Weapon Experience

Weapon EXP (abbreviated WEx or WEXP) is different from normal EXP in that it goes towards increasing a character's Weapon Rank, allowing him or her to use more powerful weapons. Staves in particular give a lot of weapon experience, but most weapons only give 1 or 2 weapon experience (except in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn). Weapon experience is always 1 in both Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 and Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade (except for staves), and is always 2 in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (except for the real Imhullu and Dragonstones, where it is 0). In FE7-10, different weapons and staves have varying values of weapon experience (1-8).

Seemingly, the trend is that the harder a weapon is to use (based on things such as Hit%) or the more dangerous, like the Devil Axe in most games, the higher weapon experience it will grant to the user.

It is not known why SS-ranked weapons have points in this category, as that is the highest rank obtainable and acquiring weapon experience no longer matters.

Fire Emblem Fates

As in previous games, weapon experience is gained whenever a unit attacks or counterattacks. Unless a unit is recruited with some weapon experience beforehand, by default all weapon experience begins at an empty E rank.

Weapon Rank Progression	Number of attacks to next level
E->D	20
D->C	30
C->B	45
B->A	65
A->S	90

Unlike previous games, weapon experience is limited by class. Knights, for example, can only reach a B rank in lances. With almost no exception, only one class can reach S rank for each of the weapon classes. Enemies with Void Curse do not grant weapon experience.

Leveling up weapon ranks grants access to a wider array of weapons. In addition, units with higher weapon ranks gain bonuses to hit rate and attack depending on rank and weapon type, as listed below:

Weapon Rank	Swords	Axes	Rods	All other weapons
E/D	None	None	None	None
C	Attack +1	Hit Rate +5	Recovery +1	Attack +1
B	Attack +2	Hit Rate + 10	Recovery +1, Hit Rate +5	Attack +1, Hit Rate +5
A	Attack +3	Attack +1, Hit Rate +10	Recovery +2, Hit Rate +5	Attack +2, Hit Rate + 5
S	Attack +4, Hit Rate +5	Attack +2, Hit Rate +15	Recovery +3, Hit Rate +10	Attack +3, Hit Rate + 10

Weapon Triangle bonuses are also impacted by weapon experience, as listed below. The Dual Katana, Dual Club, Dual Naginata, Dual Shuriken, Dual Yumi, and Calamity Gate invert and double these effects.

Weapon Rank	Advantaged Unit	Disadvantaged Unit
E/D	Hit Rate +5	Hit Rate -5
C	Hit Rate +10	Hit Rate -10
B	Attack +1, Hit Rate +10	Attack -1, Hit Rate -10
A	Attack +1, Hit Rate +15	Attack -1, Hit Rate -15
S	Attack +2, Hit Rate +20	Attack -2, Hit Rate -20

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

As in previous games, weapon experience is gained whenever a unit attacks or counterattacks. However, in addition to that, attacking and counter attacking while in a Special Unit Archetype class also gives experience to a unit’s Riding, Flying, and Heavy Armor skill stat, as well as adding plus styled weapon ranks (E+, D+, etc.). There is as well as class-based WEx bonuses instead of weapons boosting it, and individual units having boons and banes in certain subjects, which makes growing in certain areas easier/harder by adding/subtracting weapon experience.

Every recruitable unit has some weapon experience prior to recruitment, which also scales as the months pass if Byleth is unable to recruit them until a later point in the Academy Phase.

As before, leveling up weapon ranks grants access to a wider array of weapons. In addition, units with higher weapon ranks gain appropriate Mastery Abilities, most notably the various Prowess Skills (Sword, Lance, Axe, etc.) which stimulate Fates's system of “higher weapon rank = higher Hit”, as well as certain Combat Arts, though the various Prowess Skills don’t grant additional Attack, the sole exception via technicality is Authority Prowess, while the Special Unit Archetype skill stats don't have Prowess skills.