fireemblem

"Myrmidon" redirects here. For the class from Gaiden and its remake, see here.
“A swift specialist in the blade who makes for a tricky target.”
—In-game description from Awakening.

The Myrmidon, or Sword Fighter, is a physical combat class that appears across the Fire Emblem series. Wielding swords, the Myrmidon class is distinct from the similar Mercenary class, but closely linked to it in terms of origins and promotion paths.

Navarre, originally a Mercenary in the original game and Mystery of the Emblem, is often seen as the origin of archetypical Myrmidons, with aspects of the class's basic appearance and statistic traits derived from him. When the original two titles were remade, Navarre was made a Myrmidon.

Quick Answers

What is the main weapon of choice for the Myrmidon class in Fire Emblem? toggle section
In Fire Emblem, the Myrmidon or Sword Fighter class primarily wields Swords. These weapons are known for their lightness and ease of use, contributing to a higher Hit Rate. The Myrmidon class, while distinct, shares origins and promotion paths with the Mercenary class.
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How does the Myrmidon class differ from the Mercenary class in Fire Emblem? toggle section
In Fire Emblem, the Myrmidon class, known for speed and skill, and the Mercenary class, recognized for high HP, strength, and defense, both use swords. However, they differ in promotion paths. Myrmidons advance into Swordmasters, while Mercenaries become Heroes, and in some instances, can also become mounted Rangers.
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Who is credited for creating the Myrmidon archetype in Fire Emblem? toggle section
Navarre, initially a Mercenary in the original Fire Emblem game and Mystery of the Emblem, is recognized for establishing the Myrmidon archetype. His basic appearance and statistical traits formed the foundation for the Myrmidon class, a combat physical class distinct from but closely related to the Mercenary class in terms of origins and promotion paths.
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What are the promotion paths for the Myrmidon class in Fire Emblem? toggle section
The Myrmidon class in Fire Emblem has various promotion paths. In Thracia 776, it can promote to Swordmaster or Mercenary. The Binding Blade establishes Swordmaster as the only promoted form of Myrmidon. The Sacred Stones adds the Assassin class as another promotion option. In Three Houses, Myrmidon is an optional promotion for Commoner or Noble classes after passing a Certification Exam. In Genealogy of the Holy War, the Hero class, a promotion of Myrmidon, is renamed to Forrest.
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How is the Myrmidon class linked to the Mercenary class in Fire Emblem? toggle section
In the Fire Emblem series, the Myrmidon class, also known as Sword Fighter, shares origins and promotion paths with the Mercenary class. The Myrmidon archetype was established by characters such as Navarre, who was originally a Mercenary. In some games, Mercenaries can advance to the Bow Knight class, similar to the Ranger option from Sacred Stones. However, starting from Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, Mercenaries exclusively promote into Heroes, while Myrmidons advance to Swordmasters.
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History in the Series

The Myrmidon class, originally known as the Sword Fighter class, is introduced to the series in Genealogy of the Holy War, where it replaces the Mercenary as the primary sword wielding foot unit. The class promotion available to it is dependent on the character; Ayra and Larcei promote into Swordmaster, while Chulainn, Ulster, Creidne and Dalvin promote into Forrest, the game's equivalent to the Hero class.

In Thracia 776, the Sword Fighter class functions in much the same way as its predecessor, where some characters promote into Swordmaster and others promote into Mercenary, another Hero equivalent.

In Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, the class is made distinct from the Mercenary class, and the Swordmaster class is the Myrmidon's sole direct promotion.

In The Sacred Stones, Myrmidons are given the further option to promote into the Assassin class alongside the Swordmaster class.

The Myrmidon class is known as Blade in the Japanese version of Radiant Dawn. Like its predecessors, the class promotes directly into the Swordmaster class, which in turn promotes into the Trueblade class when the necessary requirements are fulfilled.

In Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem, remakes of the Archanea Series, some characters who were originally Mercenaries are instead Myrmidons, including Navarre and Radd.

In Awakening, the class is again given the further option to promote into the Assassin class alongside the Swordmaster class.

In Fates, the class is known as the Samurai and is treated as a Hoshidan class. The Samurai has the option to promote into the Master of Arms alongside the traditional Swordmaster. The Samurai class is regarded as the counterpart to the Nohrian Mercenary.

