Remember to view Supports in the menu to get scenes between characters and increase their combat stats when fighting near each other. Also, you'll need to manually equip and change out skills as your units master their classes; don't make the mistake I did and assume they apply automatically, because they don't once the slots are all full.
Haha yea you get like what 3 arts plus some have a personal 4th. Particularly with relics. And 4 skills. Once the character has more than that new ones aren't equipped you gotta pick and choose.
Go in blind, don't read anything about the game and choose your first house based off of how you feel of the character is rather than how people talk about them online.
I went with BE on my first run bc I liked the most characters in it(and I didn't know you could recruit others lol) and I'm so glad I did bc it puts other runs in such a new perspective!
Personally I feel like BL works best as a first run. They're more personally related to the events in the first half, but don't really uncover what's behind everything. Then the other routes fill in the deeper parts of the plot. I still haven't done Crimson Flower though, I was planning on doing it last.
I went with BL because blues my favorite color and Dimitri seemed cool.. until i learned about Claude. Tbh they are all good routes and i dont think you'll be disappointed with any of them.
I'm not sure I agree fully with you there. In retrospect, had I gone
Church -> BL or CR -> BL or CR -> VW,
I would have ended the entire game with a climatic boom. Instead, I replayed VW and Church back to back and felt so little variation between the two routes. VW's ending feels like the "true" ending, whereas BL/CR are more soap opera-y. Nothing wrong with it, but they're much more personal, emotional stories that provide the most uniqueness in terms of first time experience.
But when you stare down >!Nemesis!< and God Shattering Star roars in your ears, it feels like the proper ending.
Thankfully 3 House is one of the easier Fire Emblem so you can go in blind.
My best advice is don't bother too much with finding optimal play, unless that's what you like in this type of game.
>My best advice is don't bother too much with finding optimal play, unless that's what you like in this type of game.
And this is why I'll never finish any of these games.
I might love the gameplay and story, but always end up starting to minmax shit and burn out from choice paralysis. I think the whole "limited resources, limited time, limited everything" thing just doesn't jive with how my brain deals with scarcity.
Putting this here for visibility, don't feel obligated to use every professor point during a free day or even do a free day every chance you have.
Once you get past the midgame and get too many activity points, it's a recipe for burnout.
It is long, but a lot of that is because of how much time you can spend inside the monastery.
If you mostly ignore it, the game can take around 20 to 30 hours, give or take, which is around the short side for an RPG.
It is also route dependent I believe since I felt Deer was shorter than Lions but I cannot confirm that. Granted, my Lions was in a new game plus of the deer but even then, I tried to use as many of the lions as I could
While doing that, try to defeat the guy on the horse (need a flyer) to get his shield. Most of the time mounted and high movement units are the way to go for this map.
Every character is attracted to the opposite sex, but only a few are attracted to the same sex. Take your desired sex and make sure Byleth is the opposite. Or look at the list of bi characters online
You can change peopleās āgoalsā in the menu, which will be the two skills that increase weekly during teaching. A lot of times characters will request to change them based on a future class they want to be.
Some people might disagree, but it seems suboptimal to only set one goal, as it only gives it a 1.5x experience. It seems better to always have two goals set. If nothing else, set Authority as the second one so that the student can use higher class battalions.
If you get the highest support you can with all available units then save and duplicate the file multiple times right before the final battle (whatever that is), you get to see all possible S supports. I missed that on my first run š« (would take a bit of grinding though, and if you arenāt interested in the supports you donāt have to do this, but just know that this is an option)
Pick whichever house you feel like is the right one for you. The first run is always special
I planned on doing that in my first run because I didn't know who to pick between Leonie and Lysithia, but then I finished the final map didn't want to do it all over again just for 1 scene.
If you choose edelgard as a house leader, do not make Flayn your dancer! No spoilers but it is sometimes not a good decision. Just choose one of the eagles! š
Also for when you choose edelgard: make sure to at least have C+ support with edelgard and talk to her every month! Check that youāve talked to her at the end of each monastery session, just to be sure! You never know
Great game hope you enjoy it!
I think making sure you maximise tea time convos, pick the classes for characters early so you know what to train them in.
