The Battle Begins

The Battle Begins

Location Caldea New units Titania, Oscar, Boyd Boss(es) Zawana

The Battle Begins is the first chapter of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. After officially becoming a full-fledged member of the Greil Mercenaries, Ike sets out on his first mission with Titania, Oscar and Boyd. As they rescue the bandit-ravaged Caldea, the more experienced mercenaries teach Ike some of the intricacies of battle and encourage him to rely on them for assistance.

Plot

The chapter begins in the Mercenary Fort, with Ike finally getting out of bed, late on his first day as a real mercenary. Greil and Titania conference about the day’s missions, dividing up the mercenaries to properly take care of each job. Titania takes Oscar, Boyd and Ike with her to inspect Caldea, a town complaining of bandits, while Greil takes Shinon and Gatrie to work the other two jobs of the day. Boyd, for the first time, is ready to depart for their mission early, intent on being an “absolute model of perfection”, and setting the example for Ike.

When the party of four arrives in Caldea, Titania explains to Ike what the symbols on the map mean, and the importance of the Weapon Triangle in combat. She also encourages Ike to speak to the villagers, using the Visit option. She tells the party that their main mission is to remove Zawana from guarding the main building of the town.

At the end of the first Player Phase, Zawana gives his comrades a motivating speech, telling them to kill the mercenaries, or else they'll be pursued by sellswords until the ends of their days. One particular bandit takes it upon himself to burn down one of Caldea’s buildings, encouraging the rest to do the same.

Whoever visits the Southeast house will speak to a man who tells the visitor that Caldea is a town of farmers, not fighters. He will give the visitor a Steel Sword. Whoever visits the Northwest house will be greeted by a young woman who complains that the villagers haven't been able to sleep since the bandits moved in. She gives the visitor a Seraph Robe, asking the visitor to rid their village of the Bandit's tyranny.

The party regroups at the end of the battle, checking in on each other and making sure everyone made it safely through the battle. They each commend Ike for a job well done during his first mission, and then head back to the mercenary fort in hopes of a good meal cooked by Mist.

Chapter data

Chapter Data
Conditions	Unit Data
Victory: Seize	Player	Partner	Other	Enemy	Third
Defeat: Ike dies	4	0	0	7	{{{third}}}

Characters
New units
Titania Paladin HP 33 Inventory -- Level 1 Automatically from the start Oscar Lance Knight HP 26 Inventory -- Level 3 Automatically from the start Boyd Fighter HP 30 Inventory -- Level 2 Automatically from the start
Available characters

Items

Name Obtainment Method Steel Sword Southeast Village Seraph Robe Northwest Village Iron Sword Enemy Myrmidon Iron Axe Zawana

Bonus EXP
Requirement Easy Normal Hard Clear in 4 turns or fewer 300 200 200

Boss data

Bandit Level 5 Attribute Build 13

Stats Growth Rates Max HP 29 Speed 6 Strength 6 Luck 0 Magic 0 Defense 5 Skill 5 Resistance 0 Movement -- Weight 14 Max HP --% Speed --% Strength --% Luck --% Magic --% Defense --% Skill --% Resistance --% {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}} Inventory Skills Iron Axe Weapon Levels -- -- D -- -- -- -- --

Strategy

This section details unofficial strategies that may help with completion of the chapter. This may not work for everybody.

This level serves as the first real test for any new player. Only four units are available to command, none of whom are healers. As such, they will have to make careful use of vulneraries when they get hurt, or otherwise avoid getting hit. One of the four, the Paladin Titania, is effectively invincible in this chapter, as only the boss has a chance of hurting her (though still not likely). As such, the level could be cleared effortlessly by just having her mow through the bandits by herself. However, doing that robs the other fighters of valuable experience that they could gain here, especially Ike and Boyd.

There are two houses that can be Visited in this chapter, one near the starting point, and one to the far left. Technically there is a third visitable house, but it is destroyed before the mercenaries have anything to say about it. The other houses can also be destroyed if a Bandit visits them, but they can be easily saved. The first house, near the start, gives whoever visits a Steel Sword. The second house to the left offers a Seraph Robe, which will permanently increase the HP of whoever uses it by 7 points (but won't heal them unless it's done at Base Camp). It is advisable to give this robe to Ike, since he will arguably make the most use of its bonus.

The boss Bandit, Zawana, holds position at the upper middle, guarding the Seize square. He must be defeated in order for Ike to take control of that area and complete the level. Your other fighters may be able to handle Zawana at this stage, but Titania is capable of bringing him down in one match, and earning a fair amount of experience in the process.

Playing on Hard Mode adds three more enemies to the battlefield, including another Bandit, who could threaten the house to the left. Apart from dealing with them, the strategy is the same as it would be otherwise.

Bonus experience can be earned in this chapter, based on how many homes are saved, and how quickly the level is completed. However, this experience is not spendable until Chapter 8: Despair and Hope.

Trivia

• As Ike leaves the mercenary fort on the way to Caldea, Rolf can be seen talking to Mist in the courtyard and Shinon and Gatrie can be seen standing guard at the doors to the fort.

Gallery

• 

  Oscar, Boyd and Ike conversing before the battle.

• 

  Titania, ready to advance.

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