Hello, This is the Fire Emblem Thracia 776 Link Arena Patch! This is a sequel to my previous Genealogy of the Holy War Link Arena Patch as well as my FEE3 2022 Submission. What I have done is take the characters and mechanics of FE5, and ported them over to the GameBoy Advance for some 4 Player Free Far all Link Arena Action.
What all have you done?
What I have done is ported most of FE5’s mechanics and characters over to the GBA engine so that people can play Link Arena battles with each other. All the characters from the main game, as well as enemies and cut characters from the game are able to be played in a Link Arena style format. Every weapon (excluding staves) and (most) items from FE5 have also been added with their FE5 stats. The hack uses a variety of patches such as the Skill System to mimic FE5 as much as possible. If you played my last patch, I have also done a lot to stream line the setup process of this hack compared to how I did it previously.
Skill System? Doesn't that break the Link Arena?
Yes and No. While the glitch where your screen turns black whenever you check your units status is fixed, the multiplayer function of the Link Arena will not work as the game will hang after making an attack. The Practice mode of the Link Arena does work although there is a bug where your characters skills will get reduced if you reset the game after making a team. I hope that this isn’t too disappointing to everyone and I hope my faux Link Arena will still be as enjoyable as the real thing.
FE5 is a really unbalanced game. This couldn't possibly work well in an Arena style format.
While I think this is true to an extent, I think players can find ways for teams to be balanced to an extent. Hopefully by having around 60 characters to choose from, some creative combinations can be had so that people will have fun.
Is PCC implemented?
Yes, the most controversial mechanic tied with FE4’s pursuit is fully implemented in all of its entirety in the hack. Every character has a PCC skill that functions just like their corresponding stat from the original game. Characters will have PCC skills ranging from 0 to 5. For those who do not know, PCC (Pursuit Critical Coefficient) is a stat the multiplies the players crit rate on their second follow up attack. It also caps their initial crit on their first attack to 25. Please see the Fire Emblem Wiki Page for more information.
What currently works?
Almost everything which i will get into shortly. Here is a list of mechanics which you can expect to see in the FE5 Link Arena:
Skills
- Canto: Canto is required for the Link Arena to function properly. See the “How to Play” section for additional information
- Adept
- Luna, Astra, and Sol
- Miracle: Yes, FE5’s version of Miracle is fully Implimented so Finn and friends can be at their peak.
- Pavise
- Nihil: Nihil in FE5 cancels EVERY skill, but do not worry, it will not cancel a unit’s PCC skill.
- Charm/Charisma: I’ve thought alot about this one and ultimately left it in because it gives units like Nana more utility despite the fact that it heavily buffs units on your team, and near by enemies who are on other peoples team.
- Wrath: Yes, Wrath (should) function just like how it does in FE5! (Don’t use Vantage)
- Other FE5 skills have been added but serve no purpose in the context of the arena. (With the exception of one skill which we will get to in a moment)
Mechanics
- Leadership Stars: They are implemented but slightly differently. They give only +3 Hit and avoid to
your units, enemy units are unaffected. There is a separate patch you can download to disable this. - (+/-5%) Weapon Triangle
- Full Magic Triangle: There is a patch that allows a full weapon triangle to be used just like in FE5, but sadly it does not work with the Skill System. So I just recreated it by using monster weapons. And Like FE5, Light and Dark are neutral to each other while having an advantage to all other forms of magic.
- Magic targets Magic just like in Thracia 776.
- Constitution has been heavily changed. Thracia doesn’t use a Resistance stat as well as a Build/Constitution stat that can actually grow upon leveling up. Thanks to Thracia not using Resistance, Constitution takes its place. It can be increased upon leveling up and weapon attributes now target it instead of the original constitution.
- Single RN instead of 2RN just like in FE5
- Max HP has been set to 80 with all other stats being set to 20. There is an alternate patch available that sets the stat caps of all units to 30 instead if you would like to play a version where units have more diverse growths.
- Hit Formula changed to: Hit + Skillx2 + Luck
- Attack Speed Formula changes to: Speed - (Weapon Weight - Res) //Res is now Con
- Critical Formula changed to: Weapon Crit + Skill //FE8 normally uses Crit + Skill/2
- Dodge Formula changed to: Luck/2
- The SNES critical formula has been added
- Maximum hit rate set to 99. Minimum hit rate set to 1.
- all of FE5’s map sprites have been added for true authenticity! (Ripped by Zane and organized by me. Thank you Zane, you saved me HOURS of work!)
What doesn't work as of now?
Only 1 major thing and a few really minor ones, although the severity of these things truthfully depends on the person.
- Accost: This is a skill i know people have been trying to make for quite some time. I do not know if it will ever get added. To combat the lack of this skill, skill scrolls can be purchased and given to any characters. If you feel like characters like Dagdar need a buff, out a scroll on him. If there is a similar skill that would be a good substitute, let me know.
- Minimum damage of 1HP.
- The first proc of Astra will always do half damage instead of full. Probably won’t matter as it will most likely kill anyways.
- Adept and sword skills may still proc together… I think?
What are the caveats?
Aside from the fact that the true Link Arena functionality is borked, there are a few small caveats that you need to be aware of for things to work.
- Canto/Remove: In order for the faux Link Arena to work, EVERY unit will need canto in order to move back to their initial starting position after making an attack. If they do not have it, the Arena WILL BREAK. Canto/Remove skill scrolls can be purchased and placed on any unit who does not have that skill. All units should start with it.
- Lighting and Resire: because of monster weapons work, any character that can use them can use them unless it is weapon locked. For the case of characters like Safy and Asbel, they are able to use Lightning while not promoted. Not a big deal but I thought I would mention it.
