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Metaphor: ReFanatziois a game, much like its predecessors, that takes pride in its dungeon designs.
This means that right from the moment you hop into your first operation in theRegalith Grand Cathedral, you know you are in for a treat. However, many may be wondering which of these dungeons is the hardest of the lot.
Metaphor: ReFantazio Review
It’s more than just fantasy Persona, it’s a JRPG triumph in its own right.
Well, if we are talking about just the mandatory operations alone, then theDragon Templeis hands down the most tough and long-winded dungeon of the bunch. This makes navigating this one and finishing this Operation without wasting multiple days doing so a real uphill battle.
However, with the aid of our handy guide, you should be able to get through this tricky area, help Eupha defeat the Dragon God, and turn your attention to side quests and bond progression.
How To Enter The Dragon Temple
Unlike the last couple of operations you will have faced, you actually won’t be able to just waltz into the Dragon Temple immediately, as you’ll find that there is a huge tree blocking the entrance to this area.
A tree that can only be cleared if the player has access to a particular type ofitem called the Potion of Blight.
This potion can be created with the help of the quest giverEdeni, but the player will have to locate the key ingredient needed to create such a concoction. This item is known asParchwater.
You can talk to various NPCs as to the whereabouts of this ingredient, but I’ll save you the hassle as you can just head to the merchant that sells it straight away.
If you head to Comfort Concoctions on Sunshade Row in Grand Trad, you’ll be able to buy this item for 500 Reeve.
Then, you can teleport back to the Virga Islands to turn in this quest. This means you’ll be given thePotion of Blightneeded to access the Dragon Temple.
It will take two days to travel there, and when you arrive and use the potion,you will need to fight a Treebeast Alento enemy.You’ll encounter quite a few of these within the Dragon Temple, so it’s best to work out a good battle strategy now.
As you would expect, these enemies are weak to fire, soArchetypes like the Commander/General, Masked Dancer, or Mage/Wizardwork a treat here.
Then, once defeated, you’ll be able to enter the Dragon Temple. The opening area, which is creatively named ‘corridor,’ has a few neat items to collect, so quickly explore this area. But this dungeon truly begins when you enter the Labyrinthine Path.
Preparation For Dragon Temple
The simple fact of the matter is that there are so many enemy variants, and so many unique aspects to this dungeon, that it’s pretty much impossible to run a team or have a setup that will work perfectly for all scenarios.
So I would first suggestbeing open to adapting on the fly, changing your party archetypes for each floor of the dungeon, and improvising where needed. However, here are some absolute must-do preparations:
Navigating Labyrinthine Path
The Labyrinthine Path is an area that truly lives up to its name. To quickly explain the gimmick of this area, the player will be presented with multiple paths up and down various staircases. However,only one path will lead you forward, and the rest will teleport you back to the start.
If you find the constant trial and error of trying staircases annoying, a pro tip is to look up at the ceiling, as this will reveal a golden thread that will show you the pathways that won’t teleport you back to the beginning of this area.
You’d be forgiven if you thought this would serve as an annoying memory-based challenge, but thankfully,it’s very easy to tell which stairs are incorrect by the thick fog that will surround the player if they take the wrong path.So really, it’s just a consistent case of trial and error to proceed.
Before you begin carving out a path, be sure to pick up the item near the entrance, as this is aPolar Stoneused to complete the quest ‘A Guiding Gift.’
I could offer a pathway through the area down to the bottom of the stairs where you progress to the next area, but honestly, due to how easy it is to test paths and double back if you make a wrong move, you really don’t need it.
However, you may benefit from a map showcasing where all the optional chests are located, as some of them have some excellent gear inside.
Plus, to make sure you don’t miss anything, here is a quick checklist of key items you’ll want to check off before moving on:
Tranquil Trilby
Defense: 82
Prevents Rage
Firebloom Signal
Attack: 285
Pierce Damage
Increases Fire Attack Power
Paladin’s Mace
Attack: 295
Strike Damage
Small MP Recovery at beginning of each turn
Within this area, you’ll mainly fight two types of enemies. These are Spellwrought Gargostas and Spektos of Lament.
The Spekto enemiesare weak to light attacks, so it’s a good idea to run aHealer Archetype, or failing that, a set skill or igniter that grants access to light magic attacks.
Then, as for the Gargostas, these areweak to wind magic, so having access to aSeeker/Magic Seeker Archetypeto clear them out with Cyclone is ideal.
Generally speaking, to clear this area, attempt to find all four tablets on the upper floor, as this will give you a clear path to each hidden chest, and then make your way downstairs, where you can proceed through the Canopy Chamber.
