Therescue (Japanese:救出rescue) command is a gameplay mechanic introduced inFire Emblem: Thracia 776 and present in all subsequent games untilFire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. Rescuing allows playableunits to pick up allied units – using theRescue command – who aresmaller than them, in order to protect them from harm or to carry them around the battlefield. A unit can rescue other playable units affiliated with their own army, as well as NPCs or partner units, but cannot rescue enemies.

Rescuing was removed fromFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon onward. However, theShelter skill inFire Emblem Fates grants use of a command with the same name in Japanese (renamed to Shelter in the English localization), which acts similarly to rescuing from previous games. However, it is simply a variant of thePair Up command, rather than being a separate mechanic.

Overview

Applications

The primary intention of rescuing is to allow players to protect their more vulnerable units, such as helpless units or those who are low onHP, by picking them up and having another unit shield them from further damage and/or carry them away from danger. However, rescuing also has a number of other secondary uses and applications.

A player can have high-movement units rescue their low-movement allies to more efficiently convey their army across a larger battlefield in a timely fashion. A widespread of this being carrying aLord character to theseize point, since Lords always have low movement before (and sometimes even after)promotion. This is particularly common inFire Emblem: The Binding Blade, where the maps are particularly large andRoy, the game's Lord, is often considered to be a subpar unit who struggles to keep up with other playable units in battle.

In maps where the player's army is accompanied by NPC units, rescuing has several particular uses. If there are helpless NPCs present, they can be rescued to better protect them from harm, which is often necessary to have an easier time clearing chapters in which they appear. On occasions where these units are combat-capable, rescuing can be used to prevent these NPCs from killing enemies and stealingexperience needed by the player's units, or to prevent them from rushing into a situation where they will be overwhelmed and defeated.

Thracia 776 uniquely features an offensive, enemy-targeted version of rescuing calledcapturing. Following the same stat rules and limitations as rescuing, units can overpower their foes and, if they successfully defeat them, subdue and capture them. This allows the player to trade with the enemy to steal their items, and then release them.

Mechanics and effects

The ability to rescue is based around theconstitution stat (fromThracia 776 untilThe Sacred Stones) or theweight stat (Path of Radiance andRadiant Dawn). Broadly speaking, a unit can rescue any ally with a lower constitution/weight stat than their own, and units mounted onhorses,pegasi andwyverns are governed by unique rules which allow them to have an easier time rescuing units of higher Con/weight. In theGame Boy Advance games, a unit's range of constitution stats which they can rescue is simplified through use ofAid, a "stat" displayed on the profiles of all units which automatically provides the maximum constitution the unit can handle when rescuing.

A unit who is currently in the process of being rescued is referred to as atraveler (Japanese:同行companion). Travelers cannot perform any actions themselves while they are still being rescued, although other units (including their rescuer) cantrade with them. While carrying a traveler, a rescuing units sustains penalties to their stats which, while varying between games, primarily affect theirskill,speed andmovement; these stat penalties are automatically removed once the rescuer drops the traveler or gives them to another unit. Typically, the lower the traveler's Con/weight is, the less severe the stat penalties inflicted by the rescuer will be. The traveler also does not experience the effects of status ailments, nor will they heal from them.

Rescuing a unit ends the rescuer's turn, with the exception ofCanto activating. Both the rescuer and any other allies who have sufficiently high Con/weight can pass travelers between each other through the Give and Take commands. Any unit holding a traveler can put them down with the Drop command; a traveler who has just been dropped is considered to have already moved in that turn, and cannot move again until the next turn unless they are refreshed by aDancer/Bard/Heron. If a rescuer dies, the traveler unit is immediately released.

Calculations

For the purpose of these calculations, "Unit A" is the unit doing the rescuing, while "Unit B" is the traveler, or unit who is being rescued.

Ability to rescue

Stat penalties

Skills affecting rescuing

Skills affecting rescuing
	Item	Effect	Games
	Savior	Eliminates skill and speed penalities when this unit is carrying a traveler.	Path of Radiance,Radiant Dawn

Trivia

• InThracia 776, the GBAFire Emblem games, andPath of Radiance, when viewing a rescuing unit's stat screen pressing A will make the game jump to the rescued unit's stat screen, and vice versa. InPath of Radiance this is the only way the player can seeLeanne's stats when she is being rescued by Ike during Chapter 17.

Etymology and other languages

References

See also

• Capture
• Shelter