Volke (Japanese:フォルカVolke), also known as theFireman, is anassassin who appears in bothFire Emblem: Path of Radiance andFire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. He has worked for multiple employers, includingIke,Greil, andBastian. After Greil touchedLehran's Medallion and killedElena, he hired Volke to kill him if he ever went mad again. For Ike, Volke appeared as a common thief with information. He appeared saying he had information, and was going to give it to Ike in exchange forgold. Later on inPath of Radiance, Ike learned the truth and found that Volke was really an assassin. InRadiant Dawn, Bastian hired Volke to help hunt downIzuka, the scientist who created drugs that turnedLaguz intoFeral Ones, among other unspecified jobs.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Role

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Volke is the first recruitableThief in the game, appearing several chapters before the other available thief,Sothe. Volke first appears inChapter 10 asking forGreil. After told of Greil's death, Volke offers to give Ike the report meant for his father for 50,000 gold. Ike has the option to hire Volke to open the prisoners cells. If hired, Volke will continue with the mercenaries after the chapter is complete.

Starting stats and growth rates

Thief Level 10 Attribute Build 11

Recruitment:Chapter 10, hire him at the start of the chapter. Leaves party if Ike chooses not to rehire him at the end of Chapter 10 orChapter 19, and cannot be re-recruited. StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 25 Speed 13 Strength 12 Luck 7 Magic 0 Defense 7 Skill 13 Resistance 3 Movement 7 Weight 11 Max HP 65% Speed 65% Strength 50% Luck 35% Magic 5% Defense 20% Skill 55% Resistance 10% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory Skills Knife Vulnerary Knife Steal Shade Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Promotion stat gains

Analysis

Volke is the first of twoThieves (the other beingSothe) that joins. His class has 7 movement unpromoted which is higher than all unpromoted infantry beorc. He has respectable offensive base stats and growths, ensuring hisstrength,skill, andspeed will start useful and keep up if raised. However, as a Thief, he is limited toknives which are the weakest weapon type in the game.Knives andDaggers have 2 and 4might respectively, and cannot be forged, so despite his good strength base and growth, he will struggle to deal decent damage untilStilettos are available. When promoted to anAssassin, he has an extremely low strength cap (which he will hit easily), meaning he won't be able to effectively one round most enemy units, excluding most enemy units with lowdefense such asSages andSwordmasters. He also has no 2-range option, limiting his enemy phase combat. His defense andresistance base and growths are low, so he should generally be kept out of combat, anyway. Volke and Sothe (withBlossom) have comparable stats as thieves, but Volke is available for longer and can actually promote unlike Sothe.

As a Thief, Volke canopen doors and chests, though it should be noted that non-Thief units can do the same by breaking doors or using the abundant chest keys in the game. He can alsoSteal items from enemy units, including unequipped weapons,Elixirs, andPhysic staves, provided that his speed is higher than the targeted enemy and has higher strength than theweight of the item he's stealing. Stealing Physic staves is more noteworthy on harder difficulties as they cannot be bought. Note that he can still steal when promoted to an Assassin. He also has a 100% chance to find hidden items in the desert, which is significant due to being able to find the hiddenBoots reliably. However, any thieving action he does costs 50 gold. Due to the abundance of funds in Path of Radiance, this should never be an issue, as long as funds are not extremely limited.

Volke starts with theShade ability, which is immediately helpful due to his poor durability, and he should be kept out of combat.Miracle can also help, though hisluck stat is poor so it is better used on some other utility unit such as a healer. On paper,Lethality is one of the betterOccult abilities. However, this means using Volke primarily as a combat unit. It also requires landing a critical hit for a chance to activate; as Volke is stuck with knives, the most crit chance he can get is with Stilettos, nowhere near as much as a killer weapon. Thus Lethality is a very impractical skill, though it is worth considering if the player really wants to use Volke for combat and has an unused Occult. Alternatively, Volke can opt to instead use a combination ofWrath andResolve, which will make him produce critical hits very frequently and dodgetank incoming attacks semi-reliably at low health, making this particular skill combination more effective and reliable than Lethality.

