Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, the latest entry in the long-running strategy RPG series, offers a deep combat experience alongside a wealth of activities to engage with outside of battles. The game, set in the capital of the Dagdan Empire and featuring a gladiator theme in the Heroic Games, presents a split narrative with multiple protagonists. Players can switch between the stories of Cai, Leda, Dietrich, and Theodora at any time once they reach the central hub city of Dagsion, providing a less restrictive path than previous installments.
While grid-based strategy combat remains central, Fortune's Weave encourages exploration of a world map between story battles, revealing dungeons, towns, traveling merchants, and skirmishes. Dagsion itself is a sprawling city filled with various shops and activities. To help players navigate this wealth of content, focusing on four key areas outside of combat can pay significant long-term dividends.
Cultivate Character Support
Support levels and conversations have been a hallmark of the Fire Emblem series, traditionally built through characters fighting near each other or providing in-combat assistance. Fortune's Weave expands this system with new non-combat methods. Eating meals together at the inn, available early to all protagonists, is a primary way to build support. Up to three characters can dine together, and their preferences influence the support points gained. This is particularly useful for increasing support with characters not currently in the active party, which is essential for convincing them to join your ranks.
Later, arena training becomes available, allowing two fighters to train together weekly. This not only boosts their weapon, magic, or movement proficiencies but also grants them support points. Arena training is a valuable method for preparing characters for more advanced combat classes.
Increase Your Renown
Renown serves as a measure of your protagonist's standing in Dagsion. Increasing Renown offers bonuses at certain thresholds, unlocks the ability to recruit more characters, and is integral to Fortune's Weave's gameplay loop. Subquests, available from NPCs throughout Dagsion, often lead to the world map for item retrieval or enemy elimination and provide Renown upon completion, generally with forgiving deadlines.
Paralogues, more involved side quests that delve into individual character stories, present a stricter challenge. Unlike subquests, they have tight time limits and lack in-game notifications, requiring players to be in Dagsion on specific dates to initiate them. Missing these opportunities means losing out on significant rewards, including 20,000 gold, ample Renown, and access to unique recruits. Players may benefit from consulting a guide for paralogue unlock times.
Additionally, Renown can be earned by visiting gods in their temples within Dagsion. Some days, a temple icon will appear yellow, indicating the god's presence and availability for a visit. Consistent interaction can yield lore and world-building details.
Each protagonist also possesses a unique Renown-generating activity. Cai can undertake 'kindness quests,' Dietrich can summon enemies for battles or duel opponents in dungeons, Theodora can fulfill resource requests, and Leda can perform at taverns for gold and Renown.
Manage Your Materials
While character levels and class progression are crucial, weapon and equipment upgrades are equally important. The armory quickly offers improved bronze and iron weapons beyond the initial wooden versions. By Chapter 6, blacksmiths in Dagsion and larger towns on the world map allow players to upgrade equipment using money and smithing materials. Basic upgrades require Smithing Stones, while more specialized gear needs unique materials.
Mines are the primary source of smithing materials, offering crystal deposits that yield guaranteed items. Higher-level mines contain more unique materials. Dungeons also provide materials through breakable boxes and barrels that sparkle when they contain items. These materials can include stones and food.
Food items are essential for restoring health and magic at rest spots in dungeons or feast spots on the world map, especially during extended excursions. Certain quests and recruits also demand specific food types like vegetables, meat, or fish. For Cai, certain foods can serve as bait to attract animals for capture and use as mounts, with rarer foods increasing the chance of encountering rare animals.
Recruit New Allies
As players progress, their initial group of characters will become insufficient for later challenges, necessitating recruitment of new allies. Characters are marked on the map with colored dots: orange for unexplored, green for met but not recruited, and blue for party members. Players can also teleport to met characters.
Recruitment hinges on achieving specific support and Renown levels with a potential recruit. Additional requirements may include monetary payment, item retrieval, or the completion of specific quests or story chapters. Initiating recruitment typically involves giving a gift, with subsequent gifts best chosen based on the character's preferences. Dining together at the inn is the primary method for increasing support to the required level.
Recruitment requirements can vary between protagonists; a character needing 10 Renown for Cai might only require 4 for Dietrich. Given the weekly limits on gifts and meals, it's advisable to focus on a few recruits at a time. New recruitable characters will emerge as storylines progress, including defeated squad leaders from the Heroic Games. Recruiting a character with one protagonist does not prevent their recruitment by another.