Whoever said "diamonds are a girl's best friend" had clearly never met Strohl.
There are 14 followers in Metaphor: ReFantazio for your mate Will to buddy up with over the course of the story, but the ways in which you progress some of your future BFF’s bonds are never simple.
Some of them are triggered by naturally progressing the main storyline, others require you to complete a long-winded series of sidequests, and a couple of them require some undefined prerequisites to even trigger. All of them offer you something you’re definitely going to want to make it to Metaphor’s end game however: more archetypes.
In this guide I’ll tell you how to progress all of these bonds. I’ve listed them in the order in which you meet them, so don’t scroll any further than you have to if you’re mindful of spoilers. (I would personally consider the last follower in this guide to be a pretty big spoiler, which is why they’re placed at the very bottom.)
All 14 Metaphor: ReFantazio followers and what they unlock
Gallica
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Gallica’s bond is the only one that cannot be influenced. Her follower ranks will automatically progress as you make your way through the story and cannot be missed.
This can be a little bit annoying at times, as the only way to unlock the Mage archetypes is through her follower bonds. There are several archetype trees that require different stages of the mage tree to be unlocked, such as the knight’s archetypes, but unfortunately you’ll just have to wait for Gallica to like you enough to progress them.
One of the best unlocks is also tied to her follower bond—Victory Foresight. Once you’ve unlocked it, Gallica will occasionally show up in combat to increase the number of your available turn icons.
More
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More’s follower bonds progress completely differently to any other follower in Metaphor. For a start, you don’t actually have to progress any time to complete his bonds when you speak to him. You merely have to complete the tasks he’ll assign you, all of which require you to upgrade your archetypes.
However, the issue is that it’s actually impossible to complete More’s quests without progressing other follower’s bonds to a certain point. This is because several of the archetypes you’ll need to upgrade can only be unlocked by progressing said bonds.
These followers include Maria, Brigitta, Neuras, and Bardon. You’ll also have to fully unlock every tree in at least one archetype, which means you’ll have to get at least one follower to rank 7. It is worth doing though, as More’s bonds unlock the protagonist’s Seeker archetypes. His rank 8 bond also unlocks Archetype Evangelist, which gives all of your archetypes +3 stats when channelled.
Strohl
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Strohl is probably the easiest follower to rank up in the entire game, mostly because he’s the first party member you meet (if you don’t count Gallica) but also because the requirements to progress his ranks are relatively lax.
Once you’ve hung out with him enough and progressed his bond to rank 5, you’ll trigger the quest A Noble’s Legacy. To complete this one, you’ll have to level your Imagination up to rank 3… and that’s it. Told you this one was simple.
Strohl’s bonds unlock each of the three warrior archetypes: warrior, swordmaster, and samurai. As with all party members, you’ll eventually unlock the Battle Aura upgrades for Strohl this way.
Battle Aura allows Strohl to continue gaining experience points when he’s not in your party for battles, but it’s probably most immediately useful on Strohl. This is probably going to be the first party member’s follower bond that you complete, so make sure to start putting Strohl in your reserves once you have four party members.
Also, you might notice that Strohl’s final unlock, Grand Fantasy, might not be immediately useful if you complete his follower bonds too early in the story. Every party member unlocks Grand Fantasy, and it’s a bit of a spoiler to explain exactly what it does. It should be relatively obvious once it’s time to use it though.
Maria
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Maria is maybe the single most useful follower in Metaphor. However, progressing her bonds is no easy task. To progress her bond past rank two, you’ll have to have a Tolerance level of 2. Then you’ll need to increase your Tolerance up to level 4 to unlock her seventh rank.
That’s not all. Several of her bonds in-between two and seven require you to find special drawings, which you then give to Maria at the Honeybee Inn. These drawings can only be found once you finish the main story missions in Grand Trad and will be found automatically while travelling.
The rewards for jumping through these hoops are worth it though. At ranks one, three and eight, Maria’s bonds will unlock the Healer archetypes: Healer, Cleric, and Saviour. More importantly though, at rank four she’ll unlock both Purpose and Speed Cooking. Purpose is just a flat increase to the amount of XP you’ll gain and Speed Cooking allows you to cook without passing time. Both of these also evolve into Burning Purpose and Chef’s Chops at level seven, which just serve as buffed versions of the same skills.
Hulkenberg
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Hulkenberg is a little trickier to progress than Strohl. It’ll be easy to level her up until you get to her rank 7 bond, which requires you to have a Wisdom level of 4. Keep this in mind if you want to get her up to rank 8 quickly, as attaining that level of Wisdom will likely take you a while if you’re not actively pursuing it.
