Fire Emblem Heroes Ver. 2.9.0 update: all you need to know (Relay Defense, Combat Manuals, and more)
Every month since it was released, back in February 2017, Fire Emblem Heroes has received a major Software update every month. Naturally, September will be no exception! Today, the developers shared various details about Ver. 2.9.0, which will be released early next month.
Here’s the main changes and new features coming to the game with this update:
- Relay Defense battles will be added
- New weapon skills and weapons to refine will be added
- Combat Manuals (allow you to organise your barracks) will be added.
Fire Emblem Heroes Ver. 2.9.0 – Relay Defense
Relay Defense is a new type of Special Maps. The goal is to defend your territory for a total of 8 turns, and to do so, you need to create a brigade of 20 Heroes using Edit Brigades. Sounds rather straightforward, doesn’t it? There’s actually a twist: every 2 turns, your active Heroes are swapped in and out of battle by group of 5. You then get a score based on the number of enemies defeated, as well as the number of Heroes from your brigade that survived.
If you want to win, you have to come up with new strategies, like strengthening your fortress’ defenses with Heroes with high Res or Def.
The first Relay Defense map will go live on September 9th. Subsequent maps will be released periodically instead of the usual Rival Domains maps (that will not be available while Relay Defense ones are running). Relay Defense maps run for two weeks.
Fire Emblem Heroes Ver. 2.9.0 – New Weapon Skills and Weapons to Refine
This update will add the following character-specific weapon skills at 5 ★:
- Cherche’s Axe (Cherche: Wyvern Friend)
- Odin’s Grimoire (Odin: Potent Force)
Once they have been obtained, you will be able to upgrade those at the Weapon Refinery.
Also, you will be able to upgrade the following weapon skill using Arena Medals and Divine Dew:
- Ragnarok (Celica: Caring Princess)
Fire Emblem Heroes Ver. 2.9.0 – Combat Manuals
Your barracks feel a bit too crowded, but you don’t want to part with Heroes without getting something in exchange? It’s time to introduce the Combat Manuals, then! Starting with Ver. 2.9.0, you will be able to send Heroes back to their world, and get a Combat Manual in exchange. To do so, simply head to Manage Barracks, located in the Allies menu.
But what’s a Combat Manual, exactly? It’s something that you can use instead of actual Heroes when you want to use the Inherit Skills or Merge Allies features. Of course, you will not be able to send Heroes to battle once they have been used to create a Combat Manual.
This new feature is a pretty big deal, because a Combat Manual does not take a barrack slot. In other words, you can save up space by getting rid of Heroes you don’t want to use in battle, while keeping the stat bonuses and skills to inherit! The best part? You can have up to 9 999 of each type of Combat Manual. No, that’s not a typo!
However, there’s a few catches: you cannot turn a Combat Manual back into a Hero, and you also cannot use Combat Manuals in the Enhance slot for Merge Allies. Also, the following elements are not inherited when turning a Hero into a Combat Manual:
- Level
- Number of times merged
- EXP
- Learned Skills
- Inherited or Refined Skills
- Conferred Blessings
- Summor or Ally Support
- Sacred Seals or Accessories
- Skill Sets
Finally, some changes will be made alongside the addition of Combat Manuals:
- you will be able to use Enhance on Combat Manuals
- you will be able to use Enhance even if the Hero is Level 1
- Send Home will be included under Manage Barracks, and the confirmation message will be displayed twice
- Inherit Skill will get a new button to prioritize showing Combat Manuals over Heroes.
Fire Emblem Heroes Ver. 2.9.0 – Other changes and improvements
Finally, here’s some more changes and improvements coming to the game with the Ver. 2.9.0 update:
- Edit Teams screen: will allow you to check the current Blessing season;
- Tap Battle: a Swap Left/Right option will be added, changing the side of allies and enemies;
- Tempest Trials, Arena Assault, etc: you will be able to switch between Reserve Teams and Primary Teams via the UI for battles that require a second team;
- Grand Conquests: a warning will be displayed when there’s less than 10mn left in a Battle;
- Friend List: new friend requests will now be displayed on top;
- Android: tapping the back icon in battle will open the Battle menu.
As usual, keep an eye out on the Events and Content Updates and Characters pages to keep up to date with all that’s happening in Fire Emblem Heroes!
Source: Fire Emblem Heroes
