Starting out in Fire Emblem Engage can feel daunting for newcomers, which is why we’ve compiled the 10 best Fire Emblem tips for beginners!
There’s a lot of information thrown at you very early on, so hopefully this will help ease the overwhelming dread of potentially getting things wrong
If you’re someone who knows the Fire Emblem series like the back of your hand, or tactical RPGs cower in fear of you rather than you of them, this guide isn’t for you.
I’m here for the newbies. Those of us who want a smooth transition into the colourful world of all things Fire Emblem Engage.
10. Start On Hard Difficulty
I know this might seem like an odd tip, but a lot of players are already saying that Normal difficulty is too easy (I’m playing on Normal and have to agree). Considering you can only decrease the difficulty, it’s best to start at a higher level and then lower if it’s too much for you.
If you’re finding the game too challenging, my guide on how to change difficulty will quickly walk you through the basics. Of course, if you’re new to tactical RPGs and don’t want the stress of changing difficulty, definitely opt for Normal.
9. Review The Tutorials
With the best will in the world, remembering what every tutorial says is tough. Even more so for games with detailed mechanics like Fire Emblem. This is why you should review the tutorials whenever you’re stuck.
Just visit the Menu by pressing the + button and scroll down to System. Once there, select Guides before choosing which tutorials you’d like to recap. It’s super easy! And you can access it at any time.
8. Don’t Forget The Weapons Triangle
This little triangular image can be seen during your very first battle, but isn’t properly explained until you practise sparring with your mother in Chapter 2: Queen Lumera.
It’s a system that was introduced in earlier Fire Emblem games, depicting the advantages/disadvantages of weaponry: swords beat axes, axes beat lances, and lances beat swords. It’s simple, but damn, it’s effective.
7. Explore Post Battle
Once the battle is won you should take the time to explore the surrounding area for any dropped items, to collect Bond Fragments from your allies, and to adopt any local animals.
Everything is marked on your map – blue dots represent allies, orange dots are animals you can adopt, and shimmering gold spots are dropped items. In short, exploration is always rewarded!
6. Share Emblem And Bond Rings To Your Allies
Next up on our list of the best Fire Emblem Engage tips for beginners can be summed up as ‘sharing is caring’.
As tempting as it may seem to keep all the good items for yourself, it greatly benefits you to share those resources. Especially Emblem and Bond Rings.
By equipping your allies with Emblem Rings they can earn SP (Skill Points) in battle, with these points then used for them to inherit skills. Bond rings, however, are a means of increasing your allies stats – visit the Ring Chamber to make one using Bond Fragments.
5. Be Mindful Of The Terrain
Repeat after me: the terrain is your friend. During battle, the terrain can bestow you some much needed advantages over enemies.
The easiest use of terrain is to hide amongst thickets to gain 30 Avoidance, meaning you’ll avoid a direct hit.
But you can also break down weak walls to surprise your foes, as well as take forts to give you higher ground (like Obi-Wan Kenobi). By using forts, you’ll get 30 Avoidance, 10 HP Heal each turn, as well as Unbreakable status, meaning you can counterattack any weapon.
4. Return To The Somniel After Each Battle
The Somniel isn’t just your main base, it’s a powerhouse of activities.
Stop by the Training Yard to gain a temporary boost to your stats, such as Speed or HP. Or enter the Arena to strength the Bond between Emblems and allies, allowing you to level up and access inherited skills more quickly.
Then there’s the shops – the Armory, Boutique, Item Shop, and Blacksmith. If you don’t visit often, you miss out on some great extras that will hugely benefit your team.
3. Organise And Manage Your Inventory
This should go without saying, but you should regularly manage your inventory throughout the game.
You’ll acquire a lot of items during each battle that will serve as nothing more than wasted space in your inventory.
Do yourself a favour and sell these items to get more gold; more gold means you can buy better weapons, and make more donations at the Bulletin Board.
2. Check Enemies Attack Range
Each class of enemy has a specific attack range which, if ignored, can spell defeat for you and your allies. This is where the Danger Radius comes in.
These pale red squares indicate the attack range of each enemy, allowing you to position your allies accordingly to give you the upper hand. Just select which enemy you want to check using your cursor for the radius to appear.
1. Organise Your Unit Selection
Our top Fire Emblem Engage tip for beginners – organise your unit selection!
When I say organise, I don’t mean schedule their day for them, I mean selecting the right team for the battle ahead.
You don’t have to do this, but if you don’t, you run the risk of entering battle with too many allies of the same Class. For example, you might not want both Framme and Jean on the same team as they’re both healers, though their attacks do vary slightly.
This is a game based on tactics, so you can’t afford to merely use the same team of allies every time.
There you have it, the 10 best Fire Emblem tips for beginners!
As I progress further through the game I’ll be sure to add any other helpful tips that might give you an advantage over the Fell Dragon. Until then, be sure to read all about the 10 best Fire Emblem rom hacks – it’s a goldmine for all you retro gamers out there.
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Emma has loved video games ever since she first saw Alex Kidd platforming across her TV screen. Since then, the 32 year old has dedicated an obscene number of hours to playing as many games as possible. When she isn’t obsessing over games, she spends her time honing her vinyl collection.
