In Fire Emblem Engage players can unlock special bonus chapters known as "Paralogues." These provide additional context and depth to certain characters, while also offering new challenges and unique rewards, and are a staple of the Fire Emblem franchise.
Unlocking Paralogues in Fire Emblem Engage requires players to fulfill certain story and gameplay requirements, and this guide will break down the individual unlock requirements for all 15 Paralogues. One for each of the Emblems, along with two that offer chances to recruit new units. There are spoilers ahead, especially for Chapter 21 onwards.
Paralogue 1: Budding Talent
In order to unlock Budding Talent players simply need to progress the story, as this Paralogue will appear automatically at the start of Chapter 6. Players just need to head to the newly unlocked node on the World Map, as indicated when it unlocks, to reach the Budding Talent Paralogue.
This Paralogue has a village under attack from the corrupted and introduces players to a young doctor named Jean. Successfully completing this Paralogue without getting Jean killed will cause him to join the party as a level 1 unit, and speaking to him as Alear during the map will immediately recruit him and allow players to utilize him in this map. Thanks to his personal skill, he can quickly grow into a tremendously powerful unit regardless of what class he is using, making him an excellent choice for any lineup. His starting class is built for support, but reclassing him into any other class will be equally effective.
Paralogue 2: Mysterious Merchant
Another easily acquired Paralogue, Mysterious Merchant is unlocked once players complete Chapter 7. This Paralogue has Alear and companions arriving at a Bandit Camp to clear it out and meeting with the intrepid merchant and axe gremlin known as Anna. A recurring Fire Emblem Character, Anna in this game is an axe-wielding backup unit with a useful personal skill that helps players to make money in a game where this is particularly difficult.
To recruit Anna, players either need to speak to her during the map with Alear or simply clear the map. She makes a beeline for Alear once her hiding place in a treasure chest is exposed, making this easy to accomplish.
Paralogue 3: The Exalt
Appearing after players escape the nightmare that is chapters 10-11, this Paralogue requires players to have Lucina's Emblem Ring before it appears. Since she is automatically obtained during chapter 11, these requirements are impossible to avoid. This begins the trend of Paralogues remixing maps from older Fire Emblem games and pitting players against an Emblem.
In this case, players must face off against Lucina and her simulacrum army in an Arena reminiscent of the one where she fought her father in Fire Emblem: Awakening. Taking on her army and winning allows players to unlock bond ranks 11-20 for Corrin, allowing units to gain access to her most powerful skills and engage weapons.
Paralogue 4: The Lady of the Plains
Unlocked after reaching Chapter 13, this Paralogue requires Lyn's Emblem ring and is also impossible to miss. Players are tasked with facing off against Lyn and her army, which features numerous archers. This map is based on the Sacae version of Chapter 20x in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. There are numerous tents reinforcements can emerge from, and Lyn will use Astra Storm to unleash arrows on players from a great distance, making it a particularly dangerous map for flying units.
Completing this Map unlocks bond ranks 11-20 for Lyn, allowing units to gain access to her most powerful skills and engage weapons.
Paralogue 5: The Radiant Hero
Unlocked when reaching Chapter 14, this Paralogue requires Ike's recently acquired Emblem ring. Ike challenges players to face off against him in a map based on Chapter 8 of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, where he and the Greil Mercenaries defended a fort from forces led by the Black Knight. Despite his suggestion that players defend the Fort, this won't hold him off for long, as he tends to shatter the wall surrounding the center of the map on turn 5 and cause the player's party to become overwhelmed by his reinforcements.
Players will need to defeat Ike quickly if they hope to come out of this map in one piece, but completing it is well worth it as it unlocks bond ranks 11-20 for Ike. This allows units equipped with Ike's ring to gain access to his best skills and engage weapons.
Paralogue 6: The Instructor
Unlocked after retrieving Byleth's Emblem Ring and reaching Chapter 15, Paralogue 6 recreates Chapter 11 of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Players are tasked with protecting crystals from being destroyed by Byleth and his Simulacrum forces, in a recreation of the Holy Tomb. As long as players keep the majority of the crystals intact when clearing the map, they will recieve a talisman and elixir from completing this map as bonus rewards. Losing more than two crystals will result in only getting the talisman, and losing a few more will result in the talisman being forfeit too.
Successfully completing this map by defeating Byleth will allow players to unlock bond ranks 11-20 for them. This grants access to, as expected, more powerful skills and engage weapons.
Paralogue 7: The Crux of Fate
Unlocked after getting Corrin's Emblem Ring and reaching Chapter 16, this map has Corrin challenging players in a recreation of Chapter 6 from Fire Emblem: Fates. This was the Chapter where the story branched and Corrin chose their side in the war, and in this version, players must reach Corrin on the right side of the map. Along the way they'll have to deal with simulacrum filling in for the armies of Nohr and Hoshido, along with Corrin turning the river into fire with a Dragon Vein.
Overcoming this challenge allows players to reach bond ranks 11-20 for Corrin, allowing players to make use of Corrin's strongest skills and engage weapons.
Paralogue 8: The Azure Twin
After reaching Chapter 17 and recovering Eirika & Ephraim's Emblem Ring, players are able to take on this Paralogue. Based on the Final Chapter "Sacred Stone" in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, this Paralogue has players journeying through a recreation of the Temple map and facing off against Eirika.
After overcoming the various obstacles in the way, including fire-breathing wyrms and tricky sages, and defeating Eirika, players can finally reach bond ranks 11-20 for Eirika. This grants access to her strongest skills and engage weapons, as usual for these Paralogues.
Paralogue 9: The Holy Knight
After finishing Chapter 17 and retrieving Sigurd's Emblem Ring, players are able to challenge Paralogue 9. Based on part of Chapter 10 in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, this map has players take on Sigurd and a seemingly insurmountable wall of units. Luckily, due to his high movement, Sigurd can be baited into charging away from his army after the bottom half of the map has been cleared of enemies, and then taken out to end the map with little trouble.
Clearing this map allows access to bond ranks 11-20 for Sigurd and grants players access to his most powerful skills and engage weapons.
Paralogue 10: The Sage Lord
Unlocked after reaching Chapter 18, having reclaimed Leif's Emblem Ring in the previous chapter. This Paralogue is a recreation of Chapter 22 of Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, in which Leif and his army had to traverse the Thracia river while contending with their foes. As a paralogue map, this features a brutal array of siege weapons that make flying units a risky proposition at best, and Leif will split up the player's army by destroying one of the bridges after the majority of units have crossed it.
Successfully reaching and defeating Leif unlocks bond ranks 11-20 and his most powerful skills and engage weapons.