TheLink Arena (Japanese:通信闘技場Communication Arena) is the multiplayer mode of the threeGame Boy Advance installments in theFire Emblem series. It is a mode where two to four players, each with their own copy of the same game in the series and therequisite number of link cables to connect the systems together, form teams of up to five units each and face each other in arena-style combat.The Sacred Stones, designed and released after the release of theGBA wireless adapter, is not compatible with the wireless adapter (the other two GBA games in the series predate the wireless adapter and are therefore also not compatible with it).

Each of the three individual GBA games in the series is compatible only with other copies of the same game; for example, a copy ofThe Binding Blade is compatible only with other copies ofThe Binding Blade because each game in the series has different characters.

Overview

Edit Teams

Players must first use the "Edit Teams" option to build their teams. Selecting "Build Team" allows the player to create a team; the player chooses one of their save files, then selects up to five units in apreparations phase. Players can set up units'inventories within the preparations phase, negating the need to do so within the single player mode. Once the player has picked their units and set them up, the team is saved once the Start button is pressed on the unit selection screen.

For a unit to join a team, they must have at least one usable weapon in their inventory; this normally excludesBards andDancers from the Link Arena as they cannot inherently wield weapons, although both are programmed to be able to take part in the Link Arena should they somehow be given a usable weapon (normally a piece ofdark magic inaccessible to the player).Manaketes may not be included in any team, nor can units exclusive toThe Binding Blade'sTrial Maps or unlocked viaThe Sacred Stones'sCreature Campaign.

"Unit List" allows players to view the statistics of teams already built. "Swap" allows the order of already-built teams to be swapped in the list order. Teams are deleted with the "Disband" option.

Rule Settings

Players can tweak the exact rules of the battle using the "Rule Settings" option. There are three options under these settings:

• Hide Units: If set to On, hides enemy units until they engage one of the player's units in battle. Once an enemy unit engages a player unit in battle, that unit will remain visible. If set to Off, all enemy units are visible at all times.
• VictoryCond: If set to "Points", the highest score at the end of the battle wins. If set to "Survival", the last team with any units standing wins.
• AutoWeapon: If set to Off, whatever the player sets as their units' inventories are what's used in battle. If set to On, the set inventories are disregarded and units are instead allocated the E-rank weapons of whatever weapon types a unit is capable of using, for example aHero will be given anIron Sword andIron Axe; any unit capable of usingdark magic, which lacks an E-rank version in the GBA games, will be allocated the D-rankFlux.

Battling

Once a player chooses "Linked Battle", that player selects one of their teams and waits for the other players to do likewise; once all players select their teams, the battle will begin. The Link Arena also includes a "Practice" option, where a single player can take one of their teams and face them off against other teams of theirs controlled by the CPU; in this situation, the player sets the team they wish to control into the blue slot and the teams the CPU is to control into the other slots.

Gameplay goes counterclockwise from the bottom starting with the blue team (player 1), followed by the red team (player 3), the green team (player 2), and the purple team (player 4), with any team slot not present skipped over. The player whose turn it is selects one of their units, followed by one of the other players' units and then one of their weapons. Once these selections are made, a single round of combat begins. Units that survive the round earn points based on theexperience formula. InThe Binding Blade andThe Blazing Blade, it is possible to make moves that score zero points; all moves score points inThe Sacred Stones with the exception of the defeat of one of a player's units on the side of the player losing that unit. Gameplay continues until only one player has any units left standing. The last player with units standing will receive 30 additional points for each of their remaining units. If the victory condition is set to Survival, the last player standing wins; if the victory condition is set to Points, the player with the most points at the end of the battle wins.

In the practice mode, gameplay can be ended early by pressing the Start button and answering yes whenAnna asks the player if they wish to surrender. In the event two or more teams that are unable to do any damage to one other face off in the Link Arena, after three full turns in such conditions, Anna will tell players that the teams aren't doing any damage and ask if they would like to end the game.^[1]

Most non-weaponitems have no function in the Link Arena, i.e. players cannot heal themselves withvulneraries; the only non-weapon items that function in the Link Arena are the accessory items that nullifybonus damage to fliers (Delphi Shield inThe Binding Blade andThe Blazing Blade,Fili Shield inThe Sacred Stones) and nullifycritical hits (Iron Rune inThe Blazing Blade,Hoplon Guard inThe Sacred Stones).Staves also play no role in the Link Arena.Long-range tomes do not activate in the Link Arena, nor would aballista in the event one is hacked into an inventory; if one is in the equipped item position when their holder is attacked, only the attacker will get their strikes in. In cases where a weapon with 1range fights against a weapon with 2 range, only the attacker will initiate their strikes; weapons with 1-2 range can take on any other usable weapon regardless of its range properties, fighting within range 1 should two 1-2 range weapons face each other.

The players' high scores are saved under the "Battle Data" option. High scores list the name of the team that achieved the listed score, along with the victory condition, their rank within the battle, and the number of players in the battle.

Trivia

• Despite the color of player 4's units being purple, the text indicating the start of their phase is in yellow.
• Death quotes typically aren't viewable in the Link Arena; however, if hacks orglitches are used to invoke situations that require the use of map animations in the Link Arena and a unit is defeated, their death quote will play.
  • In the eventpoison orpetrification are inflicted in a Link Arena battle where a hack or glitch has made it possible to use such effects, these effects clear automatically at the end of the round.
  • In the event AutoWeapon is enabled and a team somehow has had a unit been given an E rank indark magic via glitches or hacking, that unit will still be given theirFlux tome and be able to wield it despite not normally having the correct rank to wield it.
• Units that have supports with each other will automatically be placed adjacent in the Unit List, and benefits from support levels are conferred during combat.
• InFire Emblem: The Binding Blade, inputting Left, Left, Right, Right, L, L, and Start on the Link Arena menu unveils a map transfer menu, which was meant for installing promotionalTrial Maps. However, since the promotional trial maps are not present in the game's original cartridge, and the cartridges that did have the maps have been lost, the menu itself is rendered useless without hacking.^[2]

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

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  The map shared between all three games for the Link Arena.
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  The Link Arena's main menu inThe Binding Blade.
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  Managing the player's teams in the Link Arena inThe Binding Blade.
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  The Link Arena's main menu inThe Blazing Blade.
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  Managing the player's teams in the Link Arena inThe Blazing Blade.
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  Rule settings menu inThe Blazing Blade.
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  Being unable to inflict damage inThe Blazing Blade.
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  The Link Arena's main menu inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Managing the player's teams in the Link Arena inThe Sacred Stones.
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  Rule settings menu inThe Sacred Stones.
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  The Link Arena map inThe Sacred Stones.
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  The results of a practice Link Arena match inThe Sacred Stones.

See also

• Multiplayer battle, the multiplayer component of theNintendo DS installments andFates
• Double Duel, the multiplayer component ofAwakening

References