Our strategy guide for Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is packed with tips and tricks for completing this complex turn-based Nintendo 3DS strategy game.
Nintendo has really got us addicted to the Fire Emblem series in 2017. First we welcomed the mobile version, Fire Emblem Heroes //recombu.com/mobile/article/fire-emblem-heroes-guide-tips-tricks-hacks-cheats-ios-android , which took over our commutes and stole our attention during bathroom breaks. We’d only just beaten our habit when Nintendo unleashed a new title on the 3DS console, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.
Echoes is a full-on Fire Emblem experience, complete with intense and enormous turn-based battles as well as third person dungeon exploration. You can recruit a massive cast of warriors, mages and healers and kit them out with beefy equipment. And for the more adventurous gamers out there, you can bump up the difficulty so these characters can be permanently killed in battle.
If you’re new to Fire Emblem or strategy games or simply need help with a particularly tough fight, check out our full Shadows of Valentia tips and tricks guide.
What are the different stats in Fire Emblem Echoes?
Each character in Shadows of Valentia has seven stats, which have a big effect on their performance in battle. Here’s what each statistic means and which ones to concentrate on for individual characters.
- Attack – Perfectly straightforward. Has a direct impact on the amount of damage dealt from your attacks, both physical and magical. Important for any character besides healers.
- Skill – This affects the chances of your blows landing, as well as how often you pull off a critical hit. Again, important for any attacking character. You can have the greatest attack score in the world, but if your blows don’t actually land, you’re going to fall quickly in battle.
- Speed – Determines a character’s chance of attacking twice during combat. If your speed is higher than an enemy’s speed, you can have two goes at them instead of just one. That’s a massive deal when up against tough opponents. A higher speed also gives you a greater chance of evading an enemy’s attack, making it a vital stat for any warriors at the front of battle.
- Luck – If your luck is high, your enemy has less chance of landing a deadly critical strike. This stat also affects other stats to some degree. Not a particularly important skill, but shouldn’t be ignored either.
- Defense – Speaks for itself. The higher your defence, the less damage you take from physical attacks. Note that this has no bearing on magical attacks, however. Any tank characters should have as high a defense as possible.
- Resistance – The same as defense, but for magical attacks rather than physical. Most enemies in the game attack with weapons, so this isn’t as important as Defense.
- Movement – How many spaces you can move per turn. Mounted units have a far greater movement ability, which is handy for getting up to foes with long-range attacks and putting them down quickly. As long as you have some mounted units, don’t worry too much about boosting the movement score of your other characters. After all, you can always let your opponents come to you as there is no general time limit.
How do I upgrade a character in Fire Emblem Echoes?
You can upgrade a character’s class when they’re sufficiently levelled up by visiting a Mila statue in one of the dungeon areas. Just interact with the statue and the option to power up your warriors will appear.
Try to get a good balance of character types, playing to each person’s particular strengths. A mixture of mounted fighters, tanks, healers, mages and archers works well in most situations. Mounted fighters can pick off lone enemies or lure out groups of attackers, while archers and mages can attack from behind a wall of tanks. At least one healer should be taken into each fight as well, to help tanks recover from the endless punishment.
Fire Emblem Echoes battle tactics
As soon as you enter a battle, you should tap the X button. This shows the attack range of your foes, so you’ll know if your characters are in danger. Try to position your characters at the very edge of this range by the end of your turn, then wait for your enemies to come to you. That’ll give you the first chance to attack.
That old horror movie tactic of sticking together works wonders in Fire Emblem Echoes. You can easily protect weaker characters (such as mages and healers) by positioning them behind stronger warriors who can soak up damage.
Don’t spread yourself thin, no matter what. Concentrate your attack on small sections of the opposing army, to reduce their numbers before your turn is up.
Try and make use of the environment. If you’re in an area with trees, for instance, try to position your weaker characters on top of the wooded sections. This boosts their defense if they come under attack.
Dungeon exploration in Fire Emblem Echoes
Occasionally you’ll enter a dungeon of some description, be it a castle, crypt or otherwise. These often consist of a number of static scenes and a part where you explore a 3D area. Here’s some tips for getting the most from these sections.
Remember to slash even the tiniest flowers, as well as piles of barrels. You never know when they’ll be hiding supplies or a bit of coin.
If you spot an enemy patrolling up ahead, try to quietly sneak up on them and slash them with a tap of the A key. This will ensure they begin combat with a health reduction.
Although you might be tempted to avoid these battles, we recommend getting stuck in if your troops aren’t showing signs of fatigue. After all, every successful victory yields vital experience. Definitely essential for those later, harder fights.
Some walls can be destroyed. If you spot a suspicious-looking alcove, try swiping it with your sword. If it trembles, it can be destroyed.
If you find yourself in a static scene, remember to tap ‘examine’ and search the entire place with the cursor. Quite often you’ll find some supplies, weapons or other usable items that can be collected.
Too many characters fatigued? Supplies running dry? Just evacuate the dungeon by heading to the menu. You can always try again later, with a fresh supply of food to keep fatigue at bay.
Leave a Reply