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Keeping every unit in tip-top condition is vital for success in Triangle Strategy. This means they need to be kept healed up on the battlefield and adequately prepared for it. Whilst plenty can be achieved through leveling up, and upgrading a unit's weapon, to truly unlock their potential, players will need to promote them.
Promotions become available for each Triangle Strategy character at Level 10 and Level 20, although optional requitable characters start at the second tier promotion. Players will need a Medal of Bravery, which can be taken to the old man in the Encampment to promote the unit to the next class, unlocking a new set of abilities.
Updated September 27, 2022 by Patrick Armstrong: Turn-based strategy RPGs are a slower, more thoughtful deviation from their action RPG cousins. Asking players to carefully calculate every movement and attack in advance, weighing out moves and countermoves the way one would in chess, makes Triangle Strategy an exercise in planning.
Every great strategist knows that many wars are won before soldiers even step onto the battlefield. Behind-the-scenes decisions matter just as much as decisions made in the heat of conflict. Deciding which characters to promote and when is a major part of the player’s planning in Triangle Strategy, as the right promotion at the right time can make the campaign far easier.
10 Jens
Jens becomes available after the player reaches a Morality of 450 or better. There are many characters in Triangle Strategy who are useful in virtually every circumstance, which makes them easy to recommend. That isn’t the case with Jens.
His ability to create ladders is only useful in maps with serious differences in elevation, so on flat terrain, his unique abilities are wasted. In areas with high elevation, however, Jens is an absolute necessity, allowing the player to circumvent otherwise impassable walls to take the fight to the enemy’s ranged units. The improved mobility and traps that promotion brings make Jens a powerful if unorthodox choice, allowing players to make use of an underrated strategy.
9 Flanagan
It takes the player a while before they have the option of recruiting Flanagan, and he fills a role that the player already has covered since he is a defensive-minded shield user just like Erador. Unlike Erador, however, Flanagan spends his time cruising around on a gigantic hawk. Given that he has a winged mount, it’s no surprise that Flanagan can traverse terrain that would block a less mobile character.
Promoting Flanagan is a good idea for a couple of reasons. First, his Aerial Assault move allows him to travel further even if he decides not to hit an enemy at the end of it. He also acts as an off-tank for his allies, using Shielding Stance to significantly reduce the amount of damage they take and keep squishier teammates in the battle longer.
8 Frederica
One of the game's starting units, Frederica will quickly prove herself as an extremely powerful magic user. She is focused entirely on fire skills, but they can obliterate opponents in a quick fashion. She has the option of both single-target and AOE damage, too, clearing fields quite easily.
Promoting her once will unlock a defensive ability that makes an ally temporarily immune to fire attacks, and another that sees her cast fire over a huge line. Her second promotion unlocks a passive ability that sees her magic attack sharply rise in power when standing in a tile that's on fire. She'll slowly take damage this way, but it'll be worth it for the damage.
7 Roland
The first mounted unit players are going to use, Roland is great at hitting multiple targets at once. His default attacks hit two squares, and most of his attacking abilities in some way hit lots of tiles at once. After his first upgrade, he will be able to push enemies back, as well as hit up to 5 squares in a line at once.
Getting his second upgrade unlocks a fairly minor passive ability that increases his movement range by one tile, but only in clear weather. Admittedly, this final upgrade doesn't seem like much, but an extra tile of movement can be extremely useful in the right moments. That said, promoting him once is definitely worth it for the more powerful attacks.
6 Geela
A healer unit that stays useful for the game's entire length, Geela can get all sorts of great new abilities through promotion. Unsurprisingly, promoting her will give access to new and powerful healing abilities, that can help her keep everyone on the field for as long as possible.
Her first promotion unlocks an ability that heals status conditions, which will save players having to keep stocked up on so many different items. The other is a more powerful version of her starting healing spell, guaranteeing she can fully heal into the late game. Her second promotion allows her to move a greater distance when an enemy is nearby, allowing her to always stay out of the firing line.
5 Corentin
The unit players get if they choose to visit the kingdom of Hyzante during the game's first choice, Corentin is an ice version of Frederica. While his abilities are fundamentally the same, ice has different secondary effects to fire. For example, icy terrain slows unit movement, and he can inflict Silence upon enemies.
His first promotion allows him to cast an icy barrier on himself or an ally which not only protects them from an attack but allows a counter-attack. He also gets an ability that heavily damages targets standing on icy tiles. His second ability is exceptionally useful, as it grants him an extra TP for every turn he is standing on an icy tile.
4 Serenoa
As the game's protagonist, whose convictions will shape the course of the story, Serenoa should be heavily invested in throughout the game, especially early on. Not only because he is always in the party, but because his melee attacks are some of the strongest in the game.
His first promotion unlocks a multi-target attack, hitting enemies in a line in front of him. In addition, he gets a passive ability that increases his strength when he's standing near allies, encouraging players to group up. His second upgrade gives him a new ability that allows him to take half of the damage when an ally is attacked, protecting everyone around him.
3 Hughette
Archers are very powerful in Triangle Strategy, as they can stay safe while dealing out substantial damage. Hughette is especially useful, as her abilities give her shots a chance to inflict status conditions that can cripple enemies, allowing the melee units to take them out.
Promoting her once unlocks three powerful abilities. One that lets her shots immobilize enemies, one that increases her range, and another that increases her accuracy and luck, before allowing her to take another action. Her second promotion gives her a new attack that triggers during the enemy's turn when they enter her range.
2 Narve
One of the game's most powerful spellcasters, Narve can make use of all four elements to meticulously dismantle an enemy army. As an optional character, he starts with his first promotion already unlocked, meaning players just need to give him one promotion in the late game. Until then, giving him magic-boosting accessories is the way to go.
This second promotion unlocks a passive ability that increases the range of all his spells by one tile. A single tile may not sound like much, but it expands Narve's possibilities a surprising amount, being able to take down those enemies that are just out of everyone else's reach.
1 Anna
A unit players get access to from the outset, Anna is by and large the game's most powerful unit. Once players understand how to use her effectively, she is a virtually unstoppable force thanks to her ability to conceal herself from enemies and act twice every single turn.
Her first promotion unlocks a movement skill that can see her move to significantly higher terrain with ease. She then gets a passive ability that lets her recover HP if she does nothing for a turn, and finally, she gets a powerful attack that has a chance to inflict sleep on the target. Her second promotion makes her ridiculously powerful, as it gives a passive ability that increases the damage she deals when she attacks from cover.
Triangle Strategy is available now on Nintendo Switch.