Fire Emblem 1: Ankoku Ryuu To Hikari No Tsurugi (Dark Dragon and Sword of Light) Basics and Mechanics FAQ Version 1.4 By Juigi Table of contents 1. Introduction 2. Version notes 3. The basics 4. Mechanics (formulas and such) 5. Credits (Copied directly from AstroBlue's FFTA FAQ.) ****************************************************************************** This FAQ uses Shift-JIS encoding to display Japanese kana (characters). Browsers such as Mozilla Firefox (www.mozilla.org/products/firefox) support CJK encoding inherently, but common browsers such as MS Internet Explorer require you to update your system (windowsupdate.microsoft.com). Otherwise, I recommend you download a Japanese-English word processor called JWPce. It is available from: http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~grosenth/jwpce.html ****************************************************************************** ======================================== 1. Introduction ======================================== Hello. In case you don't go to the GameFAQ Boards and haven't seen my contributor info or Fire Emblem 6 Support FAQ, I am Juigi, elder half of the Kario Brothers, who are ripoffs of the Mario Brothers (from the Mario series). My email address is juigikario@yahoo.com . But enough of that. Fire Emblem is a Strategy RPG series that has yet to be in America. So why are Marth (from Fire Emblem 1 and 3) and Roy (from Fire Emblem 6) in Super Smash Bros. Melee? Because SSBM was made in Japan. Both characters were the Lord/Leader of an army in their respective games, so they needed to survive for you to avoid Game Over. Anyway, this is one of the sub-FAQs for Fire Emblem 1. The sub-FAQs are intended to cut down on my main FAQ's size, but they will also help with Fire Emblem popularity if many Fire Emblem FAQs are released on the same day. For this FAQ I will also be able to work better on describing the basics and mechanics. Oh yeah, about me: *RN: Not publically disclosed *A/S/L: 19 as of July 9/M/San Pablo (SF Bay Area), CA *How to contact me: -Email: juigi@lycos.co.uk -AOL: Juigi Kario -YIM: Not disclosed -MSN: figaro_brothers@hotmail.com -ICQ: Not used *Major GameFAQ contributions: Fire Emblem 1 FAQs (3-part Walkthrough, Basic and Mechanics FAQ, Character FAQ, Class FAQ, Item/Weapon FAQ, Shop/Arena FAQ, and Talis Quest Walkthrough) and FE6 Support FAQ And by the way, DO NOT SEND THE FOLLOWING TO MY EMAIL ADDY OR IM ME WITH THE FOLLOWING: *Anything over half a Megabyte without me approving of it first. My box is getting spam often enough as it stands. *Flames. They will not be tolerated. You will instead get counterflamed AND blocked. *Criticism unless it is good enough. Since it is harsh enough on its own, it won't be tolerated either, but you'll just be blocked. *Spam. I get enough of it already. You'll be counterspammed, flamed, AND blocked all at once, and if you think of blocking me first, I'll report you to your email service if you do this. *Prejudice. Yes, I am listing this and I'm sick of it to no end. Long story. If you decide to be prejudiced, you'll be reported. *Any information I find/know to be false. You will be malleted as a warning, and if you continue, you'll be blocked as well. *Any unreasonable attempts to be funny. This includes but is not limited to "I can't get in the FAQ. Get in it for me, Juigi", "I have a suggestion: EVERYBODY dies", and such. None of that is funny, and instead, you will be blocked on the spot if you even try. Excuse me if I'm being harsh; I just don't want any trouble. Strict? That I have no problem with. If you want to report anything though, do so, but be nice about it. Now, without further ado, onto the FAQ! Japanese text addition notes: all Japanese characters are assumed to be 2 characters long. In addition, I'm using "tu", "ti", and "si" in place of "tsu", "chi", and "shi" respectively in case you're confused. Small vowels are abbreviated as they would be in Romanji, so "jiyo" with "yo" being a small vowel becomes "jo." FYI, this applies only with "shi", "ji", and "chi" because they're the only convertable ones. ======================================== 2. Version notes ======================================== *Version 1.4 (9/11/2004) - Almost a year after this was last updated. Quite a bit of revising has now been done. Since it's been 3 years exactly since the 9/11 incident, don't forget to think of the people who died in said indicent. *Version 1.3 (8/4/2003) - Minor edits. Ally Cleric experience increase if he/she survives added. Personal info added. *Version 1.2 (4/24/2003) - Navigation made slightly easier. *Version 1.11 (4/22/2003) - Slight error fixed. *Version 1.1 (4/10/2003) - Promotion information added. Hopefully clear enough. *Version 1.0 (3/2/2003) - FAQ started and finished. (Well, according to me before the day of V1.1's update.) ======================================== 3. The basics ======================================== ---------------------------------------- Starting menu ---------------------------------------- *Quick save (つづきをする (tuduki o suru)) - opens up and erases the quick save if available *Begin (さいしょから (saisho kara) - starts a new file if an empty slot is available *Continue (ロードする (ROODO suru)) - continues a save file if there is one *Copy (きるくをうつす (kiruku o utusu)) - copies the saved file onto the other slot if it is empty *Erase (きるくをけす (kiruku o kesu)) - erases whichever save file you want to erase The objective of the game is to push away evil forces and take over castles, and ultimately bring down the Dark Dragon to return peace to Akanea. Be careful; units that die cannot be revived, and also, if Marth is killed, you'll lose. Now, if you press A anywhere where there isn't a unit, the menu will pop up. ---------------------------------------- Menu ---------------------------------------- *Roster (いちらん (ichiran)) - shows units, their HP, and their level. Nothing else but their items can be seen from here at all. *Storage (あずかいじょ (azukarijo)) - stored items *Information (しょじきん (shojikin)) - shows amount of money, map number, and turns since getting on the map. *Quick save (ちゅうだん (chuudan)) - stops the game with a quick save made for the next time you start playing the game. Quick save will be deleted after it is open. *Configuration (スイッチュ (SUICCHU)) -Sound - determine whether Music is on or off -Animation - determines whether battle animation is on or off -Wait Time - changes Message Speed from 1 (Fast) to 5 (Slow) *End Turn (ターンおわる (TAAN owaru)) - ends your phase so that the enemy may move. Use this option when you can't/won't move any more units. If you press A on a unit, you'll view their items, and if you press A again, you'll see their stats. The D-Pad is used to have that unit, providing he/she is allied, move around anywhere as far as their Movement Power and Movement Type (dependant on their class, terrain like Forests will slow down units) allow them to. Once you press A, the unit moves to where the cursor is, and then the command list pops up. ---------------------------------------- Command list ---------------------------------------- *Wand (つえ (tsue (which actually means "cane")), only appears if the unit can use White Magic in invetory from where he/she is standing) -List of Wands the unit can use - use whichever White Magic is chosen after target is chosen *Fight (こうげき (kougeki), only appears if an enemy is in range of attack of one of your weapons from where he/she is standing) -List of weapons the unit can attack with - attack with whichever weapon the unit choose after target is chosen *Castle (しろ (shiro), only appears w/ Marth on a Castle) - give command to end the chapter *Throne - same as Castle except Marth has to be on a Throne *Talk (はなす (hanasu), only appears if an "enemy" nearby can be recruited by the ally unit) - recruits the enemy *Item (もちもの (mochimono)) -List of items you have -Equip (そうび (soubi)) - equip the item (Weapons only) -Use (つかう (tukau)) - use the item -Give (わたす (watasu) - give an item to an adjacent unit -Drop (すてる (suteru)) - get rid of the item *Shop (only appears on Shops) - opens up the shop menu, allowing the unit to buy items from there until he/she has 4 items -Shop types - -ぶきや (buki ya) - Weapon Shop (sells normal weapons) -どうぐや (dougu ya) - Tool Shop (sells tomes, wands, and