Exploring Drakongrace Shinjuku
After your brief walk through Canopy Chamber, you’ll soon find yourself in the forgotten civilization ofDrakongrace Shinjuku, an area teeming with relics, loot, and a variety of enemies that will make your time in this area a living hell.
This is where the difficulty ramps up significantly, as this dungeon portion is insanely long, has an abundance of enemies to fight, and, as a result, will drain you of MP and resources needed to stay alive.
So, my advice for this section would be torun the Thief Archetypeso you’re able to make use of theMagic Plunder skill,allowing you to gradually top up your MP. Plus, I would suggest perhaps running the Merchant for this section, as you should be pretty affluent by this point.
This area is broken up into various floors, each with its own pool of enemies and various quirks. So let’s break it down into bite-sized chunks, shall we?
Bounty of Relics
The first enemies you will encounter are thebutterfly enemies known as Papyrga and wasp enemies known as Labovesps.
These are pretty easy to take out if you get the jump on them, and thenuse physical attacksto see out the fight,or wind magicas Labovesps are weak to this.
Metaphor: ReFantazio: Every Archetype, Ranked
All are viable, but they aren’t created equal.
Then, further into this starting area, you’ll find moreTreebeast Alentoenemies, so havefire magicready.
Around this point, you should find aMagla Hollow, and this is a good time to pop your head in and save your game because if you do need to rest and come back to this dungeon, you’ll want to avoid faffing around in Labyrinthine Path.
Plus, you should also check out the room beside this one and take out theDark Magla Crystalwithin, as this will allow you to open achest containing the Alabaster Mail, which is brilliant when purified for fending off either light or dark magic attacks.
After resting, just up ahead, you will come to an area with a series of elevators leading to different floors of this huge high-rise building.
Sadly,floors two and three will be inaccessible, but you’ll be able to head to one and four. If you want to focus purely on progression, then take the lift to floor four.
However, before you get there, you’ll need to navigate an area witha strange, ethereal Human enemy. The gimmick of this mini-boss is thatit will only move along a pre-determined path if you are also moving.So use this to your advantage to plan your run and avoid fighting them.
If you do get caught, it’s best to try and escape immediately, as the fight is not worth the effort or the abundance of resources you will use. Plus, when you do run, this enemy will, in most cases, disappear, meaning they will no longer be an issue.
Just before getting the lift, you’ll likely run into another enemy variant, theMageleaf Alento. This one behaves more or less like the Treebeast, but instead, this oneis weak to Wind magic, so use your Seeker Archetype to handle this one.
Once you have explored this area as much as you would like, you should then take yourself down via the elevator toThe Steel Rendezvous.
Floor IV - The Steel Rendezvous
Pretty much immediately after turning the first corner in this new area, you’ll encounter another new enemy variant, theOstoflo.These plants are a pain to deal with if you give them room to retaliate, as they can inflict annoying status effects. So,use Fire magic to put them down quickly.
Also, be aware of thejarred squid enemiesthat essentiallyact like little land mines dotted around this floor.Run up to them and slash at them to trigger their effect, and then clear out as they explode.
Then, soon after, you will also encounter aCrag Manjula. This beast is resistant to most physical attacks, so you’ll want to focus on elemental attacks, with a focus on Ice magic.
There is a quick way to explore this dungeon and a long way that allows you to find more items, fight more beasts, get more loot, and makes exploration after the Ear Monsters are gone much easier.
If you’re only interested in progression, you’ll have access to a nearby stairset in the bottom right corner of The Steel Rendezvous map immediately which will lead to the switch needed to progress. However, you will be missing out on a lot of content.
If you wish to quickly complete this dungeon, skip ahead to the end of the Ghost Town of Dreams section, where we complete the loop and return to this location.
The goal of this wider area of the dungeon is to explore this floor among others and attempt to find various switches dotted around the area that will open metal doors and allow you access to paths of progression.
However, throughout this process, you will encounter quite a few ear monsters, and you need to move thoughtfully to avoid them running into you.
However, as the first encounter will show you, you can use these doors and switches to trap these monsters and give yourself safe passage to the next area. After this first switch, run across the bridge with the Manjula, and you’ll come to your next switch puzzle.
You’ll also find a Chest behind this Human that contains theChef’s Mitts,so make a quick detour before crossing the bridge
you’re able to use the doors to create a way around this beast, but I suggest ignoring them altogether and heading along the path to the left and ignoring them altogether. The only other obstacle other than endless enemies along this path will be an open area where two Ear Monsters are walking around doing laps.
You’ll want to time your movement towalk around this path anti-clockwise in time with them, and you should avoid any potential unwanted encounters. Then, just past this area, you can descend the staircase to the next area,The Ghost Town of Dreams.
