All DLC Emblems have been revealed.

[Seazas]

16 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Seven is just such a weird number to end it at. If there'd been 6 rings, that'd at least be a solid 50% of the 12 in the base game. Or go all out - make it a full 12, with one new character from every game already represented. 

Medium-spicy-take, coming from someone with little affection for Heroes and less for Warriors. But if they're going to have a Veronica Emblem, then they should've done a Rowan/Lianna Emblem as well. That way, we're really covering the whole series, spinoffs and all (uh let's say Tiki is representing TMS hashtag FE). Having Heroes be the only "Fire Emblem game that's not a Fire Emblem game" represented is... bleh.

Finally, I know I know, there won't be more Emblem Rings in the Fourth Wave, it's all data-mined, yada yada yada. Still, that's crazy to me. The core gimmick and innovation of the game, and none of it is being saved for the last and meatiest stretch of the DLC? That'd be like the 3H DLC not adding in any new Battalions or Hero's Relics with the Fourth Wave. It'd just be a severe anticlimax.

There's multiple reasons why they didn't prioritize Warriors. Heroes is far more successful, is randomly placed as a mainline Fire Emblem game by Intsys, and none of the Warriors characters have any value. They might as well gun for Alm, Eliwood or Seliph at that point. The banana twins are the most generic of the generic. Not even Shez can compete with the popularity of Heroes and its OCs. 

[Fabulously Olivier]

14 minutes ago, Seazas said:

and none of the Warriors characters have any value.

Excuse me? Shez is the best avatar we've ever had and I won't have them slandered by being placed under any of Heroes' Sonic-tier Original-Character-Do-Not-Steals.

Edited February 24, 2023 by Fabulously Olivier

[Seazas]

2 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Excuse me? Shez is the best avatar we've ever had and I won't have them slandered by being placed under any of Heroes' Sonic-tier Original-Character-Do-Not-Steals.

I was primarily talking about Rowan and Lianna. However for the current state of Engage, it's an unfortunate reality that Shez has nothing worth bringing with the limited emblem spots, 3 Houses is already the best represented game.

[Fabulously Olivier]

4 minutes ago, Seazas said:

I was primarily talking about Rowan and Lianna. However for the current state of Engage, it's an unfortunate reality that Shez has nothing worth bringing with the limited emblem spots, 3 Houses is already the best represented game.

I mean, I certainly see where you're coming from on that one. But Three Houses is also only the best represented game because 3 lords are sharing a bracelet. Tellius gets 3 rings/bracelets (not that I'm complaining, because I'm frankly overjoyed at Tellius not being ignored for once). 

Edited February 24, 2023 by Fabulously Olivier

[Seazas]

2 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

I mean, I certainly see where you're coming from on that one. But Three Houses is also only the best represented game because 3 lords are sharing a bracelet. Tellius gets 3 rings/bracelets (not that I'm complaining, because I'm frankly overjoyed at Tellius not being ignored for once). 

Yeah and the 3 lords getting in just diminishes Shez's value. Tellius definitely ate good with Engage, I consider it a close second place to 3 Houses.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

12 hours ago, Solaris998 said:

The difference is that IS clearly doesn't consider Heroes to be a "Fire Emblem game that is not a Fire Emblem game". They don't even consider it a spinoff it's listed with mainline games on the official FE website while Warriors and TMS are in their own spinoff category. They consider Heroes to be a mainline FE just on a mobile device.

Hnnngh. I'm sure you're right, as @Seazas suggested as well. My "hit of copium" answer is this - if Heroes were a mainline game, then it should've been represented in the original batch of Emblems. Like, I wouldn't have been happy with an Alphonse Emblem in the base game, but doing so would've made a Veronica Emblem in the DLC seem a more natural fit.

16 hours ago, lenticular said:

Got to admit, if Emblem Tiki started talking about Fortuna and TikiIsMyWaifu, that would certainly increase the value proposition of the DLC for me. More seriously, though, if they had wanted to rep Warriors in some way, I imagine they'd have gone with Shez over Rowan and Lianna. Both for being more immediately topical, but I also feel that they're more popular (not that I've played either of the Warriors games, though, so maybe I'm wrong there?).

Shez could've been fine, too, I guess. I'm guessing they'd do the female version, as a counterpoint to male Byleth. My only reason for favoring Rowan/Lianna for this role is that, wbereas they're distinctly Warriors characters, Shez could've been construed as "oh great, another Fódlan character".

16 hours ago, lenticular said:

Having one extra Emblem per game would have been good for keeping fans of different games equally happy, and could also have been an interesting way of preserving game balance. What if, instead of finding additional tchotchkes for the additional Emblems, we instead discover that each ring carries two different Emblems, but only has the power to summon one of them at a time. So, we can summon Marth or Tiki but not both at once, Lyn or Hector but not both at once, and so on. Then towards the end of the game, we could find some macguffin that would let us separate the Emblems so we could run whichever ones we want. That way, the DLC would be more about adding different choices and less about just raw power creep.

Ooh, that would've been a cool way to widen players' options with the DLC, without giving them an overwhelming leg up. Especially when it comes to moments like chapter 11. Being able to "split them up" near the endgame would enable the interactivity between Ike and Soren, or say, Celica and Alm.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Shanty Pete's 1st Mate

[Acacia Sgt]

Just now, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Hnnngh. I'm sure you're right, as @Seazas suggested as well. My "hit of copium" answer is this - if Heroes were a mainline game, then it should've been represented in the original batch of Emblems. Like, I wouldn't have been happy with an Alphonse Emblem in the base game, but doing so would've made a Veronica Emblem in the DLC seem a more natural fit.

