Money management is a big part of most RPGs, and it’s no different in Metaphor: Re Fantasia. With all the new shiny equipment available, it’s easy to spend it all on and then drool over the next big item/upgrade.
Fortunately, there are a few ways to make a small fortune though you’ll need to meet a few requirements first. Money isn’t a massive issue in the early game, but as you progress further into the story, it’ll become much easier to save up.
MAG Trader – Money Exchange
One of the main services in the starting city, Grand Trad, is the MAG Trader. “MAG” is the currency for anything related to Archetypes, whether that’s unlocking new Archetypes for your character or inheriting skills.
MAG Traders essentially let you exchange MAG for regular currency (Reeve). There are some conditions, though: the exchange rate isn’t fixed and depends entirely on the weather. The worse the weather, the better the exchange rate.
Early in the game, the exchange rate can reach up to three times, meaning you could trade 5,000 MAG for 25,000 Reeves.
You can also boost this exchange rate by leveling up the Brigitta Bond, which gives you rate boosts at ranks three and six. So, if you’re swimming in MAG, trading some can line your pockets nicely.
Unlocking Merchant Archetype
Another more potent method to earn money on the fly is by unlocking the Merchant Archetype. Unlocking this Archetype requires you to jump through some hoops, so follow along.
As soon as you’re set loose in Grand Trad with some free time, you’ll want to get your Wisdom to level two by following a few steps in order. You need level 2 Wisdom to unlock the quest that rewards you with the lucrative Archetype.
First, head to Sunlumeo Street and accept the quest in the square, Help the Hushed Honeybee, where you have to help Fabienne with cooking. Then, spend some time on the bench near the shore to gain a few Wisdom pips.
At night, helping Fabienne will give you a bonus boost to your Tolerance. In the morning, you can turn in the quest. Between the bench and the quest reward, you’ll reach Wisdom level two, which allows you to take on a new quest from Brigitta, the Igniter shopkeeper.
Her quest, A Bullish Embargo, leads you to the Belega Corridor dungeon. This dungeon, and especially the boss, can be quite challenging, so it’s best to wait before attempting it. Additionally, the optimal money/Reeve farming spot, Tradia Desert, doesn’t unlock until later in the story after the Necromancer Takedown quest.
Facing Grotesque Guptauros
Once you’ve completed the Necromancer Takedown, check in with the informant at the Hushed Honeybee Inn if you haven’t already. He’ll advise against bringing Mage or Healer Archetypes into this dungeon, so consider forming a team with two Knights and a Warrior.
If you managed to grab the sword from the Nord Mines’ dragon, the Dragon’s Indignation, this setup enables you to access a powerful synthesis attack called Jump Thrust, which targets the boss’s weakness and lowers his defense. You’ll also unlock Protect Guard, a solid defensive synthesis skill.
Having the Healer Archetype leveled up enough to unlock Medi, a full-party heal, can also be invaluable in this battle. Using the Inherit Skill menu, you can place Medi on a different Archetype to counter the boss’s insanely damaging attacks.
In the Belega Corridor dungeon, you can either bypass the enemies and head straight to the boss or grind a bit to build up the suggested party setup. Conserve your MP as much as possible; ambush enemies and finish them off with physical attacks for the unscathed bonus.
When you reach the boss, use Jump Thrust to deal heavy damage and lower Guptauros’s defense. Keep everyone’s HP up, and any time Guptauros uses Charge, move everyone to the back row and guard for the incoming deadly blow!
Protect Guard and Healer will help mitigate his attacks, often completely negating them. If your Warrior gets a free turn and there is no immediate need to guard or revive, Diagonal Slash is a great option, though it’s sometimes wiser to save this move for the more powerful Synthesis Attacks.
Guptauros also has an ice weakness, so while it’s not ideal to bring a Mage (since, it can enrage him), leveling someone’s Mage Archetype to level two to unlock Blizz can be helpful. Equip it on another Archetype to get extra turns for damage if healing isn’t necessary and Synthesis Attacks aren’t available.
This fight can be challenging, especially if you’re under-leveled, so don’t hesitate to retry if it goes poorly. With this strategy, it’s possible to defeat Guptauros around level 10 or 11 party members; just brace yourself for a tough battle!
Once you turn in the quest, you’ll unlock the Merchant Archetype for 2,500 MAG. The Merchant’s level-one Hero passive skill, Alchemy, grants you extra money for each enemy you stun or defeat in the Overworld. This is the key to farming Reeves early on till your heart’s content.
