Fatigue

Fatigue (Japanese: 疲労 Fatigue) is a gameplay mechanic first introduced in Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, then used in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. It simulates units being progressively tired out by fighting and working throughout the course of the game's battles. In Thracia 776, once a unit has performed enough actions to become worn out or fatigued, they will be forced to not participate in a chapter in order to give themselves time to rest. In Shadows of Valentia, fatigued units instead have their maximum HP temporarily reduced, but they may still participate in battles.

Overview

Thracia 776

In Thracia 776, every playable unit except Leif has a fatigue level which can be viewed on their stat screen. Starting at 0 when they join the party, units slowly gain fatigue points from performing actions in chapters. Once their accrued fatigue exceeds their maximum HP, when the player enters the preparations phase for the following chapter, that unit will be marked on the unit select menu as (Japanese: 疲労 Fatigued) and they will not be allowed to participate in the chapter. However, if there are not enough living units left to fill out the minimum deployment requirement for any given chapter, then every remaining unit in the army will be force-deployed, irrespective of their fatigue status.

If a unit does not participate in a chapter, whether they are in a fatigued state or not, their fatigue level is reset to 0, allowing them to participate in the next chapter with no issue. Alternatively, by placing a S Drink item in a fatigued unit's inventory, their status on the unit select menu will be changed to (Japanese: 疲労／可 Fatigued/Allowed) and they will be allowed into the chapter. Removing the S Drink from their inventory reverts them to "Fatigued" status and automatically deselects them from being deployed.

Fatigue has no other effects beyond this system. Fatigue also has a disproportionately greater impact on classes and units with lower HP on average, such as Mages and Priests, as accrued fatigue will affect them much more quickly than sturdier units with high HP, such as Brigands and Generals. This is further compounded for Priests by how the biggest fatigue point increases by far come from using staves with high weapon levels, with no other action in the game ever awarding more than 1 fatigue point.

Since S Drinks are rare and expensive items with only a single use each, and as a result are not a consistent solution and do not allow players to effectively ignore fatigue, the intention behind fatigue seems to have been to strongly encourage players to actively use a wider variety of their units. The idea is that, by not allowing the player to exclusively use a group of ten or so chosen units across every chapter, the player will turn to using other units when their mainstays are fatigued and will find uses for them rather than leaving them untouched throughout their playthrough of the game.

Leif is the only playable unit to be exempt from the fatigue system, as his deployment is mandatory in all chapters.

Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

In Shadows of Valentia, fatigue only takes effect during exploration of dungeons, and has no effect during battles on the world map. Whenever a character performs an action other than movement, their fatigue level is increased. Once a character's fatigue level is equal to their maximum HP, that character becomes fatigued, and their fatigue level can increase no further.

Unlike in Thracia 776, a character's fatigue level is not directly stated on their stat screen; instead, fatigue is represented by a smiley-face icon appearing next to their HP stat.

Icon	Fatigue level
	0~1/3 of maximum HP
	1/3~2/3 of maximum HP
	2/3 of maximum HP ~ (maximum HP − 1)
	Equal to maximum HP

Once a character becomes fatigued, they will have their maximum HP reduced temporarily at the end of a battle; the player will also be notified in the post-battle summary of any characters who have become fatigued. All characters have a hidden "fatigue tolerance" stat; when that character is fatigued, their maximum HP will be temporarily reduced to an amount equal to their standard maximum HP multiplied by their fatigue tolerance stat. For example, Leon's fatigue tolerance is 0.45; if his maximum HP is 40, it will be reduced to 18 HP if he becomes fatigued. Fatigued characters may still be deployed in battle, and being fatigued does not affect any of their other stats.

Fatigue may be reduced by consuming a provision. The player may also offer items at any Mila Shrine, or exit a dungeon, to fully restore the party's fatigue. Additionally, any character undergoing a class change will also have their fatigue fully healed.

Unlike in Thracia 776, the game's main characters, Alm and Celica, are not exempt from the fatigue system.

Calculations

Fatigue points

Thracia 776

Fatigue increases by actions performed
Action		Fatigue
Moving		0
Using items		0
Attacking		1
Dancing		1
Stealing		1
Using staves	E-rank	1
	D-rank	2
	C-rank	3
	B-rank	4
	A-rank and Prf	5

Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

Fatigue increases by actions performed
Action	Fatigue
Moving	0
Using non-offensive Combat arts	0
Attacking	1
Using Combat arts	1
Using white magic	1
Receiving 0 or 1 damage	1
Receiving 2 or more damage	2
Receiving damage from terrain	1

Flavor text

Game	Text (English)	Text (Japanese)
Echoes: Shadows of Valentia	Units tire in combat. Once fatigued, they suffer a penalty to their max HP. Status: (blank)	疲労度 戦闘により蓄積し 限界になると最大HPが低下する 現在は(blank)

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology, and notes
English	Fatigue	--
Japanese	疲労	Fatigue
Spanish	Fatiga	Fatigue
French	Fatigue	--
German	Erschöpfung	Fatigue
Italian	Fatica	Fatigue
Dutch	Vermoeidheid	Fatigue
Korean	피로	Fatigue
Simplified Chinese	疲劳	Fatigue
Traditional Chinese	疲勞	Fatigue

See also

• Stamina