Top 10 Swords in "Fire Emblem"

Jeremy enjoys gaming when not helping manage the college he graduated from.

The Weapon Triangle in Fire Emblem

Although Three Houses uses a different system, most Fire Emblem games employ the weapon triangle, where swords beat axes, axes beat lances, and lances beat swords. Swords are useful against the numerous axe-wielding bandits fought throughout the franchise, and most of the main protagonists wield them.

Compared to axes and lances, swords have lower power but better hit percentage and lower weight, providing nimble and reliable weapons. We've seen hundreds of blades throughout the series—which reign supreme? These are the ten best swords in Fire Emblem!

10. Durandal

First Seen: Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade

Used By: Eliwood

Unlike some of today's weapons, Durandal can only be used a set amount of times (20) before breaking, and it sadly has no innate critical chance. That said, its impressive might (power) offers huge damage in tangent with its strength boost, its accuracy makes dodging unlikely, and its dragon-slaying powers turn the tables on lance-using wyvern riders.

9. Amiti

First Seen: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Used By: Elincia

Crimea's noble blade has lower damage than most of today's swords, but more than compensates with its speed; like "brave" weapons, Amiti guarantees a double-hit on your enemy, or four hits if you were already going to double! It also boosts Elincia's defenses and can't break, letting her use it as much as she likes.

Note that each blade's listed stats reflect it at its strongest (the above table reflects Amiti in Radiant Dawn, where it was stronger than in Path of Radiance).

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8. Loptous Sword

First Seen: Fire Emblem: Thracia 776

Used By: Raydrik

Compared to today's other weapons, the Loptous Sword has mediocre power and low accuracy. Plus, it can only be used in melee and isn't unbreakable (although 60 uses lasts awhile). Interestingly, the blade grants a magic—not strength—boost, helping units like Barons (Raydrik's class) wield both sword and spell.

Anyway, the blade's real power is its ability to halve enemy attack power, an outstanding defense that really increases longevity. However, foes wielding the holy Bragi Sword (itself an impressive blade) ignore this effect.

7. Ragnell/Alondite

First Seen: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Used By: Ike/Black Knight

Ike and his mortal enemy wield twin legendary blades with the same effects. And boy are they powerhouses; not only are they unbreakable, strong, and reasonably accurate, they can strike from both near and afar.

Any Fire Emblem player knows how valuable this is, letting you attack and counterattack bow and magic foes without sacrificing your ability to fight up close. The blades also bestow extra defense to shield against non-magical attacks; combined with Ike's health-restoring Aether ability, he's almost never in danger of dying.

6. Gurgurant

First Seen: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Used By: Ashnard

Wielded by the mad king Ashnard, Gurgurant offers a variant on Ragnell, slightly stronger and more accurate but with a lower crit chance. Either way, it's still an unbreakable weapon with range 1-2, preventing players, letting Ashnard fight from either distance.

Gurgurant doesn't give an actual defense or resistance boost, but it provides even better armor, negating all criticals against its bearer except those from the Wrath skill. Critical hits are deadly blows that inflict three times damage, and preventing them from triggering makes Ashnard much harder to kill.

5. Binding Blade

First Seen: Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade

Used By: Roy

Although it isn't unbreakable, Roy's infamous Binding Blade otherwise exceeds Ragnell in every aspect, tying it in power while beating it in accuracy and critical rate. It can attack from range, boosts both defense and resistance by five, and inflicts extra damage against manaketes (people who transform into dragons).

As if that weren't enough, Roy can spend his turn using the item to recover 30 HP, preventing the need to rush a healer towards him. The blade's sole issue is durability, only having 20 uses.

4. Sword of the Creator

First Seen: Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Used By: Byleth

Once morphed into the Sublime Creator Sword, this blade wields all-around impressive stats, particularly with range and critical chance. Additionally, it unlocks the Sublime Heaven combat art, which lets you unleash attacks with +10 might and accuracy, +20 critical chance, and the ability to deal extra damage against dragons. Might is further increased relative to your magic, offering a devastating blow.

Like other combat arts, this quickly chews through the weapon's durability (taking three per use), but it's a great tool against big threats, especially since the Creator Sword repairs itself when you rest on free days.

3. Mystletainn

First Seen: Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Used By: Eldigan

Yikes, 30 base power? That alone warrants usage, but when you toss in 20 extra skill (hit rate) and 10 resistance, things get ridiculous. Mystletainn also possesses the critical ability by default (in its game, most weapon needs 50 kills before gaining it), immediately giving potential for criticals.

And since crits in this title are based on skill and you'll have 20 extra . . . yea, it's a good thing we can persuade Eldigan to leave the field rather than fight him. It's also worth mentioning that the alternate Dark Mystletainn excels in mobile game Fire Emblem Heroes, which utilizes a much different battle system.

2. Balmung

First Seen: Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Used By: Od

In its debut appearance, Balmung has some monstrous 30 power as Mystletainn, and this time you get 10 more accuracy. The skill bonus here is only ten (right, only ten), but 20 extra speed means you're basically guaranteed to double-attack enemies and likely dodge their own blows.

Balmung doesn't have the critical trait by default, but like other weapons in the game, it'll earn it after killing 50 enemies, putting its skill bonus to lethal use.

1. Tyrfing

First Seen: Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Used By: Baldr

Like its twin brethren, Tyrfing brandishes a devastating 30 power. Accuracy is back down to 80, but not only do skill and speed increase by 10, resistance goes up by 20, making Tyrfing's bearer nearly invincible against magic.

Toss in the Prayer ability (which temporarily increases dodge chance when HP gets low) for a devastating blade with several monstrous bonuses.

More Fire Emblem Swords

Narrowing today's list to just ten entries wasn't easy, with blades like Falchion and the Vague Katti narrowly missing the cut (no pun intended). In addition to today's listed stats, keep in mind a weapon's durability when choosing attacks, and note that many (but not all) legendary weapons are restricted to specific characters.

We've still got lances, axes, bows, and tomes to cover, but for now, as we await Nintendo's next batch of legendary swords, vote for your favorite blade and I'll see you at our next Fire Emblem countdown!

© 2019 Jeremy Gill