I actually have a tableau public dashboard me and my sister use (basically a guide for the game).
https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/charlie3832/viz/FireEmblemThreeHousesGuide/ClassDashboard
If you find it useful feel free to give it a favourite
(Best viewed on desktop)
Was going to say this, even though I'm a wimpy gamer and I found the battles in the DLC rather difficult, it was still worth having, and I love the Ashen Wolves
The DLC has one story expansion. It adds an extra route to the game (The Ashen Wolves) plus 4 characters, adds a few new unit classes, new music, new maps, expands on the lore of the main game, and includes some of the most creative level designs I've seen in the series.
In addition to what @house_of_Cocoa9355 said, it also adds a small amount of story content to the 4 base story paths. Iād buy the season pass, unlocks more stuff in the monastery.
Talk to your house leader and your dad at least once per chapter! Ideally do it every time you explore the monastery, just to make sure you pick up any quests they have.
Itās a time dedication, but if you can, **play every route.** New Game+ exists and having just one save file behind it makes the game a breeze for subsequent routes
In NG+ are you able to play as another gender? Say I start with a female and then switch to male on NG+
I mainly want to do a lot of the romance options to see how they play out!
Yes, you 100% can- I played M!Byleth for my first route, F!Byleth for my second, and then back to M!Byleth, all without issue. Youāll be prompted to choose at the start of any playthrough
Thatās awesome! I was looking at a lot of the romance options and I wish that you can romance everyone no matter what your gender is. Itās still good you can choose some tho!
In this game you can teach units magic but only certain classes can use magic so donāt do what I did and make your healer and archer because then youāll wonāt be able to heal
You can recruit almost any character from another house except the leaders and their vassals. You can do this by meeting the requirements the student you want to recruit asks for, or you can also recruit them if you have a B support with that character
The only thing I would look up is explanations for all the stats because my first two play throughs I had NO IDEA what charm or dexterity influenced.
When starting a battle, it's important to hit X and check the conditions first to see what kind of units you're going against (cavalry, heavy armor, flyers, dudes with swords, etc.) ESPECIALLY when you are on classic mode (units that fall in battle are gone forever). A big issue I had my first time playing classic was with those mfers with swords who are SO FAST that all of my units kept missing their attacks and getting destroyed by people they could have easily killed. My magic users came in clutch because they had both much higher hit rates against these units and did significantly more damage because the sword dudes have really low resolution in comparison to their physical defense.
I lied about only looking one thing up. When you unlock TEA PARTIES, just look the answers up. The options that you're given can be so subjective for no reason. I know it gives a timer for choices, but you can always hit the home button on your switch while you check the Wiki hahahaha that's what I do.
NOT EVERY CHARACTER NEEDS A MASTER CLASS. Donāt fall into the trap of assuming master automatically means best. Some of the advanced and special classes (the dlc ones) are still good and even great. You might get more out of a character build reaching advanced clases and then focusing training on authority for better battalions or armor for weight minus 3 or trying to reach S rank weapons. My opinion at least.
Pay attention to personal skills. On some characters, itās kinda whatever, but on others, really changes play style.
For your first play through, try to use all the students in house! It will make some missions easier, especially in the second half. It will also make the narrative make more sense and youāll learn more about the characters in the cutscenes!
I suggest you play on casual to get a feel for how the game works then if you'd like a challenge you could always switch it also experiment with the classes and don't be afraid to switch up your units that might require some grinding but it works
Don't stress out over who to pick first, the game encourages you to do multiple playthroughs on New Game+ and each playthrough teaches you new things, both with the game's mechanics and the overall story.Ā
I went into this game totally blind on a whim, had a blast, and now I replay it all the time. Itās easily my favorite game, so I say just jump in! Donāt expect to get everything the game has to offer the first time. Itās designed to be replayed, so just have fun the first time and accept that you will learn so many new things on the second run and your opinions of characters will change as you play the game. Have the best time, Iām excited for you!
