“Weapons aren't indestructible, you know. They have limits! When a weapon's durability reaches 0, that's it: no more weapon. So be sure to keep an eye on those numbers.”
—A Villager in Prologue III chapter in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

The majority of weapons and items in most Fire Emblem games are characterized by their Usage (called WHp in TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga), a preset number of uses that determines the maximum amount of times that a weapon or item is functional before it breaks, thus requiring a replacement. Unlike other RPGs, weapons can only be swung about so many times before they are considered unusable. While there are some notable exceptions, such as the Ragnell, Amiti, and several others, most weapons acquired have around 20-45 uses before they wear out and disappear from a character's inventory. A strategical aspect of playing the games is knowing how to kill enemies with as few attacks as possible in order to save the uses of weapons; money may be very limited, so weapons cannot be replaced on a whim. The durability of most weapons is graded on its strength and availability: the common Iron weapons and Steel weapons have the highest numbers of uses, whereas the superior Killer weapons and Silver weapons have a scant 20 uses, and rare items, such as the Silence Staff and the Bolting Tome have only 3-5 uses. Nonetheless, there are some exceptions to this rule: the starting weapon unique to the Lord character of a specific game is usually a versatile and powerful weapon that has a decent number of uses (some examples include the Mani Katti, the Rapier and the Reginleif).

The rare Hammerne Staff is able to restore full usage to most weapons, but due to its own limited durability, the weapons it is used on should be chosen wisely, as once it is completely used up, the Hammmerne staff will break and cannot be repaired. The Armsthrift skill introduced in Fire Emblem: Awakening can also help mitigate weapon usage.

Counter attacking with a staff doesn't consume usage of the staff.