The Dragon Temple is a massive dungeon your party must explore in Metaphor: ReFantazio during a mandatory Operation. Out of all the dungeons you delve into in the main story, this one is among the hardest due to its sheer variety of enemies. It is almost impossible to craft the perfect party to tackle the many enemies and bosses of this place unless you know what you're up against.

Just like any other dungeon, time is your greatest enemy in the Dragon Temple. The hardest part about tackling a dungeon is trying to beat it in as few days as possible, but this can only be done if nothing goes wrong. You'll have to know which enemies are weak to what, which status ailments in Metaphor: ReFantazio you have to watch out for, and many other factors to succeed.

How To Prepare For The Dragon Temple Dungeon

Make Your Party The Strongest It Can Be

Due to the enemy variety in the Dragon Temple, no one party is perfectly designed to challenge the dungeon. The only way to beat the Dragon Temple is to adapt and change your team often, especially as you reach new floors where never-before-seen enemies appear. Although much of your run may be improv, here are some easy ways to prepare beforehand:

• Complete Any Side Quests Available
• Level Up Against Basic Enemies
• Collect Gold Beetles
• Advance Follower Bonds As Much As Possible

The Dragon Temple is located in the Virga Islands, a region with plenty of side quests you can complete. Finishing optional quests around the area will help level up your party, as well as earn reward items that can help you survive in the dungeon. You may even unlock a quest called "The Guiding Gift" that can be pursued in the Dragon Temple for even greater rewards.

Another easy way to prepare is to just grind out battles against low-level enemies to increase your Commander level. If you can reach the "General" Archetype, you'll have stronger abilities for challenging the Dragon Temple's enemies.

Gold Beetles are collectibles in Metaphor: ReFantazio that you can gather to earn the Venomward Charm item. This Accessory is crucial for the final boss of the Dragon Temple, as it prevents its wearer from contracting physical status ailments. This artifact prevents Poison, Malady, Paralysis, Hex, Burn, and Frostbite if you get the 12 Gold Beetles necessary to unlock it.

Increasing bonds can strengthen the Archetypes of your party and unlock new items to buy from vendors. Advancing a bond like Brigetta's will allow you to purchase Igniters - items that allow you to cast Almighty magic. Since very few enemies Resist or Nullify Almighty in the Dragon Temple, buying a bunch of this item will give you a way to consistently deal damage at any point.

How To Enter The Dragon Temple Dungeon

Poison The Tree Blocking Your Path

Even if you reach the Dragon Temple ahead of the main story, you can't enter it until you find a way past the giant tree blocking the entrance. The only way to get by this obstacle is to poison it using a Potion of Blight, which you'll need to craft yourself. Head to the Comfort Concoctions shop to buy a key ingredient for the Potion when you travel to Grand Trad and visit the Sunshade Row area.

Once here, you can spend 500 Reeve to buy Parchwater, which can be brought back to the NPC Edeni on the Virga Islands. This character will help you craft the Potion of Blight, which opens up the ability to accept the Dragon Temple Operation quest. By accepting the quest, you can head to the Temple and use the Potion to start a fight with an enemy called a Treebeast Alento.

Treebeast Alentos are pretty common in the Dragon Temple, so you'll want to know how to defeat them fast. These enemies are weak to Fire, giving you a good idea of what Archetypes in Metaphor: ReFantazio work best against them. With the right party , this fight should be pretty easy, leading you into the Dragon Temple's first area - The Corridor.

How To Navigate The Dragon Temple Dungeon

Search For The Right Path Away From Enemies

There are six major floors to the Dragon Temple, excluding the initial entrance and the Corridor that marks the dungeon's beginning. Each area has its gimmicks and tricks that try to confuse you, along with several treasures to discover. While you do want to explore each floor fully for all possible loot, keep in mind that the longer it takes to explore, the more fights you and your party will have to endure.

Floor 2 - The Labyrinthine Path

The Corridor of the Dragon Temple is pretty straightforward, but the following Labyrinthine Path is anything but. This area features multiple paths leading to stairs going up and down, with some teleporting you back to the start of this dungeon floor. Even though some paths lead to some good treasures, it's incredibly easy to get lost navigating this series of paths.