In the spin-off Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, the Myrmidon Navarre from Shadow Dragon appears as the Mirage partner of Yashiro Tsurugi. Navarre can promote into either a Hero or a Swordmaster. Myrmidons appear as enemy Mirages in Illusory 106 as Ironclad Myrmidon, and a stronger variant, the Regal Myrmidon, appears in Illusory Shibuya. A stronger variant of Regal Myrmidon called Bulwark Myrmidon, though similar in appearance, appears during the fight against Mirage Gangrel in Illusory Shibuya. An even stronger variant, the Wandering Myrmidon, appears as the final boss in the Encore exclusive EX Story.

The class appears again in Fire Emblem Warriors, where it is the base class of Owain. It's Hoshidan counterpart, the Samurai, also appears as an enemy-only class.

In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the Myrmidon serves as an optional promoted class of the Commoner or Noble class if the unit passes the Certification Exam at Lv. 5 with a Sword Skill Level of D or higher and a Beginner Seal.

In Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, the Myrmidon and its Beginner-tier kin (Soldier, Fighter, and Monk) are available to all units by default. Mastering the Myrmidon class for a particular character allows them to unlock the Thief and Mercenary classes for them from the Training Grounds facility. Byleth and Shez's personal classes, Silverheart/Enlightened One and Fluegel/Asura, can be found within the Mercenary class tree. Shez was originally a Myrmidon, but following an encounter with Byleth, automatically promoted into the Fluegel class.

In Fire Emblem Engage, the Sword Fighter class is a base class capable of promoting into either Hero or Swordmaster. It uses the Backup Battle Style, meaning it will engage in a chain attack if in attack range of an enemy unit that another player unit attacks.

Other Games

In TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga, the class is separated from Mercenary, and Swordmaster is its direct promotion, similar to The Binding Blade.

In Vestaria Saga I, the Myrmidon is once again known as the Swordfighter. The class wields both swords and greatswords. The class comes with the Critical Edge skill which increases their crit rate based on their Skill.

Overview

Combat

Joshua, a myrmidon, attacking with a

Joshua, a myrmidon, attacking with a critical hit

The Myrmidon's superior Speed and Skill over other similar classes make them very formidable foot soldiers, but their comparatively lower HP, Strength and Defense make them difficult to protect against quick and accurate opponents.

While Myrmidons can easily deal with magic users and thieves with a single round of combat on the player phase, the same prowess may not necessarily be replicated on the enemy phase; when overwhelmed by too many of such enemies, they could potentially lose their superior edge and be felled. When facing heavier enemies, especially fighter-type units, the high Speed boasted by Myrmidons makes them proficient at evading clumsy blows. This is, however, offset by their typically mediocre Strength, especially when they are commanded to do battle with heavily armored units (exacerbated further if said armored units are immune to their damage).

Should a Myrmidon be attacked by slower units, especially a Fighter or Brigand, they are often able to kill or heavily damage their enemy in a single counterattack due to the consistency that they display in inflicting critical attacks.

Uniform

Most female Myrmidons are depicted donning a tunic with an over-top that barely covers their waist and long, high boots with no leggings. Males, conversely, are depicted in a tunic and leggings with a belt and sheath (sometimes on their back) for their sword.

In titles where members of this class are outfitted with armour, they are usually restricted to extremely light breastplates or gorgets, a cloth headband (with a small steel plate covering their forehead in Awakening and Fates,) and sometimes small pauldrons depending on the game to indicate their lack of Defence.

In Fates, the Samurai class is the Hoshidan reclassification of the Myrmidon class and thus takes on aspects of traditional Japanese armor such as do (cuirass), kote (vambrace),tekko (gauntlets), and suneate (greaves). However, they are still lightly armored compared to the Swordmaster promotion that has more Samurai armor pieces. Their clothing underneath tend to be a shitagi (shirt), kobakama (pants), tabi (socks), and zori (sandals).

In Three Houses, Myrmidons wear tunics that are brown, grey and the color of the house they represent. The exceptions are Byleth who wears a black and grey tunic with a pink outline, Dedue whose tunic consists of mostly neutral colors and Mercedes, whose tunic color scheme is a light shade of grey, brown and red. The female uniform has one pauldron instead of two and knee-high boots, though the outfit does have gauntlets, knee-pads ,and a belt and sheath.