Volke has a wind affinity, and his only support option isBastian, another wind affinity. Supporting them requires using both on larger combat-based maps, and it gives extra accuracy and avoid to two units that should not be dodgetanking in the first place. Furthermore, Bastian has better options with Makalov and Lucia, if he were to be used. Volke is generally better off not supporting at all.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Role

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Starting stats and growth rates

Assassin Level 13 Affinity Constitution 11

Recruitment:Part IV, Chapter 5, talk to him withBastian orElincia and pay him 3,000 G StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 52 Speed 35 Strength 30 Luck 19 Magic 5 Defense 26 Skill 36 Resistance 22 Movement 7 Weight 11 Max HP 50% Speed 65% Strength 50% Luck 20% Magic 5% Defense 45% Skill 60% Resistance 15% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory Skills Peshkatz Stiletto Silver Knife Stillness Critical +25 Shove Lethality Weapon Levels -- -- -- -- SS -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Biorhythm Best Good Normal Bad Worst

Note: The above stats are Volke's default stats. If aRadiant Dawn game was started via adata transfer fromPath of Radiance and Volke managed to reach level 20 in his highest possible class in thePath of Radiance save file, any stat Volke capped inPath of Radiance will result in a boost to his base in the stat in question inRadiant Dawn. The boost is a +5 formax HP, and +2 forstrength,magic,skill,speed,luck,defense orresistance. SeeData transfer §Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for more information.

Availability

Analysis

Volke is the onlyAssassin in the game and can be recruited byBastian orElincia at the start of IV-5 for the cost of 3,000 gold. Even if the player has no intention of using him, he should always be recruited, as having him recruited and alive is required for a base conversation in the next chapter that gives 20,000 gold and he comes with equipment that can be sold for an additional 8,750 gold, giving substantial profit for recruiting him. He has excellent offensive base stats and enough growths to reliably capHP,strength,skill, andspeed. He is the only unit in the game withLethality, which when activated will automatically kill any non-boss enemy. He also has a+25 innate crit bonus, giving him extremely highcritical hit rates. However, as an Assassin, he is stuck withknives, so without theBaselard, hisattack will be low. If the player wants to commit to using Volke, it is recommended to have someone with a full inventory inChapter IV-3 find the Baselard and send it to convoy, so Volke's team can pass it to him for use in IV-5.Path of Radiance Volke can easily cap strength, skill, and speed on average, thoughRadiant Dawn Volke doesn't benefit much from transfers due to his bases already being decent enough to perform competently.

For Endgame, Volke is outclassed by the Laguz royals, as well as probably being weaker than units the player have trained up to that point. However he can perform solidly in the Tower as his bases are strong enough, in particular he comes with enough base speed to be able to double everything butSwordmasters and has a respectable 22 baseresistance which helps his durability against the prominent magical enemies. His low strength cap of 32 limits his damage output, but between the combination of his massive innate crit bonus, Baselard's 15 crit, Lethality, and skills likeAdept andGamble, he can semi-reliably one-round theGenerals ofIV-E-1 andRed Dragons ofIV-E-3, which other units can struggle to do without effective weaponry. His very high speed has him proc Adept frequently, which gives another shot at landing a crit or proccing Lethality, and his very high skill helps with proccing Lethality, while when using Gamble with the Baselard he can achieve 60–80% crit rates off of 60–80% hit rates, and doing so against dragons has over 90% crit and hit rates, leading to nearly guaranteed crits against them. Volke additionally has a speed cap of 40 so he can get 39 speed to doubleAshera's Auras withoutNasir'sWhite Pool, a mark that he should reach without difficulty and can be gotten in 4 bonus experience level-ups, as speed is nigh-guaranteed to proc for him in a bonus experience level-up. With 39 speed and capped strength, he can useParity to deal an accurate and respectable 40 damage to an Aura on a cover tile with no Tide support, more damage than most other units can do to a cover Aura independent of Tides. Overall, while he isn't necessarily an optimal choice, Volke is a decent filler Endgame unit, especially if the player has lost a substantial amount of their good units. Note thatSothe, another Knife user, is also forced into Endgame while the Baselard is the only especially strong knife around, but even with capped stats he'll be outclassed by Volke at base, and since even with the Baselard Sothe will be unable to meaningfully contribute at all, the player should not let the forcing of Sothe matter into their decision to use Volke or not.

