Developed by Atlus (the studio behind the Persona games), Metaphor ReFantazio is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. In the meantime, check out our full review of the game by heading over here.

Unlike the Persona games where only the protagonist can use multiple types of Personas, in Metaphor ReFantazio, every character has the same potential and can use all Archetypes (well, most of them with one or two exceptions, the Protagonist has to still feel special). This adds a much more complex strategic element and planning in Metaphor Refantazio compared to the Persona games. Which character uses which Archetype is totally up to you, so instead of having a certain character stuck to a specific class like in the Persona games, the potential is limitless in Metaphor ReFantazio.

In this article, I will let you know which Archetypes to focus on, especially in the early game:

Mage

Perhaps the single most important Archetype in the entire game. It’s also the ONLY Archetype in the game where the Bond progresses automatically via the story.

Why is it so important?

The Mage Archetype is essential for every party member to learn because it opens access to the three main elemental skills in the game: Bot (Fire), Blizz (Ice) and Kande (Electric).

This is still an Atlus JRPG with Persona combat so the Mage Archetype is extremely important to target enemy weaknesses.

Healer

This may also seem obvious but the Healer Archetype provides your party members with healing skills such as Medi.

This is a JRPG so at least one member of your party should either be a Healer or have healing skills (which can be unlocked via the Healer Archetype).

Not having any healing skills will make for a frustrating experience. Also, they learn the skill Hama (Light), so that’s good to hit enemies with weaknesses to Light.

Seeker

There are actually four elemental skills in Metaphor ReFantazio and the last one is Cyc (Wind). It’s a bit weird because the Seeker Archetype is the only one that learns the Wind element but on the bright side, it’s rare that enemies will have a weakness to Wind compared to the previously-mentioned three elements learnt from the Mage Archetype (see above).

Gunner

There are three Physical type skills in Metaphor ReFantazio; Slash, Strike and Pierce. However, it’s rare that enemies will be weak to either Slash or Strike so those two are basically just damage dealers for enemies with non-elemental weaknesses. That being said, there are a surprising amount of enemies with Pierce weaknesses and the Gunner Archetype is perfect for that.

Thief

As for the Thief Archetype, it provides access to the Mudo (Dark) elemental skills, so this is pretty important as well.

General Rule: Party Members Should Focus On The Archetypes That They Start With

There are many Archetypes in Metaphor Refantazio, but the freedom is yours. Besides the Archetypes I mentioned above, the general rule in the game for your party members is to focus on the Archetypes that they start with.

For instance, Stohl with the Warrior Archetype and Hulkenberg with Knight Archetype.

Why?

One, those are the Archetypes they’re most suited for state-wise, which is why they started with them.

The other reason is because in the late game of Metaphor ReFantazio, you’ll unlock Royal Archetypes, the most powerful Archetypes in the game. The thing is that Royal Archetypes are basically the evolution of each of the party members’ Archetype that they started with, so you’ll need to max out the level of those Archetypes as a priority.