Emblem Rings are a focal point in Fire Emblem Engage, both in terms of gameplay and plot, but these rings are more than mere accessories, as they grant their bearers a variety of stat buffs, abilities, and skills. To get the most out of your Emblem Rings, however, you’ll need to increase your Bond Level. This page will discuss how to increase your Bond Level with Emblem Rings, and what benefits you’ll gain from doing so.
Maxing Bond Levels in Fire Emblem Engage¶
When a character who is equipped with an Emblem Ring participates in combat (taking actions is what matters - filling up deployment slots is not enough) they’ll gain Bond Points, eventually increasing their Bond Level with the equipped Emblem. This is mostly a straightforward process you don’t have to think about too much, but if you want to expedite things, ensure that the desired character(s) participate in combat frequently. Basically, anything that’s good for leveling up - attacking and killing enemies - is good for boosting Bond Level.
You can also polish Emblem Rings after every battle (main story, Paralogue or Skirmish), which will earn you some Bond Points.
The fastest way to increase your Bond Level is by sparring with Emblems in the Arena, which sounds like a competition, but it’s really just spending Bond Fragments per Bond Level you wish to raise with a meaningless battle tacked on. This is fairly cheap from Bond Levels 1-5, costing 100 Bond Fragments each level, but the costs increase afterwards. Still, it’s not terribly expensive to reach Bond Level 5 - enough to unlock some weapon proficiencies or at least significantly shorten the grind to doing so.
Bond Level | Bond Fragment Cost |
---|---|
2-5 | 100 |
6 - 10 | 300 |
11 - 20 | 500 |
Once you reach certain Bond Levels, your Bond Rank will increase, and you won’t be able to increase your Bond Level anymore until you return to the Somniel and chat with your Emblem. For example, once you go from Bond Level 4 to Bond Level 5, you’ll also reach Bond Rank C, requiring you to talk to your Emblem at the Somniel to see the Bond Conversation. Only after the Bond Conversation will you truly attain Bond Level 5 and be able to progress your Bond Level further.
Higher Bond Level Benefits¶
As you participate in combat with an Emblem Ring equipped, your Bond Level with that Emblem will improve, granting you a variety of boons. The first and, we daresay, the most obvious are the various skills you’ll earn based on your Boon Level. These vary by Emblem, of course, but they tend to be rather front-loaded, with numerous skills available at Bond Level 1 that constitute most of the benefits of being in Engage State. For example, Marth grants the following bonuses at Bond Level 1:
- Perceptive (passive, gives AVO+15 when initiating combat)
- Avoid +10 (Inherited Skill, must be purchased and equipped)
- Divine Speed (passive, gives an extra attack at 50% damage when Engage State is active)
- Lodestar Rush (attacks, launches 7 attacks at 30% damage, Engage State only)
- Rapier (Marth’s weapon, can be used instead of other weapons in Engage State is active)
As you can see, you’re really only getting access to the Perceptive skill when you’re not in Engage State - everything else is conditional. As you increase your Bond Level with an Emblem, you’ll unlock more abilities, a few of which are passive boons you’ll gain while the corresponding Emblem Ring is equipped, but many are Inherited Skills that must be purchased and equipped. The ability to purchase and equip Inherited Skills is typically unlocked at Bond Level 5, and once purchased, Inherited Skills can be utilized even after the Emblem Ring you learned said skill from is unequipped. Naturally, this gives you incentive to max out your Bond Level with numerous Emblems so you have access to their Inherited Skills with as many characters as possible.
In addition, you’ll also learn various proficiencies by increasing your Bond Level. Marth imparts Sword Prof. at Bond Level 8, Celica grants Magic Prof. at Bond Level 6 (and Sword Prof. at Bond Level 9) and Sigurd bestows Lance Prof. at Bond Level 6 (and Sword Prof. at Bond Level 9). Unlocking these proficiency levels will increase a characters proficiency with certain weapons, potentially allowing them to upgrade to more advanced classes, which typically requires the expenditure of specific Seals and for the character to have attained the prerequisite proficiencies.
Last and not least, the higher your Bond Level with an Emblem, the greater the stat boosts you’ll receive for simply having that Emblem Ring equipped. Marth at Bond Level 1 imparts STR +1, DEX +1 and SPD +1, and at Bond Level 5 this has improved to STR +1, DEX +2 and SPD +2. Not game breaking on its own, but a welcome boon in addition to the other, aforementioned benefits of increasing your Bond Level.
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