With the "evil bandit" ex-knight Heismay's truths unmasked, it's time to delve deeper into the mystery at the heart of Martira's ongoing sorrows. It's time for Kriegante Castle, the second of Metaphor: ReFantazio's more in-depth dungeons after Regalith Grand Cathedral back in Grand Trad.
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Posts 1Not unlike the Grand Cathedral and early sub-sections, a single jump down the town well won't be enough to wrap things up. Rather, it's a prelude, a taste of things to come. From that brief foray, to prepping for the rest, to every zone throughout the Rotting Waterway and beyond, our guide will cover it all.
First Foray Into The Rotting Waterway
This initial jaunt is a straight line to a nearby objective. Grab the blue item, a Damascus Ore, along the way. After the scene, a fight with three Hellhound Diabundos commences, and Heismay joins the party!
The Hellhound Diabundos are rather weak, but just to get you a sturdy edge over them, know that they're weak to Slash.
Heismay brings with him the Thief Archetype. Before we turn our attention back to Kriegante Castle, we'll be getting some prep work out of the way with our newfound friend.
Don't panic when the Thief Archetype isn't unlocked just yet. Technically, you need to retire at the tavern, which triggers a cutscene that adds Heismay as a follower and grants you the Thief.
Full Dungeon Preparations
Now that you have four party members, it's a great time to get some levels and equipment via places like the Abandoned Tomb, which begins when you have the second rank in the Kingly Virtue, Imagination, and speak with the Pompous Man in Martira.
That quest will see you unlock the Faker Archetype, which comes with some invaluable skills, including the Attack-lowering Tarunda.
Our guide's combat strategies will operate under the assumption that you have unlocked Faker.
If you've not yet brought down the Goborn King and fulfilled that bounty, go ahead and do so now. With it turned in, the recruitment centre guard will inform you of a quest back in Grand Trad that will send you back to the Grand Cathedral's Mausoleum section.
Additionally, there's a new bounty, for Alpha Rockworm Valmo in Man-Eater's Grotto. What we're getting at here, of course, is that you should consider doing all, or at least most, of these quests prior to re-entering Kriegante Castle.
These do take time, mind you. Travel time for the overworld dungeons, and a day's actions for the Mausoleum quests. Yet, with nearly two weeks until the deadline, you've got plenty of time to spare.
With all of that out of the way, do some shopping with your hard-earned reeve, outfitting everyone to the best of your ability. Replenish your supply of healing items and status affliction curatives, and remember to scoop up as many MP restoration items as possible.
Don't stop grabbing Medicinal Leaf items despite their low HP restore. They're excellent for using en masse between battles rather than auto-healing, which expends MP.
Rotting Waterway
Main Enemies On This Floor
Notes
Kapcerto
Resists Fire.
Pyrite Imitec
Weak to Light. Use the Merchant's Gold Attack to distract it, reducing its turn actions.
When you're prepared for a long dungeon, head down the well again, retracing your steps to where you fought those Hellhounds. At path's end, flip the switch to your left to bring down a drawbridge.
Across the drawbridge, a pair of Kapcertos spawn - our first enemies of the day. Behind the breakable jars here is a blue item, Calendula Cotton. Keep north, grabbing a Thrilling Tintinnabulator (cures sleep) and Iron Sand.
Cross the stone bridge westward. Interacting with the switch on your left on the opposite side will create a shortcut back to the entrance. North from here is an appraisable item, Gritty Longarm. Continue your trek, through the tunnel on the left. North and north we go.
The fish-headed enemy running back and forth up here is nothing like the fellow from Giant Sandworm's Belly; you can probably take him out with a quick slash like other foes in this room.
To the east is a new room, with the quest marker, but let's first explore to the west. Here's the first Magla Hollow for Kriegante Castle, as well as Fermis Ointment, Blessed Water, and a chest with a Pyrite Imitec.
Within the chest is a Prowler's Pipe, which increases the effectivess of the Steal skill. Neat! In the southern rooms, there's a Nightlong Candle, a Gritty Polearm, and a chest containing a Magla Injection.
Old Waterway
Main Enemies On This Floor
Notes
Kapcerto
Resists Fire.
Pyrite Imitec
Weak to Light. Use the Merchant's Gold Attack to distract it, reducing its turn actions.