Volke has innateStillness, which will have enemies always prioritize attacking another player unit in range, but since Volke has decent durability and good offense to perform well on Enemy Phase, he makes little use of the skill and it would be much better used on another unit that shouldn't face Enemy Phase at all, such asMicaiah andSanaki. As covered prior Volke makes great use of Adept and Gamble and are the best usage of his skill slots in Endgame to get the most out of him, but he can also useParagon instead of Adept to help ensure he caps strength and reaches 39 speed in time forIV-E-5 without needing that much bonus experience at the expense of possibly losing a couple ORKOs.

Volke has a wind affinity, giving both accuracy and avoid, neither particularly useful for him. As he joins so late in the game, he will realistically not have time to build supports with many units. His best candidates are units in Chapter IV-5 that are in his join chapter.

Fire Emblem Heroes

Role

Volke is one of the characters added to the game in theSpecter of Niðavellir update, and became available for summoning by players on November 17, 2021. Only one variation of Volke is currently available inHeroes, based on hisPath of Radiance incarnation.

Volke: Man of Mysteries

Starting stats

Volke: Man of Mysteries is only available at 5★ rarity.

Rarity ★★★★★ Weapon type Movement type

Initial StatsLevel 40 Stats Maximum HP 16/17/18 Attack 9/10/11 Speed 11/12/13 Defense 4/5/6 Resistance 1/2/3 Maximum HP 35/39/42 Attack 37/40/44 Speed 39/42/46 Defense 23/27/30 Resistance 20/24/27 {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}}

Skills Fireman's Hook -- New Moon

Skill set

Skill set
Skill		Unlock	Auto-unlock	SP cost
	Iron Dagger	★★★★★	★★★★★	50
	Steel Dagger	★★★★★	★★★★★	100
	Silver Dagger	★★★★★	★★★★★	200
	Fireman's Hook	★★★★★	★★★★★	400
	New Moon	★★★★★	★★★★★	100
	Luna	★★★★★	—	200
	Lethality	★★★★★	—	500
A	Death Blow 1	★★★★★	—	50
A	Sturdy Blow 1	★★★★★	—	120
A	Sturdy Blow 2	★★★★★	—	240
A	Sturdy Impact	★★★★★	—	300
B	Null Follow-Up 1	★★★★★	—	60
B	Null Follow-Up 2	★★★★★	—	120
B	Null Follow-Up 3	★★★★★	—	240
C	Time's Pulse 1	★★★★★	—	60
C	Time's Pulse 2	★★★★★	—	120
C	Time's Pulse 3	★★★★★	—	240

Personality

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Volke prefers to be alone, as he is a rather solitary being. He is also very secretive and does not reveal much about himself to others.

Supports

Path of Radiance

Main article:Volke/Supports (Path of Radiance)

