Metaphor: ReFantazio: Dragon Temple Dungeon Guide

Metaphor: ReFanatzio is 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 the Regalith 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.

Well, if we are talking about just the mandatory operations alone, then the Dragon Temple is 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 of item called the Potion of Blight.

This potion can be created with the help of the quest giver Edeni, but the player will have to locate the key ingredient needed to create such a concoction. This item is known as Parchwater.

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 the Potion of Blight needed 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, so Archetypes like the Commander/General, Masked Dancer, or Mage/Wizard work 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 suggest being 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:

• Before you leave Virga Islands, be sure to buy any Magla Refill items you can get your hands on. You should have some in reserve from previous dungeons. However, you should buy Fruit Cordial from the water merchant, as well as any other MP preserving items available to you.
• I suggest leveling up your Commander Archetype so that you’ll have access to the General Archetype before the final boss fight, because without this the battle is a real pain.
• Consider collecting at least 12x Gold Beetles, as this will net you the Venomward Charm which is a vital accessory for the Dragon God boss fight.
• Before heading to Dragon Temple, accept the quests around the Virga Islands, as this will allow you to complete ‘A Guiding Gift’ while we explore the Dragon Temple. Plus, you’ll be able to unlock the Masked Dancer Archetype to study if you complete Junah’s quest in Orbwise Path ahead of time.
• Consider working to further Brigetta’s Bond to the point that you can purchase Igniters in her shop in Grand Trad that allow party members to cast Almighty Magic, as this will mean you’ll always have a useful move despite the wide variety of enemies.

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.

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.

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:

Within this area, you’ll mainly fight two types of enemies. These are Spellwrought Gargostas and Spektos of Lament.

The Spekto enemies are weak to light attacks, so it’s a good idea to run a Healer Archetype, or failing that, a set skill or igniter that grants access to light magic attacks.

Then, as for the Gargostas, these are weak to wind magic, so having access to a Seeker/Magic Seeker Archetype to clear them out with Cyclone is ideal.

Generally speaking, to clear this area, try 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 of Drakongrace 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 to run the Thief Archetype so you can make use of the Magic 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 the butterfly 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 then use physical attacks to see out the fight, or wind magic as Labovesps are weak to this.

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Then, further into this starting area, you’ll find more Treebeast Alento enemies, so have fire magic ready.

Around this point, you should find a Magla 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 the Dark Magla Crystal within, as this will allow you to open a chest 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 with a strange, ethereal Human enemy. The gimmick of this mini-boss is that it 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.

Just before getting the lift, you’ll likely run into another enemy variant, the Mageleaf Alento. This one behaves more or less like the Treebeast, but instead, this one is 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 to The 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, the Ostoflo. 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 the jarred squid enemies that essentially act 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 a Crag Manjula. This beast is resistant to most physical attacks, so you’ll want to focus on elemental attacks, with a focus on Ice magic.

The goal of this wider area of the dungeon is to explore this floor among others and try 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 can 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 to walk 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 The Ghost 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.

Plus, alongside some tough enemy variants, this new area is full of Dark 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 a Hero’s Leaf of Light.

If you take the zero-fighting route, which you should, just watch 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 direction as 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 to ascend 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.

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 containing a chest with the All-In Abacus, and the other, a switch activating one of the elevators. After activating this, you can 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 apparitions and kill them all in one fell swoop.

Catching The Real Ear Monster

This elevator takes you down to a secret area of The 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 to inflict a status effect like Forget to 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 the Bounty 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 the Moment 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 the enemies 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 encounter a Trove Imitec and some Spektos, so light magic is a good option for this floor, as are slash 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 some Dark 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.

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 and gain access to the Summoner class. This Archetype is a big help in this fight, and I would suggest you complement it with a Seeker, 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 is by leaning into Wind Magic. If you have a Magic Seeker and Summoner active, you can use moves like Cyclone and Summon Eagle Lion to deal decent damage.

Then you can either bolster your team with offensive options like the General Archetype that can 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 use either the Synthesis attacks of the Masked Dancer to apply one-time weaknesses to 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 have a Poison Scratch attack that applies poison pretty consistently, so you’ll want a decent counter to this to avoid being slowly but surely picked off.

Aside from this, they also have access to a group 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 bought an 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 that the 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, as their Prayer Reversal changes their typing and 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 the Set Skill Knight’s Proclamation on 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.

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Released

October 11, 2024

Engine

GFD

ESRB

t

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

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