The best Archetypes to use here are ones with Fire and Wind attacks to deal with Treebeast Alento and Gold Elementa enemies respectfully.

You can tell which paths are false in two ways - the fog that forms around them or the gold thread on the ceiling. Looking up will show the path out of this area by showcasing a golden thread leading you in the right direction. However, if you get lost, simply watch for fog forming around the edges of your screen, which warns you if a staircase leads back to the area's start.

Floor 3 - Canopy Chamber

As you follow the golden path out of the Labyrinth floor, you'll enter the Canopy Chamber. After a brief cutscene, you will have the character Eupha the party, but as a guest rather than a playable character in Metaphor: ReFantazio. Don't forget to save your game at the Plateau area before the Canopy and switch out party if you need to.

This area is extremely straightforward, featuring some cutscenes and a linear path with few enemies. The two new foes you do come across are Spektos of Lament and Spellwrought Gargostas, who have different weaknesses than other foes from the earlier floors. Spektos are weak to Light attacks, while Gargostas are weak to Wind, so plan your party's Archetype composition accordingly.

Floor 4 - Drakongrace Shinjuku

Getting through the Canopy reveals an astonishing discovery - an ancient civilization buried deep underground called Drakongrace Shinjuku. This "floor" is extremely long, with tons of new enemies that threaten to exhaust your party completely of resources. One of the new enemy types called Labovesps can easily wipe out an injured group unless you get the drop on them with Wind magic.

The Magla Hollow is a save point in Drakongrace Shinjuku, but you can also use it to travel out of the dungeon to rest and recover. Even though this will cause more time to , it's better than letting your party wipe.

As you explore the ancient city, you'll find your party in a huge building divided into two sections - A Bounty of Relics and The Steel Rendezvous. While there is a series of lifts leading to the second and third floors of this building, the two sections mentioned only involve the first and fourth floors. These are the only two places you can reach, so you need to figure out how to navigate both.

A Bounty of Relics features a special enemy called Homo Orelon, ear-shaped monsters that roam the area. These enemies are very hard to defeat, but they only move when you do when you explore. This makes them easy to avoid, so escape or flee from these enemies however you can to find your way to The Steel Rendezvous without trouble.

Within The Steel Rendezvous, you have to deal with more Homo Orelons, alongside many other annoying enemies. For example, there are Ostoflos who are weak to Fire and Light, but absorb Dark while using Cursed Fog to deal Dark damage to your whole party. Some other enemies include:

The goal of the Rendezvous is to find several switches that open paths elsewhere in the building. These switches are guarded by several monsters, forcing you to fight or creatively avoid different encounters. Activating every switch will reveal a set of stairs leading down into another area, named The Ghost Town of Dreams.

Floor 5 - The Ghost Town Of Dreams

This final floor of the dungeon features its strongest enemies, who sport more health and damage than anyone you've fought so far. You want to destroy Dark Magla Crystals you come across in this area to lower the number of enemies that spawn on this dungeon floor. If you have purified weapons in Metaphor: ReFantazio, this process will be much easier.

As you can see in the above video by YouTube creator BAI GAMING, more Homo Orelon enemies are found here, but some of the most dangerous on this floor include:

Some other enemies in the entire Drakongrace Shinjuku area will act like mines on the ground, so try to walk carefully as you explore this massive part of the Dragon Temple dungeon.

You want to activate every switch in this area once again, trapping some of the Homo Orelon enemies on various paths. Once you've done this, return to The Steel Rendezvous and go to the bottom right corner of the sub-area to access a new part of A Bounty of Relics you couldn't get to before.

This secret area will have another switch you can activate to unlock one of the lifts back in Drakongrace Shinjuku's explorable building. Return there and use the lift to go down to another part of The Steel Rendezvous, as the Dragon Altar is guarded by one too many Homo Orelon ears. You need to find the source of the Homo Orelons and kill it to move forward through the dungeon.

