Metaphor: ReFantazio – Skullduggery Quest Walkthrough

Skullduggery is a side quest in Metaphor: ReFantazio issued by a guard standing at the entrance of the Grand Cathedral Mausoleum in Grand Trad. After players unlock the ability to fast travel using the Gauntlet Runner, this dungeon, along with associated quests, becomes available.

While the quest itself is fairly straightforward, players can sometimes encounter a bug that will render it impossible. This guide covers how to complete the quest and avoid the bug in the process.

The Skullduggery side quest asks players to obtain eight Mortaskulls, an item that can be obtained by defeating Skeleton Soldiers in the Grand Cathedral Mausoluem (Catacombs). The Skeleton Soldiers are not common enemies inside the dungeon and only sometimes appear from the coffins lining the walls of the Catacombs.

To make the Skeleton Soldiers spawn, walk close to the wooden coffins until one of them starts moving and wait for the enemy to jump out. Repeat this until you have enough Mortaskulls to complete the quest.

Skeleton Soldiers are weak to Light and Strike damage. Archetypes like Healer and Brawler make quick work of them. Once they’re defeated, they will automatically drop Mortaskull. Once you obtain eight Mortaskulls, Gallica will comment that you have what you need and can report the quest as finished. Return to the dungeon entrance and talk to the Nervous Guard to turn in the quest and claim the rewards.

Skullduggery Quest Bug And Solution

There is a major bug related to the Skullduggery quest that can sometimes make it impossible to complete because the Skeleton Soldiers that players need to defeat to obtain the Mortaskulls stop spawning. Here is how it happens and how to prevent it.

How Does Skullduggery Get Bugged

There are two quests that appear in Grand Trad after players return from Martira, Old Castle Town. One is called the Haunted Heirloom, issued by a Resentful Noble in Sunlumeo Street, asking players to retrieve a valuable item from the newly unlocked dungeon, Grand Cathedral Mausoluem, and the other is Skullduggery, the quest detailed above.

Both quests require visiting the same dungeon but with different objectives. While most players will pick up both before heading inside, some won’t. For the players who pick up and complete the Haunted Heirloom quest without starting Skullduggery at the same time, this quest will become bugged.

If players accept and complete the Haunted Heirloom without starting the Skullduggery, Skullduggery will become bugged. If this happens, the skeletons that spawn in the Catacombs dungeon—the ones players need to defeat in order to get the items for the quest—will stop spawning. Since Mortaskulls obtained from this specific dungeon are the only way to complete this quest, there is no recourse.

Skullduggery Bug Solution

The only way to fix the Skullduggery quest bug is by reloading the save to an earlier point in the game. If this is not possible for whatever reason, players can only choose to let the deadline for this quest run out (July 30) where it will naturally fail and disappear from the quest logs without issue. The rewards for completing this quest are nothing major, only a common armor piece and 3000 Reeve. However, completing it is a requirement for obtaining the ‘Help Anyone In Need’ Achievement (Complete All Quests), which means players aiming to get all trophies in Metaphor: ReFantazio will not be able to.

Fortunately, this is a very common bug reported by a lot of players which means it is very likely that it will get patched in a future update.