The upcoming Fire Emblem Engage will bring with it a host of new characters, abilities, and a fusion system that merges its main cast with heroes from the series’ past. Some of its key elements also include a return to the series' roots, with the rock-paper-scissors weapon triangle taking center stage once more.
The weapon triangle, common to most Fire Emblem games, gives a great advantage to those who embrace it, helping characters hit harder and with greater accuracy while potentially breaking an opponents’ guard in battle. The weapon triangle adds a major strategic element to the strategy series, but it’s not without drawbacks. Fans of Fire Emblem: Three Houses may be surprised by the classic mechanic's return, but Fire Emblem Engage has good reason to herald its return.
Fire Emblem’s Take on Rock, Paper, Scissors
The weapon triangle one of the oldest and most recognizable aspects of Fire Emblem, alongside features such as building character relationships and durability loss that appear on-and-off in almost every title since 1994. Tradition has it so swords beat axes, axes beat lances, and lances beat swords, and following the weapon triangle could make the difference between life and death for major characters on harder difficulties.
Each of the weapon lines also has its own strengths that tend to carry over between entries. Swords are highly accurate, allowing for easier hits with fewer misses. Axes might miss but boast higher critical rates, enabling them to deal bonus damage more often. Lances are considered the balanced choice of the three, having decently high attack and accuracy.
Not all weapon types fit the classic weapon triangle. In earlier Fire Emblem titles, different types of magic enjoyed similar advantages and effects over one another. Bows offer an edge over flying characters, while specialty weapons such as hammers could also heavily damage armored units. It’s likely these advantages will also translate into the new title, and a recent Tweet about Fire Emblem Engage specifically shows that returning Combat Arts will have an advantage over magic, bows, and daggers.
New Mechanics and Characters in Fire Emblem Engage
The weapon triangle plays directly into new combat mechanics revealed for Fire Emblem Engage. Hitting opponents with advantaged weapons can break their defenses, leaving them incapable of counterattacking until their next turn. In previous titles, preventing counterattacks required using a unit with exceptional speed or equipping game-changing Fire Emblem skills. Being able to negate the danger inherent to a counterattack by simply choosing the right weapon matchup dramatically changes strategizing on the battlefield.
Potentially the biggest impact players will feel with the return of the weapon triangle is its effects on team composition. A more varied team that covers the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon should outperform the traditional tank, ranged, caster lineup favored by many fantasy game players, or even simpler pairings of fan-favorite returning characters from the Fire Emblem franchise's history.
Players may no longer be able to rely on heavily armored characters to soak up damage, or agile Fire Emblem tricksters to effectively dodge and dance away unharmed. The fusion of characters using the Engage system further deepens the overall strategy, with legendary weapons merging to deliver different, potentially devastating effects.
Disadvantages of the Classic Weapon Triangle
Not all players may be happy with the weapon triangle's return after it was excised in Three Houses, even if it seems a smart move on the part of Nintendo. Leaving out the weapon triangle lowered the barrier to entry, similar to accessibility options like the inclusion of Fire Emblem’s Casual versus Classic modes. Players who turn to the saga for its often brutal difficulty may feel the challenge is likewise lessened, but more causal players can also no longer field a team of their favorite characters without regard for what weapons they bring.
Another disadvantage lies in power creep. As characters gain in strength, speed, or other core attributes, the static advantages of the triangle fade. Skills that rapidly outpace or even negate some weapon triangle advantages appear later parts of most games. Fire Emblem: Three Houses replaced the traditional triangle with weapon skills and abilities outright, but these were optional for each character. Yet players unfamiliar with the system are still likely to pick it up quickly, and classic fans may well enjoy the return to form, so the weapon triangle is undoubtedly a solid element returning to Fire Emblem Engage.
Fire Emblem Engage will be released on January 20, 2023 on the Nintendo Switch.