Information about Combat Arts and Magic, including how to learn new Combat Arts and Magic, how to use and level up Combat Arts and Magic.
Combat Arts and Magic have a wide variety of effects - check them out in the Convoy menu to see exactly what they do.
What Are Combat Arts and Magic?¶
Most of the time your basic attack combos will be sufficient for dealing with enemies, but sometimes mixing normal and strong attacks together just won’t cut it. Whether you encounter a group of enemies just begging to be smote, a stronger foe who needs some extra firepower to bring down safely or, if you just get bored of the monotony, Combat Arts and Magic are at your disposal. Combat Arts and Magic consist of a wide variety of special attacks and abilities that include everything from multi-hit attacks, wide area-of-effect attacks, healing spells, buffs and debuffs… pretty much everything you’d expect from a Fire Emblem game.
Most Combat Arts require a specific weapon to be equipped to use, and hence, you need to be a class capable of using said weapon to use associated Combat Arts. For example, a character may know Returning Axe and Lightning Axe along with Astra and Shadowblade, but since the first two are axe-based Combat Arts and the latter two are sword-based Combat Arts, they can only be used when the character is equipped with an axe or sword, respectively. It doesn’t matter which weapon-based class learns a Combat Art, once it’s learned, all the classes with access to that weapon type can use the Combat Art. For example, Shez learns Flash Strike as a Myrmidon, but once learned she can use Flash Strike as a Thief, Fluegel or Mercenary, etc.
Spells, on the other hand, aren’t weapon-based, instead any tome-bearing class can use any spells that character has learned - the healing spells you learn as a Faith-based class (Priest, Bishop) can be used as a Reason-based class (Mage, Warlock). There are also some hybrid classes like Mortal Savant, Holy Knight, Dark Knight and Fluegal that have access to a primary weapon and spells, allowing you to mix-and-match their weapon-based Combat Arts and their Magic as you please.
Either way, you can only have two Combat Arts and/or Magic equipped at once. Be sure to check each Combat Art and Magic via the Convoy menu to confirm what its effects, damage and area before equipping it.
Each class has various Abilities - including Combat Arts and Magic - that you can learn by ranking up in that class.
How to Learn New Combat Arts and Magic¶
Like Abilities, Combat Arts and Magic are typically gained by leveling up a specific class. Each class has three stars of mastery, and a freshly unlocked character will start out with 0-stars in the class. As they engage in battle a class, however, they’ll gain class experience, eventually leveling up to 1-star, 2-star and finally mastering a class at 3-star proficiency. A class must be mastered before you can use a Seal and promote to the next tier in the class tree. For example, a character must master the Monk class if they wish to be promoted to the Priest of Mage classes. In addition to unlocking higher-tier classes, mastering a class will earn you abilities, potentially including new Combat Arts and Magic at various proficiency tiers. The exact Abilities, Combat Arts and Magic learned as a character ranks up their class level varies by character - some characters are just more proficient in swords and will earn more ranks in Sword Prowess, while other characters will earn different types of Combat Arts and Magic. All characters are not equally competent at every class, so even though you can promote characters into most classes (save unique classes and gender-specific classes), they might not get the same abilities for mastering said classes.
To master classes more quickly, completing easy, quick battles is probably the way to go. You seem to get more class experience the better a character performs, but if the task is slowing you down, leaving characters you want to level under AI control while you clear an easy map with a stronger character works fine. Of course, keep in mind that the number and types of Seals you’ll earn are progress-gated, so don’t expect to be able to master everything with every character… Even progressing to higher-tier classes with any character will require you to advance a fair way through the main questline.
(1 of 2) Use Combat Arts and Magic in battle,
Use Combat Arts and Magic in battle, (left), to level them up. (right)
How to Level Up Combat Arts and Magic¶
Once you’ve leveled up a class enough to unlock a Combat Art or Magic, you’ll notice that each individual Combat Art and Magic has its own levels, too. Matryoshka dolls of leveling in this game… As Combat Arts and Magic are leveled, their Durability costs may be reduced and their effects intensified, making it well worth your time to improve them. Combat Arts and Magic are both improved through usage, and since quantity seems to matter more than quality when it comes to leveling Combat Arts and Magic, there’s some synergy between leveling up classes and leveling up Combat Arts and Magic - find a quick, easy battle and just spam the Combat Arts and Magic you’re trying to level up and you should see rapid gains.
Durability functions like Magic Points in Fire Emblem Three Hopes - using Combat Arts and Magic will consume Durability.
How to Learn Combat Arts and Magic From Other Characters¶
In addition to learning Combat Arts and Magic by themselves, characters can also learn them from other characters. This requires using the adjutant system, a C or higher support between the vanguard and adjutant and various other rules.
For full details, please refer to How to Learn Combat Arts & Spells From Other Characters.
What is Durability in Fire Emblem Three Hopes?¶
As mentioned earlier, Combat Arts and Magic both have Durability costs, a long-running tradition in Fire Emblem games. Instead of the normal function of Durability - rating an equipment’s condition and penalizing you as it deteriorates - Durability in Fire Emblem Three Hopes is essentially a character’s Magic Point pool. Using a Combat Art or Magic consumes Durability, with more advanced Combat Arts and Magic consuming more Durability per use. You can increase a weapon’s Durability by upgrading it, and you can reduce the Durability cost of Combat Arts and Magic by leveling them. At the beginning of the game, you shouldn’t expect much out of your weapons, as they’ll only have enough Durability for several uses of each Combat Art or Magic (recovery items dropped during battle notwithstanding), but as you acquire more potent weapons and level up Combat Arts and Magic you’ll be able to spam them regularly, perhaps to the point of including them into your regular attack combos!
Sign up
No Comments