Finally, Fire Emblem: Three Houses has released, exclusively on Nintendo Switch. Plenty of changes have been made in the latest, school-focused Fire Emblem, which has led more than a few of you to ask about whether Fire Emblem: Three Houses weapon triangle is a feature that has returned or not. Are weapon triangles in Fire Emblem: Three Houses? Below, you’ll discover the answer to this question and more. Is the classic weapon triangle battle system gone in the latest Fire Emblem? There’s only one way to find out. Read on, fellow scholars.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses Weapon Triangle | Is the Weapon Triangle gone?
As stated above, a number of changes have been made to core gameplay mechanics in Fire Emblem: Three Houses in something of a shake-up for the long-running series. This includes the removal of weapon triangles. Fire Emblem: Three Houses weapon triangles simply don’t exist. This is surely one of the more controversial gameplay tweaks in the game.
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Speaking to GameSpot, Toshiyuki Kusakihara (a Three Houses director) explained the decision to remove the classic rock-paper-scissors battle mechanic, saying it’s not realistic. “We think that the weapon triangle is somewhat of a stylized system, it isn’t really realistic… If you have a situation where a novice axe user takes down an advanced lance user, well, that makes sense? Probably not.” Kusakihara added that the developers “wanted to make something that comes across as more realistic to warfare.”
Instead of weapon triangles, Fire Emblem: Three Houses instead features a new Combat Art system. In this new system, individual characters develop their weapon skills through battles and the academy. You’ll need to build up your characters, each with individual likes and dislikes by whatever means necessary. What this means is that the weapon system should be less restrictive than what we had in previous Fire Emblem titles. It’s been built more around personalization.
Elements of the weapon triangle system remain, however. An archer will still do plenty of damage to flying units, for example. If one of your units becomes sufficiently proficient in any weapon type, you might be able to unlock new skills. You might be able to equip a swordbreaker skill to an advanced axe-wielder, for example. Teaching your units’ skills such as these will grant you similar combat advantages and disadvantages that you would have found in the old weapon triangle system. Skills such as these do cost extra weapon durability, however, so there is a trade-off.
