Fire Emblem Fates is a great game, and between customizing your castle, romancing your companions and choosing classes for your army, there’s a lot to keep you busy. But these combat and companion tips should help you keep your edge whether you opted for Birthright or Conquest . Read on to find out why you don’t need to memorize the weapon triangle and how to make each Support boosting opportunity on the battlefield count.
Even on Normal difficulty with Phoenix Mode on, if you let a kid die in the Paralogues without using “Talk” to recruit them, they won’t join your army.
I found this out the hard way, when Shiro kept throwing himself at enemies in Paralogue 7. Enemies scale to your level in the Paralogues, and I was very high-level when I took on this Paralogue, meaning that enemies were tough enough to take Shiro out on one shot.
No matter what I did on Turn 1, no matter how I tried to extend my characters’ movement, Ryoma could never reach Shiro and talk to him simultaneously on the first turn. But on the first Ally Turn, Shiro would throw himself at a nearby enemy, who’d neatly take him out with two swipes of their weapon. I could complete the map, and the Paralogue would close with a dialogue between Ryoma and Shiro, but when I returned to my castle, Shiro was not recruited into my army.
However, my coworker reported that even after killing Silas in his playthrough, Silas was still recruited into his party. Therefore, not being able to recruit a character into your army if they die before you use “Talk” on them appears to be limited to the Paralogues.
You should always hit “Talk” anyway because it usually turns Allies into controllable characters or antagonists into allies.
Access the in-game Guide, which is packed with useful information, by selecting an empty square on the battlefield.
For example, you can keep #11, Weapon Triangle, open on your bottom screen, back out of the Guide by pressing “B,” and continue to battle with that information accessible on your lower screen.
The weapon triangle is Fire Emblem’s version of rock-paper-scissors. Basically, “red weapons” like swords and tomes beat “green” weapons like yumis and axes, which beat “blue” weapons like naginata and lances. Which beat “red” weapons like swords and tomes, bringing us back to square one. In short:
Red beats green
Green beats blue
Blue beats red
Yeah, it’s a little simple, but the difference it can make to your game is huge.
How can you tell which weapons are which color of the weapon triangle?
In the Combat Forecast, in the Inventory screen, and literally everywhere, the weapon icons each have a background color. Take a close look at the icon next to the weapon’s name and you’ll know in which family your weapon falls.
But you don’t even need to keep Guide # 11 open on your lower screen, nor do you need to memorize the weapon triangle, if you do the next tip.
Equip your party members with all of the weapons they can use, and always hit X/Y on the Combat Forecast that appears before you launch your attack.
The Combat Forecast will tell you whether or not your weapon has a weapon triangle advantage against the weapon equipped by your foe. Your active character’s weapon icon will have either a green “up” arrow or a red “down” arrow, indicating whether their weapon is strong against their opponent’s weapon. Keep an eye out for these icons, and always tap x or y to see if your character might be carrying a weapon that can do bonus damage against their enemy.
Bonus of this? Every time you use your weapon, you increase your rank in that weapon. It’s nice to have a high-level character with options.
Use “R” when your character is in between two other characters to select which one they’ll get a Support boost from.
This function is handy when one character is behind yours, and another character is to their left or right. When there are multiple partners you can get Support from, make sure you actively choose which one you receive Support from. While the game usually defaults to your highest-level Support partner, you may be trying to advance the Support rank between two units who don’t get along so well -- for now. So always choose.
Bonus tip? If your characters are all in a straight line, the active character will actually get a Support boost from both characters on either side of them. Three little hearts, all in a row.
Some characters can’t be romanced or befriended by practically anyone.
RIP my plans of marrying off characters like Shura, Izana or Yukimura! These characters, and a few others like Scarlet and Reina, are limited to a certain handful of characters in their interactions.
We’ll never know whether Saizo and Reina might be happy together, but we do know who these limited characters can interact with. Just check the “Support” tab for that character in your Castle and it will show who that character can gain Support with. Don't waste your time trying to boost their rank up with anyone else, as you won't have the reward of fun character banter or a Paralogue baby to show for it.
Speed up your battles by disabling Combat Animations.
I love looking at the combat animations, but after a while they get repetitive. Especially if you’re playing through the same battle for the billionth time, the charm of seeing your Mechanic bopping around on their puppet can start to fade. To seriously cut down on the amount of time your battles take, just follow these steps:
- Go to an empty square on the battlefield and select it with A.
- Go to Options.
- Go to Combat Animations and set them to off.
You can even set the Other Animations to off as well for a turbo-speed experience (though I find little pixel Azura's brief twirls to be really cute).
Any other great combat or companion tips to share? Feel free to share with other Fire Emblem Fates fans in the comments section.
