The Return Ring is an accessory that is exclusive to Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. Like its name suggests, this ring is imbued with the power of the Return staff, allowing its wearer to warp themselves back to the home castle when used.
Item Information[]
Name | Uses | Worth | Effect(s) / Note(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Return Ring | - | 20,000 | Allows its wearer to return to the home castle when used. |
Item Locations[]
Method | Location |
---|---|
Dropped | Generation 1: Philip (Ch. 2) Generation 2: Harold (Ch. 6) • Disler (Ch. 9) |
Shop | Generation 1: Ch. 4 |
Strategy[]
The ability to Return is of marginal use in Genealogy of the Holy War. The immense size of maps means that if you Return home to promote or for some other reason, chances are you'll be out of the fight for several turns, and might never catch up. However, there are a few circumstances when it's fairly useful.
- Chapter 3: This chapter is your last chance to promote both Ethlyn and Finn. Certain other units might also be ready to promote at this time, notable among them Lachesis and Arthur, who gain substantial Movement boosts when they promote. Your units will also need to pass relatively closely to this home castle: after taking Madino, they need to pass near to get to Sylvale; and the reverse is also true, leaving from Sylvale and returning north.
- Chapter 4: After taking Tófa, your units will need to return to the home base, and Return can make that easier for at least one unit.
- Chapter 7: If Nanna inherits the Return Staff and Return Band, she can send Leif and Finn to join with the main body of the army, and Return there herself. However, this may not be the best course of action, as staying around Leonster will give them a chance to earn some XP and gold by killing the bandits and Armors there. Hold off for long enough, and it becomes no longer worth it to even Return.
- Chapter 11: Going from Edda back to Chalphy can save just a bit of time. Altena would like to Return to Chalphy so she can intercept Arion and get him to stand down.
The Return Band holds another value: it's worth money. A lot of money, in fact. While gold isn't passed directly from Generation 1 to Generation 2, items are. Consider the following strategy:
- If you want to pass the Pursuit Ring to Leif, an easy way to do it would be to have Ethlyn take the Return Band from Philip in chapter 2, then in chapter 3, when she's ready to Promote, have her Return to the home base, sell the Return Band, and that should make up a deficit in affording the Pursuit Ring.
- Ultimately, you probably want the Leg Ring to be for Lene. However, you go without her for more than a chapter-and-a-half. You might want to start Seliph with the Leg Ring. Starting with the Return Band will get her halfway to affording the Leg Ring. It's probably better to let her inherit the far-more-expensive Knight Ring instead of trying to finagle enough funds for her to afford both items.
- Some fathers for Scathach (Lex, Jamke) provide great stats and abilities, but cannot pass down swords (besides ones earned from killing bosses). Pass down a lot of swords from Ayra to Larcei, and Larcei can sell a few. Scathach sells the Return Ring, and buys those swords. Any similar process can be done for fathers who don't pass on good weapons to their kids.
- Lana and Coirpre lack any way to fight in the Arena before promotion (perhaps the easiest way to earn Gold). Giving them the Return Band will give them a good chunk of change used for buying and repairing staves.
- If a character has Bargain or the Bargain band and are about to go over their 50000 Gold maximum, they can buy the Return Band - it's like being able to carry 60000 Gold instead.