Each entry in theFire Emblemseries allows players to recruit a wide range of characters into their army. While there are many characters in each game that a player gains access to automatically, there are characters in each game that can only be recruited if specific requirements are met.
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While some characters have simple recruitments such as talking to that character with the protagonist or even just visiting a certain village, it is not always so simple. Which ones are the hardest to recruit inFire Emblem’shistory of games?
10Shinon
A pre-promoted Sniper inFire Emblem: Path of RadianceandRadiant Dawn, whileShinonis gained automatically inRadiant Dawn,his recruitment process is quite cryptic for players who are playing throughPath of Radianceblind. While Shinon is available to the player quite early inPath of Radiance, he will automatically leave a player’s forces and must be re-recruited in Chapter 18.
Many characters in the series can be recruited by talking to them with a certain unit. In Shinon’s case, he must be spoken to with Rolf, but after the conversation, he will remain an enemy unit. A player must then defeat him in combat with Ike. Then at the end of the chapter, he will rejoin a player’s ranks. If a player defeats Shinon with Ike without talking to him with Rolf, or he is spoken to but defeated with another character, he will not be recruited.
9Jaffar
While recruiting Jaffar in Eliwood’s story ofThe Blazing Bladeisn’t too difficult, his recruitment in Hector’s hard mode is the stuff of nightmares. Appearing in the notorious chapter, “Battle Before Dawn,” Jaffar is a green unit that is surrounded by a large swarm of enemy units. to recruit Jaffar, he and another unit recruited in the chapter, Nino, must survive until the chapter is completed.
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Additionally, Nino must also speak to Jaffar before the end of the chapter. Between the sizable hoards of enemies, the boss of the chapter’s Bolting tome, and Jaffar’s AI, the poor RNG can result in Jaffar dying well before the player can rescue him.
8Pelleas
On paper,Pelleas’s recruitment inRadiant Dawndoesn’t initially sound too bad. All a player needs to do is make a specific choice during a scene that takes place during part three. However, there’s an issue. The correct option that allows a player to recruit Pelleas is only available after the player has already completedRadiant Dawnat least once. This means that in order to recruit Pelleas, the player is required to have beaten the entirety of the game.
7Karla
Appearing in Hector’s story inFire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, Karla is a swordmaster with a cryptic recruitment process that can easily be missed. Rather than just requiring that a player talks to her with a certain unit, the game requires that in order for Karla to appear at all, the player must deploy Bartre in Chapter 31X, he must be promoted into a warrior, and he must be at least level five. If all of these conditions are met,thenKarla will appear on top of the arena in the chapter.
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If Karla is spoken to with Bartre, they will immediately fight. If both of these characters survive their combat, then and only then will Karla actually be recruited.
6Douglas
Douglas is a General that appears inFire Emblem: The Binding Blade, and appears as an enemy in chapter 16 as an enemy unit. Rather than talk to Douglas like many other conventional recruitments, Douglas is recruited into a player’s army at the end of the chapter as long as he survived. This is much easier said than done, as he will actively seek out a player’s units and attempt to engage in combat, making accidentally killing him an unfortunately common occurrence.
5Ymir
Ymir is a character inFire Emblem: Shadow Dragonwho can easily be missed by players due tohis self-destructive recruitment requirement. Though all a player must do to recruit Ymir is speak to him with Marth in Chapter 20X, accessing this chapter is in itself an ordeal. This is because the chapter only is available to players who completed Chapter 20 while having fifteen or fewer units in the army. This essentially means that the player must’ve let a massive portion of their other units die just to access the chapter.
4Nasir
On paper, Nasir’s recruitment inPath of Radiancedoesn’t seem too bad, requiring the player to defeat the Black Knight. Unfortunately, in the higher difficulties on the game, this can be quite an ordeal due to the fact that Ike is the only character able to deal damage to him. Even if a player has allowed Ike to reach his maximum level, without triggering Aether numerous times over the course of the combat or landing several critical hits, this feat is mathematically impossible. This leads to Nasir’s recruitment being heavily dependant on RNG.
3Lehran
Another character fromRadiant Dawnthat like Pelleas, can only be recruited after already having beaten the game, Lehran comes along with other unfortunate requirements for players who wish to recruit him. In addition to having beaten the game, a player must have deployed the Black Knight in the final chapter of Part One. While this may not seem like much, they also must make sure that in Chapter 7 of Part Three, Ike must engage in combat with the Black Knight, but neither of them can die. Once all of these requirements are met,thenLehran can be recruited and used, butonlyfor the final chapter in the game!
2Stefan
If a player legitimately recruited Stefan in a blind playthrough ofFire Emblem: Path of Radiancewithout using a guide, we take our hats off to you. Stefan has what is easily the most obscure and tediously specific recruitment inFire Emblemhistory. In order to recruit Stefan, the player is required to have eitherLethe or Mordecaistep on an unassuming tile in the remote, top right corner of Chapter 15’s map. If they do, Stefan will appear out of nowhere, offering to join a player’s army. The real kicker is that if a player happened to accidentally step on this tile with another unit, Stefan will still appear, but provide the player with his sword instead of being recruited.
1Xavier
Xavier is a general fromFire Emblem: Thracia 776with abysmal recruitment requirements. In order to recruit Xavier, the player must speak to him with Leif. However, this can only be done after numerous NPCs speak to designated enemy axe knights. This requires several NPCs to not just survive, but act intelligently and dodge several attacks. This recruitment is both AI and RNG dependant, giving it all of the same problems as Jaffar’s recruitment but on a much larger scale.
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