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Combat Calculations

Formulas for calculating Damage, Attack Speed, and more in Fire Emblem 7 (The Blazing Blade).

Guide Contents

Weapon Triangle Bonuses

The weapon triangle in FE7 works in the same way as it did in FE6: Swords beat Axes, Axes beat Lances, Lances beat Swords. For tomes: Anima beats Light, Light beats Dark, Dark beats Anima.

The bonuses in FE7 are slightly different. The winning side will gain +1 Atk and +15 Hit, and the losing side will lose -1 Atk and -15 Hit. The hit bonus/detriment is doubled when a Reaver weapon is involved, unless both weapons are Reaver weapons. These values will be referred to in the rest of this guide as as follows.

\(T_{atk} = \begin{cases} +1, & \text{if winning} \\ -1, & \text{if losing} \\ 0, & \text{otherwise} \end{cases}\)\(T_{hit} = \begin{cases} +15, & \text{if winning} \\ -15, & \text{if losing} \\ 0, & \text{otherwise} \end{cases}\)

Attack

Attack (Atk) represents the maximum amount of damage a unit can do, assuming an enemy has no Def or Res. It depends on the unit's Str/Mag and the weapon's might. Weapon effectiveness, weapon triangle, and support bonuses also factor in. Weapon effectiveness in FE7 was nerfed to be only 2 times rather than 3 times in English versions of the game. The formula for Atk is the following.

\(Atk_{sp} = \text{Atk bonuses from supports}\)\(E = \begin{cases} 2, & \text{if using effective weapon (English)} \\ 3, & \text{if using effective weapon (Japanese)} \\ 1, & \text{otherwise} \end{cases}\)\(Atk = (Str \parallel Mag) + E * (Mt_{wp} + T_{atk}) + Atk_{sp}\)

The Light Brand (as well as the Wind Sword) from 2 range and the Runesword from 1 and 2 range use a modified version of the formula above, effectively halving your unit's strength. The formula for 2 range Light Brand and the Runesword is below. Note that the effective bonus will only happen with the Wind Sword against fliers, which is not normally obtainable.

\(Atk = \frac{Str}{2} + E * (Mt_{wp} + T_{atk}) + Atk_{sp}\)

Defense and Resistance

Defense (Def) and Resistance (Res) represent how well a unit can withstand physical and magic attacks respectively. Physical weapons target Def, whereas tomes target Res. The Light Brand (and Wind Sword) will target Def from 1 range, and Res from 2 range. The Runesword will always target Res. These values come from the unit's Def and Res stats, but can be increased by support bonuses and terrain. The Def and Res on the right side of the formula refer to the unit's stats. The formulas for Def and Res are the following.

\(Def_{ter} = \text{Def bonuses from terrain}\)\(Res_{ter} = \text{Res bonuses from terrain}\)\(Def_{sp} = \text{Def bonuses from supports}\)\(Res_{sp} = \text{Res bonuses from supports}\)\(Def = Def + Def_{sp} + Def_{ter}\)\(Res = Res + Res_{sp} + Res_{ter}\)

Damage

Damage (Dmg) is the total amount of damage inflicted per strike. A critical hit will multiple this value by 3. The formula for Dmg is the following.

\(Dmg = Atk_{attacker} - (Def_{target} \parallel Res_{target})\)

Attack Speed

Attack Speed (AS) represents how fast a unit can attack. If a unit has 4 or more AS than the unit they are attacking/countering, they will double hit. (quadruple hit for brave weapons). The base value for AS is the unit's speed stat. Weapon weight will decrease this value, but each point of Con will cancel out one point of weapon weight. The formula for AS is the following.

\(AS = Spd - (Wt_{wp} - Con)\)

Note: Having extra leftover Con will not increase Attack Speed, if the unit has more Con than their weapon's weight then that part of the formula will be set to 0. Similarly, Attack Speed in general cannot go below 0.

Hit

The hit rate (Hit) is calculated based on the weapon's hit, as well as the attacker's Skl and Lck. Weapon triangle and support bonuses also factor in. The formula for Hit is the following.

\(Hit_{sp} = \text{Hit bonuses from supports}\)\(Hit = Hit_{wp} + 2 * Skl + \frac{Lck}{2} + T_{hit} + Hit_{sp}\)

Furthermore in FE7, if a unit has an S rank in the weapon type that they are currently wielding they will gain 5 extra Hit. If the tactician has the same affinity as the unit, they will also gain 1 extra Hit per tactician star, for a possible maximum of 10 extra Hit.

Avoid

Avoid (Avo) represents how well a unit can dodge an attack. It depends on Attack Speed and Lck. Support bonuses and terrain also factor in. The formula for Avo is the following.

\(Avo_{sp} = \text{Avo bonuses from supports}\)\(Avo_{ter} = \text{Avo bonuses from terrain}\)\(Avo = 2 * AS + Lck + Avo_{sp} + Avo_{ter}\)

Similarly to Hit, units with the same affinity as the tactician will receive 1 extra Avo per tactician star.

Displayed Hit

Displayed hit is what the game tells you the hit rate is when a unit attacks a target. This value depends on the attacker's Hit and the defender's Avo. This is not a percentage chance. FE7 uses true hit, meaning that it will roll 2 RNs to see whether or not an attack will hit. In general, this means that hit rates above 50 will hit more often than the number would suggest, and hit rates below 50 will hit less often.

\(Hit_{displayed} = Hit_{attacker} - Avo_{target}\)

There are three staves that target enemies and inflict various status conditions: Berserk, Silence, and Sleep. The displayed hit of these staves is calculated through the following formula. Note that status staves use 1RN, so this is an actual percentage.

\(p = \text{Casting unit}\)\(e = \text{Target unit}\)\(D = \text{Tiles to target}\)\(Hit_{displayed} = 30 + 5 * (Mag_{p} - Res_{e}) + Skl_{p} - 2 * D\)

Crit

Crit represents how likely it is for a unit to land a critical hit, which does triple damage. Crit depends on the Crit value for the weapon/tome and Dex, as well as support bonuses.

\(Crit_{sp} = \text{Crit bonuses from supports}\)\(Crit = Crit_{wp} + \frac{Skl}{2} + Crit_{sp}\)

The above value is increased by 15 for Berserkers and Swordmasters. Units wielding a weapon type that they have an S rank in will gain 5 extra Crit. Units with the same affinity as the tactician will also gain 1 extra Crit per tactician star. Light Brands and Wind Swords cannot crit from 2 range, Runeswords cannot crit at all.

Crit Avoid

Crit Avoid (Crit Avo) represents how well a unit can avoid enemy critical hits. The initial value is equal to defending unit's Lck, but can be increased by supports.

\(CritAvo_{sp} = \text{Crit Avo bonuses from supports}\)\(CritAvo = Lck + CritAvo_{sp}\)

Again, units with the same affinity as the tactician will receive 1 extra Crit Avo per tactician star.

Displayed Crit

Similar to Displayed Hit, Displayed Crit is calculated by subtracting the attacker's Crit by the defender's Crit Avo. Unlike Displayed Hit, Displayed Crit is rolled with 1 RN. However, this is still not a percentage chance because Crit rolls after Hit. Hence the formulas for Displayed Crit and actual Crit percentage are the following.

\(Crit_{displayed} = Crit_{attacker} - CritAvo_{target}\)\(Crit\% = \frac{Hit_{true}}{100} * Crit_{displayed}\)
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