more squads of bones get in your way - it is possible to defeat them in the overworld if you’re high level enough. In any case, you hear of a lost child and have to help. Make your way through the only real open ways to go, take down enemies. When you get to a room full of barrels, break them to reveal downed furniture and duck underneath the fallen bookshelves to find the child. Don’t forget to open any chests in here. Exit the door on the right to continue.
In the midst of all this excitement, you meet the crimson-haired Hulkenberg, who has a link to the now fallen Grius. You can’t go through the front door, but Hulkenberg knows a different way in through a mausoleum. Head over there with her and make your way inside. Eventually you’ll reach a door with black magla, it seeps under the door again.
Ghost of Mentors Past (Undead Grius Boss)
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On the other side, you find an unrepentant follower who has done the unimaginable - reanimated the very corpse of the man you just watched die. In the presence of this utter disgusting display of disrespect, Hulkenberg AWAKENS to the Knight Archetype! You’re given a quick spiel about synthesis skills, which combine the powers of some of your party members (not unlike synergy attacks from FF7: Remake or even Persona 5 Royal’s Showtime attacks).
You can have Hulkenberg draw aggro with her Knight skill, as she’s resistant to any damage Grius can do. In the meantime, light him up with Light magic from your protag and especially synthesis skills from Strohl and Hulkenberg. The undead corpse might fire up a bit, but it goes down fairly quickly.
Following this, Hulkenberg joins your side for sure to create a new Bond. Gallica also goes up in rank when you return to the inn. There isn’t much else to do except go off to bed, but you get a gift from More in that if you spent any magic on unlocking Archetypes for Grius, you thankfully get all that MAG back. Now begins your very first true mission of the story and that’s stopping the Necromancer before they can break the enchanted seal on the door they’re trying to open.
Dungeons and Deadlines in Metaphor: ReFantazio
The game finally opens up to a familiar sort of loop if you’ve played the Persona games before, as now you have a deadline you need to finish the dungeon by. As is highly recommended by those games, a good rule of thumb for Metaphor: ReFantazio is to try and get the dungeon done as quickly as possible. This is because you’re never sure what obstacles you’ll encounter and if they’ll be too much for you, and it may take additional days out of your control.
Another key thing to keep in mind when tackling these dungeons is not so much HP management, but MP management. HP healing items and skills are more readily available at shops, however MP recovery is usually found only in dungeons themselves in limited quantities. Running out of MP means running out of your best weapons for clearing out enemies, so having a keen eye on that will help you make it farther per session or day you spend adventuring.
Should you decide to head into a dungeon, that is all that you can do for that day. You can only go into dungeons in the afternoon, and that night, you must go back to sleep.
The city opens up and you can explore it pretty much in full, however certain activities will take time. You can only do one activity per time period, like Afternoon or Night. Choosing to further bonds or raising your Virtues will pass time, so you’ve got to be aware of time management.
If you speak to Hulkenberg, you’ll fast travel right to the mausoleum entrance. It wouldn’t hurt to do some walking around first, however, especially to see what the shops have going on. If you browse on an Idlesday, everything is 20% off everywhere.
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For this particular chapter, outside of the dungeon itself, you should prioritize raising your Wisdom virtue so you can unlock the Merchant Archetype and open up item exorcism at the churches.
Preparing for Regalith Grand Cathedral
- Recommended Level: 9-15+
- Recommended Archetypes: Knight, Mage, Seeker, Healer
- Recommended Elements: Fire for the dogs and eggs, Ice for the stronger wolves and several Elite Guards, Light for any and every undead foe, Wind for living statues.
- Recommended Attack Types: Pierce for various enemies, Slash and Strike for final boss
- Tips: Watch your MP and swap out Archetypes often, as different enemies with different weaknesses show up in different segments.
Your first dungeon means you don’t have the most options available, but there are still a couple of things you can do to make things easier for yourself. For starters, you’ll want to make someone a Healer, likely the protagonist, at some point so you can get dependable healing magic, as well as light attribute attacks.
In addition, you’ve just unlocked Heisenberg and her Knight Archetype, but swapping her over to a Mage and getting that to Lvl 10 is something you’ll have to do eventually, so start now. There’s a decent halfway point of the dungeon where switching her off would make sense. The Adept rank for the Knight Archetype, Magic Knight, requires Knight to be Lvl 20 and Mage to be Lvl 10 to access it.
In addition, leveling this Archetype for her allows for a synergy attack that hits multiple enemies with light magic, something you’ll be needing against waves and even the dungeon boss. In general, you’re going to want to keep at least one Mage on you for a majority of this dungeon, with some supports from a Seeker, Healer, and/or Knight. Wind magic is a must-have for the second half of the dungeon.
