In Metaphor: ReFantazio, the party’s first and foremost weapons are their Archetypes.

It’s through the Archetypes that magic is channeled and strength is gained.

However, an Archetype is meant to work in concert with a normal weapon, enhancing it to battle against otherwise impenetrable foes.

You can’t be a proper hero if you don’t have a proper sword to swing around and pose with.

Luckily, the many stores and dungeons of Euchronia are rife with interesting weaponry to wield.

Some of them might just end up becoming the cornerstone of your battle strategy, or at least a reliable option to fall back on in dire times.

10 Nasu’s Longbow

Make Every Hit Count

The Archetypes of the Gunner lineage, particularly Sniper and Dragoon, employ multiple skills and Syntheses that can hit enemies multiple times.

Of course, how likely you are to actually land the maximum number of hits each time is a bit of a toss-up.

If you’re looking to even the odds, Nasu’s Longbow is just what you’re looking for.

Any multi-hit skill used when Nasu’s Longbow is equipped will always hit the maximum number of times possible.

This will help you to maximize your damage output, which in turn also helps to conserve the MP usually spent on extra shots.

9 Mace Of Renewal

More MP, Less Problems

As a support class, the Healer lineage has a constant need of MP.

You need MP to heal, you need MP to cleanse status effects, you need MP to revive, and so on.

MP is already a dwindling resource as it is, so it’d be to your benefit to offset the cost however possible.

With the Mace of Renewal, any time the user’s turn comes around, they’ll automatically recover a moderate amount of MP.

It’s not quite a full recovery, of course, but it can help boost your team’s overall longevity in a tussle.

8 Brawler King’s Fists

Stop Hitting Yourself

The Brawler lineage’s primary shtick is skills that consume HP instead of MP.

Several of these skills deal more damage the more health the user currently has.

Unfortunately, this means repeated use both weakens your Brawler and leaves them open to severe injury.

By using the Brawler King’s Fists, though, your physical skills won’t cause as much of a drain on your HP as they normally would.

Besides helping you last longer, this also provides more of a buffer for other party members to heal you back up between turns.

7 Annihilator King’s Axe

The Berserker lineage is all about damage, damage, damage.

This is why several of the Berserker, Destroyer, and Royal Berserker’s skills and Syntheses have the added benefit of piercing through enemy resistances.

If you’re already going whole hog on damage, you might as well put a little cherry on top.

The Annihilator King’s Axe provides a damage boost to all skills that have resistance-piercing properties.

Pair that with a little Charge action, and your Berserkers become walking bunker busters ready to blow away anything and everything.

6 King’s Crosier

Better Magic, More MP

The Summoner lineage packs some of the strongest, most varied magical skills in the game.

The trade-off is that these skills also have some of the highest MP costs, so a Summoner may not be able to stay in the game as long as others.

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Metaphor: ReFantazio: How To Increase MP

Without MP, you’re just a dude with a sword.

The King’s Crosier offsets that heavy consumption by providing a hearty increase to the user’s max MP.

Not only that, but it also provides a flat boost to the user’s Magic stat, making those strong spells even more potent.

5 Gambler’s Anelaces

Can’t Escape Criticals

The Faker lineage’s job in a fight is to weaken, hinder, and otherwise bamboozle the enemy.

Besides the usual debuffs and shield busting, one great way to mess with your foes is to keep them from taking their turn.

You can make things harder for your foes with the Gambler’s Anelaces, which always deal a guaranteed critical upon a successful hit.

Even if the critical doesn’t do that much damage, scoring it still means you get an extra press turn.

That’s more time for you to set up and attack and more your enemy has to prepare against.

4 Hero King’s Abacus

I’d Buy That For A Dollar

The Merchant lineage’s major selling point is high critical rate, Almighty-element attacks that consume money instead of MP.

It’s a nifty trick to bust out in a pinch, but depending on the weapon you’re using and your remaining funds, it can get a bit expensive for a long encounter.

Rather than abacuses that make your attacks even more expensive, try the Hero King’s Abacus for a discount.

Not only does this weapon make your Almighty attacks cheaper to use, but it also provides a flat boost to your Luck stat.

More Luck means easier critical hits, and you can never have too many of those.

3 Hero King’s Lance

If It Has To Hurt, Make It Hurt Less

The Knight lineage’s job is to serve as a bulwark for the party, drawing aggro and defending everyone from powerful single-target attacks.

If your Knight isn’t of a hearty constitution, though, they’re not going to be doing much defending.

To shore them up, equip the Hero King’s Lance.

This weapon provides a flat boost to the user’s Endurance stat, lessening all damage they receive.

Additionally, if their weak point is struck, the amount of damage they take from that is also decreased.

2 Hero King’s Sword

Cooperation Brings Strength

The Seeker lineage (and by extension, the Prince Archetype) is a jack-of-all-trades that does its best work with assistance from other Archetypes.

If you’re going to have buffs circulating around your party anyway, you might as well get a little something extra out of them in your Protagonist.

The Hero King’s Sword provides the user with a significant MP recovery every turn while they’re under the effect of any kind of buff.

It’s a good synergy to have in general, not to mention helpful for some of those MP-thirsty Prince skills.

1 Mage King’s Staff

A Little Bit Of Everything

What makes the Mage lineage so helpful is its ability to target enemy weaknesses with multiple types of magic.

Some Mage staves boost the power of specific elements of magic, but rather than putting all your eggs in one spellbook, it’s better to get a bit of everything.

The Mage King’s Staff increases the efficacy of all magic skills employed by the user, no matter what element they are.

As an added bonus, the user gets a flat boost to their Magic stat for a little extra wallop in their spells.

Next

Metaphor: ReFantazio All Elite Archetypes, Ranked

Each Archetype has its own role to play in Metaphor: ReFantazio and can be levelled to Elite tiers which unlock new skills and abilities.