Unlike the other Homo Orelons, the main enemy controlling the rest will flee from you as you approach it. Use the switches from The Steel Rendezvous area to trap the final Homo Orelon and fight it once it can't move elsewhere. This battle can be a bit tricky, so use status effects and Electric attacks to target the creature's weaknesses in Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Floor 6 - The Moment of Epiphany

Returning to A Bounty of Relics will allow you to access the lift again once you destroy the boss Homo Orelon controlling the others. Take the lift to the new area called The Moment of Epiphany to reach a large, mostly open space. This area is crawling with many of the same enemies from every part of Drakongrace Shinjuku you've explored, acting as a final test before the dungeon's boss.

At the end of The Moment of Epiphany, there is a small path leading back to this floor's entrance, giving you a chance to return to earlier floors of the dungeon to find items you may have missed.

You can either destroy the Dark Magla Crystals in this area to limit what enemies spawn or make a dash for the other side of this space to progress. Whatever method you choose, you will likely be forced to fight, so be prepared with recovery items before moving forward. Go to the large doors at the other end of this floor to reach The Altar of the Twelve, where the Dragon Temple's final boss awaits.

How To Beat Malvirta Drako Eht

Slay A Possessed Dragon

The Altar of the Twelve features a powerful set of bosses named Malvirta Drako Eht and Homo Margo, who can decimate a party weakened by the previous dungeon floors. Homo Margo is a human enemy with powerful magic, while Malvirta Drako Eht is a dragon with tons of health and physical attacks. Both enemies have plenty of tricks up their sleeves, so be ready for anything.

The best strategy here is to target Homo Margo first to narrow the fight down to only one enemy. As this fight begins, Eupha s the party with their Summoner class, giving you another set of skills in Metaphor: ReFantazio's RPG systems to control. With Eupha on your team, it's a good idea to buff allies whenever you can throughout the fight to increase Attack and Defense as much as possible.

A good party composition for this boss fight is a Healer, Seeker, Mage, and Faker to give your group a balance between offensive skills, applying enemy debuffs, and healing against enemy damage.

Malvirta Drako Eht has a variety of abilities, including a skill called Dragon God's Breath that can apply Dark damage to your entire party. Poison Scratch is another skill of the dragon that deals Poison damage, making the Venomward Charm from your preparations extremely important to equip. Use Wind and Ice elemental attacks to keep up with the boss' damage output with the party you have.

As long as Homo Margo is active, he can heal any debuffs applied to Malvirta Drako Eht. Focus on only applying one debuff at a time rather than dedicating multiple party ' turns to stacking something that won't last. Once Margo is out of the way, you can easily apply what debuffs you need to make defeating Malvirta Drako Eht much easier.

How To Beat Homo Margo

Take Down A Sore Loser

Once you beat Malvirta Drako Ehit, Homo Margo will flee out of the Dragon Temple to the Virga Islands, ready to destroy everyone there. Your party immediately pursues, challenging the dragon rider before he can cause widespread chaos in the land. This enemy brings out everything they can to survive, with several new attacks beyond what you saw in the previous battle.

For starters, Homo Margo can use their Prayer Reversal skill to switch its elemental typing and create an elemental barrier. This makes it impossible to target an elemental weakness of the boss, as they now Block half of the attacks your party normally uses. Eupha's Archetype in particular struggles in this fight, but they can still help cure debuffs applied to your team and provide some healing.

You can tell which elemental attacks Homo Margo will use based on what color it changes into during Prayer Reversal. For example, if it glows blue, it will likely use Ice attacks.

Success here comes from your preparation, as you can use Igniter items from bonding with Brigetta to deal Almighty damage. This will cut through Prayer Reversal's barrier, allowing you to deal more damage to the boss. Those who have unlocked the General Archetype for the protagonist will also be able to deal higher damage, allowing this boss fight to become much easier.

All you have to do is keep track of Homo Margo's type changes and continue pressuring the boss to eventually take it down. Completing this battle will conclude your adventures through the Dragon Temple dungeon in Metaphor: ReFantazio and allow you to progress through the game's ongoing story.

Source: BAI GAMING/YouTube