Fire Emblem Heroes: 6 tips for maximum glory

Nintendo released Fire Emblem Heroes just a few days ago, so having now blazed through the story, I’ve put together a few tips to help you out along your own journey, plus some general reminders about the game’s mechanics.

Redeem your rewards

It’s easily forgotten after being sucked into the action, but make sure to jump over to the Home screen once in a while to claim any rewards you’ve earned. The owl in the top right will give you gifts from Nintendo simply for logging in and connecting your Nintendo account, while the bottom right statue will grant a chunk of gem shards for completing each chapter or for beating any of the monthly missions. These are fairly straightforward so they’re easy done plus you’ll likely polish some of these off without even realising.

You’ll also notice that sometimes the heroes hanging out on the Home screen will be producing floating pink hearts; this means they’ve got a gift of feathers for you so give them a tap to have a chat and grab those. Make sure to come by periodically to check your mission progress and pick up all these various loots.

Upgrades galore

What can you do with all those goodies you’ve collected? Upgrade your heroes of course! Head over to the allies menu and tap Level Up to spend any shards you have, upgrading whatever heroes you like as long as they’re below level 20. After that you’ll need either crystals from the high levels of the Training Tower, or feathers to give your fighters a boost. By levelling up and beating enemies you’ll also earn SP that can unlock new skills for your team, so jump into the Learn Skills section of the Allies tab to see what’s available and Equip Skills to swap them on and off.

Aside from Heroes, your castle and barracks can also be upgraded from the Shop menu using Orbs, grant EXP boosts and allow you to store more fighters respectively.

Chain those summons

The game does explain this but if you’re prone to skipping tutorials (and you’re not alone), read on. Each time you click to enter the Summon screen it’ll cost five Orbs, but while you’re there, a further three Heroes can be unlocked for one Orb less and a final fighter for only 3. This means if you unlock a new Hero every time you reach 5 Orbs, five heroes costs 25 Orbs but if you chain five at once, you’ll only be set back 20. It’s a small difference, true, but it might end up saving you from the tempting beast that is micro transactions down the line.

The right Hero for the job

Every stage in Fire Emblem Heroes contains a group of enemy heroes to battle, usually 4 but sometimes 3 or 5, with their level and types shown below the name of the level in the Map select menu. It’s tempting to stick with the same team throughout your adventure but if you’re struggling on a particular fight, it might be that your heroes are weak to the enemy ones. Pay close attention to the rock, paper, scissors style type triangle in the bottom right corner during battle and try to give your heroes the edge but you can also have five entirely different teams set up, so don’t be afraid to keep a few back up players and sub them in when your mains aren’t up to the job.

If you need a reminder: Swords beat Axes, Axes beat Lances, Lances beat Swords and Archers are super effective against flying Heroes.

Don’t rush in

Another key element to winning the battles in Fire Emblem: Heroes is making sure you attack the enemy and not the other way round. Throwing your Heroes willy nilly into battle isn’t usually the best option, so remember you don’t have to move at all on your turn if it means putting yourself into the enemy’s attack range; simply hit End Turn and get the jump on them later.

While you can’t buddy your fighters up like you can in other Fire Emblem games, It’s still a good idea to try and fight the baddies in situations where your heroes can back each other up too, or at the very least, where one of your fighters won’t become surrounded by multiple enemies. If that happens they’re toast for sure so take it slow, and remember: safety in numbers!

Train ‘em up!

Just ploughing through the story maps, you’ll likely reach a point where you start to find yourself a tad underpowered or maybe you’ve swapped some new heroes into your squad and they don’t match up to the current enemies. Never fear, there’re a few other battle options you can partake in to earn experience without spending your gems.

Firstly, after you beat a chapter of the story, two additional difficulties will unlock—Hard and Lunatic. These will allow you to play the same missions again with tougher opponents and, more importantly, appropriately scaled EXP cash-ins. Outside of the story, there’s also the Training Tower which features a few battles at a range of levels, Daily Events and the Arena where you can take on the Heroes of other players online and earn some EXP for your trouble. The downside is that you can only do these three times each day.

It’s a bit watered down compared to its console counterparts, but Fire Emblem Heroes features a good chunk of content and quick battles that are ideal for playing at home or on the go. Take heed of some or all of these tips to keep your quest running as smooth as possible and to make the most of Nintendo’s latest venture into mobile gaming.