Chapter 24: The Empty Throne

This chapter introduces unique gameplay mechanics and difficulty options seen across the Fire Emblem series. Understand how different modes impact character permanence and how certain games offer ways to bolster your roster or ease new players into the strategic combat.

In Cipher, characters from these games often focus on swarming with cheap units. This strategy is complemented by the Hero Skill, a mechanic unique to Red (excluding Lianna and Rowan from Fire Emblem Warriors), which allows for changing the main character mid-play.

Difficulty settings vary:

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon includes side chapters (Gaiden chapters) that become available if a certain number of units are lost. These chapters provide new recruitable characters to prevent your roster from becoming too depleted.
Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem introduced Casual Mode, where permanent death is disabled. Defeated characters remain in your roster and are usable in the next chapter, easing the difficulty for new players.
Fire Emblem Fates further simplifies the experience with Phoenix Mode. In this mode, defeated characters return to battle on the very next turn with full health, designed for strategy RPG novices.
In Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, Lyn's Tale serves as an extended tutorial and does not feature permanent death. Units defeated in Lyn's story return in Eliwood's/Hector's story, though they will be weaker than if they had not been defeated.