The Weapon Triangle
Weapons are divided into four "colors": Red (fire), Green (wind), Blue (thunder), and Colorless (no element). The color is the most commonly used name.
Red weapons beat green weapons, green weapons beat blue weapons, and blue weapons beat red weapons. Colorless weapons are neutral to all weapon types (though there are a few weapons that give favorable matchups against them). Combat with an enemy that you have a favorable matchup against (i.e. your sword unit vs. an enemy's axe unit) will give your unit a 20% bonus in Attack and the opponent a 20% penalty to their Attack.
Two Different Types of Damage
There are currently two types of damage in Fire Emblem Heroes, Physical and Magic. Physical damage is reduced by Defense and Magic Damage is reduced by Resistance. Unlike in main Fire Emblem entries, your attack stat already accounts for your weapon's might.
Note that Staves deal half the normal amount of damage, enforcing healers into their supportive role.
| Physical | $$ {(Atk Stat) - (Def Stat)}$$ |
|---|---|
| Magical | $$ {(Atk Stat) - (Res Stat)}$$ |
| Icon | Element | Weapon | Range | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Fire | Sword | 1 Space | Physical |
 | Fire | Tome | 2 Spaces | Magic |
 | Fire | Breath | 1 Space | Magic |
 | Lightning | Lance | 1 Space | Physical |
 | Lightning | Tome | 2 Spaces | Magic |
 | Lightning | Breath | 1 Space | Magic |
 | Wind | Axe | 1 Space | Physical |
 | Wind | Tome | 2 Spaces | Magic |
 | Wind | Breath | 1 Space | Magic |
 | None | Bow | 2 Spaces | Physical |
 | None | Dagger | 2 Spaces | Physical |
 | None | Rod | 2 Spaces | Magic |
Effective Weaponry
Some weapons deal 1.5x the normal damage amount against particular types of enemies. They will have the label "Effective against x units" in their description.
The possible unit types are infantry, cavalry, armored, and flying. A unit's type may be seen on their Status page, to the right of their level. There is also an "Dragon" type - these are the units who transform into dragons and use Breath weapons in battle. These units are labeled as infantry on their status pages, but also receive the extra damage from weapons such as Marth and Lucina's Falchion.
In battle, you may see which enemy units will deal or receive effective damage from any of your units by tapping on them. Enemies that your selected unit will deal effective damage to will have a green checkmark on top of them, while enemies that your selected unit will take effective damage from will have a red exclamation mark on them.
Damage Calculation
These formulae will help you calculate exactly how much damage you will deal to a unit.
Physical Damage
$$ \small {(Unit Atk * Eff * WT) - (Enemy Def)}$$Magic Damage
$$ \small {(Unit Atk * Eff * WT) - (Enemy Res)}$$Where WT (Weapon Triangle) is:
- x1.2 (Advantage)
- x1 (Neutral)
- x0.8 (Disadvantage)
And Eff (Effectiveness) is:
- x1.5 (Effective weaponry against the corresponding type of unit)
- x1 (Neutral)
- x0.5 (Staff)
Damage Calculation Examples
1. 20% of unit's Atk from weapon advantage.
2. Add result from step 1 to unit's Atk.
3. Subtract enemy Def from result of step 2.
For weapon disadvantages, subtract 20% of the Unit Atk instead.
1. 50% additional damage from Weapon Skill
2. Add result from Step 1 to unit's Atk.
3. Calculate 20% of result from Step 2 (Weapon Advantage).
4. Add result from Step 3 to the result from Step 2.
5. Subtract enemy Def from the result of Step 4.
| $${(37 * 1.5) * 1.2 - 18 = 49 }$$ |
Calculate weapon Effectiveness first and then Weapon Advantage, the order counts as the game rounds down the values.
See also: the Damage calculator