Time for some stealth action. Or, if you'd prefer to attempt the fight, action action. We'll cover how you can stand a chance against this very-much-optional encounter, since we did, indeed, pull it off. But for now, here's how to get past it.
Collect the Magla Potion directly behind you. As you can see, the goal is to get from hiding spot to hiding spot, each of which is a little alcove throughout the path out of here. The creature has pretty terrible eyesight, apparently, so just hanging back there is enough.
Optional Boss: ???
Character
Archetype
Formation
Strategy
Protagonist
Magic Seeker
Front
Liberal castings of Medi; whenever anyone is at less than half HP, use it for party-wide healing. Sulphurous Salt usage to cure Daze. Corrosive Acid, if you have them, to lower ???'s Defense. If a free action comes up, and you can, use Energy Ray synthesis with Strohl.
Strohl
Brawler
Front
Perfect Punch when at full HP and not assisting either Hulkenberg with her Leap Thrust or the protagonist with Strohl's Energy Ray. Otherwise, toss out Dazes (and Medicines) as needed, and help with Corrosive Acid distribution as well.
Hulkenberg
Magic Knight
Front
Leap Thrust synthesis with Strohl to lower Defence. Hammer of Justice synthesis with the protagonist thereafter.
Heismay
Thief
Front
Heismay should repeatedly cast Tarunda until ???'s Attack is completely minimized. Two turns later, when the arrows blink, indicating it wears off the following turn, apply Tarunda again.
At first blush, the fight with ??? (that's indeed its designation) might seem borderline-impossible. It has high accuracy; it attacks with Shadow Shockwave for heavy party-wide damage, it gets four turns every round, it uses Stare to Daze your team... the list goes on.
The trick is to keep casting Tarunda with Heismay, whose Agility guarantees he'll evade more attacks than anyone else, therefore protecting him in the process. Use it three times until three arrow indicators are seen under ATK when looking at the enemy.
Here's the beauty of this process: recasting Tarunda on the turn that the arrows blink, which signifies that the debuff is about to disappear, restores the full, three-stage ATK reduction for another three turns.
With ???'s otherwise-devastating Shadow Shockwave far more manageable, the protagonist can dole out healing with Medi, which wouldn't have been enough under normal circumstances. You will need to use Sulphurous Salt and/or Patra regularly, as Daze is now the big threat.
Strohl, when he's at full HP and isn't going to be used for a synthesis, should use Perfect Punch for decent chip damage. Occasionally, he can enlist help from the protagonist with the Energy Ray synthesis.
Otherwise, he'll either be assisting Hulkenberg with Leap Thrust, which lowers its Defense, or assisting her again when that's applied for Hammer of Justice for high damage. This Leap Thrust->Hammer of Justice spiral is your main source of offensive damage with our setup.
For your effort, you'll earn one Health Incense, as well as a decent amount of EXP and MAG. It's not a lot, honestly, but it's something.
Onward
Whether you've successfully driven off ???, or shied away from the considerable challenge, keep to the path, defeating weak enemies and grabbing items along the way.
In the far-east room, the lower chest contains the Matterbreak Hammer weapon; in the upper chest, another Pyrite Imitec awaits.
This fight's well worth it, by the way. The Imitec drops a Hero's Leaf of Light, and after the battle, you'll receive an Orison Xephos sword.
Among the scattered blue items on the northwest passage is a Hero's Incense. Before going all the way to the new red quest marker, take a moment to climb the staircase surrounded by toothy monsters for a Spirit Dust.
Another hide-and-seek with ??? awaits. Full disclosure: we haven't tested whether ??? drops a different item if you fight it again, as we were conserving MP at this point. The chest here contains an Amnesty Talisman.
Do go ahead and grab the blue items along the way, as one of them is a nifty Graced Water. Also, it might be a "me thing", but we had the hardest time getting past this fellow right at the end, as his gaze goes diagonally for the only time. Keep a look out!
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PostsOld Reservoir
Main Enemies On This Floor
Notes
Homo Casco
Weak to Electric. If stunned heading into battle, you can likely two-hit kill it with Kande followed by Perfect Punch at full HP.
Ochre Homo Tenta
Weak to Pierce. Resists Strike.Blocks Electric.
