Fire Emblem Engage has lots of Emblem Rings that are useful or helpful. There’s no right or wrong partnership. Not to mention with all the skills available, you don’t really want to lock in to certain pairings or people. But there’s one pretty much undisputed truth, and that involves one of the Fire Emblem: Three Houses characters. Byleth ended up being pretty much the best and most broken Emblem Ring in Fire Emblem Engage. But the thing is, it’s in the best way possible and, even though it could give an unfair advantage, it still only really benefits someone if they play wisely.
Editor’s Note: There will be Fire Emblem Engage spoilers, especially regarding the Byleth Emblem Ring, below.
So you first get the Byleth Emblem Ring in Fire Emblem Engage in Chapter 14. Which is good, because that forces you to both learn how to play and not exploit his special ability. You’ve established yourself by this point. However, you also still are at a point where Emblem Rings are scarce for the party. So you’d definitely in need of an extra one that can be incredibly effective.
Which is good, because Byleth’s Engage Skill is incredible for allies. It ends up giving people within two spaces a buff. What buff do they get? It depends on their current class. So if you have Alear or Veyle nearby, then all of their stats will get +3 added to them. The best buffs go to cavalry units and Qi Adepts, as the former get +10 dexterity and latter get +10 luck. However, everyone gets some boost. So an armored unit getting +5 to defense is still a big deal, as is a backup character getting an extra +4 strength to assist with Chain Attacks or mystical ones getting +4 to magic so spells hit harder. Also, covert characters get +5 to speed, while flying units get +5 to resistance.
Byleth also has some great skills to learn. Mentorship helps when you need to level up some characters, as the person who has it and everyone around them gets 1.2 EXP. Lost & Found makes it easier to unlock Support conversations and stock up on items, since your luck stat determines if you find something and get closer to an ally next to you. Divine Pulse is the most useful, regardless of which tier is learned, as it will make an attack that would have missed, hit. Especially since it relies on the character’s luck stat and has Luck+ skills ranging from Luck +2 to Luck +12.
But while all that is great, it isn’t why Byleth is the best Fire Emblem Engage Emblem Ring character. No, he’s the best because of Goddess Dance.
Goddess Dance is the Engage Attack Byleth can use once per battle when engaged with a character in Fire Emblem Engage, and it is the best. When used, the four characters to the front, back, and left and right sides of the person equipping Byleth all get to act again. It’s, as the name suggests, a “dance” skill. There’s also, again, a buff doled out depending on the classes of the characters the person “engaged” with Byleth danced for. So if Alear was next to a person who used it, then they get +3 to all stats for the turn. Likewise, the same Instruct buffs mentioned are applied to other classes. It just makes a person’s Fire Emblem Engage army a force to be reckoned with.
However, while this does mean Byleth is possibly the best Fire Emblem Engage Emblem Ring out there, it does still mean playing smart. You need to make sure you arrange units properly to take advantage of the range. So you have to leave a space in the center of four characters for the person with Byleth equipped. You also need to know when to use it, since you can only perform Goddess Dance once per battle. This meant in my case, I often made Ivy, Hortensia, or Rosado equip Byleth. Them all being fliers meant it would be easy to get them to reach a group of four who could use Goddess Dance. Since two of them were always guaranteed ranged units, it also meant they’d be in a good position to retaliate on the enemy turn after making that move.
It all comes down to Byleth being a fantastic Fire Emblem Engage Emblem Ring, with Goddess Dance and Instruct abilities that help make other characters better. It helps give you more tactical options, which is always good. Not to mention the buffs are helpful. At the same time, it ties into the fact that Byleth is an instructor, as it means he’s aiding others to make them stronger, rather than showing off himself.
Fire Emblem Engage is available for the Nintendo Switch.