Ghost Town of Dreams
This brings you to the new, tougher, Drakongrace Shinjuku area known as TheGhost Town of Dreams.
This area has quite a few more humans running around, and a variety of new, tankier enemies. So, if you intend to take on this floor, you’d best have MP preservation at the forefront of your planning process.
By this point, your MP will be pretty low if you’ve diligently fought every enemy, so I suggest you heed this advice. It’s now time to adopt a ‘Stun and Run’ approach where you stun enemies and then run away. As this is what will ensure you finish this dungeon without multiple visits.
Plus, alongside some tough enemy variants, this new area is full ofDark Magla Crystals, so your efforts should mainly be focused on destroying these rather than getting involved in turn-based battles, as this will thin the crowd and net you aHero’s Leaf of Light.
If you take the zero-fighting route, which you should, justwatch out for the Golden Homo Tentas hiding in the ground, as they can catch you off guard if you aren’t careful. Whereas the frying pan, apple, and Cyclops enemies are too big and lumbering to catch you in most cases.
Work along the path ahead, and you’ll come to an area with a switch that opens the door to the right and reveals an Ear Monster. Disregard the Ear monster and head through the now-open door.
Then, after this, you’ll find two more Ear Monsters doing laps around a tight square. So, like before,enter the gap between them and walk in the same directionas them to avoid any unnecessary fights.
You’ll need to activate all the switches on the way around this loop, and if you do, you should effectively trap the Ear Monsters in an airlock while creating a path ahead.
Sprint or stun your way through the next set of enemies; you’ll come to another area with an Ear Monster. This time, follow the path along and hide in a small nook on your right, allowing the Ear Monster to pass.
Then, head to the end of the path, activate the switch and get back into that little nook before the Ear Monster makes it back your way, and keep heading forward. Which will allow you toascend to The Steel Rendezvous again.
After accessing this new area of the floor above, head through yet another wave of enemies, through the doorway, and down the hall to the right, where you will come across another Ear monster. Simply use the door to trap the oncoming beast, and you can cross the bridge ahead.
This will also effectively open up this path to the Ghost Town of Dreams if you wish to explore it more thoroughly later.
You’ll also be able to take the opposite path, which will lead you to a room with a chest containing a Star White Mask used for crafting Masked Dancer masks within the Akademia, so be sure to nab this as well.
This should then complete the loop and allow you to proceed to the bottom right-hand corner of The Steel Rendezvous, which has a staircase that will take you to an otherwise inaccessible area of the area with the elevators, the Bounty of Relics.
Once here, you’ll have two accessible rooms, one containinga chest with the All-In Abacus,and the other, a switch activating one of the elevators. After activating this, you’re able to then unlock a shortcut that will take you out to the Elevators again.
However, you’ll also find a room with the lever activating the Elevator you need to access the Dragon’s Altar.Unfortunately,the room is full of Ear Monsters and therefore inaccessible.
However,you can use the newly powered elevator to head to the source of these Ear Monster apparitionsand kill them all in one fell swoop.
Catching The Real Ear Monster
This elevator takes you down to a secret area ofThe Steel Rendezvous, where you’ll effectively find a maze area where an Ear Monster roams free. However, it’s not as keen to fight you as the others and will run away any chance it gets.
So, you need to trap this Human in order to kill it, and you’ll need to utilize the doors and switches in the area to do so. To do this, push them into a good starting position and then chase them down.
But, as you do,activate every switch you come across on your path.If you do this, you will cut off their escape routes, and eventually, they will run into a dead-end, allowing you to fight them.
If you want to deal with them quickly,your best option is Electric magic,as they are weak to these attacks. A good option is the Synthesis move,Magic Knight’s Hammer,which will take them down in no time at all.
However, if you want to ensure you take as little damage as possible, I suggest perhaps trying toinflict a status effect like Forgetto make the fight easier.
After you kill this Human, all the other ghostly Ear Monsters will disappear, making exploration much easier.If you have any loose ends to tie up, now is a good time to do that.Otherwise, take the elevator back up to theBounty of Relics, and enter the room that was once filled with Ear Monsters.
You can now use the switch to activate the Elevator marked III, which will take you to yet another area known as theMoment of Epiphany.
Are you starting to see what I mean about this dungeon dragging on for way too long?
The Moment of Epiphany
Seeing as the final boss isn’t too far away now, it could be a good time to use some magic replenishment items, and if you want to start fighting instead of stunning and running, this area isn’t too tough or taxing on MP.
However, I would suggest continuing this strategy nonetheless, as you want to be in the best shape possible for the final fight.
There isn’t much room for deviation on this floor, and theenemies are more or less the same as those you will have encountered in the Ghost Town of Dreams, give or take a few.