Cursewight Magileto
Weak to strike; resists pierce.
Six Floodgates...
This cutscene spells things out neatly: there are six switches in the Old Reservoir, which must be flipped to lower six floodgates, which will, in turn, lower the water level enough for us to proceed.
What the game doesn't tell you, however, is that some of these switches will need to be flipped in a set order. If this isn't done, then lowered floodgates will actually bar your access to other switches.
Start by flipping the switches to your immediate west and east. Now, let's head east first, so go right. Here, you'll encounter Homo Casco and Ochre Homo Tenta for the first time. The blue items on the first floor here are Magla Pill, and Desert Oakwood.
Without interacting with the floodgate switch on this floor, ascend the staircase. This way, we can cross a portion of the upstairs area via the drawbridge while it's still that high.
Grab the blue items along the way to the fourth drawbridgem further upstairs, then return to the lower level, drop the third drawbridge here, explore this area, and wrap back around to the center of the Old Reservoir.
With four drawbridges down, Gallica automatically freaks out that the monster is coming. Nope, it's not a timed situation! Take all the time you need here.
The western zone, with the fifth and sixth drawbridges, involves moving through a lower level with weak enemies, finding the staircase at the bottom-left of the map, and then climbing up to another area.
In this new area, switches to both remaining drawbridges can be found. The last of them opens the way to a treasure chest with the fantastic Divine Speed Clothes. Return to the start of the area and descend the ladder.
You'll see a treasure chest weirdly close by; we can't get it from this side.
A ton of weak enemies are down here, the majority of which, or quite possibly all of which, can be dispatched in overworld combat.
Once you've swept them all away and picked up all the blue items, turn around, and if you've not yet seen it, the treasure chest is on the opposite side of the structure with the ladder.
Opening the chest triggers one more fight with a Pyrite Imitec. For your trouble, you get a Hero's Leaf of Light and the Warrior's sword, Beast Slayer.
...And An Attempted Funeral
Climb the ladder on the far side to exit the section with all the slimes and the Pyrite Imitec. You'll find the second Magla Hollow. This next part has two Magla Flowers to destroy.
You can freely spawn weak enemies from the multiple Magla Flowers here. It's good for quick EXP and money, but bear in mind that these are fast monsters that can overwhelm you in the overworld if you're not careful. It'll eat up your HP!
Finish your reign of terror on the pair of Magla Flowers before catching up to the red quest marker to your right. Be prepared to keep running during a brief chase segment with the big, scary, monster we've been dealing with. It's hard to mess this up, though.
A third Magla Hollow is ahead in the new area. Save your game, then move into... a trap!
Sinners' Dungeon
Thank goodness Morris didn't notice Gallica, eh? Once you've busted out of your cell, move ahead some more, and during a chat with Heismay, you will be informed that the order within which you open everyone's cells matters.
Indeed, different monsters are in each one. If you want to dispatch them all with relative ease, there is a bit of an order, but frankly, it's not terribly important except that you should leave Strohl for last.
The monster that's freed when you rescue Strohl is a Chimenza, and if you have the misfortune of getting ambushed by it (avoid those fast-paced area-of-effect strikes in the overworld!), it can be a right pain.
Chimenza will start with Kandera, which deals medium-tier Electric damage. It follows that up with Fire Breath, which is party-wide Fire damage, and then Gakende, which is party-wide Electric damage. If you're especially unlucky with crits, Skull Cracker will keep piling on damage.
Casting Tarunda to lower its Attack will prompt it to consistently spend a turn action removing the debuff. This probably works with any debuff you cast, but regardless, it'll lessen Chimenza's enthusiasm considerably. Chimenza's weak to Wind.
One of the blue items here is an Ambrosia, which restores 50 percent HP to all allies. The three chests contain Sleepy Eyed Katana, Sapper Pendant, and Antumbra Igniter.
Press on, through the exit to the west and up to another floor. The chest has another Ambrosia. The blue item's a Miraculous Medicine. The final room, with the four blue items, is a story section - examine each item as the team pieces together this harrowing tale.
Homo Jaluzo
To wrap up the Kriegante Castle mystery, our heroes must contend with Homo Jaluzo, the dungeon's boss. Read our guide for a complete breakdown on how to beat Homo Jaluzo.
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