Metaphor: ReFantazio arrived on October 11, 2024, from Studio Zero and Atlus as a single-player fantasy RPGRPG. Role-Playing Game — a game built around character progression, story, and player choices. built around party customization, a time-management calendar, and a class system called Archetypes. The Steam store page highlights turn-based and action combat alongside “party customization with powerful Archetypes,” and the official site frames the journey as a royal tournament across the United Kingdom of Euchronia. For players who want to push into the late game and endgame efficiently, the central question is not which single Archetype to main, but how to route through the Archetype lineage trees, the five Royal Virtues, and the follower bonds that unlock the Royal Archetypes.

How Archetypes Work

Archetypes are combat classes tied to hero spirits that any party member can study once the system opens. According to the official site, players “awaken magical Archetype powers that lie dormant in your heart,” and each Archetype grants a distinct moveset and role. The lineage structure means basic jobs feed into advanced ones: a Warrior progresses toward Samurai and Warlord, a Mage toward Wizard and Elemental Master, a Knight toward Paladin and Dark Knight, and so on. Synthesis skills are the payoff for mixing compatible Archetypes in the active party; they cost more action crystals than normal skills but can apply elemental weaknesses, remove buffs, or deal heavy single-target damage.

The combat system itself is the Press Turn model Atlus fans recognize. Hitting an enemy weakness or landing a critical refunds half an action crystal, while misses, nullifies, or repels drain crystals or end the turn. This makes party composition and skill inheritance the core of any strong build. A character in a physical lineage can inherit a heal or buff from a support lineage, and a mage can inherit passive evasion or damage boosts. Skill inheritance is unlocked by mastering Archetypes and spending A-EXP, so the most efficient playthroughs rotate party members through multiple trees rather than locking one character into a single job. The real-time Fast Combat layer also changes with your equipped weapon and Archetype, so a Gunner can strike from range while a Mage covers a wider area, giving your chosen build an impact even before the turn-based Squad phase begins.

Royal Virtues and Follower Bonds

Royal Virtues are the non-combat stats that gate progression. The five virtues are Courage, Wisdom, Tolerance, Eloquence, and Imagination. Raising them unlocks new follower conversations, quest lines, shops, and the advanced Archetypes that sit at the end of each lineage. Follower bonds are the companion-specific relationship tracks that not only unlock story moments but also determine when each party member can study their next tier of Archetypes.

Because the game runs on a calendar with limited free-time slots, virtue and follower management matters. Reading books in the Gauntlet Runner, completing side quests, winning coliseum matches, and delivering bounty kills all feed specific virtues. The efficient approach is to keep virtues roughly even rather than maxing one, because story roadblocks tend to appear around the same time for multiple stats. Eloquence rises quickly from podium debates, while Courage comes naturally from bounties and coliseum fights, so those two often outpace Wisdom, Tolerance, and Imagination unless the player deliberately spends time on books, cooking, and meditation events.

Follower bonds should be prioritized based on which Royal Archetypes you want online before the final months. Each advanced Archetype requires the relevant follower bond rank as well as prerequisite jobs, so ignoring a companion for half the game means rushing their bond later with limited free days.

Strong Build Paths Through the Mid-Game

There is no single mandatory build, but several routing patterns make the later dungeons smoother.

Physical damage route. Strohl starts as a Warrior and naturally moves into Samurai, then Warlord, then Royal Warrior. The Warrior and Commander lineages give him party-wide buffs and heavy physical attacks. Pairing him with a Knight for tanking and a Mage or Summoner for elemental coverage covers most enemy affinities. Commander in particular gives Formation of Vigor, a useful team buff that remains relevant into the endgame.

Magical damage route. The protagonist can start as a Mage and climb into Wizard, then Elemental Master or Summoner. Hulkenberg needs the Mage Archetype to unlock her Magic Knight path, which then leads to Paladin and Dark Knight, making her unusual as a tank-mage hybrid. Eupha joins the party with access to the Summoner lineage and should be pushed toward Devil Summoner and Royal Summoner as soon as her follower bond allows. Magic builds excel at exploiting elemental weaknesses, which is the fastest way to generate extra action crystals.

Support and utility route. The Healer and Faker lineages provide buffs, debuffs, healing, and ailment utility. Junah begins as a Masked Dancer, a flexible magic-support hybrid that can equip different masks to change element coverage. Faker adds dice-roll economy abilities and debuff removal. A support-focused character can inherit key heals and cleanses and then switch to a damage lineage for boss fights.

Gunner and Thief utility. Heismay fits the Thief tree well, with access to Ninja and Royal Thief. Because Royal Thief requires mastery across Ninja, Dragoon, and Tycoon, Heismay is the most job-hungry party member and benefits from early planning rather than late grinding.

The Endgame Pivot: Prince and Royal Archetypes

Late in the story, the protagonist unlocks the Prince Archetype automatically through plot progression. Prince is the protagonist’s dedicated Royal form and specializes in Light and Almighty attacks, HP and MP recovery, and the powerful Royal Sword Synthesis skill. Once Prince is available, the rest of the party can begin studying their own Royal Archetypes, assuming their follower bonds and prerequisite jobs are complete.

Each Royal Archetype costs 30,000 MAG to unlock and requires specific advanced jobs at set ranks. Strohl needs Samurai and Warlord. Hulkenberg needs Paladin, Dark Knight, and Elemental Master. Heismay needs Ninja, Dragoon, and Tycoon. Junah needs Persona Master and Trickster. Eupha needs Devil Summoner and Soul Hacker. Basilio needs Destroyer and Martial Artist. The protagonist uses Prince instead of a purchased Royal job.

A practical endgame composition runs the protagonist as Prince in the front row, a support Junah on Royal Masked Dancer or Persona Master applying one-time weaknesses and buffs, Eupha as Royal Summoner for all-element coverage, and Basilio as Royal Berserker for physical damage and tanking. Basilio’s Berserker passives can push his maximum HP to the 999 cap quickly, making him both durable and hard-hitting. The exact setup depends on which Synthesis skills and inherited passives the player has collected, which is why A-EXP farming and skill inheritance planning matter more than raw character level.

Optimization Tips for Late Dungeons

The final stretch introduces enemies that null or repel common elements, drain buffs, and punish weak hits. A few habits smooth out these fights:

  • Carry at least one source of Dekaja and Dekunda, or their equivalent, so the party can clear enemy buffs and own debuffs without wasting turns.
  • Stock a few one-time-weakness skills, such as those from Masked Dancer or Faker, so the party can still earn half action crystals against enemies with no natural weakness.
  • Equip accessories that reduce Synthesis skill cost, such as the Utilitarian’s Manual, so high-cost combo skills become spammable.
  • Keep a balanced virtue profile before the final month, because multiple follower bond events and side quests lock behind virtue thresholds.

What This Means for New Game+

New Game Plus carries over reeve, MAG, Royal Virtues, items, equipment, Archetype progress, and enemy scan data. Levels do not carry over, and follower bonds must be rebuilt. This makes the first run’s Archetype investment the long-term permanent power base. Players who want to tackle the higher Regicide difficulty or the post-launch super-bosses should aim to master as many Archetypes as possible on the first playthrough, since Regicide offers the game’s toughest challenge.