Why are Skirmishes So Hard in Fire Emblem Engage? Here’s What to Do

Fire Emblem Engage has been quite the mixed bag considering its weak story but incredibly solid gameplay loops. Making it even more troublesome of a debate is how its skirmishes function, with its implementations being far too challenging regardless of the difficulty selected. So, since we are all in need of a helping hand, here’s a breakdown of the situation and what you can do to best prepare yourself in tackling them yourself.

Why are Skirmishes So Hard in Fire Emblem Engage? – Answered

Skirmishes in Fire Emblem Engage are notoriously more difficult than its story chapter battles. This is due to the skirmish battles being scaled exclusively to Alear’s level, that of exceeding their exact level by 2 specifically each and every time. Because of this, our very first suggestion is changing your intention when actually choosing to tackle them.

Intend to play the skirmishes for resources rather than grinding due to the sheer difficulty spike to them. Never make up a team comprising of low levelled units, and instead only take the bare minimum of around 2-3 depending on the unit slots available in order to keep them safe, protected and alive by the end of it.

In order to best prepare for Skirmish fights, utilise everything you possibly can in the Somniel. These consist of:

• Training in the Arena – Mock battles that award both experience points (EXP) and skill points (SP). Offers up two modes to also boost certain bonds levels – Standard with other units, and Emblem with Emblem ring characters.
• Make up dishes/meals in Café Terrace for stat boosting and as a backup consumable for HP recovery
• Stay up to date on which skills can be inherited from the Rings in the Ring Chamber by using up SP

Related: Fire Emblem Engage – Best Emblem Pairings Guide

When going into any battle, scope out the map layout and enemy unit types. You can change out which units have which Emblem Rings equipped in the main menu before committing to the battle. Therefor, give certain units of yours the best advantage possible by pairing them up with the most effective boost they can get depending on the situation. For example, Sigurd would typically be best suited up with units that compliment his weapon type – the Lance. However, the map may demand more shielding due to it being filled with fast moving units like Flying units who can traverse across most of the map and corner your army and Snipers too quickly.

On a similar note, Bond Rings can be just as impactful in these battles. Share out your units with the very best quality of any that suits their greatest advantages, so be sure to be spending all your Bond Fragments often enough to create enough S Rank rings. Eliwood’s S Rank specifically can be a complete round saver.

When it comes to mid battle tactics, remember to utilise every single tip the game itself suggests, such as:

• Always look out for an opportunity to Chain Attack, regardless of the unit type. A full-on, all out attack against a single unit will put them down quicker than taking them on alone.
• Keep the Weapon Triangle in mind at all times – if there is a flying unit (which tends to crop up a lot in later Skirmishes) use Seadall on a unit such as Alcryst to put them down as often as possible.
• Positioning is key – You will want the backup units to deal the last bit of damage each time and have the tankier units be in the forefront to shield them. The squishiest units will need to be shieled and situated right at the back due to how easily killable they are because of their low defences and enemies being too strong.
  • Additionally, units tend to come at the player head on, consistently. Regardless of the map. This means it tends to be best to keep all the units tightly together and kept in said formation, so that squishy units are safely at the back and your units with the most HP/best defence stats take all the hits.
  • Due to this exact reason, focus on downing certain enemy types first. Mages are the biggest threat if you use such an approach with tank units at the forefront.

In the end, remember that these fights are optional. You can choose to lower the difficulty (unless already on Normal mode) and seek the rewards it gives elsewhere.

Good luck! For any further help with the game, check out other articles under it that we have covered such as How to Unlock the Dancer Class in Fire Emblem Engage. Please also check out Gamer Journalist on Facebook to join the discussion and keep up to date with our content.