Ward (Japanese:ワードWade), also known asWade, is a playable character inFire Emblem: The Binding Blade. He first appears inChapter 2. He is a member ofDieck's mercenary group. Ward comes from theWestern Isles, and his sister,Mary, is there waiting for him and their good friendLot.

Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade

Role

Ward is a young man from the Western Isles. Having grown up in a poor village, he and his best friend Lot decide to leave the islands in search of a job. After a while, they join Dieck's band, which is then hired by LordEliwood for the war againstBern. They are to meetRoy at a certain point near the border with Bern, but when Ward and his comrades arrive there, thePheraen army is already fighting. They join the battle immediately, and after rescuingElen's mistressGuinivere, they work alongside Roy during the rest of the war.

When theLycian Army is fighting bandits in the Western Isles, they come across a small village. If Ward and Lot visit certain houses, their sisters will come and talk to them, giving valuable items to help them in battle.

After Bern is defeated and the war is over, Ward returns to the Western Isles and dedicates himself to their development. Over the years, his work becomes the basis for the greatest city of that nation.

Starting stats and growth rates

Fighter Level 2 Affinity

Recruitment:Chapter 2, automatically on Turn 2 StatsGrowth Rates Max HP 28 Luck 4 Strength 8 Defense 3 Skill 3 Resistance 0 Speed 5 Constitution 13 Movement 5 Aid 12 Max HP 75% Luck 45% Strength 50% Defense 30% Skill 45% Resistance 5% Speed 20% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory Iron Axe Hammer Vulnerary Weapon Levels -- -- D -- -- -- -- --

Promotion stat gains

Class	HP	Str	Skill	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Con	Mov	Weapon level
Warrior	+8	+3	+3	+2	+0	+3	+0	+2	+1	+50, E (+1)

Analysis

The Binding Blade is quite infamous for its low hit rates, and axes in particular have the lowest hit rates of all weapons, making skill an essential stat for any unit that wants to remain useful through the entire game. Ward's base skill is 3, which is very poor. Ward's hit rate might not seem too bad at first when he is fighting slow knights and soldiers, but once the game introduces enemy cavaliers and wyvern riders Ward's weapon triangle advantage will quickly become irrelevant. Although Ward has fairly decent skill and luck growths, and a fast support with Lot which can somewhat fix his problems with hitting enemies, this will not be too useful in the long-term, as enemies wielding swords will become far more common and have much better avoid as well.

Another aspect worth mentioning is Ward's awful base speed of 5 and even worse growth rate of 20%. While Ward has very high constitution meaning that he will not lose speed when he is not equipping the heavier weapons, this does not matter much since he will never double and will more likely get doubled by the enemies instead. This cuts into his otherwise solid physical durability and leaves him very vulnerable to mages with his 0 base resistance and 5% growth. To Ward's credit, he has a decent 8 base strength and a strong 50% growth, complemented by the might of axes, and while he has worse offense than units that double, enemies on Hard Mode have high enough speed where this is not guaranteed.

Ward's promotion into a Warrior is difficult to recommend simply due to the number of units vying for the covetedHero Crest. Dieck joins at a higher base level, Rutger and Fir both gain access to the incredible Swordmaster class and an increased crit rate, Gonzalez has great strength and speed, and even Lot is generally better than Ward with better base stats. Nevertheless, Ward's promotion gains are incredible and thanks to the +8 HP combined with his high growth he will likely cap said stat. Additionally, the Warrior promotion also gives Ward a very useful +3 skill and access to bows which will help combat dangerous enemy flyers. However, in terms of both weapon types, Ward is largely outclassed because Lot, Geese, and Gonzalez are much better unpromoted axe users, not to mention there are prepromotes like Echidna or Bartre who do not require a Hero Crest. Furthermore, units such as Klein, Igrene, Bartre, Shin and Sue offer far better bow utility when dealing with enemy flyers.

Overall, Ward is a unit with both offensive and defensive issues. There is very little reason to use him over other axe users and even many other units in general. He has some valuable early game utility, where he is force deployed and is rarely enough of a liability to not contribute, but he will quickly fall off without a promotion, and you will likely find more use in other units that can hit more consistently.