You will encountera Trove Imitec and some Spektos,so light magic is a good option for this floor, as areslash attacks to deal with the Homo Stormmu.
Follow the path along, defeating or avoiding enemies as you go, but do pop into the room containing a chest, and if you defeat this Trove Imitec,you’ll gain a Sumptuous Magla Feast,which could be a much-needed item for the boss battle ahead.
After this, you will come to an open area with many enemies and someDark Magla Crystals.
It can be helpful to take out the crystals to make traversing this room a little easier,but you could just as easily sprint to the other end of the room and open the large patterned doors leading to the Altar of the Twelve.
To the right of this door, there is a shortcut leading back to the entrance to the Moment of Epiphany. This will be your last chance to double back and explore the area for any treasure you haven’t uncovered yet. So if you still have some exploring, consider returning to the Bounty of Relics.
Now you have a dragon to slay.
How To Defeat Malvirta Drako Eht
Before this fight begins, you will unlock Eupha as a party member andgain access to the Summoner class. This Archetype is a big help in this fight, and I would suggest you complement it with aSeeker, General, and Healer.However, plenty of other combinations work just fine.
As the fight begins, you’ll notice that you have two targets to take on,Homo Margo and Malvirta Darko Eht. I would suggest you begin by killing the human on the drake’s back.
The best way to do this isby leaning into Wind Magic. If you have a Magic Seeker and Summoner active, you can use moves likeCyclone and Summon Eagle Lionto deal decent damage.
Then you can either bolster your team with offensive options like the General Archetype thatcan chip in with Megidola attacks,or go with an archetype that can apply buffs to the main damage dealers.
The Human should go down pretty easily, and then all that’s left is to kill the Dragon. If you have set your team up to lean into Wind magic, you’ll need to be a little creative when it comes to applying weaknesses to the Dragon God.
I would personally suggest you useeither the Synthesis attacks of the Masked Dancer to apply one-time weaknessesto whatever elemental attacks you have access to,or use the General’s Frigid Fortress Tactic to apply Ice weakness while also dealing ice damage, allowing you to get into a steady loop of powerful Ice attacks.
As for the enemy’s abilities,they can clear all debuffs,so don’t waste your time and MP trying to weaken them that way. Plus, they havea Poison Scratch attackthat applies poison pretty consistently, so you’ll want a decent counter to this to avoid being slowly but surely picked off.
If you have been collecting Gold Beetles, you should have the Venomward Charm in your inventory which is a reward for collecting 12 Gold Beetles, and this accessory makes the wearer immune to draconic poison, so this could be a huge asset in this fight.
Aside from this, they also have access to agroup dark magic attack called Dragon God’s Breath, so if you happen to be running someone who is weak to this, like a healer Archetype, it’s probably best to keep them on guard unless using them to heal or cure status effects.
Just keep chipping away at this boss and curing any status ailments you pick up along the way, and you should come out on top.
How To Defeat Homo Margo
I bet you thought you were done; I know I certainly did. But alas, it seems that Homo Margo wasn’t killed and instead is high-tailing it to the Virga Islands to kill everyone. So we need to shoot back over there and quell the situation.
The key to this battle is starting strong, as the first turn is where you can get every party member involved.I would suggest using strong Synthesis moves in the first turn to chip away at their health as fast as possible.
For you see, when they use their Prayer Reversal move, they then create an elemental guard which will block most attacks.
The bad news is that this makes the Eupha’s Summoner Archetype all but useless from an offensive point of view, and they are a mandatory party member. However, they can be used to cure status ailments like anxiety in a pinch and apply gradual healing.
The key to success after the first turn is having a General Archetype in your team, or failing that, if you have furthered Brigetta’s Bond and boughtan Igniter that applies Almighty Magic, then you’re in luck.
Almighty magic is the best option here as this always hits regardless of resistance, which also means thatthe Merchant Archetype can be helpful in a pinch as well.
Status effects can also be helpful if you can apply them, but truthfully, without the General Archetype, you are in for a real battle of attrition.
As for defending against their attacks, it really is a mixed bag, astheir Prayer Reversal changes their typingand they’ll glow a different color to indicate what attacks are coming.
For example, if the flame is blue, you can expect them to use ice magic. So take stock of your party and potentially move people to the back line and put them in a guard position if they change to a typing that will expose any weaknesses.
A good workaround for this is having theSet Skill Knight’s Proclamationon hand to direct attacks away from those who have weaknesses, allowing you to stay on the offensive.
Provided you keep clearing any anxiety effects, avoiding being thrown by their type changes, and consistently apply Almighty damage, you should be able to get through this fight. Which will finally signal the end of the Dragon Temple Operation.
Metaphor: ReFantazio: Every Party Member, Ranked
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