Theweapon level system (Japanese:武器レベルweapon level), abbreviatedWpn Lv inPath of Radiance^[1] andWpn. LV. inShadow Dragon & the Blade of Light, is a system of weapon access management.

InFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light,Mystery of the Emblem, andFire Emblem: Archanea Saga, the range of weapons a unit has is dependent on their weapon level stat; like the level system all weapons are assigned a minimum weapon level required to use them. Weapon level is increased through level-ups, and it has its owngrowth rate. The stat applies equally to all weapon types available to the unit's class, allowing for a unit with access to multiple types equal proficiency in all of them. It was revamped inFire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War and later fleshed out into its current form inThracia 776.

The modern weapon levels exist in two forms, as a singular stat associated with almost all weapons and as a collective of stats for each individualunit; weapon levels denote aunit's proficiency in each weapon type, and the level associated with an individual weapon denotes the minimum weapon level in the matching weapon type required to use the weapon in question. Unlike the original weapon level system, a unit has a different weapon level for every weapon type to which they have access, all operating independently and thus preventing a unit from (in most cases) being equally proficient in all weapon types without extra effort.

Weapon levels do not exist inFire Emblem Gaiden orShadows of Valentia. In these games, a unit can use any weapon their class allows them to (excludingpersonal weapons).

InThree Houses, weapon levels are replaced withskill levels (Japanese:技能レベルproficiency level), which are essentially the same mechanic except with the ability to level up a unit's proficiency in four non-weapon abilities, which areAuthority, Riding, Heavy Armor, and Flying.

Overview

In the original Archanea games, it is a stat which can be increased upon level up. If the unit's stat is greater than or equal to the weapon's level requirement, the unit can use that weapon, provided their class allows it. Weapon level numbers in these games were not standardized as they are today; for example, in most modern games, all silver weapons are leveled at B, but in the original Archanea games, theSilver Sword was level 9, theSilver Lance andSilver Bow were level 7, and theSilver Axe was level 10.

Modern weapon levels exist as a progressive scale of individual levels denoted by letters, ranging from E to A (or sometimes S); in almost all games the lowest possible weapon level is E, with weapons of this level usable by any unit with access to the matching weapon type. Generally speaking, the higher a weapon's level, the morepowerful it is in exchange for greaterweight andworth and lowerdurability. This progression is usually made evident in the naming scheme of weapons; for example, most physical weapon types come in a set of basic Bronze, Iron, Steel, and Silver variants, while anima magic types possess a series of increasing prefixes with the exception of the most powerful basic spell (e.g.Fire,Elfire,Arcfire, andBolganone). Typically, the game's highest level (normally A or S) is reserved for a set of powerful or holy weapons which are often central to the game's plot. Depending on the game,personal weapons are either separated from the core level system or still have a level while being locked to individual units.

In almost all uses of the system, weapon levels can be increased by gainingweapon experience (abbreviated as WEx), with the unit's level increasing by one after their weapon experience reaches a certain threshold. In this system, all weapons have an associated WEx value (hidden from the player's view), and when a unit uses that weapon they gain the weapon's amount of WEx every time they successfully use the weapon to strike an enemy or, in the case of moststaves, to heal an ally. The exceptions to this system areGenealogy of the Holy War andFire Emblem Engage, where weapon levels are almost entirely static and are dictated primarily by a unit'sclass. InGenealogy, units who possessHoly Blood have their weapon levels altered depending on what kind of blood they possess. InEngage, every unit has one weapon type they are innately more proficient with, marked in blue on the weaponproficiency sheet; this weapon's level will be increased by one when the unit is in certain classes that can use that weapon—for example,Paladin naturally has A-level inlances, but a unit proficient in lances will have S-level lances as a Paladin.

Weapon levels by game

While for the most part the set of levels is static across all games, each features its own variation on available levels, with some treating A as the highest while others add the higher S or SS levels.

Weapon experience requirements by game

Main article:Weapon experience

Upon gaining certain thresholds ofweapon experience, a unit's weapon level in the matching weapon type will increase. While this mechanic has remained constant ever sinceThracia 776, the required WEx thresholds regularly change between games.

Three Houses adds additional "+" skill levels that are not featured in previous games. The skill level progression forThree Houses is as follows:

Weapon level bonus

All games fromShadow Dragon toFates have featured a weapon level bonus, which further increases the unit's strength and/or accuracy with their chosen weapon type. The weapon level bonus only takes effect when the unit's weapon level for their current weapon type is C or higher. The bonuses received vary depending on the type of weapon equipped. If the unit has aweapon triangle disadvantage, the weapon level bonus does not take effect.

The Blazing Blade andThe Sacred Stones feature a rudimentary version of the weapon level bonus, where a unit possessing an S level in the currently-equipped weapon type receives +5 tohit andcritical hit rates. This bonus is the same for all weapon types, and is not nullified by a weapon triangle disadvantage.Three Houses does not provide direct weapon level bonuses like previous games, but instead provides various "Prowess" abilities; these similarly grant bonuses only when a particular weapon type is equipped, and they become stronger in effect as one's skill level increases.

Items and skills affecting weapon levels and WEx

Items and skills affecting weapon level and experience
	Item	Effect	Games
	Manual	Permanent +5 increase when used.	Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light,Mystery of the Emblem
	Taurus Shard	+5% to growth rate when in inventory.	Mystery of the Emblem
	Gemini Shard	−10% to growth rate when in inventory.	Mystery of the Emblem
	Virgo Shard	+20% to growth rate when in inventory.	Mystery of the Emblem
	Libra Shard	+10% to growth rate when in inventory.	Mystery of the Emblem
	Capricorn Shard	+30% to growth rate when in inventory. Bonus not applied due to a glitch.	Mystery of the Emblem
	Aquarius Shard	+10% to growth rate when in inventory.	Mystery of the Emblem
	Starsphere	+30% to growth rate when in inventory.	Mystery of the Emblem
	Arms Scroll	Permanently increasesall weapon levels/the level matching the user's current equipped weapon by one level each when used.	Path of Radiance,Radiant Dawn,Shadow Dragon,New Mystery of the Emblem,Awakening,Fates
	Discipline	Doubles the user's weapon experience gain when equipped.	Radiant Dawn,Awakening
	Mastermind	Doubles the user's skill experience gain when equipped.	Three Houses
	Knowledge Gem	Doubles the user's skill experience gain when equipped.	Three Houses

Flavor text

Trivia

• InThracia 776, every character has their own "weapon growth" that dictates the chance the character has to gain a point of weapon experience from every attack or staff use. This mechanic is effectively unused as all playable characters have 100% growths for all weapon ranks, though many non-playable units only gain weapon experience 20% of the time.^[5]
• The gameTearRing Saga: Yutona Heroes War Chronicles, a game directed byShouzou Kaga, features the weapon level stat as it functioned in the earlyFire Emblem series games. In its sequel,TearRing Saga Series: Berwick Saga, weapons only require a certain character level to equip without penalties. Instead, theSkill stat is split between weapon types. Each weapon's skill stat goes up both when leveling (like weapon level) and when attacking with that weapon (like weapon experience).

Etymology and other languages

Weapon level

Skill level

References

See also

• Weapon experience