Hulkenberg’s follower bonds unlock the Knight archetypes: Knight, Magic Knight, Dark Knight, and Paladin. Like every party member, she’ll also unlock Battle Aura and Grand Fantasy at ranks 4 and 8. At rank 2 however, she’ll unlock Guard Duty. This will occasionally make Hulkenberg protect the protagonist from any super-effective damage in combat, and it can be a bit of a lifesaver once you start running into enemies that force weaknesses upon you.
Brigitta
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Before you can progress Brigitta’s bonds, you’ll first have to find her in front of the Igniter Shop in Grand Trad and unlock her quest A Bullish Embargo. Unlocking this quest requires you have a Wisdom level of 2 though, which won’t be immediately attainable for at least a few days until after you first meet her.
She’s got a few extra requirements beyond this too. To progress her fifth rank, you’ll need a Courage level of 3. And to progress her final rank, you’ll have to progress far enough into the story that you unlock something I would consider a massive spoiler. You’ll know it when you see it.
Progressing Brigitta’s follower bonds unlocks the Merchant archetypes: Merchant and Tycoon. Tycoon is only unlocked once you get to her eighth bond however. At rank five Brigitta’s Guild Discount will become available, which gives you a discount on all items in the weapons, armour, and igniter shops. At rank 7 you’ll also get Supply Crate, which will occasionally mean that you’ll receive a delivery from Brigitta at the start of the day with a bunch of money.
Catherina
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You’ll first bump into Catherina when you go through Grand Trad’s Mausoleum during the main story. This will trigger a quest called A Friend in Need which you’ll have to complete in the Mausoleum itself. Doing so unlocks Catherina as a follower.
After this, you’ll just have to keep progressing the story. You’ll run into Catherina a few more times (whether you want to or not) and automatically progress her ranks as you do, up until you get to rank 6. At this point, you can meet up with her in Altabury Heights and progress her bonds whenever you like, but you’ll need a Tolerance level of 5 to do so.
Catherina will unlock the Brawler archetypes: Brawler, Pugilist, and Martial Artist. You’ll also unlock something called Comrades in Battle at rank 7, which I personally think is the funniest follower unlock in the game. Once you have Comrades in Battle, Catherina will show up at random and punch whatever enemy you’re currently fighting in the face. Well worth the effort.
Neuras
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Neuras is another follower who isn’t entirely straightforward to progress. You’ll meet Neuras once you finish up the main quests in Grand Trad, at which point you’ll start making your way towards Martira.
All of Neuras’ follower bonds are actually tied to a quest called Providing a Spark, which will then trigger several other quests once completed. These quests are tied to story progression, as finding the locations of the quests is only possible after moving to different locations on the map.
Progressing Neuras’ bonds will unlock the Gunner archetypes: Gunner, Sniper, and Dragoon. Keep in mind that once you complete Neuras’ quests, you’ll have to then speak to him afterwards as you would with a normal follower.
Heismay
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Heismay can only be unlocked once you get about half way through the main story quest Apprehend the Kidnapper in the town Martira. You’ll have to wait until July 4th to properly begin progressing his bonds though, even if you complete the Apprehend the Kidnapper quest beforehand.
For his second bond to unlock, you’ll need an Eloquence level of 2, and for his seventh bond to unlock you’ll need an Imagination level of 4.
Imagination is a little tricky to improve in the early game, so don’t stress yourself out trying to improve it the second you meet him. You’ll get plenty of opportunities to improve this Royal Virtue after you leave Martira.
4Heismay unlocks the Thief archetypes; Thief, Assassin, and Ninja. He’ll also unlock Battle Aura at rank five and Grand Fantasy at rank eight. Unfortunately the rest of his unlocks aren’t really anything to write home about, but on the plus side he does have my favourite follower bond storyline so it’s worth doing anyway.
Alonzo
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Alonzo can be met almost immediately after you set foot in Martira, but good luck trying to progress his bonds quickly once you do. You’ll run into Alonzo in Thoroughfare Square, at which point he’ll be going under the in-game name of Pompous Man.
He’ll ask you to complete the quest A Dagger, a Ring, and a Rake, but you’ll need an Imagination level of 2 before you can even get him to talk to you. You’ll also need a Wisdom level of 3 to unlock his third rank, a Tolerance level of 3 to unlock his fourth rank, and a Courage level of 5 to complete his fifth rank.
