Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn will push your brain to its strategic limits! Before you face the challenges on the battlefield, check out these tactics designed to give you an immediate leg up on the Begnion Empire. Long live the rebellion!

Double-team attacks
Don’t rush into battle by yourself. Bring a friend. When you attack an opponent but don’t do enough damage to drain his hit points, you leave yourself vulnerable during the enemy phase. Work in tandem with another team member to finish an opponent before he gets a chance to retaliate.

Hide in the elements
Know your surroundings and use them to reduce an enemy’s attack. When you hide in tree-covered areas, the enemy has a greater chance of missing you when he attacks. If he does manage to deal damage, the terrain effects help lessen that damage.

Know your percentages
Before each attack, you will see in the combat window the enemy’s hit points, the amount of damage you will do to him, the percent chance that your attack will be successful and the percent chances of performing a critical strike (triple damage). Don’t get too greedy when it comes to damage. Take the higher-percentage attack as opposed to the higher-damage-dealing attack in most circumstances. Missing an opponent entirely will put a serious damper on your best-laid plans.

Travel light
Money in a war-torn area can be scarce. When you get the opportunity, sell your excess weaponry. Every cent counts when you need to make real upgrades to your weapons and buy life-saving supplies, like hit-point-healing vulneraries.

Front-line fighting
The best way to keep your less-abled bodies safe and sound is to create a defensive wall with your warriors. Units with high attack power and lots of hit points were designed to be on the front lines. Don’t let your little guys get caught in the line of fire.

Attack order
One of the best tag-team strategies for attacking an opponent is to pair up a unit that specialises in indirect attacks and one that specialises in direct attacks. When facing an enemy who can only direct-attack, have your indirect-attack specialist deal the initial blow and then let your direct-attack unit come in for the kill. This way, the enemy never has an opportunity to counter-attack and damage your unit. The inverse applies to enemies who specialise in indirect attacks. Have your direct-attacking unit damage the enemy first, then finish him off with the indirect-attack unit.

Terrain levels
In addition to different types of terrain, you’ll come across different points of height in some maps. Your indirect-attack units can gain a greater advantage if they attack from a higher level down to a lower level. And of course, if they attack from a lower point to a higher one, they’ll be more apt to miss with their attack or to have it deal less damage.

It takes a thief
Learn the distinct advantages each character class brings to a situation. For example, thieves are natural fits for your party on battlefields that contain many locked doors or chests because thieves can unlock these things. But did you know that thieves are also good for Fog of War situations? A thief carrying a lit torch can shed light on a seven-square area around him. Thieves are also good for picking the pocket of an enemy that will be killed during the next attack.

Front-line Support
Help your fighters build a rapport with each other and use the Support function. When units are sent into battle together, they start to build up a sense of camaraderie. You can strengthen how the characters feel about each other by instigating a Support conversation. Two units who Support each other receive statistical bonuses whenever they are within three squares of each other: the stronger their bond, the greater the bonus. Each unit can only bond with one other unit. If you choose to break the bond and make a different combination of support unit, know that you’re breaking their bond of friendship – something not easily repaired. Because it takes so long to build a Support relationship, you must be aware of which units you’re sending into battle together.