Amelia: Isn't that what they call... the weapon triangle?”
—Duessel to Amelia in their C-Support conversation in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.
The Weapon Triangle (武器の三すくみ, Buki no San-sukumi, lit. Trilemma of Weapons) is a combat gameplay mechanic introduced in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War that has since appeared in most subsequent main series entries, as well as spin-offs including Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Warriors, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE. It defines combat advantages/disadvantages of weapon types when used against certain other weapon types.
Overview[]
The weapon triangle is the supposedly mechanical advantage the three core martial weapons have against each other in a Rock-Paper-Scissors styled advantage/disadvantage interaction system. In nearly all games since Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, this has always pertained to Swords, Lances, and Axes. Lore wise, the explanation is that Swords beat Axes due to their superior speed and dexterity. Lances beat Swords due to their superior reach and finesse. Axes beat Lances due to the physical superiority of Axes and the fragility of Lances.
With weapon triangle advantage, weapon users may attack with increased battle accuracy; conversely, users with the disadvantage may suffer from decreased battle accuracy. Beginning with Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, the weapon triangle system may positively or negatively influence the damage output of participating combatants, depending on whether they have the advantage or disadvantage (respectively).
Some games feature a similar relationship triangle for magical tomes called the "Trinity of Magic," which defines the relationships between the elemental magics Fire, Thunder, and Wind.
The Reaver weapons in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones as well as the dual weapons in Fire Emblem Fates behave such that they reverse the direction of the weapon triangle in the battles they are used. Additionally, they may double the system's effects on battle accuracy and damage output; this goes for advantageous situations as well as disadvantageous ones.
In most games, Bows, Daggers, and Staffs are exempt from the weapon triangle having no advantage against each other or any other weapon type. Fire Emblem Fates is the first and only game to integrate the former two into the Weapon Triangle alongside Tomes. Each of the martial weapons are paired with a ranged weapon, being neutral to one another, and having an advantage and disadvantage against a different pair. Swords and Tomes have advantages against Axes and Bows. Lances and Daggers have advantages against Swords and Tomes. Axes and Bows have advantages against Lances and Daggers.
Though Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one of the few entries since the introduction of the Weapon Triangle that does not use it, characters may learn skills that mimic the effects of its influence. For example, raising a unit's Sword skill to rank B will teach that unit the passive skill Axebreaker, which grants a bonus to both hit and evasion against axe users if the unit is wielding a sword.
In Fire Emblem Engage, the weapon triangle also grants a unique debuff called Break if the unit that initiates combat has the Weapon Advantage against their opponent. Breaking an opponent causes them to drop their weapon, causing them to be unarmed and unable to counterattack by the next allied character to attack them that turn. Outside of the martial weapon triangle, Artes have a one sided advantage against all ranged weapons.
Genealogy of the Holy War ~ Radiant Dawn[]
In these games, the weapon triangle components and their directions are as follows:
- Swords > Axes
- Axes > Lances
- Lances > Swords
Other weapon types act neutrally when used against any of the weapon types listed above. In the table below, values indicated with an asterisk (*) will double when a reaver weapon (i.e., Lancereaver, Swordreaver, Axereaver) is used against non-reaver weapons; if a reaver weapon is used against another reaver weapon, then the values remain unchanged.
Title | Adv. | Disadv. |
---|---|---|
Genealogy of the Holy War | +20 Acc | -20 Acc |
Thracia 776 | +5 Acc | -5 Acc |
The Binding Blade | +1 Dmg +10 Acc |
-1 Dmg -10 Acc |
The Blazing Blade | +1* Dmg +15* Acc |
-1* Dmg -15* Acc |
The Sacred Stones |
+1* Dmg +15* Acc |
-1* Dmg -15* Acc |
Path of Radiance |
+1 Dmg +10 Acc |
-1 Dmg -10 Acc |
Radiant Dawn | +1 Dmg +10 Acc |
-1 Dmg -10 Acc |
- Dmg = Damage output
- Acc = Battle accuracy
Shadow Dragon ~ Fates[]
For the titles between Shadow Dragon and Awakening, the weapon triangle components and their directions are as follows:
- Swords > Axes
- Axes > Lances
- Lances > Swords
For Fates, the weapon triangle components and their directions are as follows:
- Swords/Katana, Tomes/Scrolls > Axes/Clubs, Bows/Yumi
- Axes/Clubs, Bows/Yumi > Lances/Naginata, Daggers/Shuriken
- Lances/Naginata, Daggers/Shuriken > Swords/Katana, Tomes/Scrolls
Other weapon type act neutrally when used against any of the weapon types listed above. In the table below, values indicated with an asterisk (*) will double when a dual weapon (i.e., Dual Katana, Club, Naginata, Yumi, or Shuriken) or Calamity Gate is used in battle. Moreover, in these titles, the weapon rank of the unit with weapon triangle advantage now influences the magnitude of weapon triangle effects; e.g., in a bout between a swordsman with sword proficiency C and an axeman with axe proficiency A, the combatants will receive weapon triangle benefits and detriments based on the "WRank C" values in the table below.
