Usage (耐久 Taikyū), often referred to as Weapon Durability, is a gameplay mechanic present in most Fire Emblem games.

Overview

Usage refers to the preset number of times a weapon, staff, or item can be used before it is automatically discarded. Consumable items such as Vulneraries and Elixirs have a set number of uses before the item runs out. Certain consumable items, including Promotional Items and stat increasing items like Seraph Robes, are one-time use.

Weapon Durability, or just Durability, is the amount of uses a weapon has before it breaks. In combat, the weapon's attack must connect with an enemy for it to consume a durability point, even if the attack deals no damage. If the attacker's foe dodges their attack, durability is not consumed. As an exception, the durability of magic tomes is consumed even if the attack does not connect.

In most games, once a weapon's uses have been depleted, it is immediately dropped from the holder's inventory, usually with a UI notification that the weapon broke. In Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War and Fire Emblem: Three Houses, weapons that have fully depleted durability break, but instead of being dropped from the wielder's inventory, the weapon remains held and can continue to be used, but with reduced stats.

Some games feature Forges or other means to repair weapons, restoring their usage to the maximum value, or increasing the maximum usage value. The means and availability of this feature vary between games.

In general, most generic weapons have durability inversely comparable to their power, with weaker weapons having more uses than stronger weapons. For example, Bronze Weapons may have 50 uses, but in exchange, they have the lowest Might of all generic weapons. Silver weapons on the other hand may have 20 uses but have the highest Might of all generic weapons. Other variables than Might also factor into the durability of certain weapons. For example, a Javelin has less durability compared to an Iron Lance, but has the ability to perform both melee and ranged attacks. Killer weapons require the same Weapon proficiency rank as Steel weapons. They have lower durability than a Steel weapon, but a higher Critical hit chance. Long range weapons such as the Bolting tome have as little as 5 uses.

Unique weapons commonly serve as an exception, and may have more power and more durability than a powerful generic weapon such as a silver weapon. Such is the case for weapons such as the Falchion or Binding Blade, which are unique weapons wielded by their games' respective lead characters. The equipment with the lowest durability are revival staffs like the Hammerne or Aum Staff, which are typically allowed only one use and can't be repaired.

In some games that feature weapon durability, select weapons are exempt and have unlimited usage. Such weapons are typically of narrative importance, and the game is designed with the expectation that the character wielding it will have access to it for the rest of the game once they acquire it. Ragnell, which appears in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, is one of the few weapons in either game with unlimited usage, and in Radiant Dawn, it is required that the final blow to the endgame boss be delivered with it.

Some combat skills offer a Luck-based chance of not consuming durability when a weapon, staff, or item is used. Examples include Armsthrift in Awakening, Hortensia's World Tree skill in Engage functions similarly for staves, and Bunet's Seconds? skill, also in Engage, has a chance to not consume a Leftovers.

Game-specific Mechanics and Notes

In Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remake Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Fates, and Fire Emblem Engage, there is no durability mechanic, allowing players to continuously use the same weapon without having them break. However, staves in Fates and Engage still have a limited number of uses. Fates offsets the lack of durability with side effects that function as drawbacks for using stronger weapons. In Engage, weapon weight plays a strong role, as some heavy weapons are categorized as Smash Weapons and come with their own unique sets of traits. In Shadows of Valentia, characters learn Weapon Arts as they grow proficient with a specific weapon, but will lose access to Arts that they have learned should they switch to a different weapon.

In Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, players can get their weapons repaired at castles they own. Weapons that run out of uses will break, but remain functional and equipped, albeit with significantly reduced power and accuracy. All weapons except the Lands Sword and some staves have 50 uses, with the noted weapons having only 10.

In Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, select weapons such as Ragnell, Alondite, and Amiti have no usage restriction. Further, at the beginning of the Chapter 4 Endgame, the weapons currently equipped by the player's chosen force will receive a blessing that gives them all infinite usage for the rest of the game.

In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the weapon durability system is similar to that of Genealogy of the Holy War. Weapons have a limited durability, but upon breaking are still usable with reduced stats, namely lower hit and might, and enemies are likelier to perform follow-up attacks against characters due to the drastic increase in weight. Characters do not unequip their broken weapon automatically. Broken weapons can be repaired for an expense of gold and smithing materials, or can be repaired before they break. Byleth's unique weapon the Sword of the Creator recovers five points of durability each time the player chooses the Rest action at the end of a calendar week, up to its maximum of twenty. Characters can also learn and use Combat Arts, enhanced techniques that can occasionally have different effects, but their usage costs higher amounts of durability than normal use.

Magic usage in Three Houses is on a per-battle basis. Each spell in a unit's spell list has a set number of uses, but these reset with each battle.

In Fire Emblem Warriors, there is no durability tied to weapons. Staves have a limited number of uses per battle, but automatically replenish at the battle's conclusion.

In Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, durability determines the number of times a learned Combat Art or Spell can be used. If the weapon doesn't have enough durability, then the unit will be unable to use the skill. Durability does not otherwise affect the power of the weapon and is automatically recovered after the end of a battle. It is also possible to acquire purple crystals from certain pots and defeated foes that restore a weapon's durability mid-battle. Durability can be raised on a weapon by forging, spending gold and ore at the Base Camp's Blacksmith up to a certain point. Once a weapon's reached its limit in Might and Durability, it can either be restored, which resets its might and durability upgrades to 0, or reforged, which increases the weapon's forging limits.

TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga has its own rules regarding Usage. Throwing weapons have a limited number of uses, like in the rest of the series, while magic has MP that slowly regenerates after each chapter. Non-throwing physical weapons have a set 100 durability that decreases with each use depending on durability rating (F-7, E-6, D-5, C-4, B-3, A-2, S-1). Each weapon also has a chance to break after every attack depending on its durability (100-61: blue - 0%, 60-41: green - 1%, 40-21: yellow - 2%, 20-1: orange - 4%, 0: Red - 100%). Bows, Crossbows, and Ballistae use both Durability (for weapon itself) and number of uses (for ammunition). Like in Genealogy of the Holy War, it's possible to repair weapons for a fee, so long as they don't completely break.