Volke Thief Bastian Sage C: 0 B: 1 A: 2 [[{{{support2}}}]] Paladin C: {{{c2}}} B: {{{b2}}} A: {{{a2}}} [[{{{support3}}}]] Paladin C: {{{c3}}} B: {{{b3}}} A: {{{a3}}} [[{{{support4}}}]] [[]][[File:Is gcn {{{affin4}}}affin.png|link={{{affin4}}} (affinity)]] C: {{{c4}}} B: {{{b4}}} A: {{{a4}}} [[{{{support5}}}]] [[]][[File:Is gcn {{{affin5}}}affin.png|link={{{affin5}}} (affinity)]] C: {{{c5}}} B: {{{b5}}} A: {{{a5}}} [[{{{support6}}}]] [[]][[File:Is gcn {{{affin6}}}affin.png|link={{{affin6}}} (affinity)]] C: {{{c6}}} B: {{{b6}}} A: {{{a6}}} [[{{{support7}}}]] [[]][[File:Is gcn {{{affin7}}}affin.png|link={{{affin7}}} (affinity)]] C: {{{c7}}} B: {{{b7}}} A: {{{a7}}}

Radiant Dawn

Bond supports

Volke Assassin Default bonds: None. [[{{{supportd1}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusd1}}} [[{{{supportd2}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusd2}}} [[{{{supportd3}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusd3}}} [[{{{supportd4}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonusd4}}} Extra bonds:* Bastian Archsage Bonus: 5 [[{{{supporte2}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuse2}}} [[{{{supporte3}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuse3}}} [[{{{supporte4}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuse4}}} [[{{{supporte5}}}]] Bishop Bonus: {{{bonuse5}}}

Endings

Radiant Dawn

Volke, Man of Many Mysteries
After finishing his contract, Volke went back to the shadows he knew so well. He was a man of mystery to the end.

Quotes

Battle quotes

Death quotes

Heroes quotes

Main article:Volke/Quotes (Heroes)

Other appearances

Fire Emblem Cipher

Volke is featured on three cards inFire Emblem Cipher.

Fire Emblem Cipher data for Volke
	Elusive Informant, Volke
		"If there is something you need, call out to me. If you pay the right price, I'll save you."
		Attack: 50	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 2
		Class: Thief		Tier: Base	Class Change Cost: –
		Expensive Report:[Activate][Once per turn] [] Reveal the top card of the opponent's deck. If the revealed card has a Deployment Cost of 3 or more, you may tap this unit, and If you do: Draw a card.
	Card #B03-029N • Artist:Mofumura
	The Fireman, Volke
		"I'm not really a thief. I'm an assassin. From now on, I'll take on any job you've got, no matter how... dirty."
		Attack: 70	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 5
		Class: Assassin		Tier: Advanced	Class Change Cost: 3
		Lethality:[Activate][Once per turn] Choose 1 non-lord enemy. [] for each point of deployment cost that that enemy has. Then, if you did, destroy that enemy. "...Good-bye.":[Activate][Once per turn] [] [Discard a "Volke" card from your hand] Destroy your opponent's lord.
	Card #B12-019R • Artist:Clover.K
	Informant of the Darkness, Volke
		"Call me Volke. Sir Greil hired me. I'm in... intelligence."
		Attack: 40	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 1
		Class: Thief		Tier: Base	Class Change Cost: –
		Multitalented Professional:[Activate][Once per turn] Reveal the top card of your opponent's deck. If that card has a deployment cost of 3 or more, then until the end of the turn, this unit may attack enemies in the Back Line regardless of range. Thief Emblem:[Support] Reveal the top card of your opponent's deck. You may send that card to the Retreat Area.
	Card #B12-020N • Artist:Clover.K
Some card information translation provided by Serenes Forest. For more detailed strategic information on these cards, seetheir TCG wiki article on Volke.