If at any point, you can pick up the Gold Epee weapon for the Seeker, do so. It is a steep cost and the most expensive item in town, but if you can find it on Idlesday after gathering sellable items in the dungeons, you’ll be able to get a weapon strong enough for not just this dungeon, but the next few as well.
Regalith Grand Cathedral, Part 1
This dungeon begins on 6/12 and must be completed by 6/21.
Should you choose to head to the grand cathedral, you’ll have the safe area out front and More’s phantom is also here again. For the first chunk of the cathedral, you’ll want someone with both Light magic and Wind magic on them, so having a healer and the Seeker to go with Hulkenberg’s Knight is a solid plan. Yet another rule of thumb here - if a character awakens in a certain dungeon, then there’s a good chance that the elements associated with that Archetype will play a key role in it, so be sure to have them stick around.
In case things go south, you’ll get an Ariadene’s Thread, which will pull you back to the beginning to the dungeon upon use.
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Once inside, you can quickly get to where you left off, but you’ll notice the pink papirus with a distinct design who you may have seen lurking around the city before. Speak with her and learn more about her and her missing friend, then you’ll accept the “side quest” A Friend in Need. This isn’t so much a side quest as it is required for the story. Open the next door nearby, but be ready, as a trio of hounds are ready for you. Whack’em down however you’d like then continue right.
Once there, you’ll find several strong mad hounds who you might not be able to beat up outside of battle. If you advance a bit more, you’ll find a glowing door that looks like it’s been blurred by gasoline fumes. This is a magla hollow and they operate just like safe rooms in Persona dungeons. It is a place to relax, but most importantly, save your progress in the middle of long stretches of dungeon. Keep going forward for more doggies, then head to the next area.
Here, you’ll witness a changing of the guard. Go to the door nearest you and you’ll find a new scene. There are prisoners stuck behind there and you’ve got to find a key to get them out. The way to do it is in the labyrinthian of a room beneath you.
If you head down and go to the room immediately on the right, you’ll find a guard fast asleep. On the side table next to him is the key you’re looking for. You can continue down here to the next room and find a Gambler’s Jewel. Be aware that there are more rabid dogs here and the way the banisters are set up, you might not be at a good angle to see them all.
Head back upstairs to unlock the room, where you help the prisoners who have survived and learn of the unfortunate fate of the girl you had to find. Once you discover this, you’re formally introduced to Catherina, the bounty hunter. Forming a Bond with her unleashes the Brawler Archetype!
Not far away is a chest with some exorcist knuckles for the Brawler, as well as the silhouette of Plateau, More’s cat. You can use this to save progress and get someone to study the Brawler if you want (hint hint: you really should). If you do, the best choice for it right now is either Strohl or yourself. Be aware that the Brawler does its skills by taking from its own health, so keeping an eye on HP is a must for this monk-like class.
Go forward through the winding halls and take down some Louisian Guards, with several items all over the place as well. Once you make it down the stairs, you’ll see a huge pack of white wolves that look like they pack a punch. Spoilers: they do! You’ll definitely want to get the first strike on them, since they will howl and boost the attack of every beast alongside them.
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You’ll have to face them in multiple batches as well, so keep your strength up. Use Hulkenberg to draw their aggro, since she resists their kind of physical attacks. They’re weak to ice magic, which is a bit of curveball from everything leading up to this. You might need to inherit a skill from a leveled-up Mage Archetype on someone before jumping into the fray.
The Locked Chest and the Sanctified Amulet
On the Servants' Chamber floor, there's a locked chest, a locked guest room, and a guest room key, which are all connected. See the Sanctified Amulet (Cathedral Locked Door and Chest) guide to see how to complete the mini questline and what you'll get for the trouble.
Once you power your way through that and almost certainly gain a few levels (and use a healing item or three), continue to the next area. The party has to go up a ridiculous amount of stairs, but luckily, the whole thing is fast forwarded. You overhear some more soldiers under an arch shaped like a triangle. Head through there and find the magla hollow nearby to thankfully save your progress. In the area outside of it, the treasure chest is locked and the other door is barred from the other side. You have no choice but to go left, and then right from there.
In this area, you have the choice to go forward across the bridge or down through the hall, but you’ll have to explore both no matter what. You get a shot of another black magla door, but before you head there, head upstairs and you’ll find a glowing crystal that will spawn enemies until you destroy it. Hack and slash your way through the undead enemies, then attack the crystal once you have a clear window. Once this is done, you can unlock the barred door that leads back to the safe room from earlier.
If you’re ready to head through the black magla door, make sure you have some fire magic on you in some form. You’ll face a familiar egg-centric enemy, but they’re considerably tougher than the last time you fought, so it’d be nice to have their weakness on hand. Once you get that nightmare out of the way, head to the room to the left to find a soldier…who has been horribly traumatized to the point of a breakdown.
