As someone who’s sunk over 80 hours into this game, beating both Normal and Hard difficulty, I made so many stupid mistakes when I first started. I rushed the story, wasted resources on useless units, and didn’t figure out these tricks until way too late.
Engage’s new systems, unit building, and resource management can feel really overwhelming when you first jump into Elyos. That’s why I put together these 10 beginner tips, based on all the mistakes I made, to help you avoid the same headaches and make your playthrough way smoother.
1. Don’t Rush The Main Story! I Got Stuck For 3 Days
I was so hyped to see the story that I blazed through 5 main story chapters without touching a single side quest. Then I hit Chapter 10, and the boss absolutely wiped my team. I was stuck for THREE whole days before I realized I needed to grind side content first.
Trust me, the main story scales up really fast. If you skip the Paralogs and Arena training battles, you’re gonna end up underleveled and stuck. Those side battles give you tons of extra XP, gold, bond fragments, and rare items. Spend a few hours preparing, and the main story will feel like a breeze.
2. Don’t Try To Train Every Unit! Focus On 8-10 Core Characters
This game throws a ton of new units at you, and I was dumb enough to try and level up every single one that joined my team. I spread my resources way too thin, and by the mid-game, my main team was underleveled, and those half-leveled bench warmers were completely useless. I wasted so many skill points and bond fragments on them.
Early on, just pick 8-10 units you actually like. Characters like Alear, Chloe, Alfred, and Celine are amazing early picks that can carry you all the way to the end of the game. Dump all your resources into them, don’t waste anything on units you’re never gonna use.
3. The Weapon Triangle Is Way More Important Than You Think
At first, I thought the weapon triangle was just some old, outdated rule I could ignore. Then I sent my sword unit to fight an axe enemy, and he missed THREE times in a row. That mistake got my main unit killed, and that’s when I realized how important the weapon triangle actually is in this game.
Sword beats Axe, Axe beats Lance, Lance beats Sword. If you attack with the advantage, you deal more damage, lower the enemy’s hit rate, and dodge their counterattack way easier. Don’t just send your strongest unit to fight every enemy. Check their weapon first, and exploit the weakness. It saves you so many headaches on Hard difficulty.
4. Don’t Waste Your Emblem Rings On Random Trash Mobs
The Emblem Rings are the most powerful thing in the game, and when I first got Marth’s ring, I thought his Engage skill was so cool that I used it on a random group of weak enemies. Then when I got to the boss fight, it was still on cooldown, and I almost wiped.
Don’t do that! Save those powerful Emblem skills for hard boss fights, or when you’re actually stuck. Also, don’t forget to level up your bond with the Emblems. Higher bond levels mean more skills you can inherit, and stronger Engage attacks. Do those bond conversations in the Somniel, they level up your bonds super fast.
5. Don’t Skip The Somniel! I Missed So Much Free Stuff
At first, I thought the Somniel was just a useless hub world. I’d finish a battle and immediately jump into the next one. Later I realized I was missing out on so much free stuff!
Spend 5 minutes there after every battle. You can feed your units to get temporary stat boosts, workout at the training yard for extra XP, collect rare items from the farm, and forge better weapons. All of that is free, and it makes your units way stronger. I can’t believe I skipped that for so long.
6. Don’t Buy New Weapons! Forge Your Existing Ones Instead
When I first started, I saw all the new weapons in the shop and blew all my gold on them. That was such a waste! Forging your existing weapons is way cheaper and way more effective.
Forging increases a weapon’s might and hit rate, and you can even add effects like extra damage against monsters. One strong forged weapon is way better than 5 weak basic ones. Save your gold for forging, not random new weapons.
7. Don’t Skip Support Conversations! They Actually Help You Win
At first, I thought support conversations were just dumb romance stuff I could skip. Then I found out they actually make your units stronger in battle!
When two units have a high support level, they get extra hit, avoid, and crit rate when they stand next to each other. During the final boss fight, that extra 15% avoid from Chloe and Alfred’s support saved my main unit from a fatal hit. It’s a game-changer. Spend time doing supports for your core units, it makes battles way easier.
8. Use The Dragon Time Crystal! Don’t Restart The Whole Battle
I had no idea the Dragon Time Crystal worked as many times as you wanted. Once I accidentally got Alear killed, and I just restarted the entire 30-minute battle. Later I realized I could just rewind a few turns!
If you make a bad move, or your favorite unit dies, just rewind time and fix it. You can use it as many times as you want, don’t be afraid to use it. It saves you so much time.
9. Don’t Sell Your Old Weapons Too Early! You’ll Need Them
I used to sell all my old weapons as soon as I got new ones. Then I ran into an armored enemy, and my sword couldn’t hurt him at all. I realized I’d sold my hammer, and I had to spend 10 minutes chipping away at his health with my weak attacks. Never do that!
You never know what kind of enemy you’ll run into later. Keep a few different types of weapons in your inventory: hammers for armor, bows for fliers, stuff like that. Even if they’re weaker than your main weapon, they’ll save you in a pinch.
10. Play On The Difficulty That Fits You! Don’t Copy Others
At first, I picked Hard difficulty just because everyone else was doing it. I got stuck halfway through and had to restart on Normal. Don’t worry about what other people are playing!
If you’re new to Fire Emblem, play on Normal difficulty! There’s no shame in it, the game is still fun, and you can always crank up the difficulty later if you want a challenge. The most important thing is that you enjoy the game, not that you can brag about beating it on the hardest mode.