- Hel: It sadly does not reduce HP to 1.
- Seige Tomes: Don’t use them… Don’t do it. (or do idc)
- Status Swords: Yes, they are in the game, but they will not proc any status effects.
- Equipping weapons: While the ability to equip weapons have been disabled, you scan still equip weapons by checking damage on enemy with that weapon. While it is tedious, if you choose to not attack an enemy with a certain character, make sure that character re-equips their original weapon.
- There are many weapons in Thracia that give the user a skill, and in some cases, multiple skills. The GBA Skill System only allows 1 skill to be on a weapon so i had to choose in some cases which skill was kept. EX: Beo Sword only has Vantage.
- Light Brand and Earth Sword: These two weapons unfortunately will not have weapon triangle advantage over any other tome. Its too complicated to explain, so i won’t.
What will never work?
There are mechanics in FE5 that are not needed or even intended to be used in an Arena style format.
- Steal: No need to steal
- Dance: Due to how I set up the faux Link Arena, you will never even be given the opportunity to Dance for a fellow unit.
- Staves: Staves do not work in the normal GBA Link Arena so i did not bother porting over FE5’s staves.
- Battle Animations: This is way to big of a task for me and i will not even attempt it. I am using many animations from the FEU Repo and I am grateful that so many people allow others to use their amazing animations.
- Battle palettes are borked but I am working on getting semi-accurate palettes installed.
- Supports
- Movement Stars, although that would be really funny
- Scrolls
Download Patch: (Updated 2022/06/27)
FE5 Link Arena Patch 0.9.0
How to play!
At the start of the game you will be shown the various options available to you to setup you units. All units in the game are available to you, some needing to be recruited due to the hard unit limit built into the GBA. You can recruit them by talking to them. Every unit will have Canto and a PCC skill. These MUST not be removed or the game will break. You will have the ability to level up your units manually, automatically, or have them set to their average stats. Characters start with no weapons but unprompted units start with a Knight’s Proof for promotion. Weapons, items, skills, and stat boosters can be purchased from the armories and shops. Once you have all the units you want to use ready, end your turn on the top of the map to head to the “Link Arena”. To save your unit setup, Escape Via the Escape point to head to “Preparations II.”
MAKE SURE EVERYONE HAS CANTO
When you reach the next chapter, you will be able to select from 20 characters to occupy the 20 units that you would normally see in a traditionally Link Arena battle. There are 4 teams, ‘A’ through ‘D’. Sort every unit around the 20 spots till everyone is on their respective teams. When everyone is sorted, hit start. I should note that you can still play with either 2 or 3 people.
IF YOU ARE NOT A BOW USER, YOU MUST ATTACK AT CLOSE RANGE (or don’t idc)
From here, the game will play exactly like the link arena although with a few things to note. Choose which character you are going to attack with and move him to an enemy team’s unit. if you are a bow user, you can attack from two spaces away, but if you are a sword, lance, or axe user, then you need to attack up-close. If you are a magic user, then anyone you fight MUST have the ability to counter attack. In addition choosing to attack someone and selecting a weapon will equip that weapon. In the normal link arena, this does not happen and the weapon you previously successfully attack with will be equipped. If you do not decided to attack with a certain you, please re-equip their previous weapon. There is no way to force this so you will have to use the honor system. After attacking, Canto+ will activate you will need to move back to your starting position. From there, end your move, and your turn will end automatically. The next player will then have the opportunity to take their turn.
When you attack a unit, make sure you move out to the middle section first. DO NOT ATTACK FROM YOUR STARTING POSITION.
Things to Note
- Miracle is Broken: Its very very good. Characters like Finn and Olwen can become unhittable due to their high luck and +10 luck given to them by their weapons. I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be that good in this format but I HIGHLY suggest units like Trude with Nihil to negate Miracle or units with really really high hit rates.
- PCC: You definitely don’t want to be the receiving end of units like Shiva or Fergus, so make sure to bring a bow user (or use magic at range if you are breaking the rules idc)
- Swords Swords Swords: Definitely decide amongst the people you are playing with what weapons you will limit yourself to. The king maker is cool, but if all 5 units have the Kingmaker, it can get boring, especially since the King Maker gives Charm/Charisma so that is busted.
- Charm/Charisma: I’m going to bring this up again since how it works here is really odd. During your turn, it doesn’t do much since you are having to move and attack other units. While your units are red however, you will still receive a buff, as well as any teams within 3 tiles. It may be best to place your Charm unit in the middle of your other units to stop the other teams from getting a buff.
- Leadership stars: I haven’t decided if I like them or not. On one hand, if gives units like Conomore or Glade extra utility on Player Phase (as the buff is only given on player phase) but it may make units a little too dodgey. Ultimately, I made a separate patch and gave the decision to the player.
- 30 Stat Caps: There is a separate patch allows units to have stats up to 30, RNG permitted. There is no average stat setter so levels must be gained in order to increase stats.
And that’s it. Thank you for reading this far. This has been a ton of work and I am really proud of how far I have come in terms of ROM Hacking. However, it was through the amazing people here on this site that I was able to do any of this at all. I know its a joke that Fire Emblem Fans hate Fire Emblem, but its cool to be apart of a community that not only loves the series, but comes together as a community make and create more and more of what we love. Thanks to all of you here at FEU!
Below is link to the assets I created (or adapted) for this project. The community creates wonderful assets for others to use so its only fair that i can give back in some way, however small it may be. Thank you again to Zane for ripping the FE5 map sprites and making sprite sheets.
Download Assets: FE5 Link Arena Assets