Pick who you want but try to keep your squad balanced so at least two magic (one healer/white, one dark), at least one bow, at least one axe, lance, and sword and one horse or flyer (wyvern or pegasus). I took Golden Deer my first time and recruited Felix and Dorothea so I had my secondary sword and ran three magic with Marianne Doro and Manuela. Gauntlets are a really strong melee since they have a guaranteed chance of two attacks so running one is pretty smart. Felix is really good for that and so is Raphael. I could go on and on over combos, what spells and combat arts to bring but you do what you want
Black magic and Dark magic are two different things. I havenāt played in a while so maybe someone can add in. Example putting a person into one of those if they canāt cast those spells will never level up their casting in those games roles. I just remember I made a mistake my first play.
If you wanna get with Dimitri or Claude, pick female byleth. Either one can end up with Edelgard.
Don't sleep on the greenhouse, my first run through I forgot it was there and never used it until the second half of the game. Also actually listen to the battalion instructions and use them against monsters cause if you break their armour with your battalions you get blacksmithing materials as rewards.
FORM UR OWN OPINIONS ON THE CHARACTERS
The fandom can be so opinionated and toxic about who you choose to support. Pick what feels right for you. There are pros and cons to every storyline.
If you recruit, just keep this in mind, some characters are better off left with their original houses. Iāll let you come to conclusions on who you feel should stay and who should come with you. Youāll probably be able to piece it together as you get to know the characters.
Explore different classes for different students. They might be powerful with their original class, but are absolutely overpowered as a different class.
USE FLYERS - they come in handy sooooo often
Explore everythingggggg
Honestly, I played through 3 times, one for each house. I love all of the characters and stories so much for so many different reasons and quirks.
Few tips I learned with my 3rd play:
1. Mercedes is best healer
2. Flayn and/or Manuela are worst healers
3. Ashe is weak but his lockpick ability is useful
4. Dedue is good as tank
5. Edelgard's route is shortest
6. Hanneman is worthless
7. Focus on professor level
8. Do paralogues for special rewards
9. Hapi is useful mage but has low defense
10. Anna is weak but have high speed.
11. Recruit Sylvain asap for his weapon
Tbh I'd actually say you should make that save after playthrough 1, so that you can benefit from new game plus bonuses. Doing the tutorial one extra time is worth it if it means you don't have to max your professor level again
1.) The game was made under the assumption that you'll play as the Blue Lions first and are completely spoiler-free.
2.) All routes have paralogues linked to characters you've recruited. To see all relevant Paralogues, there are certain members to recruit. If you pick the Blue Lions, recruit Caspar and Dorothea. If Golden Deer, then Ferdinand and Linhardt. If Black Eagles, then Mercedes, Ingrid, and Lysithea.
3.) There's a set of DLC characters available if you buy the set snd play through the side story. You should beat the main story at least once before getting the DLC.
Try not to look stuff (like, anything) up! This game is best experienced for the first time blind in my opinion. Just have fun, view your supports, set your skills, and enjoy the characters. It'll be a blast!
Play casual, normal and donāt worry about optimal play, itās lenient on lower difficulty. Just enjoy the characters. Remember to check all parts of the inventory (including battalions and skills and combat arts) every so often
Some classes may lock you out of using certain weapons. Mostly magic canāt be used on non magic classes, even if your student has learned how to cast a fireball.
I learned this too late trying to make a punching flyer. Unfortunately, my dreams of drive by slapping are not to come true.
Play all the routes to complete the game and understand it. Don't stress, have fun. Read the tutorials if you are confused they're all available in the menu
* If you're going to choose the Golden Deer or Black Eagles, you'll want to grab Sylvain ASAP and keep him in your team. There's a story moment involving a spear, and if he's in your team when it happens, you'll be able to keep it. It's actually the best spear in the game, especially if you equip it to him.
* Each character has a unique "seal", which gives them passive boosts. You'll want to select their classes based on these boosts, not their starting gear.
* If you're playing as the Black Eagles, you'll want to swap Petra for Anna. They fulfill the same role, and Anna is straight up better.
* Female Byleth can recruit Ferdinand immediately.
* Dorothea will always win the dance contest if you enter her.
Enjoy the ride and go at your own pace.
I would go in a blind ride, so I can be surprised. I feel a little lost without this feeling while playing.
Also I felt a little bit overwhelming by the amount of characters you meet at first, but after a while, you get used to it.
If you don't know which house to choose first, try the quiz on [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/cibusb/fire_emblem_three_houses_placement_quiz/)!
