Fire Emblem Fates’ Light’s Sacrifice Is Illuminating

The Fire Emblem Fates Heirs of Fate storyline has been rather mysterious from the outset. The first two maps starred two different versions of Kana, the male and female incarnations. The third map called something going on the previous two installments to our attention. Now, Light’s Sacrifice goes right ahead and makes everything more obvious. Everything you suspected about In Endless Dreams and Realms Collide is true, and we’ve reached a point where everyone’s coming together. This means the storyline is coming to a head, things are getting interesting, and this particular add-on is essential to prepare people for Endless Dawn and the Lost in the Waves finale.

Light’s Sacrifice begins with Siegbert, Soleil, Ignatius, Velouria, and Percy regrouping after a battle in some ruins. (Sound familiar?) They describe themselves as being chased by a group of unusual people, and Siegbert apologizes for getting them all involved, due to his curiosity over a a strange light from weapons two of the other warriors were carrying. Siegbert and Velouria are tired of fighting, while Soleil, Ignatius, and Percy want to find out what the distant sounds of fighting mean and perhaps aid any people in need. This leads to a momentary crisis, where they all wonder whether their parents are alive or dead. After rallying, they decide to move forward and fight again.

Which works out well, because a group of enemies is approaching. After attacking (male) Kana and Forrest’s group, the force heads off to get Siegbert and his small army. Forrest sees his cousin and promises his group will return after resting.

The Fire Emblem Fates’ Light’s Sacrifice map should look familiar. It’s the one found in Chapter 23: Possessed of the Conquest storyline. The goal is to rout all enemies, which means following the same weaving pattern as you go left to get to the bridge, right to reach the doors that will take you on top of the wall, and left again to reach the boss. You have a level 13 Cavalier Siegbert, with Siegfried and a concoction, a level 12 Knight Ignatius, with steel lance and spear, level 11 Wyvern Rider Percy, with Arthur’s axe and hand axe, level 12 Mercenary Soleil, with Killing Edge, steel sword, and vulnerary, and level 11 Wolfskin Velouria, with Beaststone, Beastrune, and vulnerary, to use. You don’t have a healer (initially), so you’ll really have to work to keep Percy safe from archers.

Each area of the map presents its own challenges, but they’ll easily become very manageable. The area below the cliff is fairly easy, as you only have to deal with two Oni Savages, two Fighters, two Lancers, and three Cavaliers. None carry weapons that pose any additional threat to Velouria, Siegbert, or Percy for being mounted/animals.

Once you reach the bridge, two Knights, one Outlaw archer, a Diviner, a Dark Mage, two Mercenaries, a Samurai, and Hisame await. Hisame is a level 12 Samurai with a steel katana, Sunrise Katana, and Armorslayer. (You’ll want to keep Ignatius away from him.)  Two Knights and a Fighter block the entrances to the wall. You need to be cautious when approaching the bridge. as a level 12 Kiragi, with Fujin Yumi, an iron bow, and a vulnerary, is in front of a Ballista and flanked by two Spear Fighters. You may want to have Percy take a shortcut over the cliffs once reinforcements arrive.

Yes, reinforcements. On the third turn, Forrest and (male) Kana will appear as NPC allies with Sophie, Dwyer, Nina, and Ophelia. They’ll appear just below the wall from the right side of the map. They’ll also be joined by Diviner, Dark Mage, Cavalier, and Archer units who appear from the right side, below the cliff. Hisame and his crew will head off to face them. I recommend sending Percy over to join your new allies on Turn 4, as that’ll give you time to stop the Outlaw and get his Chest Key. Make sure you have Siegbert and Forrest connect as soon as possible, as doing so will put those NPC units under your control. This may even happen without your input, as Forrest made it his mission to reach Siegbert immediately when I went through Light’s Sacrifice.

The rest of the map is practically a cake walk. While a level 12 Nohr Princess Kana with blazing Yato, a Dragonstone, and a Kodachi, a level 11 Shrine Maiden Mitama with a Sun Festal and Wane Festal, and level 11 Kitsune Selkie with a Beaststone, Beastrune, and Concoction are accompanied by four Knights and two Archers on the wall, they’re no match for your now-sizable army. There’s also a Ballista nearby that the Archers could use, so be careful with Percy. Otherwise, you’ll be fine. You have plenty of units to choose from.

You will need to split them up, though. Kiragi and female Kana get reinforcements too. It’s best to send Kana, Nina, Ophelia, Sophie, Dwyer, and Percy up to take care of Kana, Kiragi, and their crew. Turn six begins with a level 1 Swordmaster Shiro with Raijinto, level 11 Ninja Asugi with steel shuriken and flame shuriken, level 11 Apothecary Midori with a steel yumi, concoction, and elixir, level12 Sky Knight Caeldori with steel naginata and Swordcatcher, and level 11 Diviner Rhajat with Tiger Spirit and Horse Spirit appearing above the bridge, at the wall’s gate. Go ahead and let Siegbert, Ignatius, Soliel, Velouria, and Forrest handle them. If all goes well, you should be done in around 10 turns. (I was done in 11.)

The reward for Light’s Sacrifice is Defensetaker. It’s a skill made for people like Benny, Effie, and Ignatius. Like the other taker scrolls, every time the character defeats an enemy, +2 is added to their defense stat. This caps out at +10 and lasts for the entire battle. Benny, Effie, Ignatius, and any other generals can become legendary tanks with this skill equipped. Though, you might also want to consider it for characters with low defense growth, like Sakura or Nyx.

Basically, Fire Emblem Fates’ Light’s Sacrifice does a wonderful job of tying up some final lose ends, before giving us what we all want from Heirs of Fate. While it might not be as exciting as the introduction of the two Kanas in In Endless Dreams and Realms Collide, it’s a good setup for Endless Dawn and makes the ultimate payoff in Lost in Waves even more desirable.

Fire Emblem Fates is immediately available for the Nintendo 3DS. Light’s Sacrifice is $1.99 on its own, as well as being part of the $7.99 Map Pack 2.