In-Game

Base Stats

HPStrMagSklSpdLckDefResMovConWtWlvCha
FE4307010100506--FE4 Sword A-
FE520/183/2056/70266/5--FE5 Sword Icon E-
TS20307802-5--TS Sword 4-
FE616/154/3-99/1002/10/158/5-Sword D-
FE716/154/3-99/1002/10/158/5-Sword D-
FE816/154/3-99/1002/10/158/5-Sword D-
FE917/154/3055/6030/1610/710/7FE9 Sword D-
FE101860101104061010FE10 Sword D-
FE1116309110407--FE12 Sword E-
FE1216309110407--FE12 Sword E-
FE1316419100415--SwordIconFE13 E-
FE141740583335--FE14 Sword E-
FE162073664524--FE16 sword icon D0
FE1720507823245-FE17 Sword B-
FEW5177986555--FEW Sword E-

Maximum Stats

HPStrMagSklSpdLckDefResMovConWtWlvCha
FE480221525253020156--FE4 Sword A-
FE580202020203020-2020-FE5 Sword Icon A-
TS60191520203018-12--TS Sword 18-
FE66020-20203020201520-Sword A-
FE76020-20203020201520-Sword A-
FE86020-20203020201520-Sword A-
FE940201520204020206--FE9 Sword A-
FE1030201020203020106--FE10 Sword A-
FE1160202020202020207--FE12 Sword A-
FE1260202020202020207--FE12 Sword A-
FE1360242227283022245--SwordIconFE13 A-
FE1440201623252418205--FE14 Sword B-
FE176740203741332722612-FE17 Sword B-

Growth Rates

HPStrMagSklSpdLckDefResMovConWtWlvCha
FE4100%30%10%30%30%0%30%10%-----
FE550%20%3%15%10%10%15%-0%15%---
FE670%35%-40%40%30%15%17%-----
FE770%35%-40%40%30%15%20%-----
FE870%35%-40%40%30%15%20%-----
FE965/60%50/45%10%60%65%30%30/25%25/30%-----
FE1065%40%20%45%50%30%40%40%-----
FE1150%10%-10%20%25%0%5%-5%-----
FE1240%10%-10%20%30%0%5%-5%-----
FE1340%/70%20%/30%0%25%/40%25%/40%0%/40%5%/20%5%/20%-----
FE1410%10%0%15%20%15%0%10%-----
FE1610%0%0%0%5%/10%0%0%-5%/-10%---FE16 sword icon +15%
FE1710%10%0%15%20%10%0%15%-0%---
FEW3H10%0%0%0%10%0%0%0%----5%

Class Modifiers

HPStrMagSklSpdLckDefResMovConWtWlvCha
FE16000010000---0
FEW3H000010000---0

Class Skills

SkillRequirements
FE4PursuitPursuitClass skill of Sword Fighters.
FE10ShoveShove
Critical 5Critical +5
Base skill of all foot units.
Class skill of the Myrmidon, Halberdier and Reaver classes.
FE13Avoid +10Avoid +10
Vantage (Kakusei)Vantage
Learned at Level 1.
Learned at Level 10.
FE14Flowing Strike (Skill)Duelist's Blow
Vantage (Kakusei)Vantage
Learned at Level 1 and above.
Learned at Level 10 and above.
FE16Speed 2 FE16Speed +2
Combat Art Icon FE16 SpecialSwap
Class Mastery.
Class Mastery.
FEW3HAxe Buster Lv 1 Axe Buster Lv 1
FEW3H Staunch Shield Rebellious Spirit
Speed 2 FE16 Spd +2
Sword Prowess Sword Prowess
Icon Combat Art FE16 Sword Grounder
Icon Combat Art FE16 Sword Flash Strike
Class skill.
1-star Class Mastery for certain units.
1-star Class Mastery for certain units.
2-star Class Mastery for all units.
3-star Class Mastery for certain units.
3-star Class Mastery for certain units.

