[GameSpot] - Fire Emblem Engage Max Bond Level - How To Level Up Bonds Fast

[343iBot]

Fire Emblem Engage is a new entry in the beloved tactical RPG franchise, with a twist that pays homage to the series' long history and array of iconic characters. Throughout the story you'll collect 12 "Emblem" rings, each of which houses the essence of a hero from other Fire Emblem games. These grant you battlefield bonuses and special attacks, but to get the absolute most out of your Emblem rings, you'll need to max out your Bonds with them.

For the most part, leveling up your Bond with your Emblem rings is fairly straightforward. You can equip an Emblem ring and reap the benefits in battle, and level it up just like you would gain regular experience. Occasionally you'll need to take part in brief Bond conversation cutscenes--similar to your party members' Support conversations--both of which can be found in the Reference menu. Leveling up your Bonds with your Emblems will unlock new Skills that can be equipped on your character even when equipped with a different Emblem ring.

How To Level Up Bonds Fast

With dozens of characters and 12 Emblem rings, each of which has several of its own skills to learn, there are countless possible combinations that you can use to come up with killer character builds. You may find yourself needing to level up your Bonds quickly to unlock that last piece you need, and fortunately, there's a way.

In the Somniel, you can go to the Arena to train between battles. Initiating a training session will start a short battle with a fighting game-like presentation. Training your units themselves is limited, but the training for Bonds is not. You can train Bonds as long as you want, at the cost of some Bond fragments, prorated to your current level. Depending on how much you're willing to spend, you can level an Emblem Bond all the way to the maximum in moments. It's a handy shortcut, as long as you're willing and able to pay.

At a certain point, to get the most out of your Bonds with the Emblems, you need to unlock their Max Bond Level, set at Level 20, through a series of special quests.

Max Bond Level Quests

Throughout the game you'll encounter Paralogues, optional missions that may lead to a new character for you to recruit or in one case, a special item. But as you gather more Emblem rings, the vast majority of these Paralogue quests will be Max Bond Level quests related. These will naturally open up as you explore the story, and they'll remain available even as you continue with the story. You can take them on at any time, but you'll definitely want to finish them as soon as you can.

The basic setup for most of these battles is the same; you chat with one of your Emblem rings about some memory they have of their world, and they challenge you to a mock battle to prove yourself. Sometimes these battles are very straightforward, while other times they'll make use of special conditions--Byleth, for example, challenges you to protect a series of crystals and will "grade" you on how many are left standing. Completing these quests will result in another short cutscene and unlock that Emblem's Max Bond level.

At Max Bond level, many of the Emblems' strongest abilities are unlocked. Each Emblem gives a big passive ability and much bigger stat bonuses at its highest levels. At Level 20 each Emblem unlocks Deep Synergy, which shortens their Engage meter, letting you trigger their most powerful abilities that much more often.

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