- For the item, see Speed (staff).
Speed (速さ Hayasa) is a core character statistic that usually affects the number of strikes a character can perform in a round of combat. It can also affect the evasion ability of a character. To see the statistics of this, please see Evasion.
Overview[]
Speed is a stat that governs the swiftness of a character in combat. Like other core stats, Speed has a chance of increasing when a unit levels up. Characters of certain classes tend to feature higher Speed growth rates than others. For example, a heavy armor unit such as a Knight has a naturally slower speed than a Myrmidon, which focuses more on Speed and Dexterity. Units with a great enough speed advantage over their foe will attack their slower foe twice during combat.
However, the concept of Constitution makes this slightly more complex; if the weight of a weapon is higher than the unit's Con, the unit will suffer from a speed penalty. Weight-Con = Speed Penalty. For example, if a Pegasus Knight with a Con of 5 uses an Iron Lance ( Wt. 8) to attack an enemy she will suffer from a penalty of 3 Speed. What is left is her Battle Speed. If her Battle Speed is 4 higher than the enemy's, she will double him. This is raised to requiring 5 higher in later titles.
In later games such as Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance or Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, the Strength Stat is used in place of Constitution to determine the penalty, and Fire Emblem Awakening discards the Speed Penalty entirely. Fire Emblem Fates, while also disregarding weight and con implements a new feature. Weapons like steel swords/axes/lances will come with a penalty of -3 effective speed. Throwing weapons like the Javelin or Hand Axe come with a penalty of -5 effective speed and cannot double. The Raider series of weapons grant +3 effective speed.
A Speed Ring or a Speedwing can be used to raise the speed of a unit, helping their evasion and their chances of double-attacking. Wielders of Brave weapons, which feature the inherent ability to strike twice while attacking regardless of the attacker/defender speed differential, will instead attack four times if their speed stat is at least 5 points higher than that of their their opponent.