With 14 total Bonds to seek out and unlock in Metaphor: ReFantazio, you’ll have to be on the lookout to bring them to your side. Seven of these Bonds are reserved for your party members, while the others are allies who support you from the sidelines and although some are simple to unlock, some require a bit more work. Maria’s Bond will begin automatically, and then become optional following the first event, keep reading to learn how to rank her up and more about her abilities and Archetypes.

Table of Contents¶

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Unlocking the Maria Follower Bond¶

You’ll unlock Maria’s Bond very early in the adventure, the fourth automatic Bond you’ll get access to after Gallica, Storhl, and Hulkenberg, on 6/10. Grius will ask you if you can read with Maria, and after obliging, a friendship is struck, unlocking her Bond and the Healer Archetype. You’ll then need to wait a while, until you get access to Fast Travel in Martira.

Most of her Bond events consist of returning to her with new drawings from Neuras based on some of the areas you visit during your Gauntlet Runner travels. You will need to make sure you focus on your Tolerance Royal Virtue, however, as two of her ranks require Rank 2 and 4 respectively. Maria’s Bond is one you should prioritize whenever it’s available, as her ability unlocks are some of the best in the game, such as increasing EXP earned in battle and allowing you to cook on the Gauntlet Runner without using up a time slot.

Maria Rank up Events and Abilities¶

There is a total of eight Rank Up events for Maria and as mentioned above, after unlocking the Bond automatically for the first event, the other seven are entirely optional. The table below will detail how to get each Rank for Maria and the ability it unlocks.

For the majority of Maria’s Rank Up events, it will coincide with when you gain access to a new drawing based on the areas you pass on the Gauntlet Runner. Maria will always be available during the day but try to look to get your Tolerance up as soon as possible, you’ll want to be able to get Rank 7 as soon as possible on 9/13 so you start gaining a lot more EXP from Squad Battles, this is especially noticeable when you score an EXP bonus from not getting hit in a battle. Outside of this, Maria’s Bond is one of the easier ones to rank up in Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Rank 1 Ability - Healer Archetype¶

Metaphor: ReFantazio can be very challenging at times, especially on the harder difficulties, so having access to an Archetype specced around healing is a massive boon. You’ll get access to a group heal spell in Medi, a way to cure any ailment, Light damage attacks and of course, Dekunda, which will remove any debuff effects from any allies. This is an Archetype that is useful for a lot of characters to dip into and unlock some skills for inheritance.

Rank 2 Ability - Healer Enlightenment¶

Healer Enlightenment works the same as the other Enlightenment abilities by decreasing the cost of MAG needed to study any of the Healer Archetypes. There are three Archetypes in this tree, and you’ll want to dip into them to learn useful skills for inheritance, even if you don’t main the Healer Archetypes.

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

The first upgrade to the Healer is the Cleric Archetype, where the main focus is on a better group heal and the addition of revival skills, more specifically, Samarecarm from Rank 20 is a very useful skill to inherit as it will revive a party member with full HP. Additionally, they get access to some useful Synthesis Skills, such as Godly Blessing (not to be confused with the passive of the same name) that will revive all allies with full HP for 18 MP!

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 - Purpose and Speed Cooking¶

Both of the Rank 4 abilities are fantastic and something that you should look to unlock as soon as possible. Purpose will increase how much EXP you obtain from Squad Battles, this will make life a lot easier in general. When on the Gauntlet Runner, you can cook some very useful dishes with great effects, such a group MP restoratives or stat buffing foods but unfortunately, this takes up a time slot. With Speed Cooking, that’s no longer an issue, and you should look to cook on every time slot whenever you travel on the Gauntlet Runner.

Rank 5 Ability - Healer Veneration¶

Healer Veneration is the upgrade to Healer 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, the Healer Archetypes make great fodder for skills to inherit, so save MAG there is useful.

Rank 6 Ability - Scion’s Merit¶

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

Rank 7 Abilities - Burning Purpose and Chef’s Chops¶

Just like the fantastic Rank 4 abilities, both Burning Purpose and Chef’s Chops are basically straight upgrades and one of the main reasons why you want to beeline Maria’s Bond whenever you get the chance. You’ll now get significantly more EXP from Squad Battles and whenever you cook a dish, you’ll get a second one absolutely free, especially useful for some of the dishes that require rarer ingredients.

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

The final Healer Archetype is the Saviour, a healer master that gives you access to a heavy group cure, a group version of Patra that will cure status ailments for all allies and the very useful Patrecarm, this will allow the target to endure a fatal attack with 1 HP, but it’s only usable once a battle. The Divine Punishment Synthesis Skill is also a highlight, inflicting extreme Light damage to all enemies while also inflicting a one-time Weakness to Light. With this, you can essentially use it on every turn and the enemies will always be Weak to it (other than the first cast of it).

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 Healer to be the ultimate support caster.

There you have it; all of Maria’s Bonds and Abilities in Metaphor: ReFantazio. The Purpose and Cooking abilities at Ranks 4 and 7 make her Bond an easy contender for one of the first ones to rank up, making your life a lot easier, saving you some time, and helping you reach the higher levels a lot quicker.