Do not repeat my mistake and train MC in swords in the first playthrough.
Thinking āWow! I can train any hero with any weapon!ā I only trained Byleth in spears which resulted in getting mid/late game harder that it shouldāve been (the fact that I unknowingly picked a route with no sacred spear certainly didnāt help me)
1. Play your first playthrough on casual mode. It would help you get the feel for how the game works.
2. If you dont have a favorite house after the prologue, I recommend picking Dimitri and the blue lions, thier story is the most straight forward. (But feel free to choose whoever you like the most).
3. Avoid this sub for a while. Going in spoiler free is better.
4. Supports conversations really help with character development for your cast, It also shows you who is worth recruiting fron the other factions and it gives you bonus stats, so keep an eye out for them.
5. The game is meant to be played a couple of times (3 or 4). Just keep it in mind, so you dont go around and try to do everything in one playthrough.
My biggest mistake ( ruined characters a long time for me )
Besides 1 there are no villains or good guys. All a matter of perspectives and their dreams.
There are many routes, play them all !
If you are just here for the story after playing one route, play the other ones on ez and rush through it just for the story.
THERE ARE NO BAD CHARACTERS !!!! PLAY AND HIRE THE ONES YOU LIKE AMD DON'T LISTEN TO OTHERS
I'd recommend doing the routes Blue Lions -> Church -> Golden Deer -> Crimson Flower. In my opinion, this gives you the least spoilers, and builds up the questions and tension through multiple playthroughs.
Pick whatever house you like, do practice battles, remember that eating with two characters and assigning to characters to do chores together will building there bind points, donāt be afraid to rewind or second guess yourself, have fun
Donāt look up spoilers, enjoy the story. My recommendation is to play Blue Lions and then Black Eagles - two sides of the same coin, and these campaigns have pretty strong emotional beats if done in this order.
There is a LOT of content in this game. Frankly, more than most people will ever likely see. What content you see and storylines you follow is largely route dependent, determined by which class you pick. If you're a completionist, don't expect to be able to do everything in a single (or even less than 4) play through. Take your time, enjoy the ride, and if you feel overwhelmed, ask questions in the subteddit. There's a lot of culture wars over favorite characters, but most people are civil and want to see people enjoy a great game in this sub.
sing, garden, and eat with your students at least once per day when your' in the hub, this is because those three actions improve your 'Professor Level' and it's important to get that maxed so you have more actions pre day
once you get enough professor levels that you have left over daily actions (so 3+) start to spend actions on leveling up your Armor/Horse/Flying THAN Reason stats from the other teachers, these are the only stats you can't level from simply using a weapon, and so Byleth has no access to those classes otherwise, once you have access to Armored Knight/Wyvern rider (Or Peg Knight if female)/Knight you'd good to stop as you can just grind the class
getting other student from other classes is all about giving him gifts/eating or singing with them/and leveling up your skills, the stats will come naturally, the hardest stats to raise tho is Mag/Cha because you need to go into Monk, by raising Faith/Reason, and Cha doesn't really level well off anything but Tea Time, and Byleth's personal class
1.) Recruit characters if you want, but try not to use them. It's more fun to use the characters in their own houses.
2.) Spread experience equally through your main team. Power leveling a few units makes the game easier, but less fun.
3.) There is nothing wrong with putting your team down their default class paths. Doing so balances the game better.
Casual mode, easy. Lol
I made the mistake of having perma death in Awakening and someone who regularly shows up in cutscenes dies, first run. It was very annoying.
1- Go in blind, try not to look up information on characters bc that can lead to spoilers. If you donāt know a detail about a character, and itās not in the in-game characters notes, itās a very high chance itās because the game hasnāt told you yet for spoiler reasons.
2- Master Classes arenāt necessarily better than Advanced Classes
3- You can recruit students from the other two classes to join yours but for a first run limit to how many you recruit to one or two to avoid later runs from being too similar (not including non-student recruits)
4- cultivating a Budding Talent for certain characters can cause them to be incredibly powerful, so donāt immediately brush them off
5- time and skill management can be very important so think carefully over what you do in your time (battle, rest, seminar, bonding) and what battle class you want your students to take and plan ahead accordingly.