If they had decided on more than twelve for the main story, we'd probably have seen as Ring from Heroes, yeah. Though I feel priority wise Kris would've come first, then Heroes.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

2 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

If they had decided on more than twelve for the main story, we'd probably have seen as Ring from Heroes, yeah. Though I feel priority wise Kris would've come first, then Heroes.

FE1 and FE3 (and FE11, and sorta FE12) are in a tough spot as the only pair of mainline games, in the same world, with the same sole Lord in Marth. They probably figured he was sufficient to represent Archanea on his own. If they were going for an FE12 representative, while they could do Kris, I honestly think they would've gone with Katarina instead. It was she, not Kris, who showed up as a DLC character in Awakening. Plus, with Corrin and Byleth already in the main game, they'd probably be wary of imposing "Avatar fatigue" on the player. Finally, she'd be another Magic-oriented Emblem, and those are in shorter supply than "Blue-haired Swordie McGee"s.

[Acacia Sgt]

With how the Emblems were chosen, it's very unlikely Katarina would be one. Perhaps as the DLC add-on for Emblem Kris, however. Specially since it's quite clear they wanted for Magic Emblems to be so limited in the base game. DLC is gonna give us four Tome specialists, after all.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

23 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

With how the Emblems were chosen, it's very unlikely Katarina would be one. Perhaps as the DLC add-on for Emblem Kris, however. Specially since it's quite clear they wanted for Magic Emblems to be so limited in the base game. DLC is gonna give us four Tome specialists, after all.

I've doubled back on myself here, but for a different reason: every character in the original batch of Emblems is, at least arguably, a "Lord". And Kris is a "Lord", of if not, they're closer to being one compared to Katarina. As opposed to the DLC, where Soren, Tiki, and Camilla are... definitely not Lords.

I don't think limiting the Magical Emblems was by design, but rather, a result of the relative paucity of Magic-using Lords. Sure, they could've given us Robin instead of Lucina... but conversely, we could've gotten Alm instead of Celica. Corrin could've (should've) had some Magical aspects, but after the Devs gave them absolutely jacked Sync and Engage skills, they just totally gave up on Corrin's wepon set. Still, most of the Lords (Marth, Sigurd, Roy, Lyn, Ike, Lucina) have no business functioning on the magical side, with instances like "Wind Sword Eirika" feeling kinda forced.

TL;DR Byleth is actually the best magical Emblem, because Thyrsus stronk.

[Acacia Sgt]

45 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I've doubled back on myself here, but for a different reason: every character in the original batch of Emblems is, at least arguably, a "Lord". And Kris is a "Lord", of if not, they're closer to being one compared to Katarina. As opposed to the DLC, where Soren, Tiki, and Camilla are... definitely not Lords.

Exactly.

Though to be fair, Lucina is the only one who stretches the definition in a way. But yes, it was basically Lords and Avatars, for Corrin and Byleth, but mechanically, they are still protagonists.

45 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

I don't think limiting the Magical Emblems was by design, but rather, a result of the relative paucity of Magic-using Lords. Sure, they could've given us Robin instead of Lucina... but conversely, we could've gotten Alm instead of Celica. Corrin could've (should've) had some Magical aspects, but after the Devs gave them absolutely jacked Sync and Engage skills, they just totally gave up on Corrin's wepon set. Still, most of the Lords (Marth, Sigurd, Roy, Lyn, Ike, Lucina) have no business functioning on the magical side, with instances like "Wind Sword Eirika" feeling kinda forced.

TL;DR Byleth is actually the best magical Emblem, because Thyrsus stronk.

That's the point.

Corrin could use either Tomes or Staves due to promotions... but neither get acknowledged. She only gives Swords in Engage. Byleth has Faith as their budding talent, but that too isn't put into the game. And as you said, choosing Lucina over Robin. Meanwhile, the Rings that do give Tomes/Staves proficiencies get taken away from the player for all the midgame, thus locking you out of magic based promotions. They could've put at least one of them after, or give Corrin and/or Byleth magic proficiencies... but they didn't. Meanwhile, over half the DLC Emblems give, at least when it comes to Tomes, the proficiency instead.

So... yes, it's by design.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Acacia Sgt

[Seazas]

On 2/24/2023 at 7:28 PM, Acacia Sgt said:

If they had decided on more than twelve for the main story, we'd probably have seen as Ring from Heroes, yeah. Though I feel priority wise Kris would've come first, then Heroes.

Nobody likes Kris, they were never getting in due to a lack of popularity. They could just use Marth to represent Archanea. Kris isn't relevant or unique enough as a standalone character to justify their existence.

[Dark Holy Elf]

I would argue that Kris is a shaky choice to represent Mystery of the Emblem because, well... they're not actually in Mystery of the Emblem.

Keep in mind that in Japan (the region that cares about the Archanaea games, generally), it was Mystery (FE3) that was the best-selling game in the series until Awakening came along (and even then I believe Mystery is still comparable to Awakening/Fates/3H when Japan-only is considered, although I don't remember the numbers off the top of my head). New Mystery (FE12) was far less successful.

So if Intsys was gonna add a character from FE1/11 and a character from FE3/12, it would probably make more sense to have someone actually in FE3. But, honestly, nobody fits well. Caeda or Tiki would both be reasonable enough choices. But I don't blame Intsys for just deciding they liked 12 as a number, and Marth can represent two games (plus their remakes) just fine on his own.