Information about Strategies in Fire Emblem Three Hopes, including what are Strategies, how to earn Strategy Points, how to select and deploy Strategies before and during Main Quest battles.
What Are Strategies in Fire Emblem Three Hopes?¶
As you clear Side Quests and capture regions on the War Map, you’ll obtain Strategy Points - usually ten Strategy Points per region captured. The use of these Strategy Points isn’t immediately apparent, but once you reach and begin the Main Quest battle in a Chapter, you’ll be able to spend these Strategy Points to enable various Strategies. Strategies typically cost 10 - 20 Strategy Points each, so if you capture every region in a Chapter you’d be lucky to select three or four Strategies by the time you start that Chapter’s Main Quest battle. Unspent Strategy Points do not carry over to the next Chapter, so be sure to use them wisely, or not at all.
Strategies modify Main Quest battles in specific ways, and can be selected when you select a Main Quest battle on the War Map, but before the battle actually begins (you’ll select Strategies before you reach the Battle Map, where units can be deployed and modified). Strategies vary between Main Quests, but are usually static for a specific battle (some Strategies are unlocked by exploring Surveying Spots, so be sure to complete your War Map if you want the most options at the end of each Chapter), and provide various boons that help counter enemy strategies, usually making it easier for you to clear specific objectives and completing Main Missions and Side Missions once the battle begins. Examples Strategies you can deploy include:
- Deploy healer unit(s) to periodically heal other characters.
- Deploy additional NPC units to attack enemy units/positions, defend sensitive territories or aid/protect other units.
- Fortify or add provisions to Strongholds.
- Weaken enemy units or Strongholds.
- Provide defensive/offensive buffs to your army.
- Mitigate terrain effects.
- Create new paths/shortcuts on the map.
- Allow enemy generals to be persuaded to defect.
While the list above is fairly generic, you can typically expect Strategies to facilitate the completion of specific objectives in Main Battles. If you have to escort/rescue/defend a unit or objective, you might get a Strategy that provides extra units to defend the mission-sensitive unit/objective, or a Strategy that buffs units that already exist to protect said objective. If the enemy will use archers, casters or artillery to bombard you, there may be a Strategy that thwarts or mitigates this hazard. If the map is shrouded in dense fog, a Strategy may exist to counter the impairment. Should a notably strong enemy general play a significant role in the battle, you may have a Strategy that buffs some of your units to specifically counter this threat, or you may get a Strategy that helps contain or weaken them.
Best Strategies in Fire Emblem Three Hopes¶
The most important Strategies, however, are the Persuasion Strategies, which allow you to woo enemy generals to your side. This is how you will recruit most enemy units, and on your first playthrough of each Main Quest battle, selecting and employing these Strategies should be your top priority. It is worth noting that if you replay Main Quest battles via the Record Keeper you’ll be able to select Strategies again before the replay attempt begins, just as if you were playing the battle for the first time. This will allow you to see what other Strategies can do, and allow you to select new Strategies you may have neglected on the first playthrough, which may well make getting an S-Rank much easier. You cannot, however, change your roster regardless of what you do during a battle replay, so if you fail to recruit an enemy general during the original playthrough, you cannot do so during the replay. On the plus side, killing the enemy general will not remove them from your roster if you recruited them earlier, hence why we strongly suggest picking every “Persuade [General]” Strategy during your first playthrough and worrying about other Strategies and achieving an S-Rank for later replays.
Once you’ve selected your Strategies for the upcoming Main Quest battle, the stage will play out normally, only prompting you to activate specific Strategies when the circumstances call for it. Keep an eye out for these prompts - they’re not subtle, but if you refrain from activating a Strategy, you may miss out on its effects. Case in point, of course, are the persuasion Strategies - if you do not activate the specific persuade Strategy when encountering a recruitable enemy general, they will simply die or retreat once defeated, instead of joining you.
No Comments