Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War guide | First-generation progression and prologue preparations

You travel between several castles on a single large map. Defeating the enemy commander is not enough; the protagonist seizes castles to advance. You also lose if the enemy takes your home castle. Do not simply extend the front line: check for enemies heading toward your home castle, too.

Seizing a castle is not just a breather; it can also trigger movement by the next enemy force. The recommended approach is to let your healer catch up and check nearby villages and conversations before seizing. Use mounted units' remaining movement to clear attack positions so allies behind them can fight as well.

Money belongs to individual units, rather than a shared army fund. If one strong unit keeps visiting every village, other allies may struggle to afford repairs and purchases. Separately consider who needs to rush to protect a village and who should actually collect its reward.

You also cannot freely trade weapons between adjacent allies. To pass one on, sell it to the pawnshop and have the recipient buy it. Decide who should use a valuable item before collecting it, and check the buyer's funds if a sale is needed. Strong weapons can be repaired and reused, so you need not avoid them entirely just to conserve uses.

A unit with Pursuit can make a follow-up attack when its attack speed exceeds the opponent's. Attack speed is Speed minus weapon weight. Even a fast ally loses attack speed with a heavy weapon, so do not choose equipment by might alone.

Pursuit is not the only mechanic affecting the number of attacks. As a newcomer, inspect both allied and enemy skills, and do not leave a badly injured ally exposed assuming they only need to withstand one hit. Even with a high displayed hit rate, a cautious approach keeps an ally available to help if the attack misses.

The prologue through Chapter 5 follows the parents, and Chapter 6 onward follows their children. Parent pairings affect children's stats, skills, and other traits. Substitute characters appear in circumstances such as certain mothers having no partner.

You do not need to treat one pairing as the correct answer on your first playthrough. Deciding first whether you value favorite pairings or children's weapons and skills helps keep later choices consistent. Inheritance has exceptions: do not assume everyone passes items on by the same rule. Check each case before the generation changes.

In the prologue, secure the village's Speed Ring and the Silver Sword received from Arvis. Confirm Midir joins after seizing Yngvi Castle, then head for Evans Castle. The related prologue article explains how to divide your forces and what to check before seizing.

Save at the start of your turn, before anyone has acted. Keeping a chapter-start save separate from your progress save makes it easier to go back when you notice a missed opportunity. There is no arena in the prologue. When you use one in later chapters, do not send allies straight to the front line after a defeat leaves them at 1 HP.

• Decide which ally receives each village reward
• Before seizing, check conversations, healing, and the position of trailing allies
• Make the saves you need before moving anyone

You can progress without deciding. If you read a guide that assumes particular pairings, watch for differences in your second-generation units' stats and skills.

They remain at 1 HP in the arena. This differs from being defeated in ordinary map combat, so heal them before sending them out after a loss.