Farming with the Merchant Archetype
Now that you have the money making Archetype, its time to use it’s ability to profit. We will go over some Money farming spots below in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Do keep in mind while farming that If you finish a battle without taking any damage, you’ll earn the “Unscathed Triumph” bonus, which boosts the Reeves and other rewards you get from battles. It’s one of the most efficient ways to farm resources in the game.
To make the most of this, target weaker enemies you can take down easily without getting hit. If necessary, lower the game’s difficulty to increase your chances of consistently earning the bonus.
Belega Corridor
The best way to take advantage of this new Archetype is to find an area with lots of easy-to-defeat enemies like the recently visited Belega Corridor. Though you may initially visit this area to unlock the Merchant Archetype, it’s worth coming back for farming.
Since the whole area is open from your recent exploration, you can simply run around the place and kill enemies in real-time combat. Those zombie-type weak enemies roaming this dungeon used to drop 15 money per kill, but with the Merchant Archetype equipped, each drops 405 Reeves per enemy. You saw that right; it did go up by that much. Clearing the room gave me 6000+ bucks.
Abandoned Tomb
Another good farming spot later on is the Abandoned Tomb, which becomes available when you take on the side quest “A Dagger, a Ring, and a Rake” in Martira, Old Castle Town.
The right side of this dungeon has a large group of lower-level enemies clustered together. Complete the quest first so that the whole dungeon is easily accessible, then farm the dungeon’s enemies for money. After defeating them, head to the northern safe point, fast travel to Akademeia, and return to the dungeon to respawn the enemies.
This run can net you around 5000 to 6000 Reeves each time and takes about 90 seconds with practice.
Tradia Desert
The best place for Reeve farming is in Tradia Desert, which becomes accessible after you progress through the main story, up to and including the fight with the Necromancer and the following events.
Once you have free time again, head to the recruitment center to pick up the bounty, Maneater Manjula, Fiend of the Wastes. This beast happens to be in the desert, so you can fill up your wallet while completing a quest.
To reach Tradia Desert, go south from the Sunlumeo Street area. Once there, start making loops through the desert, defeating or stunning (if you’re not high enough level) all the sandworms, birds, and dog packs along the way.
This loop will earn you around 10,000 Reeves per minute. After clearing out the enemies, exit and re-enter the area to respawn them, and repeat the process.
Watch out for the level 40 Kokasados, though, that giant bird patrols the area in circles and can one-shot you if you’re under-leveled.
Selling Useless Items
Equipping the Merchant Archetype will also increase your item drop rate. When you go on the earlier mentioned farming runs, you will be amassing a large sum of items that are of no value to you. Instead of holding on to them and letting them collect dust in your inventory, you could get them appraised and sold to NPC shopkeepers for even more cash if needed.
You can even dedicate runs and days to just accumulating items with raised item discovery and by the end, sell it to the merchant with the best offer. This can be really lucrative if you get lucky and gather a bunch of rare items, which sell at a premium.
Idlesday Sales
This method is essentially tackling the money problem in a different manner. Here’s a money-saving tip: hold your shopping spree until Idlesday, the fifth day of the week. On Idlesday, most stores in Metaphor: ReFantazio slash their prices by 20-40%, so if you hold off on buying supplies until then, you’ll get more bang for your buck.
If you’re eyeing a big-ticket item, mark your calendar for July 27th, Forgiveness Day. It only happens once, but the discounts are even steeper, making it the best day to go bonkers and gobble up the more expensive items without emptying your wallet.
Catherina’s Passive
You’ll first encounter Catherina during the Necromancer Takedown main story mission, and as you progress, you’ll eventually get the chance to rank up her Bond. Reaching Rank 3 with Catherina unlocks the Bounty Bonus ability, which boosts the amount of Reeve you earn from completing Bounties in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Bounties themselves were an amazing way of amassing wealth but with the help of Catherina, this task just got a lot more fortunate.
For example, with the Bounty Bonus, you could earn 52,000 Reeve for finishing a quest like Grieving Ghost of the Goblet instead of the standard 35,000 Reeve. If you enjoy knocking out side quests, this ability is worth having. It’s extra cash without any extra effort!
We have bombarded you with all how you can make money in Metaphor: ReFantazio. Some are intended ways of Reeve making while others are farming runs for times when you just want to swim in cash. There is so much stuff to procure in this game so we won’t judge you if you sink days in just farming money.