By Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia can be a very difficult game. Especially if you’re playing on the hard difficulty and decided to turn permadeath on. It is to your advantage to have every possible edge to make it easier to survive. This is where the Undaunted Heroes Pack comes into play. This second group of DLC maps is fantastic for helping you get through those later chapters, thanks to the amount money, array of items, and experience you get from each run.
It is important to only attempt these Undaunted Heroes maps after your characters have reached a higher class. You will want Barons, Bow Knights, Dread Fighters, Falcon Knights, Gold Knights, Priestesses, Sages, and Saints for these affairs. The sorts of enemies you’ll meet are promoted ones, and you’ll want similar units to fight back. The first thing you should do is go through the Inner Sanctum to prepare.
The Inner Sanctum is an upgraded version of The Astral Temple from the Fledgling Warriors Pack. It has the Star Shards, which when equipped increase specific stat growths. It also offers various weapons. What’s important is the array of specialized equipment. Here, you have a chance of getting things like Blessed weapons, Brave Swords, Emperor weapons, Ladyblades, Lightning Swords, Ridersbanes, and Silver weapons. More important, you can take the Black Pearls and 12 Star Shards and have the Hermit inside combine them to make a Starsphere. The Starsphere boosts the growth rate of every possible stat, so doing your best to collect all the parts and make one is to your benefit.
Once you have the better weapons, it is a good idea to move on to the other Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia maps. Both of these are maps where you must attempt to survive for a certain number of turns. I recommend Wealth Before Health first. Not only does it give Silver and Gold for defeating enemies over eight turns, which can be used to improve those Inner Sanctum dungeon weapons, but the enemies there are rather strong and continually spawning. For example, the enemy army rating can be around 1,200 when you head in, and you need to stay alive for eight turns.
You are allowed 12 units, and the map splits them into two groups. I find it helpful to keep a Sage/Priestess and Saint on each side. For example, when Alm’s army is on the map, keeping Luthier and Tatiana on the northern path and Delthea and Silque on the lower one is wise. The commander units here can be between levels eight and twelve and consist of advanced classes like Bow Knights, Dread Fighters, Falcon Knights, Priestesses, and Saints, so you want to be ready. While all enemies will move toward the map’s exits, they will be trying to wipe you out along the way.
Lords of the Grave is the experience map here, and it is the most difficult one in the Undaunted Heroes Pack. The goal here is to survive for ten turns against strong enemies. However, there is an exit square that allows you to leave at any time during your turn if things look a little too bleak. Just like Wealth Before Health, you are allowed twelve heroes on the map. Also, you will need to split your army to two sides to keep continually spawning forces at bay.
All of the forces here are Tomb Lords that begin at levels one and three, but later turns will bring higher level Tomb Lords to the field. Five are on the map to start. While the initial rating for them will be around 600, they will tear through unprepared allies. They have fifteen defense, twelve resistance, and attack stats that are close to thirty. As you launch your first two attacks in each “room” of the map, rocks will rise to make passages between areas more narrow. Eventually, these will block off areas of the map. You need to be careful and play cautiously, perhaps keeping your groups near the entrance to prevent anyone from being blocked off. Still, the experience you get is worth the risk.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is one of the more practical add-on packs for the game. It is quite handy once you’re past the first two chapters and are able to switch between armies. The maps have layouts that force you to split your groups up and take chances, but offer great rewards for your courage. It almost feels like they’re even designed to be played in a certain order, with Inner Sanctum getting you equipped, Wealth Before Health helping you build some levels and earn forging money, and Lords of the Grave being the main event.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is available for the Nintendo 3DS.
