The Fire Emblem series of tactical RPGs has featured hundreds of unique playable characters across its sixteen entries, each with their own strengths and utility. While much of what makes Fire Emblem characters are their personalities within the game's story, their class, and their stats, some entries in the series allow characters to utilize skill.

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Often coming in the form of personal skills and abilities as well as those that can be given to a character of a player's choice, skills can provide a character with tons of extra utility and versatility, allowing them to bring a lot more to a player's strategy. However, while there are tons of incredibly useful skills in the series, not all skills are equally helpful. So today, we're going to see which skills from across Fire Emblem's history are the best!

10 Dragonfoe

fire emblem radiant dawn

Only appearing in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Dragonfoe is a skill that while having limited use, is one of the most integral skills in Radiant Dawn's higher difficulties. Only obtainable as a secret item within Chapter 3 of Part Four, this skill causes all attacks dealt by the equipped character to deal severe damage to Dragon Laguz. While Dragon Laguz are only found within the game's final act, the are the only type of enemy that appears in the game's arduous third-to-last chapter, with the skill making the chapter significantly easier.

9 Paragon

fire emblem cipher geofry art

While Paragon doesn't directly impact combat, it is easily one of the most useful skills when trying to train one's units. Also known as "Elite" in some games, Paragon doubles the amount of experience that an equipped unit gains, allowing them to be leveled up in half as much time.

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This allows units to be raised from zero to hero in only a matter of chapters. This skill has been featured in a myriad of Fire Emblem games, from Genealogy of the Holy War to Three Houses.

8 Pass

claude fire emblem

A frequently recurring skill that has appeared in many entries in the series, Pass is a skill that provides a character with flexible mobility. If a unit is equipped with pass, they are able to ignore enemy units when moving, allowing them to be passed through opening up many movement options that wouldn't be available otherwise.

7 Resolve

fire emblem cipher tauroneo art

Though Resolve is a skill that has only appeared in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, the skill is easily one of the best combat-enhancing skills in the entire franchise. Initially appearing as the personal skill of Tauroneo, as long as a unit with Resolve has less than 50% of their maximum HP, their strength, speed, and skill each increase.

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This not only improves a character's survivability by raising their evasion, but it allows a unit to become far scarier in combat, more reliably doubling and taking out enemy units in a single round.

6 Vantage

fire emblem radiant dawn vantage

Vantage is an incredible skill that was first introduced in Genealogy of the Holy War and was seen as recently in games such as Fire Emblem Fates and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. While the means of activating Vantage has varied from game to game, sometimes being based on a unit's health and other times having a percentage-based chance of activating, the effect of Vantage has always remained the same: the ability to attack a foe first, even if they initiate combat. If a strong enough unit has access to Vantage, foes will often be dealt with before they could deal damage in combat that they themselves initiated.

5 Celerity

tormod fire emblem cipher art

It's no secret that one of the most useful traits that a character can possess in Fire Emblem is high mobility. With great movement, characters can reliably be maneuvered around a map, be in the right place at the right times, and quickly take out key units before they can be a problem. Appearing in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, Celerity is a skill that increases a unit's movement by 2, allowing less mobile units to catch up with mounted units or improve the already stellar movent of units like wyvern riders. The skill also appeared as the mage, Tormod's personal skill.

4 Distant Counter

Fire Emblem Three Houses Death Knight Serenes Forest

Only appearing in Fire Emblem Heroes and in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Distant Counter is a stellar defensive skill that makes attacking a unit with minimal repercussions nearly impossible. This is because this skill allows a unit to counterattack at any distance, regardless of what type of weapon they're weilding, preventing a high-powered melee unit to simply be taken out by long-ranged spells.

3 Canto

Dimitri Cavalier from Fire Emblem Three Houses

Canto is easily one of the most frequently occuring skills in Fire Emblem, and it's easily one of the most useful as well. Found on mounted units such as cavaliers and wyvern riders, Canto allows a unit to use the rest of their movement after performing certain actions. While some games limit which actions can be performed and trigger canto, such as The Blazing Blade only allowing this movement to be used after visiting towns, using items, or rescuing a unit, it's made even better in other entries, in which a unit can use the remainder of their movement after attacking! This provides incredible flexibility and strategic potential when using mobile mounted units.

2 Summon

knoll fire emblem summoner art

Only an option for players in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Summon is a special skill available to characters of the summoner class. Rather than attacking, a summoner has the option to use this skill to summon a Phantom, essentially a minor canon fodder unit that can be used in a variety of ways from being a roadblock or a distraction for enemy units. While Phantoms only have 1 HP, they wield access and have strength stats proportional to the summoner's magic.

1 Dance

Dancer menu from Fire Emblem

The personal skill of Fire Emblem's incredible dancer class, Dance is easily the best support-skill in Fire Emblem history. Upon being used, dancing allows a unit to become refreshed and regain their action and movement for a turn. While dancers themselves often can't deal much damage, the dance skill allows players to flexibly gain twice as much value as their most integral units, covering twice as much ground, dealing twice as much damage, and potentially healing twice as much HP.

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