Lately, Fire Emblem Heroes most significant updates have consisted of additional maps for the already existing game modes, some new characters, and a few promotional events that hand out Orbs and Feathers, the in-game currency required to get new characters and to upgrade them. With the newest update expected to be releasing soon, a few more game mechanics are expected to be introduced in order to make Nintendo's mobile Fire Emblem title feel a little more like the handheld and console classics.

Fans of previous Fire Emblem titles will rejoice at the addition of a Defense battles mode, which require players to survive a certain number of rounds of combat. After the update, enemies will also be able to call for reinforcements mid-battle, so we can likely expect more than five enemies to a map in the near future.

In the announcement of the April Update, developer Intelligent Systems teased a permadeath feature getting added to Fire Emblem Heroes... sort of. A new event will begin that will simulate the permanent loss of players' characters for the duration of the event if they should die in combat. However, it seems that after the event, players will be able to revive those who had fallen, so don't worry too much about your five-star Takumi. It's currently unclear if this event will be launched as part of the April Update, as the announcement noted "details aren't set in stone yet," and it was listed under "Future Plans."

If you've been struggling with a drought of Hero Feathers, this update is promising a new way of finding the much sought after character-upgrading resource. The April Update will be introducing a Hero Merit system, which will award characters Merits for participating in battle. Once they've earned enough Merits, players can turn them in for Feathers. Additionally, the Update will allow characters to equip an item to strengthen their abilities.

Lastly, Intelligent Systems seems to be aware of the need for a better Arena matchmaking system, because that's also getting tweaked. How the game calculates fair battles will be updated to take more factors into account including the ones listed below.

  • Character levels and star rating.
  • Number of bonuses gained by using Merge Allies.
  • Total base stats after removing the effects from all skills, including Weapon skills.
  • Equipped skills.

Recently, we learned that six new characters are getting released for Fire Emblem Heroes