Speak to him and choose the last speech option to get the altar key you need to advance past a locked door nearby. Be aware that when you head into the next room, there is an ambush of undead archers awaiting you, so don’t walk through blindly. At some point, you’ll hear a mysterious voice call you out and tell you to meet them. Afterwards, head to north then to the left. Head to the end here and you’ll find an item, but not a way further. That’s because you’ve slightly passed it.
Find the large box behind you and find where it opens up to a warehouse floor. You'll be prompted to jump down. If you look a little to the left, you can crawl under a space and make your way to a hidden chest. Don't turn back yet -- you can explore further. Consult your map and you should see other items in the area. These are reachable by jumping up and down from the large crates -- simply walk up to one and the option appears. When you're done collecting things here, head back and go through the other open way, continuing until you find another black magla door. Beside it should be another visage of Plateau, where you can save or head back. Nearby, you can also find a sort of hidden staircase to an area below that avoids the enemies down there and get the trove of items.
If you’re still here on the first day, this wouldn’t be the worst time to turn back around and come back again tomorrow if you’re low on health and/or MP. There’s even more dungeon after another sub-boss here, but no harm in resting up to take down what’s left. This first dungeon is the most forgiving in the time management aspect, so take advantage of that. Also, the enemy on the other side of the door is Level 16, so if you need to find some more grinding, go level up with the Merchant side quest.
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On the other side of the door is an elite member of the guard, a Whiteclad. This one is a mage and summons a bevy of undead, which you’ve faced several of by this point. While they’re still weak to light, the Whiteclad himself is resistant to light attacks. He uses dark and fire magic, so be aware. He’s weak to pierce damage, so attacking with Hulkenberg or her synergy skills are the quickest way to bring the arrogant elite to his knees.
Regalith Grand Cathedral, Part 2
The next area begins with a jump scare, as you’re probably not in the best condition following that tough battle, and you open up to a room full of angry canines. Luckily, you should be able to just slash through them in the overworld so you don’t get ganged up on. In the next area, we’ve got even worse jump scares - gargoyle statues that come to life when you get close. These monsters are weak to wind attacks and block physical attacks, so pulling out the Seeker for this portion might not be the worst idea.
Advance with your wits about you and pay attention to the statues as you go past; some of them have darker outlines that help signify which ones come to life. You’ll find more guards as well until you hit an enormous lift. You can’t get to it because it is surrounded by an enormous barrier. It’s clear the next objective is to try and find a way to drop this so you can make it higher. You’ll find an item and a ladder nearby so head on up.
By this point, you should have encountered some of these floating blue orbs around the cathedral. These are elementa. They’re tough to get the jump on, and when you fight them, they run away the instant it becomes their turn. They’re quite the little tanks, but if you can nail these blue ones with a couple of fire attacks, they’ll go down quickly. While they don’t give out much money or EXP, what they do give out is massive amounts of MAG. Try and take these things down when you find them.
Once you advance enough, you’ll find a statue with arms you can cross like a bridge. Cross this and when you find another ladder, go right to unlock the door near it that leads to a quick route back to where you started this entire section. There’s also a magla hollow close by, so save your progress if you need it.
Through the doors, you’ll find some floating eye…things called spectos. They’re incredibly annoying, as they can be attacked in the overworld, but they can teleport and get the jump on you from anywhere. They’re much easier to squad up on once you have them in your crosshairs ther than trying to whittle them down.
Not only are they annoying to track down, but they will leave the Hex status condition, which not only limits your battle options, but will linger after battle. The specto are weak to both fire and light, and some of the items you’ve found lying around are igniters you can equip that can deal fire damage skills. Put them on if you need to to take these things down quickly. A nearby door has more black magla coming from under it. Before entering, make sure you’ve got the equipment for taking down spectos…
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…because there are now FIVE spectos guarding another malicious crystal. Again, use the strategies above to get out with the least amount of incident. Once you get through them all and destroy the crystal, the veil covering the lift should disappear. You get the option to fast travel back to the lift, which if you’ve gotten everything between here and there, you should head back. Save closeby before heading up. It also wouldn’t hurt to swap to having at least one Mage on hand if you haven’t already for the next portion.
Before you can actually use the lift, you’re ambushed by a triumvirate of Whiteclads, two of which you haven’t fought before. Their weakness is ice, which is partially why it’d be nice to have a Mage. Other enemies once you go up have fire weaknesses. You’re allowed to be weirded out by the necromancer leaving a portrait of Louis up in the king’s gallery.
Going forward, you finally do encounter the necromancer, Zorba. However, you’re forced to retreat as he machine guns bone shards at you. However, our clever heroes find a magnificent way to get the desecrator in a sort of moral checkmate and press forward. In the next area, there are some blue teeth dancing around the place. Run through them with pierce damage and fire skills. There are also several items on this floor, so load up.
