How to Unlock the Masked Dancer Archetype in Metaphor: ReFantazio

You’ve probably heard or even said yourself, that Metaphor: ReFantazio is the high fantasy version of the Persona franchise. And, in a way, you wouldn’t be wrong.

Even so, Metaphor: ReFantazio has its own unique lore and has managed to build an identity without relying on its older cousin.

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Suffice it to say, I’m pretty excited for Metaphor: ReFantazio.

But that doesn’t mean Metaphor completely denies its roots. The Masked Dancer Archetype has a distinctive feature in the game, paying homage to Persona while being a mighty tool in battle.

This Archetype can equip masks as accessories, and depending on the identity it assumes, its abilities change, adopting a versatility similar to the Persona’s protagonists.

Prerequisites For Unlocking the Masked Dancer Archetype

The Masked Dancer is one of the Archetypes initially tied to the party member, Junah. But unlike the previous main cast, the Masked Dancer isn’t unlocked automatically, and unaware players could go through the entire game with it locked to the songstress.

To ensure that doesn’t happen to you, we’ll show you how to unlock the Masked Dancer Archetype, and you’ll see it’s simpler than expected.

After reaching Virga Island, your first objective is to go to the Dragon Temple. However, upon arriving at the sacred space, you’ll be blocked and must return to the Mustari village.

Upon your return, numerous quests will become available, but not the one we’re after. First, you need to make the Potion of Blight.

The potion ingredient can be found in Grand Trad’s item shop. Buy the Parchment Water and deliver it to Edeni. If you can’t find the key item, speak to the informants beforehand.

After giving the ingredient to Edeni, he’ll hand you the Potion of Blight. Once the cutscene ends, a new quest marker will appear near the village leader, popping from our favorite nidia, Junah.

Speak to Junah, and she’ll give you the Save the Mourning Snakes quest, which will send you to the Orbwise Path to eliminate a monster.

Our main goal in Metaphor: ReFantazio is to optimize your days, so before heading to the Orbwise Path, we recommend grabbing the Peak Curiosity quest from the Dejected Man just outside Virga Island’s inn.

Then, talk to the Informant at the Golden Deer Hearth and buy the Phantom Avian of the Spire. The Spire of Blind Faith will appear on the map, and Orbwise Path will be found halfway along the path to the tower.

This way, you can complete two quests simultaneously without spending too many days. We strongly recommend doing these two sidequests before heading to the Dragon Temple, probably one of Metaphor: ReFantazio’s hardest dungeons.

How to Prepare for the Orbwise Path

Now that your travel route is set, we need to figure out what you’ll pack to ensure your journey goes as smoothly as possible.

To be honest, Orbwise Path is one of the easier dungeons at this stage of the game, and if you’ve been completing all the sidequests, chances are you’ll be killing enemies on the map in action mode.

Navigation consists mainly of corridors, with a few nooks and crannies to crawl through. In general, it’s just a long journey forward with some staircases.

But if you want to make it even easier, bring Archetypes with fire magic and Pierce skills. Gunner lineage Archetypes are efficient, as are the versatile Mage Archetype and the Masked Dancer herself.

If you manage to craft a Gunner’s Mask and equip it on Junah with the Masked Dancer Archetype, she’ll become a one-songstress army and trample the dungeon.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Gunner Protagonist Shooting Monsters

We made the protagonist a Gunner, simplifying exploration since many monsters are stationary, allowing us to snipe them from a safe distance.

There are also some Valmos, gigantic worm-like monsters that burrow and hide in the ground. They’re far from subtle, so it’s easy to avoid their offensive and make a preemptive attack.

Avoid using physical attacks when engaging some plant-like monsters because they are immune. The Terrestrial Shuper plant monster is immune to fire, so hit it with another element.

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If you suffer from Frostbite, your attack damage will be greatly reduced. It’s not exactly a threat, though—you can just pass turns until you naturally heal.

A key point in Orbwise Path is that Junah will be a mandatory party member for the boss fight, so you should conserve her MP before meeting the big baddie chicken.

How To Prepare for the Kokasadors Boss Fight

Metaphor: ReFantazio Kokasodors Boss Fight

Speaking of the boss fight, Kokasadors will be near the save point, as is typical for all dungeons in Metaphor: ReFantazio.

The offensive strategy to take down this oversized bird is similar to the rest of the dungeon. Kokasadors is weak to Pierce and fire skills.

We recommend putting your entire party in the back row. If you’re using Gunners and magic-casters, this won’t affect your damage and will give you extra defense.

You don’t necessarily need a specific Archetype at this point in the game, as you’ll have inherited enough skills by now. But if we were to suggest a composition, it would be this one:

A character with a max-level Seeker to inherit Tetrabreak. The boss will eventually use magic to repel physical attacks, and Tetrabreak nullifies this. Our protagonist, as a Gunner, inherited the skill.
A Wizard Archetype to cast medium Fire magic or the Synthesis Boatona for heavy damage with the Masked Dancer as the pair.
A Masked Dancer equipped with the Gunner’s Mask to cover all the boss’s weaknesses and assist the Wizard.
The fourth Archetype is up to you. Bring a healer if you’re losing HP fast or a Knight to attract the boss’s attention.
We had a Summoner Archetype because we finished the Dragon Temple before Orbwise Path. It’s due to this taxing empirical experience that we suggest doing this dungeon before the challenging Dragon Temple.

Like many bosses in Metaphor: ReFantazio, your combat loop will involve exploiting its weakness, gaining extra turns, and staying on the offensive.

Metaphor: ReFantazio Fire Weakness Skill

Buffs and debuffs aren’t crucial, except for Tetrabreak. However, if you’re focusing purely on Fire magic skills, you can ignore Repel Physical.

Kokasadors may hit hard, but if you hit harder, it won’t even have a chance to retaliate before it’s defeated.

Rewards For Defeating Kokasadors

Once you bring down this needlessly large bird, experience, MAG, and money will be yours. The item drop is random, but you can earn a Tower White Mask to craft more tools for the Masked Dancer.

As soon as the battle ends, there will be a cutscene with Junah, and the Save the Mourning Snakes quest will be completed, rewarding us with 4 points in the Imagination virtue.

More importantly, after a brief tête-à-tête, you will form a new Bond with Junah, officially unlocking her as a Follower.

Consequently, this new Bond will also unlock the Masked Dancer Archetype for the entire party, which can be activated immediately.

The Masked Dancer is the most versatile Archetype in Metaphor: ReFantazio, but its flexibility comes at the cost of an accessory slot, which, depending on the item, might be more valuable than some extra skills.

Even so, this archetype’s native abilities and its Synthesis skills can exploit enemy weaknesses, which is handy for some endgame bosses.

The coolest thing about the Masked Dancer is how it pays homage to Persona, both in the names of the crafting items referencing the Arcana and the mask iconography.

Now that you know how to unlock the Masked Dancer Archetype in Metaphor: ReFantazio, it’s time to become a wild card and get ready to steal your enemies’ hearts.