- For the skill from Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, see Death Blow (Shadows of Valentia).
Death Blow is a Skill that debuted in Fire Emblem Fates.
Overview[]
When the user starts a battle, +20 to their Critical hit rate. It is learned by Oni Chieftains at level 5.
Combined with high critical weapons, users with Killer weapons (also including the Barb Shuriken, Mjölnir, Odin's Grimoire, Beruka's Axe and the Great Club) can deal extremely high damage. It is best combined with high damage-boosting skills like Rend Heaven (to the applying stat), as it will almost always guarantee a one-hit strike if the target does not have any sort of Miracle protection on them. It is best combined with other factors (e.g Berserker provides additional critical bonus) to further increase the damage dealt in a critical hit.
However, most critical dealing weapons have low accuracy (and usually come with other penalties), so ensure that your units have high hit rates, as a chance to hit is rolled before the critical hit chance.
In Fire Emblem Heroes, it affects the damage dealt rather than crit chance, but only when the unit initiates combat. It appears as a Type A passive skill which can be learned without inheriting by: Alfonse, Brunnya, Camilla (Tropical Beauty, Celica (Warrior Priestess), Eliwood (Blazing Knight), Dimitri, Delthea, Delthea (Tatarrah's Puppet), Effie, Elincia, Faye (Drawn Heartstring), Hawkeye, Klein*, Reinhardt (Lightning's Rondo), Reinhardt (Thunder's Sword), Roy (Youthful Gifts), Siegbert and Ursula. Of these; only Celica (Warrior Priestess), Eliwood (Blazing Knight), Dimitri and Faye (Drawn Heartstring) have Death Blow 4 by default.
In addition, due to how Skill Inheritance works in Heroes, a large number of characters have default access to Death Blow 1 as a stepping stone towards a two stat Blow-type skill. Celica (Queen of Valentia), Eirika (Anamnesis Lady), Eliwood (Marquess Pherae), Katarina, L'Arachel (Harvest Princess), Lyn (Brave Lady), Lucina (Glorious Archer) and Nino (Pale Flower) all progress from Death Blow to Swift Sparrow; Alfonse (Spring Prince), Lyn (Lady of the Beach), Ophelia and Tibarn go into the Steady Blow family, while Laevatein (Bonfire's Blaze) progresses to Mirror Strike.
In Three Houses, it functions similarly to how it does in Heroes, increasing the Strength of the unit during combat if they initiate combat. It's learned as a mastery skill for the Brigand class.
The skill is changed again in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, where with the absence of turn based combat, the skill instead keeps the Stun Gauge visible for longer. It is once again a mastery skill for the Brigand class for certain characters.
Stats[]
Fire Emblem Fates[]
| Name | Activation | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
 Death Blow
|
- | - |
| Effects | When user triggers the battle, Critical rate +20 | |
| Users | Learned by Oni Chieftain at Level 5 or higher. | |
| Notes | - | |
Fire Emblem Heroes[]
| Name | Activation | SP |
|---|---|---|
 Death Blow 1
|
Upon initiating combat. | 50 |
| Effects | If unit initiates combat, grants Atk+2 during combat. | |
| Users | Alfonse, Camilla (Tropical Beauty, Celica (Warrior Priestess), Eliwood (Blazing Knight), Dimitri, Delthea, Effie, Elincia, Hawkeye, Klein*, Reinhardt (Thunder's Sword), Roy (Youthful Gifts), Siegbert and Ursula | |
| Notes | Rarity: ✯✯ | |
| Name | Activation | SP |
|---|---|---|
 Death Blow 2
|
Upon initiating combat. | 100 |
| Effects | If unit initiates combat, grants Atk+4 during combat. | |
| Users | Alfonse, Camilla (Tropical Beauty, Celica (Warrior Priestess), Eliwood (Blazing Knight), Dimitri, Delthea, Effie, Elincia, Hawkeye, Klein*, Reinhardt (Thunder's Sword), Roy (Youthful Gifts), Siegbert and Ursula | |
| Notes | Rarity: ✯✯✯ | |
| Name | Activation | SP |
|---|---|---|
 Death Blow 3
|
Upon initiating combat. | 200 |
| Effects | If unit initiates combat, grants Atk+6 during combat. | |
| Users | Alfonse, Camilla (Tropical Beauty, Celica (Warrior Priestess), Eliwood (Blazing Knight), Dimitri, Delthea, Effie, Elincia, Hawkeye, Klein*, Reinhardt (Thunder's Sword), Roy (Youthful Gifts), Siegbert, Ursula | |
| Notes | Rarity: ✯✯✯✯ | |
| Name | Activation | SP |
|---|---|---|
 Death Blow 4
|
Upon initiating combat. | 300 |
| Effects | If unit initiates combat, grants Atk+8 during combat. | |
| Users | Celica (Warrior Priestess), Eliwood (Blazing Knight), Dimitri | |
| Notes | Rarity: ✯✯✯✯✯ | |
| Name | Activation | SP |
|---|---|---|
 Death Blow Echo
|
Upon initiating combat. | 300 |
| Effects | If unit initiates combat, grants Atk+4 during combat. | |
| Users | Attuned Triandra | |
| Notes | Rarity: ✯✯✯✯✯ | |
Fire Emblem Three Houses[]
| Name | Activation | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
 Death Blow |
Upon initiating combat. | - |
| Effects | If unit initiates combat, grants Str +6 during combat. | |
| Users | Learned by mastering the Brigand class. Umbral Beast | |
| Notes | - | |
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes[]
| Name | Activation | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
Death Blow |
Passive | - |
| Effects | Keeps the Stun Gauge visible for longer. | |
| Users | Shez, Dorothea, Petra, Dedue, Ashe, Mercedes, Raphael, Ignatz, Leonie, Yuri, Hapi, Manuela, Shamir, Byleth, Jeralt, Gatekeeper, Arval (Brigand Mastery Rank 1) | |
| Notes | - | |
Fire Emblem Engage[]
| Name | Activation | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
 Death Blow |
Passive | - |
| Effects | When user triggers the battle, Critical rate +20 | |
| Users | Exclusively used by enemy Swordmasters on Maddening Mode
| |
Trivia[]
- In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, despite saying that the skill increases Strength by 6 during combat, it will, unlike other Strength-boosting skills, increase Strength above the game's 99 stat cap. However, the increased strength is not accounted for by the check for doubling, which in Three Houses reduces the AS penalty from weapon weight by 1 for every 5 points of strength. This means that the skill effectively increases Atk by 6 instead of Str.