How to Unlock Brave Weapons in Fire Emblem Warriors

Credit Nintendo

If you followed along with me last time, then you should be getting more comfortable with the way that weapons work in “Fire Emblem Warriors.” Maybe you’ve been clearing the stages one at a time, or maybe you’re even grinding through previously completed maps to gain some valuable boost crest material. Regardless of which path you’re trying to take, the next thing you absolutely need to know is how to unlock some of the end game weapons to help you through the most difficult challenges and fights, and our first stop is to take a look at Brave Weapons.

Before we begin, note that if you’re a more casual player, these types of weapons are by no means necessary to complete the story mode of the game. That can be done easily enough with whatever you pick up and craft along the way. However, the real difficulty lies in the History Mode, and if you want to be testing your skills and climbing through to min-max your favorite characters, then this is a great first step on your path to Signature and Hero weapons, which we’ll look at next time.

What are they?

Brave Weapons are a class of weapon that are randomly dropped as spoils in some higher-level maps. This means that while they’re not the strongest weapons in the game, they’re actually a great introductory way to start grinding out some higher-level gear for difficult maps. A perfectly “rolled” drop will have an attack value of 240, and 6 ability slots. This will give you the power you need to take down some tricky bosses, while also giving you some versatility to tweak them to your liking.

Where do you get them?

Essentially they can drop almost anywhere, but since they’re a step above your standard weapons, you want to try to grind the hardest History Mode maps that you can comfortably clear for the highest drop rates.

History Mode is also where you’re going to need to spend your time in order to unlock them. Each of the different weapon types (so swords, spears, axes, etc.) have their own “Brave” variant, and these variants need to be unlocked separately. This means that meeting the requirements for swords will only unlock swords.

So what are the Requirements?

Unlocking these weapons requires that you clear the History Mode map in which they appear, while getting a perfect “S” rank. The checklist for this is as follows:

• Your team (you and your allies) need to get 2000 kills in the map
• You must have taken less than 80% of your total health in damage
• You must complete each map in under 15 minutes (unless otherwise specified)

Credit Justbenn for FIre Emblem Warriors Wiki

They might sound steep, but if you have sufficiently powerful characters and weapons, then they shouldn’t pose too much of a challenge. Just remember to check the start menu every so often to keep an eye on the clock, so that if you go over 15 minutes you can quickly jump out and restart to save yourself the wasted time.

Finally, keep in mind that Brave Weapons have a weapon rank of A, which means that you need to spend time getting the materials to boost your favorite characters before you can even use them.

Weapon Rank Boost Crests. Make sure you get them up to A rank, or you won’t be able to use the Brave Weapons!

If I Find One, Should I Use it?

As a very general rule, yes. Obviously, if it’s more powerful than what you already have, then there’s no reason not to except in one very specific circumstance. If you have a Signature Weapon (such as Cordelia’s Axe), and are far enough in the game that you can start attempting the “S” ranks for those specific stages, you should just keep using it. We’ll be going into Signature Weapons in greater detail at a later point, but for now just know that unlocking their “True Power” skill requires getting 10, 000 kills, so swapping it out for a Brave version might actually be doing you a disservice in the long run, despite the slight initial power bump.

The grind for a perfect character is a long, and potentially frustrating process. The difficulty spike you can experience in some maps can perhaps put you off from even trying, but Brave Weapons are a good way to bridge the gap between your story weapons and the truly top-tier end game gear. This guide will put you on the right path, and next time we’ll be taking a closer look at Signature Weapons and Hero Weapons, so stay tuned if you find yourself craving even more power!