Welcome to our Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia guide , where we will help you make the most of this great remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden for Nintendo 3DS . In these pages you will find from help and explanations of the different game systems to the answers to more or less frequent questions about their contents and secrets. We hope you enjoy it.
Index
- Basic tips and tricks to start playing
- Controls
- Character attributes
- Combat system
- World map
- Locations
Basic tips and tricks to start playing
- Unlike other Fire Emblems, the usual weapon triangle does not exist here, although there are abilities that can make our units weak against some enemies, so you should always analyze your rivals to inspect their techniques, strengths and weaknesses in orderto do so. be able to plan the best possible strategy.
- If you play in Classic Mode, remember that your characters will die forever, so try not to expose them to possible deadly counterattacks and adopt defensive strategies. If playing like this is difficult for you, you may want to try Casual Mode , where those killed in combat will return for the next battle.
- Thoroughly explore all investigation settings such as villages or castle interiors. This will allow you to find a good amount of useful objects and secondary missions with succulent rewards.
- Don’t be afraid to venture into the optional dungeons, as they are so worth exploring. Not only will you find great rewards in them, but it is also a good method to train, level up and thus prepare for the next battles of the main story.
- When you go to move around the world map, try to avoid the squares in which there are two armies and those adjacent to them in orderto avoid fighting at a disadvantage and being ambushed.
- Study your units to get to know them thoroughlyand find the best way to take advantage of them on the battlefield. This will also help you to properly choose the equipment item that suits them best, either to enhance their strengths or mitigate their weaknesses.
- Mila’s Wheel allows us to go back in turns to fix our mistakes, but if Alm or Celica fall in combat we will automatically lose. They are two powerful and very resistant units, but do not expose them more than necessary to avoid annoyances.
- Try to train all your characters by having them all participate in combat and eliminate enemies in order to have a balanced group capable of dealing with any type of adversary. A good idea for this is usually to weaken enemies with the most powerful of our army so that the weakest characters can finish without problemsand take almost all the experience.
- Don’t forget to visit Mila’s shrines to promote your character’s classeswhen they can be promoted, but remember that doing this will also earn less experience for each enemy they eliminate.
- Use the terrain to place your units in areas where enemies have trouble hitting them, such as forests or ruins, although remember that spells are not affected by terrain, something that applies to both us and enemies.
Controls
Basic controls
- Crosshead or pad:Select an option.
- A:Confirm / Advance text.
- X:Advance text automatically.
- Down + A:Fast forward text.
- A:Show dialogue history.
- Start:Skip event or cutscene.
- B:
Combat controls
- Crosshead or pad:Move the cursor.
- A:Open the menu / select a unit.
- L:Move the cursor to the next unit.
- Hold L:Skip combat animations.
- X:Show the danger zone.
- Hold Y:Move the cursor quickly.
- A:
Controls on the world map
- Crosshead or pad:Move the cursor.
- Crosshead or pad with a selected unit:
- A:Open the menu / select a unit.
- A:
- Hold Y:Move the cursor quickly.
- L:Alternate between Alm and Celica.
Controls in dungeons
- Pad:
- Pad + B or Y:
- X:Open the menu.
- Crosshead:Move the camera.
- Hold down R:
- L:Focus the camera to the front.
- A:
Character attributes
Each of our characters has eight basic attributes that define their strengths and weaknesses on the battlefield . These go up randomly every time a unit levels up, although there are also other ways to increase them, such as promoting their class or making them drink from magical sources that we will find throughout the world.
- PV: Represents our maximum hit points. If during combat they reach zero, that unit will die (in Classic Mode) or temporarily retreat (Casual Mode).
- Attack: Influences the damage the unit deals.
- Ability: Influences our chance of hitting the enemy and our chances of making a critical hit.
- Speed: Affects our chances of dodging. If our speed value exceeds the opponent’s by five points, we will attack twice in a single turn, although this also applies in the opposite case.
- Luck: Lowers the chances that opponents hit us with a critical hit.
- Defense: Reduces damage taken from physical attacks.
- Resistance: Reduces the damage taken by magic attacks.
- Movement: Determines the number of squares that our unit can advance.
Combat system
Like the rest of the Fire Emblem installments, Shadows of Valentia is a turn-based strategy and role-playing game , so the battles are resolved on a wide variety of maps divided by squares. Our task will be none other than to move our units through these “boards” when we have to act and place them strategically on the battlefield to attack our rivals and kill them.
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Each of our characters has a series of characteristics that we will have to study well to get the most out of them, such as the number of squares that can be moved in each turn, their attack and defense values, the offensive range they have, the techniques that they can use or the spells they have, to name a few examples.