Title | Dis/adv. | Adv. unit's WRank: E |
Adv. unit's WRank: D |
Adv. unit's WRank: C |
Adv. unit's WRank: B |
Adv. unit's WRank: A |
Adv. unit's WRank: S |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shadow Dragon | Adv. | +5 Acc | +5 Acc | +10 Acc | +10 Acc | +1 Dmg +10 Acc |
- |
Disadv. | -5 Acc | -5 Acc | -10 Acc | -10 Acc | -1 Dmg -10 Acc |
- | |
New Mystery of the Emblem | Adv. | +5 Acc | +5 Acc | +10 Acc | +10 Acc | +1 Dmg +10 Acc |
- |
Disadv. | -5 Acc | -5 Acc | -10 Acc | -10 Acc | -1 Dmg -10 Acc |
- | |
Awakening | Adv. | +5 Acc | +5 Acc | +10 Acc | +1 Dmg +10 Acc |
+1 Dmg +15 Acc |
- |
Disadv. | -5 Acc | -5 Acc | -10 Acc | -1 Dmg -10 Acc |
-1 Dmg -15 Acc |
- | |
Fates | Adv. | +5* Acc | +5* Acc | +10* Acc | +1* Dmg +10* Acc |
+1* Dmg +15* Acc |
+2* Dmg +20* Acc |
Disadv. | -5* Acc | -5* Acc | -10* Acc | -1* Dmg -10* Acc |
-1* Dmg -15* Acc |
-2* Dmg -20* Acc |
Fire Emblem Engage[]
Fire Emblem Engage retains the weapon triangle relationship of Sword over Axe, Axe over Lance, and Lance over Sword. In addition to the core triangle, Arts now have advantage over Magic, Bows, and Daggers. An attacker with a weapon advantage over their foe can inflict the Break status, which negates the defender's ability to counterattack until the following turn. However, armored units are immune to Break, as are boss characters with the Unbreakable skill.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes[]
A departure from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which saw an absence of the Weapon Triangle outside of the various weapon Breaker skills (like Swordbreaker), the Weapon Triangle returns in a unique fashion. Here, instead of the weapons dictating the triangle, it is the classes that do. All classes in Three Hopes have class abilities collectively dubbed the Buster skills which give innate bonus damage against enemy units of those weak to them proportionate to the level the Buster class ability is at, which is marked as a blue circle with a upward facing arrow; e.g, a Fighter will have an innate damage bonus against Soldiers despite of what weapon a playable unit might be wielding, be they bow, axe, or gauntlets, a weapon archetype introduced in Three Houses, due to having Lance Buster Lv. 1, but will take additional damage if they are attacked by a Myrmidon, who has Axe Buster Lv. 1.
In addition to the classic weapon triangle of sword classes > axe classes > lance classes > sword classes, there is a second weapon triangle that doesn't intersect with the classic weapon triangle, one that consists of tome classes > bow classes > gauntlet classes, which is almost identical to Fates's version of the Weapon Triangle.
Battalions also can have influence over the Weapon Triangle, allowing one to have a more flexible approach to battles, allowing any given unit to:
- Invert the triangle; e.g., a playable unit as a Thief with the Alliance Wyvern Co. Battalion equipped allows them to be on more even footing against lance enemy units, allowing them to take better advantage of reduced damage from Sword Buster classes.
- Personalize the triangle; e.g., a playable unit as a Brigand with the Alliance Magic Corps allows them to take on both lance units and bow units more easily.
- Intensify the triangle; a playable unit as a Cavalier with the Alliance Knights equipped can resist lances, deal double damage to sword units yet also take double damage from axes.
Weapon effectiveness traits ignore the weapon triangle if going in the opposite way, but scales in damage if going the normal way. In example Wingthreasher deals weapon effectiveness damage to Pegasus Knights and Wyvern Riders, but because sword classes have the Axe Buster ability, Wyvern Riders will take more damage than Pegasus Knights. However, since Three Hopes is a Warriors game, weapon effectiveness traits does nothing for a unit defensively if they get attacked and are not able to land a hit in, so a Cavalier can potentially defeat a enemy Myrmidon with a Rapier equipped due to Cavalier having Sword Buster Lv. 2 so long as the player is controlling that Cavalier.
Fire Emblem Heroes[]
Fire Emblem Heroes retains the Weapon Triangle as a key combat function and retains the traditional melee weapon advantages. Heroes color codes these weapons with Swords represented by Red, Lances represented by Blue, and Axes represented by Green. Staff weapons are represented by Colorless icons and can only be these colors. Tomes, Daggers, Bows, Breath, and Beasts have representation under all four colors, but each Hero is fixed to a single color for these weapons.
All damage calculations regarding the Weapon Triangle occur before damage reduction effects. Units with the color advantage deal 20% more damage while units with disadvantage deal -20% less damage. Colorless units have no advantage or disadvantage against all weapons except in a case where a weapon forces the function on them like a Raven Tome or Tactical Bolt. All Red weapons have advantage against Green weapons, Blue weapons have advantage against Red weapons, and Green weapons have advantage against Blue weapons. Triangle Adept skill increases the effects of the Weapon Triangle.