Common misconceptions

Common misconceptions
Last revised: 24th November 2010

General

Marth and Roy are in the same game

"Are Marth and Roy in this game?" was a common question when Super Smash Bros. Melee was released and the Fire Emblem series was still new in the West. In Melee, Marth and Roy were both stated as being from the Fire Emblem series, but there was no mention of which game(s) they starred in. Of course, Marth appeared in the first and third games, while Roy appeared in the sixth.

Heavy weapons raise weapon levels faster

This is merely a coincidence, especially since Weight and Weapon EXP are two separate weapon stats (Weapon EXP is a hidden stat). It is likely that most heavy weapons just have more Weapon EXP to make them more worth using.

This is important in Path of Radiance, where people often suggest forging a weapon with high Weight so they will gain Weapon EXP faster. Do not do this. You will in fact gain Weapon EXP at a slower rate because characters will double attack less, leading them to attack with their weapon less and, therefore, gain less Weapon EXP.

Sword of Seals

Critical before Hit

During battles, the game determines whether a character successfully hits the enemy first, before determining whether that attack is a critical hit. For example, if an attack has 90 Hit and 5 Crt, the attack would have a 90% chance of hitting (assuming 1 Random Number is used) and, if it did hit, the attack would then have a 5% chance of being a critical (hence the total chance to critical is 90% x 5% = 4.5%).

Some believe that Sword of Seals swaps that order around, eg. if an attack has 30% Hit and 80% Critical, the attack would have a 80% chance of hitting and being a critical and, if the critical fails, there is a further 30% chance of hitting and performing a normal attack (hence the total chance to deal some damage is 80% + 20% x 30% = 86%). However this is false and the normal order is used.

Blazing Sword

Tactician affinity increases growth rates

Some people still believe that choosing your Tactician's affinity to be the same as a character's affinity will boost that character's growth rates. This is completely false, and was proven by people hacking the game to give characters varying growth rates (eg. 95 to 100) and see the effect of Tactician affinity. To make a long story short, there was no effect.

The Fire Dragon moves

I don't know where this claim originated from, but the Fire Dragon never moves to attack, not in any difficulty mode or language version. I assume it was a prank, or wishful thinking as an explanation for the huge vertical space in the Fire Dragon's map.

The Sacred Stones

Eirika and Ephraim get married

Give me a break! Now, close sibling relationships are a fairly common theme in the Fire Emblem game. However if this were true, I shudder to think of the backlash that Nintendo would have received. The actual misconception states that, in the Japanese version, Eirika and Ephraim's paired ending indicate that they get married. However, in truth it doesn't and the ending is virtually identical to the English version.

About Lyon

Ah, Lyon, the centre of many myths.

Firstly, some people believe his maximum HP can surpass 60 as a playable character. However this is false since 60 is the maximum HP for all characters. The only reason Lyon as an enemy (and other enemies) can have higher HP is because enemies do not have a HP cap (aside from 127, which is the maximum stat value).

Secondly, some people believe that Lyon could command all four magic types (Anima, Dark, Light and Staves) in the Japanese version. This is again completely false- he could still only use Dark magic and Staves. This myth probably stems from the opening class roll, which shows Lyon casting Thunder magic. I don't know why he casts it, because he can't... Not without cheating anyway (in case you didn't know, all magic classes share the same animation for casting Anima, Dark or Light magic).

Path of Radiance

The Beorcguard doesn't do anything

The Beorcguard's description states that it reduces damage from Beorc attacks, similar to the Laguzguard's description, so you would think it would have a similar effect, right? However it doesn't seem to be working when fighting normal Beorc enemies...

That would be because the description is actually incorrect- the Beorcguard only negates the effective bonus of the Laguz-slaying series of weapons against Laguz.

Nasir froze the Black Knight

Some people are led to believe that Nasir breathes ice, thanks to his weapon's description that states "the icy breath of a white dragon". In fact the "icy" part was added for the localised English version. Nasir's breath looks more like light magic in battle, so I am inclined to believe it is Light magic-based.

Rajaion

This is much less relevant now, since Radiant Dawn has been released. Originally, many people thought that Rajaion survived the end of Path of Radiance, but he in fact died. While this was not directly stated in Path of Radiance, it was very heavily implied. However, I believe it was less clear in the English version, due to the wording and the reduced number of ellipses, and thus caused people to believe that he survived. Naturally, Radiant Dawn clears this up, with characters referring to Rajaion's death scene and the relationship chart indicating Rajaion as deceased.

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