Danger Level: 50
Location: North Riverford Traverse, down a path to the southwest of the exit to Riverford
One of the later-game dungeons of Octopath Traveler, the Refuge Ruins are located on the outskirts of Riverford and are only a little harder than the North Riverford Traverse you need to travel to get here. If you're equipped to handle River Frogkings you should be more than capable of handling the dungeon. You'll run into the following enemies inside the Refuge Ruins:
- River Frogking I - Weak to Sword, Staff, Wind, and Dark. Melee fighter that can put your characters to sleep. Not a massive threat.
- River Frogking II - Weak to Sword, Staff, Wind, and Dark. Slightly more dangerous than the River Frogking II, but still not a big deal.
- River Frogking III - Weak to Dagger, Bow, and Ice. Much more powerful melee enemy. Worth targeting first.
- Collared Salamander - Weak to Dagger, Ice, and Light. Hefty melee enemy
- Giant Gator - Weak to Polearm, Axe, and Lightning. Powerful melee enemy that buffs itself before going on a painful rampage. Stun and eliminate before it gets off too many attacks. (Or any.)
There's a chest on a ledge right after you enter the ruins. Go up the ramp to the northeast to open it up and receive a Healing Grape (M). Proceed east of here and you'll spot a save point overlooking some rather scenic waterfalls. The boss for the area is on the bridge just south of the save point, but we won't tackle that just yet.
Head north and check under the waterfall on your right. There's a chest here containing a Forbidden Blade. Nice find. Head west, away from the waterfalls, and you can walk behind a wall of rocks to find that the path continues. Keep following it and it will swiftly bring you to a chest containing a Refreshing Jam. And... that's it?
Guess so. Head back to the save point, heal up, and approach the bridge. You'll be hit by an overwhelming sense of danger. Proceed and you'll be facing a nasty boss.
Gigantes
Weakness: Dagger, Bow, Ice, Wind
That's a big boy. Pausing a moment to buff its attack power, Gigantes will wallop your party with relentless physical attacks, and it can do a ridiculous amount of damage even with a normal attack (3,000 HP+!). Its weaknesses are the standard lot, but it's surprisingly evasive for such a big creature, and normal attacks will often miss. Unless you have characters with attacks that hit almost every time, you'll want to promptly use Skills to break the Gigantes before it can go on the assault. It only has a little over 20,000 HP, which isn't that much... though when it comes out of break there's a good chance you'll need to revive a character or two before you can put it under again. Still, the fight is pretty straightforward.
Defeating the Gigantes will open up the rest of the cave. Surprise! There's more to explore! (And keep in mind that you can run into Gigantes again randomly now that it's dead!) On the other side of the bridge you'll find a chest containing an Enchanted Rod. Past this you'll hit an intersection; start by going west, then south. You'll find an Energizing Pomegranate (M). The second chest that's visible a bit further north contains an Energizing Pomegranate (L).
Head east / northeast and you'll find another waterfall. Just south of it is a chest containing an Olive of Life (M). To the left of the chest is a hidden path that will take you to the chest you probably circled a few times in the middle of the area. It contains a Clarity Stone.
Return to the waterfall and wander north. You'll wind up on a platform with no less than six chests to open. They contain a Cloth Map, Weathered Boots, a Glossy Gold Coin, a Scrap of Rope, a Rusty Cup, and a Force Shield. Well... one out of six ain't so bad. This motley collection is the end of the Refuge Ruins, so feel free to teleport out and carry on your journey elsewhere.