In Metaphor: ReFantazio, each character’s Archetype defines the role and effectiveness each character will have on battle.
Archetypes in the game are meant to be fiddled with, but Royal Archetypes open up a means of powerful and effective Archetypes only if you have put in your game towards a specific path. As these Royal Archetypes greatly improve each character’s potential, they go a long way towards powering the final part of the game.
The Best Archetypes for the Protagonist
Unique is the path to Archetype ‘Prince’ for the protagonist, as unlocking the Royal Archetype happens automatically through the story and Royal Archetypes can be unlocked with other Party Members too.
The protagonist is free to explore Archetypes early on and is perfectly fit for magical and healing roles (of which they are permanently present in the party). However, these skills are versatile, some act as good offense and some do great support.
Suggested Archetypes
- Seeker
- Healer
- Mage
- Merchant
- Gunner
Best Archetypes for Strohl
Strohl is going to be a powerful Warrior to take and make a prime candidate for physical damage roles like the Brawler. But the Warrior role really isn’t all that useful against enemies with non-physical vulnerabilities.
Merchant will complement his Warrior Archetype by adding luck and the Gold Attack skill in certain situations. While Strohl can be seen as lackluster. He really performs well in the Commander Archetype, providing key support skills needed to help through late game fights.
Mastery of Warrior and Commander is necessary to his Royal Warrior Archetype and so will help keeping him in line should you keep your focus leading with them.
Suggested Archetypes
- Warrior
- Commander
- Merchant
- Brawler
Hulkenberg’s Best Archetypes
Hulkenberg is a pretty oddball of a tank, but someone who’s going to need a lot of magic to be a Magic Knight. Feeling that the Knight and Mage Archetypes would complement each other, Hulkenberg does the pairing and unlocks powerful defensive and offensive magic skills before becoming Royal Knight.
The Royal Archetype of this requires Paladin, Dark Knight, and Elemental Master high levels, so it’s important to keep her focused-on Knight and Mage jobs for her entire journey.
Suggested Archetypes
- Knight
- Mage
- Commander
- Healer
Best Archetypes for Heismay
The combination of so many different job families is needed to master Royal Thief, Heismay’s Royal Archetype. Royal Thief thus requires Heismay to progress in Ninja, Dragoon, Tycoon, and many others; Heismay must therefore try to remain disciplined in his progression in order to unlock Royal Thief.
Please avoid sidetracking yourself to extra Archetypes as his path already requires much job experience points (XP) and keeps things simple with MAG.
Due to Hismay seemingly fitting all the different roles in Thief (thiefing), Gunner (gunning), and Merchant (sales) and general miscellaneity into one calm front man (heismay), he is a very neutral — and frankly fun all around — playstyle.
Suggested Archetypes
- Thief
- Gunner
- Merchant
- Seeker
- Knight
- Commander
Best Archetypes for Junah
Advanced Masked Dancer Archetype comes with few (no) additional prerequisites, and is the actual start point for Junah’s journey.
You need to master Persona Master and Trickster to get to Royal Masked Dancer, her ultimate goal. Junah’s path is simpler than other characters, they can now concentrate on the Fake and Masked Dancer trees.
If you have time you should also consider Mage or Ninja skills, to have her learn magic and stealth skills to make her more flexible. If she keeps the bond levels with Junah and Alonzo up at an early prioritization then she will stay on track.
Suggested Archetypes
- Masked Dancer
- Faker
- Mage
- Thief
Best Archetypes for Eupha
During that time, you unlock one of the last party members Eupha, who’s a Summoner. One of which is her Royal Summoner Archetype which has a high level in Devil Summoner and Soul Hacker.
Her late game entry makes Follower progression challenging for her, relying solely on her Eupha’s progress. Make sure to level Summoner and Seeker when she joins, in order to make sure she’s ready for the final battles. That will get her powerful summoning skills vital for end game boss fights.
Suggested Archetypes
- Summoner
- Seeker
- Mage
- Healer
Best Archetypes for Basilio
Basilio is the final character to join and has a rather ridiculous path to Archetype (Royal Berserker) via five different jobs, including Destroyer and Martial Artist.
Physical dominance itself is well suited for his ultimate role as Royal Berserker, but he’ll have to spend a lot of XP and bonding time with Catherina, and that bottle neck may not come until late game. Take time with Basilio to gain Follower bond, and get some XP fruits to level up him in the time you have on hand.
Suggested Archetypes
- Berserker
- Brawler
- Knight
- Warrior
Conclusion
Each party member in Metaphor: Archetypes that ReFantazio has its own distinct set of strengths in play pairs perfectly with specific Archetypes.
It’s preferable to play certain roles and unlock their Royal Archetypes just in time for the endgame. You can create a flexible team that can handle anything through investing in the best possible Archetypes.
Experimentation is encouraged, but maintain them to their key Archetypes to make sure that each character reaches their maximum potential, and the game will still be very satisfying in its later stages.
Also read: Black Myth: Wukong Chapter 6 Walkthrough