Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Gameplay

This page tells the basics of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, including information on leveling up, weapon advantages, terrain, attacking, and everything you need to know about the game.

Weapons
Each character wields certain types of weapons. Each weapon in the game has a set might, rank, weight, and durability. These are explained in-depth here.

Might
Might, or MT, is the base amount of damage a weapon causes. Add this to your strength stat (or magic stat if you are using a magic weapon), subtract your enemy's Defense (if a physical weapon) or Resistance (if a magical weapon, and you have the amount of damage you will deal to your enemy if the attack hits.

Rank
Each weapon has a rank, ranging from E to S. Once characters use a lower-ranked weapon enough times, they will gain the abilities to use higher-ranked weapons. For example, say your Ike has a sword proficiency of C. He will be able to wield an Iron Sword, rank E.  He will not, however, be able to wield a Sonic Sword, rank B.

Weight
Each weapon has a weight. The heavier the weapon, the slower your character is. However, heavier weapons make your weapon rank rise more quickly than lighter weapons. Weight also affects attack speed. Here is the formula for attack speed: Speed-(Weight-Strength). If WT-Strength is negative, ignore that part. If your attack speed is more than 3 higher than your opponent's, you will attack twice in one turn. However, your opponent will also double-attack if their attack speed is high enough, so watch out!

Durability
Each time a weapon is used, its durability rating drops by 1. When a weapon's durability drops to 0, the weapon breaks and cannot be repaired. Some weapons, such as Ragnell and Amiti, will never break.

Stats
To understand this game, you must first understand your characters. Each character has 8 major stats. These are HP, Strength, Magic, Skill, Speed, Luck, Resistance, and Defense. Each stat affects something different.

HP
When a unit's HP reaches zero, the unit dies. Pure and simple. Low HP can be healed with items such as Vulneraries and Elixers. Stave wielders can also heal units with low HP.

Strength
The higher your strength is, the more damage you will do from physical weapons. Higher Strength also lets you use heavier weapons without being slowed down.

Magic
Higher Magic lets you do more damage from magical weapons. The higher a healer's Magic is, the more HP they will heal with a specific staff.

Skill
The higher a unit's skill, the more often the unit's attacks will hit. Higher Skill also means a higher chance for certain unit's inherent skills to activate.

Luck
The higher a unit's luck, the more often a unit will dodge or get a critical hit.

Resistance
The higher a unit's resistance, the less damage a unit will take from magical attacks.

Defense
The higher a unit's defense, the less damage a unit will take from physical attacks.

Your Turn
On your turn, each character may perform certain actions, depending on their class and abilities. Click on a character to select, then click on one of the following menu options to tell the character what to do.

Moving
All characters may move each turn, unless they are sleeping or stunned. Select a character, and the blue spaces that appear are the ones to which that character may move. Enemies units on red spaces can be attacked. Move a unit within range of an enemy unit to be eligible to attack them. Mounted units may move, attack, and move again with the remainder of their movement. For example, Titania can move 4 spaces, attack, and retreat 5 spaces.

Attack
When you are beside an enemy unit, you may select attack to try to damage an enemy unit. The amount of damage, hit percentage, HP, and other information is shown in the combat window before you launch an attack.

Staff
Some characters may use staves to heal allies. Select staff, then select the character you wish to heal. This will restore some of that unit's HP.

Shove
Foot units may shove another unit to move it one space away. Mounted units cannot shove but can be shoved by other units whose weight is higher than the mounted unit's weight (laguz can shove mounted units). A unit can only shove another unit if the shover's weight is no more than two less the weight of the person being shoved. For example, a character with a weight of 7 can shove a character with a weight of 9, but not 10.

Rescue
If a unit is in danger of dying, you can rescue it with another unit. A unit must weigh at least 2 more than the unit it is trying to rescue. When a unit is carrying a rescued unit, its speed and skill are reduced by half.

Drop
If a unit is carrying another unit, it may drop the unit into an adjacent space. This will, however, end the turns of both the unit dropping and the unit being dropped. The exception to this rule are mounted units, who can still use their extra movement. However, they will be unable to attack for the rest of the turn.

Take
A unit can receive a rescued unit without ending the original rescuer's turn, providing that the new carrier is strong enough to hold the rescued unit.

Trade
A unit can trade items and weapons with any adjacent character.

Items
A unit can use or equip an item, such as a Laguzguard or a vulnerary.

Wait
Ends your unit's turn.