regular items) -ひみつのみせ (himitsu no mise) - Secret Store (sells rare items) *Storage Tent (あずかりじょ (azukarijo), only appears on Storage Tents) - allows the unit to withdraw and deposit items *Arena (とうぎじょう (tougijou) only appears on Bullpits/Arenas) - allows the unit to gamble money and its life for some easy experience.....make a bargain with the owner so that you'll get an opponent that you'd always win against if you can. *Standby (たいき (taiki)) - Unit doesn't do anything further for the turn So you want to battle, huh? Well, always consider your unit's stats and the enemy's so that you don't have to lose a unit. The next part talks about stats. ---------------------------------------- Stats ---------------------------------------- *HP: How much damage a person can take before dying. Dead units cannot be used again AT ALL for a long time. (Lost HPs that aren't recovered obviously carry over until the chapter is cleared.) *Strength (ちから (tikara)): Helps determine physical attack power, which determines damage dealt *Skill (わざ (waza): Helps determine Hit rate and Critical Hit Rate *Weapon Level (ぶきレベル (buki REBERU)): Determines the highest level of weapons that can be used by the character *Speed (すばやさ (subayasa)): Helps determine Fight Speed *Luck (うんのよさ (un no yosa)): Helps determine Critical Hit Rate and Magic Evade *Physical Defense (しゅびりょく (shubi ryoku)*): Reduces damage taken by physical blows *Movement Power (いどうりょく (idou ryoku)): How far a unit can move on Plains *Magic Defense (まほうぼうぎょ (mahou bougyo)): Substitute for Physical Defense when attacker is using magic *Experience (けいけんち (keiken ti)): amount of experience the unit gained, and every time it hits 100, it resets and the unit gains a level up Note 1: "shubi ryoku" means "Defense Power" but since it doesn't block ALL attacks, Physical Defense would make more sense as the stat's name. ---------------------------------------- Battle tips ---------------------------------------- -Do your best to prevent ANY losses of ANY sort. Contents of Treasure Chests or unprotected Villages, if you let Theives hit them, will be gone for good. Having Marth send warnings to the villages before the Theives get to them, however, will make it close its gates and Marth will get the reward, which could even be a new ally. Anybody who dies also will end up staying dead until it is too late to make them useful at all, unless you're already VERY late in the game when the person dies to begin with. -Always search for flaws in the defense/strategy of both your army and the enemy's. If your army's defenses or your strategy has flaws, try to cover them, and if the enemy makes strategic mistakes or has weak points in their formation, exploit them. -Keep in mind that Magic does the amount of damage as its Sharpness rating minus the target's Magic Defense. Magic Defense is rarely existant, so you better keep powerful spells ready anyway, because high HP is going to pose a problem later on, but be aware that Magic Mamkutes (the Mamkutes who use Magic Dragon Stones) and the final boss will also have complete immunity to magics. -Don't forget to use weapons on enemies who are weak against them. For the record, Armor Knights are weak vs. Hammers, Armor Killers, and Rapiers; Social Knights are weak vs. Knight Killers and Rapiers; Dragon Knights and Mamkutes are weak vs. Dragon Killers; Mamkutes are also weak vs. the God Dragon Stone; Shooters are weak against Thunder Bolt Catapaults; and Pegasus Knights and Dragon Knights are weak vs. all Bows as well as Quick Rain Catapaults. Also be aware that Paladins and Generals inherit the weaknesses of their demoted forms. Watch out; this can be applied to you too. -And as a general rule of thumb, ALWAYS treat the opposition like it is controlled by a veteran. Computer controlled units always like to do "stupid things" which actually like to hurt your chances of victory in the long run. ======================================== 4. Mechanics (formulas and such) ======================================== ---------------------------------------- Promotion information ---------------------------------------- When a character promotes, their