Once you head up the stairs, the utterly terrifying babushka crows you fought earlier flank both sides of the stairs. Luckily, their gaze is forward and won’t notice you if you wish to just sneak past them. Or you can take them out for the experience. You’ll find a magla hollow near here as well, thankfully.
The next area contains a room full of soldiers, but thankfully, only the one in the center is an “elite” and the rest can likely be taken down in the overworld. This is really the last bastion you’ve got before you finally fight the necromancer, so be prepared once you run through them. Take the stairs, find a curiously empty chamber, then take the bonus path to the roof. Follow the trail up here and - and it’s finally time to bring the blasphemous cur to heel.
Taking Down the Necromancer (Zorba Boss)
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Zorba Weakness, Resistance, and Strategy
Zorba Boss Battle | ||
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Level | Weakness | Resistance |
19 | N/A | All Magic except Light |
Note: The Corpsethralls Zorba summons are Weak to Light and Fire
Suggested Party: Seeker, Healer, and one of Warrior/Brawler
Before going forward and throwing down with the resurrectionist, you might want to go in with a squad focusing on physical attacks. Zorba is resistant to all types of magic except Light, which he has a neutral affinity for. He is also neutral in all the physical attack attributes - sword, pierce, and strike. His attacks do dark damage and he'll occasionally use an electric attack.
Zorba will summon corpses partway through the battle, but the main focus of the battle should always remain Zorba. Defeating him ends the battle, not defeating all enemies. Since this is the first true boss of an SMT-adjacent property, it wouldn’t hurt to follow a general strategy of those boss battles - when in doubt, buff your stats.
One of the Seeker’s synergy attacks is Maktarukaja, which increases the physical attack power of all members of your party. Considering you’ll likely want to stay away from most magic attacks, using this will allow you to get the most out of your physical attacks and take the creep down. Once you’ve got that buff, pummel him to death, or use other synergy skills to expedite it. If you find yourself in need of additional turns, you can use your Light magic on the undead to gain some time.
If you decide to bring a Mage and Healer in the party, you can unlock a synthesis attack that hits every single enemy with Light damage, which can prove critical if you need to attack multiple Corpsethralls and Zorba himself.
If you need healing at any point, try to use healing skills - you might need your items for the surprise second battle on the other side of this one.
The Day of Calamity (Homo Avades Boss)
Zorba is an apocalyptically sore loser and activates the “Day of Calamity” anyway and reanimates the gigantic human corpse Louis dropped in the middle of town. You have to head back to town to try and stop it. Thankfully, and why we recommend healing using magic, you’re fully healed between these battles. Also use this time to switch up Archetypes if you need - having a Brawler wouldn’t hurt. Time to put a stop to this abject horror.
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Homo Avades Boss Battle | ||
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Level | Weakness | Resistance |
20 | Torso: Strike | Heart: All Magic |
Suggested Party: Seeker, Knight, Brawler
Homo Avades is Lvl 20 and has a couple of phases.
During the first phase, you need to attack the torso enough to get the heart to droop, then attack the heart. The body is weak to strike damage, so the Brawler or even a Healer doing physical attacks can do some work here. Once it droops, attack the heart, which is resistant to light, but don’t quite go all out.
That’s because you probably won’t be able to do enough damage to it and it will then prepare a strange ambush where it creates a bunch of little soldiers in its…egg. These soldiers will come out and charge you en masse for huge damage, so when it prepares for this, move everyone to the rear guard and block. Once it is done with that, it will heal itself with its right hand. This also makes the hand become available as a target.
Once you slice up a hand and attack the body again, the heart will dip one more time. This is the cycle of the battle - slice up a hand, focus body, get heart to dip, go all-out. You may also get a prompt from Gallica so she can interfere with the ambush soldiers, but in that cycle, also be aware of them and defend accordingly.
If you haven’t tried using many of your synergy skills, this would be a fantastic battle to bust those out if you have the turns. Horse-Drawn Carriage in particular does major work against Homo Avades.
Post-Mission
Once you’ve defeated both bosses and finished this dungeon, there are a couple things you can do in the downtime until 6/22:
- The Tradia Desert, the area you ventured through to get to the city when you fell off the cliff, becomes available as an area to explore. There's a Bounty you should pick up at the Recruitment Center.
- If you haven’t unlocked the Merchant Archetype yet, tackle unlocking and completing the A Bullish Embargo side quest.
- Hulkenberg and Stohl are available pretty much every day until you level up their Bond in the city.
Up Next: The Gauntlet and the Tournament Walkthrough (Gauntlet Runner Intro)
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