Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon :: Recruitment and Character Guide 35j2w

Nov 14, 2014

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon has a huge cast of playable tips on how to level up quickly.

Before you start... 2y4c67

It might be tempting to recruit everyone that you see. However, if you're following this wasteful characters can give your favoured characters more experience.

For characters that automatically your experience, which will make them even better!

Prologue 5e6j6x

Note that, if you are playing talk" instead of killing him. Gordin is an incredibly good archer, so it is definitely recommended that you recruit him instead of killing him.

Chapter One 1u59v

The final boss of this level can only hit people standing next him, which makes it safe and easy to hit him with Bows and Javelins. Any time you come across such a boss, it is recommended that you take advantage of the situation to level up. Simply attack the boss with your range units and end your turn. On the opponent's turn, the boss will heal and you will be able to attack him again on your following turn. You can easily get Gordin to level 10 this way on the first chapter, giving you a nice head start. Just buy an extra Iron Bow or two from the Armory at the start of the level and you're good to go.
Norne: If you finished the prologue with four units or less, you will start Chapter One with Norne in your group. Norne isn't as good as Gordin and, to be honest, you should not be sacrificing Frey or Abel just to get Norne because she isn't worth it.
Draug: You start with Draug on your team and he will be the only Armored Knight on your team for a long time. In general, Armored Knights are not that useful since you will be required to travel across the map quite a bit on most chapters. The best Armored Knight character comes much later in the game, so if you do want to have one on your team, you ay want to level up Draug. Otherwise, ignore him until the chance to recuirt Horace comes up.
Caeda: You also start with Caeda, who is probably the only Pegasus/Draco Knight that you will ever need in this game. Keep her away from arrows and she will help you a lot on the battlefield.
Wrys: If you visit the village with Marth, Wrys will your team. You will get Lena in your group in Chapter three, so don't bother using him. Instead, have him so that you can steal his heal staff to give to Lena later on.

Chapter Two 6m4f1d

Ogma: You start with Ogma automatically ing your team. He is a pretty good character. You will do well to use him, but don't bother restarting the game if you lose him since he is not that important.
Barst, Bord, and Cord: Of the three axe-s that your army at the start of Chapter Two, Barst is the best. However, you will quickly get Darros in this chapter and it is recommended that you use him instead of Barst.
Castor: You can recruit Castor by having Caeda talk to him. However, if Gordin is already on your team and you spent last chapter leveling him up against the boss, then don't bother recruiting Castor. Instead, just take him down and get some experience points.
Darros: Talk to Darros using Marth and he will you. As mentioned before, you should be using either Barst or Darros for the rest of the game, but not both.

Chapter Three 1z6he

Julian: Julian is playable right from the start of the chapter. The only time you need a thief in this game is when you want to pick locks. So keep him around for that, but don't let him get any experience points.
Lena: Lena is also playable right from the start but, unlike Julian, she is definitely worth using. Lena is, without a doubt, the best healer in the game. Give her Wrys's Heal Staff and make sure that she heals every turn so that she can gain experience quickly. Don't worry about the Heal Staff breaking, you will be able to buy more later.
Navarre: If you talk to Navarre using Caeda, he will your team. Navarre is even better than Ogma and Darros and his sword gives him a great crit rate. There will be more Killing Edge swords later on in the game, so don't worry ing it a lot.

Chapter Four 533v4t

There is another boss with a short attack range on this level. You can use this opportunity to level up Caeda or someone else. There is also an arena to the right of the Seize point, however it is difficult to use it as a leveling tool at this point since none of your characters can reliably survive more than two fights.

Merric: If you visit the village on the bottom left with Marth, Merric will your team. He is the best mage you can find in this game, which means you should definitely use him. In fact, if he dies, it is recommended that you restart the chapter so that you can keep using him.
Matthis: Seeing how Matthis is Lena's brother, you will need to use Lena to talk to him in order to have him your army. However, you already have Frey and Abel, so you do not really need Matthis on your team. You can recruit him if you need to replace a fallen Cavalier, or take him down and gain some experience points.

Chapter Five 58323

Hardin, Wolf, Sedgar, Roshea, and Vyland: These horse riders will be playable at the start of the chapter. Do not bother giving experience points to Roshea or Vyland. If Frey or Abel died along the way, you can use Hardin to replace them. Both Sedgar and Wolf are great characters, but you only need one of them so pick your favourite and ignore the other.
Wendell: Talk to Wendell using either Marth or Merric and he will you. However, Merric is much better so you are better off just taking him down and getting some experience points for it.

Chapter Six 3y6l32

Rickard: Talk to Rickard using Marth or Julian and he will your team. However, Julian is a better thief and it isn't even recommended that you use him! It may seem like you will need some thieves for this level, but in reality, the enemy thieves will open the chests for you and you can just take them down in order to get the goodies. that thieves give a lot of experience points, so it is definitely better to just take Rickard down and get experience points instead of recruiting him into your army.
Athena: Visit the village with Marth to get Athena. However, Navarre is much better than Athena, so it isn't really worth the trip.