You won’t even be able to progress to his fourth rank until you reach Port Brilehaven though, so don’t feel like you need to rush improving your Royal Virtues until you do.
Alonzo’s follower bonds unlock the Faker archetypes: Faker and Trickster. Just a heads up, I think the Faker archetypes are borderline necessary to complete some of the later end-game quests, so try to progress through Alonzo’s bonds when you can.
Also, his seventh bond unlocks Grifter’s Eye. This lets you analyze the weaknesses of any enemies (other than bosses) before you even fight them, which is so incredibly useful later on when more enemies start repelling the elemental damage you throw their way.
Bardon
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Although you’ll meet Bardon in Grand Trad and spend a lot of time hanging out with him once you get to Martira, you can’t actually progress his bonds until you finish the main story quest Apprehend the Kidnapper.
He’ll also require you to have an Eloquence level of 3 before you can complete his fifth bond. Then after that, you’ll have to complete the quest The Right to Rule before you can progress past his seventh bond.
Bardon’s bonds unlock the Commander archetypes: Commander, General, and Warlord. Along the way though, Bardon will unlock several different passive skills that are all genuinely pretty useful.
At rank 6, he’ll grant you Rapid Swapper. This lets you swap your party members out mid-combat for half of the cost. At rank 7, you’ll get Escape Master. This one massively increases your chances of being able to escape during combat, which is incredibly useful for when you get ambushed.
Junah
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Junah can be met and unlocked at the end of the main quest Infiltrate the Charadrius in Port Brilehaven. You won’t be able to progress her bonds until you reach Virga Island though, at which point you’ll have to complete the main story quest Obtain Drakodios. Then, once you’ve done all of that, Junah will give you the quest Save the Mourning Snakes. Completing this will finally unlock Junah’s bonds.
Oh, and you’ll need an Imagination level of 4 before you can finish her fifth bond. Sheesh. Almost as many hoops to jump through as Alonzo’s follower bonds.
Junah unlocks the Masked Dancer archetypes: Masked Dancer and Persona Master. And yes, just like every other party member, she’ll also unlock Battle Aura and Grand Fantasy at ranks five and eight.
However, at rank seven, Junah will give you something worth all the effort: Heroes’ Hymn. This allows your entire party to automatically regenerate some MP at the end of a fight. Atlus clearly knew this one was overpowered, which is why they locked it behind one of the hardest follower bonds in the game.
Eupha
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Progressing Eupha’s follower bonds is only possible after you’ve finished the main story quest Obtain Drakodios on Virga Island. After completing it, Eupha will offer you the quest The Trial of Malnova when you next talk to her. Once that side quest is over, you’ll trigger Eupha’s first follower bond.
You’ll also need an Eloquence level of 4 to trigger her sixth bond, and a Wisdom level of 7 to trigger her seventh bond. Her sixth bond will require you to complete the quest Wayward Shepherd before you can progress any further.
Eupha will unlock the Summoner archetypes: Summoner and Devil Summoner. Unsurprisingly, she’ll also get Battle Aura and Grand Fantasy at bond levels 4 and 8. Her passive unlocks are Pagan Teachings and its upgrade Pagan Secrets, which reduce the chance of your party members being inflicted with anxiety when their attacks are blocked in combat.
(Spoiler)
Alright, if you made it this far into the guide despite my warnings you’ve got no excuses for getting spoiled. Basilio is unlocked once you’ve defeated Louis at the Opera House in Altabury Heights, at which point you can immediately begin progressing his bonds.
You’re going to need to travel with him on the Gauntlet Runner and talk to him to trigger his second bond, however. After this, you’ll also need an Imagination level of 5 and an Eloquence level of 5 to unlock the last couple of bonds.
Once you get him up to rank seven, he’ll ask you to complete the quest A Brother’s Mercy. Once you unlock the quest, wait a day and then talk to him in Grand Trad to progress it.
Basilio unlocks the Berserker archetypes: Berserker and Destroyer. He’ll also get Battle Aura and Grand Fantasy at ranks four and eight. Progressing his bonds doesn’t unlock any cool passive abilities for your party like a lot of other followers, but he does unlock a couple of skills that’ll buff him during combat.
Beast-Scent Adept and its upgraded version Beast’s Insight unlock at ranks 3 and 7, which give Basilio an increased chance of avoiding attacks from Human and Beast-type enemies. These are pretty useful in the late game, as they’ll force some of the strongest enemies in the game to skip their turns whenever they target Basilio in combat.
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