To move our heroes we will simply have to select the unit we want to use and choose the square in which we want to place it and the action we want them to perform, such as attacking an enemy if it is within our range, using a spell healing or support, use a consumable item, talk to an ally if you can, or practice some technique.
In the event that we want to attack, we have to take into account that if we are within the range of the enemy we attack, they can carry out a counterattack , something that also applies to our units in the event that they suffer the offensive of some rival, so if we are not careful and we attack like crazy we can suffer serious damage that leaves us in serious danger and totally sold out for the next turn.
Luckily, before confirming our attack, we will be able to see a report of what the potential results of our action would be in the event that all the hits hit the target and there are no critical hits (that is, the life with which it would remain) is indicated. each unit), as well as our chances of hitting it, hitting a critic and how many times each character attacks in that turn, which will greatly facilitate the calculation and risk involved in each of our possible actions.
Another very important aspect that we have to take into account during the fighting is the terrain that we walk on . The squares that have some element such as trees or ruins, usually offer added protection that reduces the probability of hitting the enemy if we are located in one of them. This penalty only applies to physical attacks, so wizards will still have it easy to hit with their spells, so if an enemy is placed in one of these strategic positions, it is best that you try to lure him to another place or shoot him to magic.
Speaking of magicians, here you have to take into account that spells and combat techniques consume life points , so be careful with exposing your magicians more than necessary, since counterattacking they can end up falling in combat. The more powerful the spell, the more health it will consume us, so it is usually a good idea to have items equipped that allow us to recover life in one way or another to be able to continue attacking without risking too much.
On the touch screen you will also find an icon that will allow you to give orders to units that have not yet acted to play automatically following a series of strategies. Our recommendation is that you do not use this option, since their movements are not usually the best and you probably prefer to have everything your characters do controlled to the millimeter.
World map
In Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia we will have to move through a large general map to progress in the story . This map is displayed in the form of a board, with each of the regions being interconnected through different squares. If in a square we find an enemy icon, it means that a battle awaits us there.
Before the confrontation takes place, we can take a look at the number of units that we will have to face in each square, as well as the evaluation of the enemy force . Of course, these numbers are already warning you that they tend to be very misleading, since during the development of battles things can happen that alter these figures, such as there being a conjurer who does not stop summoning monsters.
From the world map we can also open the menu to organize the inventory of our army , take a look at the special conversations that we unlock in Mila’s Wheel and consult the secondary missions that are in the different locations that we can explore. The latter is indicated by hovering the cursor over a town with the icon of a person that appears at the bottom of the touch screen. If there is more than one it means that there is more than one secondary mission and by touching each one of them we will be able to see a summary of the objectives that they ask us to fulfill.
Another very important aspect that we have to take into account is that when we are on the world map there may be rival armies that move around the map . Their movement only occurs after we visit somewhere or wage a battle, so alternating control between the armies of Celica and Alm should be easy for us to lure them onto combat maps where we know we have the upper hand.
Of course, be very careful with this, since if these mobile armies are in a region where there is already another army and we decide to launch the attack, we will have to fight against all the units of both at the same time, which usually leaves us at a great numerical disadvantage. . In addition, if the rivals attack our square, they will have a free turn to act without us even being able to place our heroes in their starting positions to our liking, so these ambushes must be avoided at all costs.
Locations
The locations are places such as towns, cities or castles that we can explore through a first-person view , either to search for objects, access different types of merchants or simply talk with their inhabitants to obtain new information about the history and the situation. current Valentia, or just accept new side quests.
Although the view is in the first person, these areas are divided by boxes and each one represents an area of the location, which is always shown with a static background in 2D and the figures of the characters with whom we can talk. In addition to opening the menu to carry out our pertinent steps, in each of the areas of the city where we are, we will be able to carry out three different types of actions .
The first and most basic is to move , thanks to which we can go from one area to another, represented by points on the general map of the location, so we only have to move the icon of our character to the one we want and confirm that we want to go there by pressing A or the touch screen.
The second action that we will have available is to talk , something that we recommend you do with everyone you see. This is not only a good way to get to know our units more (sometimes they will appear in some areas and tell us about them and what they think), obtain useful information or accept side missions, but it is also the way to recruit certain units Optional that you will find along the way. This is also the way to interact with the different merchants in the game, such as the peddler or the blacksmith.
Finally, we also have the possibility to inspect each of these scenarios. If we choose this action, a magnifying glass will appear on the background that we can move freely to collect the objects that we see, such as fruits, weapons or accessories. Since they are “free” items, it is worth thoroughly inspecting each area. There are also some places that may require the use of an object, such as a key to open a cell door. If you inspect the site in question and you have said item in your inventory, the game will ask you directly if you want to use it or not.