Chapter Seven 136b6

Bantu: Visit the village in this chapter with Marth to get Bantu. If you beat every enemy in the previous chapters, you should have picked up a Firestone that you can give to Bantu to use. However, Bantu isn't really recommended. Instead, you should get him so that you can get Tiki later on in the game.

Chapter Eight c4y1m

Caesar and Radd: These two will you at the start of the chapter. Ogma and Navarre are much better, so don't bother leveling them up.
Roger: Talk to Roger using Caeda in order to recruit him. If you wanted an Armored Knight, you should be using Draug. Otherwise, ignore Roger and keep waiting for Horace.

Chapter Nine 1xh3b

Jeorge: This sniper is in the village that Marth can visit. Gordin is much better, so you can ignore him.

Chapter Ten l1x5k

Maria: Talk to Maria using Marth and she will your team. Lena is much better than Maria, but you do need her to get Minerva, so recruit her for that and don't bother giving her experience points.
Minerva: After rescuing Maria, use Marth to talk to Minerva and she will your team. Minerva is strong to start. However, she is pre-promoted like Jagen was and will quickly become a terrible unit to use.

Chapter Eleven 1d1wk

Linde: To get Linde, just visit the village with Marth. If you lost Merric and accidently saved over your game, then Linde is a good replacement. Otherwise, she isn't as useful.
Jake: Talk to Jake using Caeda in order to recruit him. However, you will be getting Beck in Chapter 13 and he is much better, so you might as well ignore him.

Chapter Twelve 2h2713

Midia, Dolph, Macellam, Tomas and Boah: You start the chapter with a lot of new people, but none of them are good. Midia and Boah are pre-promoted and you should already have better units in your army than these new characters, so ignore them.
Horace: If you finish the chapter and Horace lives, he will automatically your team. Horace is the best Armored Knight in the whole game. Even if you have been using Draug up until this point, you should replace him with Horace. If you don't like using any Armored Knights, then don't worry too much about protecting Horace in this chapter.

Chapter Thirteen 1f4h3p

Beck: Visit the village with Marth to get Beck, he is definitely recommended.
Astram: Talk to Astram with Midia if you want another pre-promoted unit. Not recommended.

Chapter Fourteen 2r324k

Palla and Catria: The sisters will you at the start of the chapter. Catria is better than Palla and, if Caeda has died, you can use Catria to replace Caeda. Otherwise, just use Caeda and ignore the sisters.

Chapter Fifteen 6b6lf

Arran and Samsun: Visit the village on the left with Marth in order to get Arran or visit the village on the right to get Samsun. However, you can only have one of them on your team. In either case, don't worry about it too much since both Arran and Samsun are a waste of time.

Chapter Sixteen 4603v

Xane: Talk to Xane with Marth and you will get a character that can become an exact copy of your best unit. Definitely recommended.

Chapter Seventeen 3u1h5n

Etzel: Etzel will your team automatically at the end of the chapter if Etzel survives. However, don't worry too much since Etzel isn't that good anyways.

Chapter Eighteen 3eq4o

Est: Talk to Est with Marth to get a new recruit. Est has good stat growth and would be a good replacement for any fallen units, but she does require a bit of work.

Chapter Nineteen 3d231n

Tiki: Bring Bantu with you in this chapter because you will need him to talk to Tiki in order to get her into your group. Tiki is pretty good, but Nagi, who comes in Chapter 24 is better. However, if you get Nagi, you won't be able to get Gotoh, who is a powerful mage. It is a difficult choice to make, so you might want to keep a save file for a game that is just before the start of this chapter.

Chapter Twenty 6w4k

Lorenz: Talk to Lorenz with Marth or Caeda to get this useless character. Not recommended.
Ymir: Talk to Ymir with Marth and Ymir will you at the end of the chapter. However, Ymir isn't very good so don't bother.

Chapter Twenty One to Chapter Twenty Three 6e5wb

There are no new characters in these chapters.

Chapter Twenty Four 1x604n

Elice: Elice is useful only if you lost a comrade a few chapters ago.
Nagi: If you beat Chapter 24, then Nagi will your team. Nagi is very powerful and comes in handy for the final battle. However, Nagi isn't as good in multi-player and you won't be able to get Gotoh, who is also a very good unit.

Chapter Twenty Five 632ix

Gotoh: If you didn't go to Chapter 24, Gotoh will you at the start of Chapter 25. Gotoh is much better than Merric and Linde, but comes late so your current mage might still be stronger depending on how you leveled them. Still, a great addition to any team and very helpful for the final battle.