Promotions

Base ClassPromotion MethodPromoted Class
FE4FE4 Sword Fighter Sprite (M)Sword FighterChoose the "Class Change" option in the Home Castle when the relevant unit reaches Level 20.FE4 Swordmaster Sprite (M)Swordmaster (Ayra, Larcei)
FE4 Forrest Sprite (M)Forrest (Chulainn, Scáthach, Creidne and Dalvin)
FE5FE5 SwordfighterSword FighterUse a Knight Proof (FE5)Knight Proof on a Level 10+ Sword Fighter.FE5 swordmasterSwordmaster (Shiva, Mareeta and Troude)
FE5 HeroMercenary (Machyua)
TSSwordfighter (TS)Sword FighterUse a Ts-knight-proofKnight Proof on a Level 10+ Sword Fighter.SwordmasterSwordmaster
FE6FE8 Male Myrmidon Map SpriteMyrmidonUse a HerocrestHero Crest on a Level 10+ Myrmidon.FE8 Male Swordmaster Map SpriteSwordmaster
FE7FE8 Male Myrmidon Map SpriteMyrmidonUse a HerocrestHero Crest or an EarthsealEarth Seal on a Level 10+ Myrmidon.FE8 Male Swordmaster Map SpriteSwordmaster
FE8FE8 Male Myrmidon Map SpriteMyrmidonUse a HerocrestHero Crest or a Master sealMaster Seal on a Level 10+ Myrmidon.FE8 Male Swordmaster Map SpriteSwordmaster
FE8 Assassin Map SpriteAssassin
FE9FE9 Mia Myrmidon Sprite
Myrmidon
Use a FE9mastersealMaster Seal on a Level 10+ Myrmidon.FE9 Mia Swordmaster Sprite
Swordmaster
FE10FE10 Edward Myrmidon Sprite
Myrmidon
Use a FE10mastersealMaster Seal on a Level 10+ Myrmidon or train a Myrmidon to Level 21.FE10 Edward Swordmaster Sprite
Swordmaster
FE11FE11 Myrmidon (M) Map SpriteMyrmidonUse a FE11mastersealMaster Seal on a Level 10+ Myrmidon.FE11 Swordmaster (M) Map SpriteSwordmaster
FE12FEDS Myrmidon Map SpriteMyrmidonUse a FE11mastersealMaster Seal on a Level 10+ Myrmidon.FEDS Swordmaster (M) Map SpriteSwordmaster
FE13FE13 Generic Myrmidon (M) Map SpriteMyrmidonUse a Master Seal FE13 IconMaster Seal on a Level 10+ Myrmidon.FE13 Swordmaster (M) Map SpriteSwordmaster
FE13 AssassinAssassin
FE14FE14 Generic Samurai (M) Map SpriteSamuraiUse a Master Seal FE13 IconMaster Seal on a Level 10+ Samurai.FE14 Generic Swordmaster (M) Map SpriteSwordmaster
FE14 Generic Master of Arms (M) Map SpriteMaster of Arms
FE16Any classUse a FE16 Seal IconBeginner Seal on a Level 5+ unit and pass the Myrmidon Certification Exam.FE16 Myrmidon IconMyrmidon
FE17LapisFE17Sprite Sword FighterUse FE17MasterSealSpriteMaster Seal on Level 10+ Sword Fighter.
Use FE17MasterSealSpriteMaster Seal on Level 10+ Sword Fighter with FE17 LanceLance or FE17 AxeAxe Proficiency.
KagetsuFE17SpriteSwordmaster
GoldmaryFE17SpriteHero
FEWWarriors Owain SpriteMyrmidonUse a Master Seal FE13 IconMaster Seal on Owain.Warriors Owain SpriteSwordmaster
FEW3HFE16 Myrmidon Icon MyrmidonUse an FE16 Seal IconIntermediate Seal on a unit that has mastered the Myrmidon class.FE16 Mercenary Icon Mercenary
FE16 Thief Icon Thief

Notable Myrmidons

Genealogy of the Holy War

Thracia 776

TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga

The Binding Blade

The Blazing Blade

The Sacred Stones

Path of Radiance

Radiant Dawn

Shadow Dragon

New Mystery of the Emblem

Awakening

Fates

Engage

Fire Emblem Warriors

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes

Vestaria Saga I

Etymology

The Myrmidons were a tribe that followed Achilles and were renowned for the battle skills and loyalty to their leader. In modern times, a Myrmidon is someone who follows a cause without question. Many members of the class (such as Guy, Lon'qu, and Mia) could be called Myrmidons in this respect in relation to their devotion to swordplay. In modern fantasy, a Myrmidon is usually a swordsman, focusing on speed, wielding a sword in a single hand, while leaving the other free.

Trivia

Gallery