Fans of Persona will be pleases to know that a type of Social Link system returns in Metaphor: ReFantazio with the Followers system. There are 14 Bonds to find and unlock, and while seven of them are reserved for the main party, the rest are from other supporters across the Kingdom of Euchronia. Bardon is one such character that you’ll meet during your time in Martia, keep reading to learn how to rank him up and more about his abilities and Archetypes.

Table of Contents¶

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Unlocking the Bardon Follower Bond¶

Bardon plays a major role during the story events in Martira as the acting Commander of the guard there. Following the events, you’ll get some free days before you make your departure for Brilehaven, it’s here when his Bond becomes unlockable (although you can choose to do it on any free day at this point). That’s all there is to it, simply speak to him during the day on any free day after those events to unlock Bardon and the Commander Archetype.

The Bardon Bond that has many uses, and the Commander Tree does have three Archetypes to unlock, but its abilities aren’t as useful as some of the other ones like Alonzo, Maria, and Catherina. Still, there are some good abilities in there, such as Care Package procs quite often and you can get some really good restoratives out of it. Rapid Swapper is another ability that offers some great quality of life, making it so swapping a party member in during battle will only take half a turn.

Bardon Rank up Events and Abilities¶

There is a total of eight Rank Up events for Bardon and all of them are entirely optional, even if it’s difficult to miss the first event. The table below will detail how to get each Rank for Bardon and the ability it unlocks.

For the most part, Bardon’s Bond events are rather simple, simply speak to him during the day whenever you have free days (provided you wait at least one full free day between each one). Once you reach his fifth event, you’ll need to ensure you have Eloquence Rank 3 which should be simple enough at that stage of the game. You may, however, reach a bit of a wall when you get to his seventh event and the A Right to Rule quest, you can access this rather early, but the quest ends with a boss battle against a Level 60 Human. We were able to defeat this boss with some degree of difficulty at Level 45 on Normal, but you may find you’ll need to put this on hold until much later in the adventure.

Rank 1 Ability - Commander Archetype¶

The Commander Archetype is focused on provided boons to the party while playing around with the formation system. You’ll get access to a skill that can move your entire party to the front row and boost their attack in the process and a group defensive buff with Marakukaja. Assault Beacon is a Synthesis Skill that is one of the best support skills in the game, offering an increase to Attack/Defence/Hit/Evasion for all allies for 3 turns, all for 26 MP, this alone justifies a Commander’s inclusion.

Rank 2 Ability - Commander Enlightenment¶

Commander Enlightenment works the same as the other Enlightenment abilities by decreasing the cost of MAG needed to study any of the Commander Archetypes. There are three Archetypes in this tree and many other Archetypes need some level of investment into it, indeed, Strohl will need to master the entire Tree to access his exclusive endgame Archetype.

Rank 3 Abilities - Commander Archetype: Adept and Scion’s Skill¶

The first upgrade to the Commander is the General Archetype, and while the Commander focused on moving allies to the front row, the General does the opposite, boosting their magic attack in the process. You’ll also get access to a group Attack up buff in Matarukaja and the almighty Synthesis Skill, Megidola, which is useful for when you come up against enemies that resist most attack-types.

Scion’s Skill is the first in the series of Scion abilities that grant you an extra Inheritance Slot. This is very useful for the Healer Archetypes as you can either give them some skills from the Mage Archetypes to make them a versatile spellcaster or add some more support skills, such as the Kaja skills.

Rank 4 Abilities - Protective Formation and Care Package¶

Protective Formation is a great ability that will increase your defense when the whole party is sitting in the back row. This is especially useful for when you know a special attack from a boss is coming your way, sit in the back row and guard and you’ll take very little damage.

Care Package is arguably the best ability from Bardon’s Bond as he has a chance to message you at the start of a day to deliver a package of restoration items. This seems to happen fairly often and you can score some very good items, such as some of the better restoratives in the game as you approach the later stages of the adventure.

Rank 5 Abilities - Scion’s Merit and Escape Artist¶

The second in the Scion’s series of abilities, this one will give you three Skill Inheritance slots for any Commander Archetype. You can now add some more useful support skills to your Commander, giving them a diverse range of spells to protect the party with.

Ever found yourself deep in a dungeon and you get ambushed by a strong enemy, choosing to flee instead? Only, you’re not so fortunate, it fails, and then the party is defeated. With the Escape Artist ability, your chances of successfully fleeing from a battle is now increased.

Rank 6 Abilities - Commander Veneration and Rapid Swapper¶

Commander Veneration is the upgrade to Commander Enlightenment, further decreasing the cost of MAG to study these Archetypes, reducing the base Archetype to as little as just under 1,000. As mentioned above, many other Archetypes from different Trees require some investment here, so it’s great to offset some of that cost.

Rapid Swapper will make changing party members during battle much less of a burden, as now it will only use half a turn icon instead of an entire turn. As you reach the later stages of the game and have the full party, you’ll find that you will often swap party members about to perhaps steal an item or provide some ample healing.

Rank 7 Ability - Escape Master¶

The upgrade to the Rank 5 ability, Escape Artist, this will see it so you’ll never fail to flee from a Squad Battle. Of course, this won’t work in battles where you can’t escape, such as bosses, but knowing you can always get away from any danger or unwanted battle with ease is great.

Rank 8 Abilities - Commander Archetype: Elite and Scion’s Essence¶

The final piece of the Commander Tree is the Warlord Archetype, which combines the best traits of both the Commander and the General with other goodies on top. Not only will you be able to move all allies to the front or back, but you’ll unlock passives that boost them in those positions too. You’ll also get access to some incredibly potent Synthesis Skills, such as Dynast Formation which is the best group buff in the game, buffing all stats to their highest. Megidolaon can also be used, a powerful Almighty based attack on all allies.

Scion’s Essence is the final Scion skill that increases your Skill Inheritance Slots. With four slots at your disposal, you can really customize the Commander to be the ultimate support caster.

There you have it; all of Bardon’s Bonds and Abilities in Metaphor: ReFantazio. While some of his abilities aren’t on the same level as some of the other supporters, Care Package will save you plenty of Reeve on restoratives and being able to escape from battles without worry is hard to turn down.