While it’s not a true dungeon, the Northern Border Fort will be your first taste of real combat in Metaphor: ReFantazio. You arrive here after enlisting back in the Royal Capital and upon getting here, you learn that something is wrong at the fort. Strohl and you decide to check it out, with him officially becoming an ally here. Back in control, approach the front gate of the fort to learn the horrifying truth, a human has attacked the place!
The Northern Border Fort is your first taste of the combat in Metaphor.
Rescue the Survivors¶
Once you’re inside the fort, move straight forward to encounter your first enemy, with the game offering up a tutorial about how the battle systems work in Metaphor. For the majority of enemies you encounter on the field, you have the option to either initiate a Squad Battle or strike them with your weapon on the field. If you opt for the latter, you have the ability to stun enemies first and going into a Squad Battle while they’re stunned will give you an advantage.
This has two main advantages, as you will always start the Squad Battle by doing damage to all enemies, plus they will remain stunned for a whole turn. Note that there is a chance they’ll recover from their stunned state if you attack them, so there is always that risk. There is also a risk that an enemy could hit you on the field prior to a Squad Battle, which causes them to gain an advantage during the fight, as they get a full turn to attack you before you can do anything.
(1 of 3) Striking an enemy on the overworld will deplete its stun gauge.
You have a basic attack that uses your equipped weapon (Square/X), then Skills that you can use. Thanks to the igniter you have equipped, you can use Mage Fire here, which is going to be more powerful than your basic attack. After defeating the creature, look to the east to spot some side paths. The southern one leads to an item (Medicine), while the other brings you to some jail cells. There will be more enemies down here (Feral Hundos and Homo Tentas), so fight them if you wish. The one cell at the end will have a Revival Medicine, so make sure you grab it.
Return to the main hallway and pass through the doorway to the north. There’s another Homo Oppo here, but you can sneak up behind it and attack to deplete the break gauge in one strike. Defeat it, then loot the Medicine near it and continue up the stairs. When you enter the tower, feel free to speak to the NPCs, but just go up the stairs. Ignore the door here and keep going to the top for another Medicine. Double back to the door and go through it now, where you’ll emerge into a new area.
Climb the Tower¶
This area is a little more open, so head to the southwest first to find an item in that corner (Broken Igniter). The Broken Igniter is in a category of items called Exchange, which are used for selling to shops for money; they have no other purpose, so if you see the diamond icon, you can sell them. Back in the main area, look for the doorway you can enter on the southern side, which is a larger room filled with barrels. Be careful of the two enemies in here and get the Medicine.
(1 of 3) Go all the way up the stairs in the tower to find an item.
To the north is another egg-like monster, blocking the path forward, so take it out and look south for some stairs. An Old Coin will be behind some crates in the corner before going all the way down. At the bottom, fight through more enemies and at the end (watch for the surprise monster), you’ll find a Magla Pill. That’s everything here, so backtrack to the large gate and pass through it to face your first boss, the Homo Gorleo!
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