stats are compared only to their promoted form's base stats. Stats that are greater than or equal to that of their promoted form's respective base stats will not change at all. For stats that are below their promoted form's base, the new stats are the promoted form's base stats. Now suppose Riff is promoted. He has 5 Movement Power. If you gave him Boots before promoting him, he'll have 9 Movement Power before and after promotion. If you didn't, then he'll have 6 Movement Power, and giving him Boots will increase his Movement Power to 10. This is one more reason to avoid giving stat boosters to people who can promote until they do so. ---------------------------------------- Battle notes ---------------------------------------- -Fight Speed = Speed - Weapon Weight -Unit with the superior Fight Speed attacks a second time if still alive after each unit strikes. If Fight Speed is the same, then no second hit will apply. -Attack Power for Physical weapons = Strength + Weapon's Sharpness (Example: 7 Power + Iron Sword (5 Sharpness) = 12 damage) -If a unit is weak against a particular weapon, then the weapon sharpness TRIPLES! -Attack Power for Magic weapons = Weapon's sharpness -Damage taken = Attacker's Attack Power - Defender's Physical Defense, Damage Taken => 0 -If the attack is Magic, Magic Defense is substituted for Physical Defense. -Hit Rate % for Physical attacks = Skill + Weapon's Hit Rate (Considering anything is equipped, it can be anywhere from 51 to 120) -Hit Rate % for Magic attacks = Weapon's Hit Rate -Evade Rate % for Physical attacks = Fight Speed + Terrain bonus (The highest possible Physical Evade Rate is 50, and that's with a unit on a Castle with Fire or nothing equipped.) -Evade Rate % for Magic attacks = Luck -Hit chance = Attacker's Hit Rate % - Defender's Evade Rate % -Critical Hit Rate % = (Skill + Luck)/2 + Weapon's Critical Hit Rate -Critical Evade is non-existant, sadly. Be somewhat glad that the highest CH Rate % is 40%. (Kill Sword + 20 Skill + 20 Luck) ---------------------------------------- Terrain effects ---------------------------------------- Note: Pegasus Knights and Dragon Knights are exempt from Terrain effects, so terrain can't slow them down, but they won't give an evade bonus either. Only Walls and Doors can stop them, and nobody can go through them anyway. However, they're the only units that can go through High Mountains. BTW, if the terrain restores HP, it will be at the beginning of the unit's phase, and the number of HPs recovered will be a random number from 3 to 10. -Plain (そうげん (sougen)): 5% evade, -1 movement for all units. -Floor (ゆか (yuka)): 0% evade, -1 movement for all units -Stairs (かいだん (kaidan)): (Castle Floor stats) -Treasure Chest (たからばこ (takara bako)): (Castle Floor stats) -House, all business places, and Village (まち (mati)*): (Castle Floor stats) -Bridge (はし (hasi): (Castle Floor stats) -Forest (はやし (hayasi)): 15% evade, -3 for Archers & all mounted units, -2 for all other units -Desert: 0% evade, -5 for Nomads, -4 for Social Knights, -3 for Paladins, Archers, and Generals, -2 for every other unit except Magicians, and -1 for Magicians -Castle Pillar: 20% evade, -3 for all mounted units and Archers, -2 for all other units -Fort (とりで (toride)): 20% evade, -2 for all units, restores HP -Castle (しろ (siro)): 30% evade, -2 for all units, restores HP -Throne: 0% evade, -1 for all units, restores HP -Mountain (やま (yama)): 25% evade, -6 for Paladins, -4 for Marth, Mercenaries, Pirates, Theives, Mamkutes, Magicians, and Priests, -3 for Heroes, Snipers, Hunters, Axemen, and Commandoes, no other units allowed to walk on this -Stone Walls: 0% evade, -6 for Paladins, -4 for Marth, Mercenaries, Pirates, Theives, Mamkutes, Magicians, Healers, and Priests, -3 for Heroes, Snipers, Hunters, Axemen, and Commandoes, no other units allowed to walk on this -River (かわ (kawa)): 0% evade, -5 for Marth, Heroes, and Theives, -4 for Hunters, -2 for Pirates and Commandoes, no other units are allowed to walk on this terrain -Sea (うみ (umi)): 30% evade, -1 for Commandoes and Pirates, no other units allowed to walk on this Note: "mati" (or "machi" as in normal