Personality

Ward's main trait is his hot-blooded attitude. He likes to fight - and likes doing it on his own style. He is used to charge ahead and leave the small details to others,^[1] and hates being called weak, even resorting to exaggerate his adventures.^[2] Dieck is always calling him on this, but Ward tends to forget his boss' advice.^[3] His tendency to rush through things and somewhat naive personality make him the target of many jokes; he complains that not even Lot's little sister respects him.^[4]

According to his supports with Lot andEchidna, he frequently fights^[5] with his sister. Nevertheless, deep down, he greatly values his family and comrades, calling Lot off after he confesses having left his sister alone.^[6] He certainly has problems expressing his true feelings.^[7]

Supports

Main article:Ward (character)/Supports

Ward Fighter Dieck Mercenary Initial: 10 Per turn:+2 Lot Fighter Initial: 40 Per turn:+2 Alen Cavalier Initial: 1 Per turn:+1 [[{{{support7}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin7}}}affin.png|link={{{affin7}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints7}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support9}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin9}}}affin.png|link={{{affin9}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints9}}} Per turn:+ Shanna Pegasus Knight Initial: 10 Per turn:+2 Echidna Hero Initial: 1 Per turn:+1 [[{{{support6}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin6}}}affin.png|link={{{affin6}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints6}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support8}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin8}}}affin.png|link={{{affin8}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints8}}} Per turn:+ [[{{{support10}}}]] [[]] [[File:Is gba {{{affin10}}}affin.png|link={{{affin10}}} (affinity)]] Initial: {{{initialpoints10}}} Per turn:+

Endings

Ward, Sincere Axeman
Short: Helped develop the Western Isles.

Long: After returning home, Ward worked to cultivate the land and construct homes in the Isles. His work continued through many generations and eventually became the greatest city in the Isles.

Quotes

Battle Quote

Death quote

Other appearances

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Ward's official artwork fromThe Binding Blade can be viewed inPath of Radiance's extras menu if a copy ofThe Binding Blade is connected to a Japanese copy ofPath of Radiance. This illustration, along with all otherThe Binding Blade-related artwork, is inaccessible in the international versions of the game, owing to the fact thatThe Binding Blade was not released in those regions.

Fire Emblem Cipher

Ward is featured on one card inFire Emblem Cipher.

Fire Emblem Cipher data for Ward
	Reckless Mercenary, Ward
		"All right, who's next! Bring it on!!"
		Attack: 30	Support: 10	Range: 1	Deploy Cost: 1
		Class: Fighter		Tier:Base	Class Change Cost: --
		Fighter's Expertise:[Trigger] During your turn, this unit gains +20 attack. Attack Emblem:[Support] Until the end of this battle, your attacking unit gains +20 attack.
	Card #B05-020N, B05-020ST • Artist:Karuta Shiki
Some card information translation provided by Serenes Forest. For more detailed strategic information on these cards, seetheir TCG wiki article on Wade .

Flavor text

Choose Your Legends placement history

Round	Placement	Character	Votes

CYL 1 (2017)

682

Wade The Binding Blade

71

CYL 2 (2018)

749

Wade The Binding Blade

38 (−33)

CYL 3 (2019)

675 (+26)

Wade The Binding Blade

29 (−9)

CYL 4 (2020)

714 (−10)

Wade The Binding Blade

41 (+12)

CYL 5 (2021)

719 (+5)

Ward The Binding Blade

38 (−3)

CYL 6 (2022)

740 (+19)

Ward The Binding Blade

33 (−5)

CYL 7 (2023)

749 (+9)

Ward The Binding Blade

22 (−11)

CYL 8 (2024)

746 (−3)

Ward The Binding Blade

29 (+7)

CYL 9 (2025)

788 (+42)

Ward The Binding Blade

20 (−9)

CYL 10 (2026)

827 (+39)

Ward The Binding Blade

10 (−10)

Total results		This character has 10 entries across all Choose Your Legends polls.	331

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

Sprite Gallery
Fighter Warrior Basic axe Ranged axe Basic axe Ranged axe Bow

Official artwork

• 
  Artwork of Ward fromThe Binding Blade.

Cipher artwork

• 
  Artwork of Ward.

References

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