'Fire Emblem Heroes' Prologue and Chapter 1 Walkthrough: Guide, tips, tricks and strategy

By now, you've hopefully had some time to sink your teeth into Nintendo and Intelligent Systems' new mobile game, Fire Emblem Heroes, released on Feb. 2. Mic's already been hard at work researching tips and tricks to get you started, how to use the summoning mechanic to get more heroes restore order to the world and some leads on what's to come for the game, but we're aware that might not be enough for some die-hard fans.

As a simplified version of the now 27-year-old franchise, however, chances are that Fire Emblem Heroes might be some people's introduction to the series. But whether you're new to the turn-based strategy game or you've been playing since the series' English debut in 2003, we're going to take an in-depth look at how to beat the game's story mode, starting now with the Prologue and Chapter 1. So grab your favorite heroes and let's get started!

What you'll find in this guide:

Fire Emblem Heroes Prologue part 1 walkthrough: "Prince With Golden Wings"

Enemies: Sword, Lance, Ax

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This map has three Emblian soldiers hanging out on three islands to the north, northeast and east. The easiest way to take this map is to position a hero that's strong against each of these weapon types on the bridges provided. Do it correctly, and you shouldn't be in danger of any serious retaliation. Command of choke points like bridges can turn the tide in your favor, so make use of them whenever possible to force enemies to come at you one at a time.

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As long as you pay attention to the weapon triangle (or have a five-star hero like Marth) this opening level shouldn't cause you too much trouble.

Fire Emblem Heroes Prologue part 2 walkthrough: "Proof of Power"

Enemies: Sword, Lance, Ax, Staff

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Make sure you bring someone who can use a bow and arrow to this map. Minerva is a wyvern rider and is flanked by Palla and Catria, two Pegasus riders. They're flying units so they'll be weak against archers, and a hero like Virion will clean up, provided you keep him protected. Other than that, you'll have to break down the two barriers positioned at the top of your map, which can take one to two turns depending on how much you attack them.

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We recommend keeping your heroes bunched up at the top of the map. That will make it easier to focus fire on any units that come up to attack you, allowing you to defeat them before they have the option to run away and get their HP restored by the staff user accompanying them.

Fire Emblem Heroes Prologue part 3 walkthrough: "Heroes in Battle"

Enemies: Sword (x2), Bow, Staff

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The first thing you'll want to do in this map is to draw the archer out in front by baiting him with one of your characters. A mage or a bow user (if you got one through hero summoning) will be invaluable since they'll be able to retaliate. Watch out, though. Both Xander and the unnamed Trobadour are mounted units, meaning they'll be able to close the distance quickly. You'll have to take units out in one turn or risk them being spirited away by Xander's Pivot ability, which essentially allows him to hop over units he's adjacent to, moving him one square farther than he should be able to.

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This can be a good thing, however, since Pivot will put Xander incredibly far forward and in range of several of your units. Once you take him out, the swordsman and the bowman should fall quickly, and the trobadour can only heal. So she's harmless once you take everyone else out.

And with that, you've beaten the prologue.

Fire Emblem Heroes Chapter 1 part 1 walkthrough: "Mystery Trial"

Enemies: Sword (x2), Lance


Part 1 of World of Mystery starts off relatively easy, only pitting you against Jagen (the cavalier in the purple armor), Marth and Caeda (the pegasus rider). The easiest way to clear the map is to wait. Your frontmost person is in range of Jagen as soon as you spawn in. When your turn ends, he'll rush forward, eat a counterattack from someone and then be easy pickings on your second turn. 

If you brought a bow user, they should make quick work of Caeda. She'll move forward with Jagen but be unable to attack any of your units on her first turn. Simply park an archer or lancer in range and let their arrows do the talking. Once you've taken care of Jagen and Caeda, Marth should be on you and charge directly into several of your units (the AI in Fire Emblem isn't exactly tactical). No one on this map hits particularly hard either. So you can afford to make a few mistakes.

Fire Emblem Heroes Chapter 1 part 2 walkthrough: "Willful Warrior"

Enemies: Sword, Ax, Bow

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"Willful Warrior" has your team facing off against the Mercenary Ogma, along with an unnamed Emblian archer and ax wielder. If you have a strong lance user, send them south to attack Ogma and send a sword user north to deal with the ax user on the bridge. The archer is only there to show you that enemies can also gang up on your characters. So it's best to bait the melee enemies by sending your strongest units to the outer edge of their attack range.

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Fire Emblem Heroes Chapter 1 part 3 walkthrough: "Wind and Light"

Enemies: Blue Magic, Green Magic, Staff

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If you haven't been leveling up a thief, archer or magic user, "Wind and Light" will be a little tough. Your characters start on the south end of a wide bridge, with Merric and Linde (the two magic users) lounging around in the desert to the north with a staff user. 

Since magic users can attack from two squares away, your melee units can take quite a beating before they're actually able to catch up to them and settle the score. A magic user can really save your bacon here, but remember that the weapon triangle still applies to them: Green magic beats Blue, Blue beats Red and Red beats Green. It can be a little confusing to keep track of, so if you'd rather not deal with it at all, just take a thief and an archer. Mages tend to have low defense and won't be able to take many hits.

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Fire Emblem Heroes Chapter 1 part 4 walkthrough: "Dual Cavaliers"

Enemies: Sword, Lance (x2), Bow

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The penultimate part of Chapter 1 is pretty similar to what we've seen previously in the World of Mystery: four units on the top half of the map and some environmental hazards that can limit mobility for your troops. This time, you're facing off against Cain and Abel (two cavaliers), Gordin the archer and a nameless pegasus rider. Cain, Abel and the pegasus rider will close distance quickly, so your job before they get to you is to consolidate your troops in a way that lets you make several attacks when they get to you.

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If you're able to, taking out Gordin and the pegasus rider before Cain and Abel reach you will make the fight much less complicated. An archer or ax user will make quick work of the pegasus rider, and really anyone can polish off Gordin in short order.

Fire Emblem Heroes Chapter 1 part 5 walkthrough: "Prince of Mystery"

Enemies: Sword (x2), Bow, Green Magic

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The final battle against Prince Marth in the World of Mystery puts his entire group on a small island. With Merric, Gordin and Caeda the pegasus rider backing him up, the hero prince can really tear your team to shreds in short order if you leave them exposed on the bridges. To complicate matters, the enemies won't budge until you put someone inside their attack range.

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The easiest way to take this map is to position a melee attacker on the map square before the southern bridge and have a ranged attacker positioned on both bridges. This way, Merric and Gordin won't be able to attack your units without hurting themselves, and you can defend them from Marth as he comes up from the south. 

Just be wary of Caeda's defensive skill "Draw Back," which will allow her to yank other units out of harm's way and can trick you into overextending yourself. So don't move from the bridges unless you're in danger of being ganged up on or you know you can go for a kill.

Once you've dispatched the enemies on this map, you've got Chapter 1 in the bag!

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