cases) actually means "town", but houses, business places (except for Secret Shops), and Villages (destroyed or intact) fall under this. Also, if somebody is recruited by Warning a Village, then they'll appear on top of the house-like tile that nobody can actually move on. ---------------------------------------- Enemy stats ---------------------------------------- Note: fractions are ALWAYS rounded down before applied to any other part of the formula, and if you want to see base stats, they are in my Class FAQ. (Can you say Order of Operations?) -HP if enemy is outside the arena: Base HP + 3 * [(Level - 1)/2] -HP if enemy is inside the arena: Base HP + 2 * [(Level - 1)/2] -Strength: Base Strength + [(Level - 1)/2] -Skill: Base Skill + [(Level - 1)/2] -Weapon Level: Base Weapon Level + [(Level - 1)/2] -Speed: Base Speed + [(Level - 1)/2] -Luck if enemy is outside the arena: 0 -Luck if enemy is inside the arena: [(Level - 1)/2] -Physical Defense: Base Physical Defense + [(Level - 1)/2] -Movement: Base Movement -Magic Defense: 0 -Experience reward for kill (outside Arena): Base Experience + (Level - 1) -Experience reward for kill (inside Arena): Base Experience + (Level) ---------------------------------------- Experience scored after a round ---------------------------------------- -Ally unit is already at L20: No experience gained -Ally unit runs out of HP: Ally dies and disappears from the map, no experience for ally regardless of enemy damage -Ally unit is already at L19 & experience gained is greater than needed for a level up: Ally unit gains just enough to reach L20 -Ally unit is a Cleric and survives the round: Ally gains expereince equivelent to the enemy's Experience reward to kill -Enemy unit takes damage, both units still have HP: ally gains experience equivelent to damage dealt, experience gained cannot be >20 -Enemy unit runs out of HP: enemy disappears from the map, presumed dead, while ally gains enemy's Experience reward for kill Note: Wands will NOT give off experience, unlike in later FEs besides Gaiden. ---------------------------------------- Foster ordering ---------------------------------------- -Marth -Characters brought in during the previous chapter, in the order that they were in in the roster -Characters recruited during the previous chapter, in the order they were recruited -Characters who weren't involved in the previous 2 chapters, in the order that they are in the roster -Characters recruited 2 chapters ago but not brought in during the previous chapter -Characters brought in 2 chapters ago but not during the previous chapter -Etc. Note: there may be some errors in this that occur every now and then. ======================================== 5. Credits ======================================== I must thank the members of the FESS Board at http://fessforum.proboards11.com/index.cgi for their help, especially the Fireemblem.net post. Don't worry; they don't mean trouble, even if they cause some. I'd like to thank Fireemblem.net anyway, because they provide information, albeit in Japanese. I'd like to thank Nintendo, and Intelligence Systems for this game AND SSBM, and anybody else involved in making SSBM, since SSBM is pretty much the reason why I even play Fire Emblem games in the first place. Kenshin Zlash has been also a big help with the enemy stat formulas for providing anybody who reads his (half-decent) FAQ the enemy stats for the first 15 chapters, allowing me to track the formulas down more easily. Give him a big hand. I'd also like to thank http://www.solon.org/cgi-bin/j-e for helping me translate some of the things, and the Kana Books by James W. Heisig for letting me navigate through the Kana. I'd also like to thank Fire Emblem 3 for helping me find out about the Red Dragon Stone among other things, and the FE3 FAQ writer for help on FE3 as well. And give a good hand to AdamantNo1 for his Fire Emblem shrine at RPGC. The address of the shrine is http://tartarus.rpgclassics.com/~fe1/ This is copyright 2002-2004 Juigi and any of the sources. If I find out you've been copying or selling this without permission or doing any other illegal stuff involving this, you're gone!