Flavor text

Meet some of the Heroes entries

Volke: Man of Mysteries
Volke's a professional when it comes to working in the shadows—assassinations and espionage are his stock-in-trade, and he's got a reputation for his ability to solve difficult problems through not-entirely-legal means. In fact, he's put out so many fires, they call him "the Fireman"!	Cool and calculating, Volke handles his missions with consummate skill. Greil, the leader of the Greil Mercenaries, valued him highly both for his acumen and character.	In fact, Greil entrusted Volke with two vital requests. The first was that, should he die, Volke would watch over Ike's growth in his stead. And the second? Good question…	Ask for a "fireman" at a certain bar, and Volke will appear from the shadows. There's no doubt he can get the job done—just don't forget that his services come at a premium!
Closely Associated Characters
Greil Ike {{{Related_name3}}} {{{Related_name4}}} {{{Related_name5}}} The first leader of the Greil Mercenaries. Father of Ike and Mist. Before his death, he made a contract with Volke. A kindhearted but stoic young man who has taken command of his father's mercenary band. He forms a contract with Volke to succeed the contract Greil once made. {{{Related_blurb3}}} {{{Related_blurb4}}} {{{Related_blurb5}}}

Choose Your Legends placement history

Round	Placement	Character	Votes

CYL 1 (2017)	217	Volke Radiant Dawn	1,131
	354	Volke Path of Radiance	501

CYL 2 (2018)	223	Volke Radiant Dawn	1,094 (−37)
	394	Volke Path of Radiance	460 (−41)

CYL 3 (2019)

156 (−3)

Volke Path of Radiance Radiant Dawn

1,677 (+119)

CYL 4 (2020)

151 (−10)

Volke Path of Radiance Radiant Dawn

1,079 (−598)

CYL 5 (2021)

101 (−50)

Volke Radiant Dawn Path of Radiance

978 (−101)

CYL 6 (2022)

318 (+217)

Volke Radiant Dawn Path of Radiance

289 (−689)

CYL 7 (2023)

374 (+56)

Volke Radiant Dawn Path of Radiance

146 (−143)

CYL 8 (2024)

351 (−23)

Volke Radiant Dawn Path of Radiance

167 (+21)

CYL 9 (2025)

386 (+35)

Volke Radiant Dawn Path of Radiance

118 (−49)

CYL 10 (2026)

400 (+14)

Volke Radiant Dawn Path of Radiance

82 (−36)

Total results		This character has 12 entries across all Choose Your Legends polls.	7,722

Trivia

• Although it is not mentioned inRadiant Dawn, Volke retains his unique trait of deducting 50 gold from the player's funds when performing any thieving action, much like inPath of Radiance. If the player has less than 50 gold when attempting to open a lock with Volke, a message reading "dummy" appears in the English version; this can be observed with the chest containingMatrona, the only chest that appears after Volke's join chapter.^[1]
• According toTellius Recollection, Volke was designed with an apparent age of 33 inPath of Radiance^[2] and 36 inRadiant Dawn.^[3]

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

Official artwork

• 
  Artwork of Volke fromPath of Radiance.
• 
  Artwork of Volke fromRadiant Dawn.

Portraits

• 
  Portrait of Volke inPath of Radiance.
• 
  Portrait of Volke as anAssassin inPath of Radiance.
• 
  Portrait of Volke inRadiant Dawn.

Screenshots

Path of Radiance

• 
  Volke as anAssassin.
• 
  Volke activatingLethality.
• 
  Volke activating Lethality.
• 
  Volke wielding aDagger.

Radiant Dawn

• 
  Volke as anAssassin.
• 
  Volke activatingLethality.
• 
  Volke activating Lethality.
• 
  Volke wielding thePeshkatz.
• 
  Volke wielding aSilver Knife.

Heroes artwork

Character artwork

• 
  Artwork of Volke: Man of Mysteries.
• 
  Artwork of Volke: Man of Mysteries.
• 
  Artwork of Volke: Man of Mysteries.
• 
  Artwork of Volke: Man of Mysteries.

Meet some of the Heroes artwork

• 
  Artwork of Volke: Man of Mysteries.
• 
  Artwork of Volke: Man of Mysteries.
• 
  Artwork of Volke: Man of Mysteries.
• 
  Artwork of Volke: Man of Mysteries.

Cipher artwork

• 
  Artwork of Volke.
• 
  Artwork of Volke.
• 
  Artwork of Volke.

References

This article is part ofProject Characters, a project focused on writing articles for every character present in theFire Emblem series.