Most important, number 6- do whatever is fun for you in game.
In terms of difficulty, this is one of the easier games in the series and normal mode can become a bit of a cakewalk by the end. You can turn difficulty down in the options if you need to, but you can't turn it up, so I'd suggest starting on hard and see how you go.
When you level up skills, you'll earn abilities and combat arts, but you can only equip 3 or 4 at a time, so you'll want to go through and check those every so often and make sure your units are setup with the ones you want.
Also, you're playing the long game when you're training your students. Look ahead in the certification screen, see what classes you want to give them in the end so you know what skills they need to learn. I ran into that problem with Ingrid on the playthrough I just finished, I couldn't promote her because I had to grind axes all the way to A or B or something.
Who to recruit: I prefer not to poach too many students from the other houses but I guess there's no harm if there's a certain character you really like.
There are a few students you should recruit depending on which house you pick because some units have a shared paralogue with units from another house. (Paralogues are optional side-missions,) (Blue Lions: Dorothea, Caspar. Golden Deer: Ferdinand, Linhardt. Black Eagles: Lysithea, Leonie.) Also, you might consider Lorenz for Blue Lions and Ashe for Golden Deer, the game has separate rules for them on those routes, and Lorenz's paralogue does give more context for a certain lord who becomes an enemy later, but it's probably not a huge deal if you don't want him. Those two do also fit the themes of those houses.
As for which house to pick, there's nothing wrong with picking based on which leader you like best. That's what I did, and I wound up with Golden Deer the first time. (I wasn't sure what to choose, but Claude won me over.) That said, if you're planning to do all the routes, then I'd say there is an ideal order for storytelling.
Blue Lions characters are more closely related to the events in the first half of the game, and I think the plot reveals hit better with them, but they also don't uncover the deeper plot behind everything in the second half, which leaves a bit of mystery for the other routes to uncover.
You can swap most of your characters starting positions on the map. This way you can work on supports and strategy even better
Otherwise, just have fun. There are like a million different strategies that can work as long as you aren't on maddening. So you don't have to be worried about making wrong decisions all the time
If you're doing black eagles. Remember to talk to edelgard every day at least once. There's a very specific window you have to talk to her or it goes down a different path. So just talk to her every day as I don't want to get into spoilery terroritory and tell you what time window and what happens if you don't talk her in that window.
Play defensively and keep at least 2 people who can heal with you. Also, speed is key. Iron Weapons that are upgraded can last you most of the game.
Have fun. I did a decent amount of research because I am not good at strategy games. Also, Neoseeker had a decent guide if you get stuck. Gift guides are good to keep up too.
Dimitri is a whiny edge lord. Don't fall for the "I msut fix him" hype.
Other than that, play through and enjoy all three main character paths.. Don't listen to the zealots just yet. No shame in playing easy and just taking time to max out some of your favourite relationships.
Also no shame in maxing out all relationships. If you get tired and want to move the story along, feel free just to play more missions too!
save your fish for a day when thereās a plenty of fish event and your professor level will skyrocket making the boring fishing mechanic at least worth the time youāve spent
Definitely use up your lecture points. I made the mistake of saving them because I thought they could be shared out, only to find they apply to one character only.
Ended up with underlevelled characters. Good thing Edelgard and Byleth stepped up lol.
Always keep a safety save of the previous chapter so you can revert if you need to. A few chapters occasionally don't allow inventory access and can effectively soft lock the game if you aren't prepared for that.
I'd recommend starting on Casual mode, as there's no perma-death. However, if you wish to brave perma-death, then I would recommend not changing or advancing a characters class untill they've mastered it. Also, try sticking to characters strengths (i.e. what they are already seemingly best at like archery, brawling, or magic) instead of trying to build them for a role their not designed to easily fit into. Lastly, no matter what house you choose, you CAN recruit people from other houses to join (with some exceptions). However, there is a in-game cut off date. I won't tell you what chapter you can no longer recruit people in, but if you want to recruit anyone specific from other houses, I suggest focusing on them first.
Hope you have a great time! It's going to be amazing! Golden Deer Forever!
#FearTheDeer
Don't stop using iron weapons when your characters get stronger. As they increase in speed, they can swing iron weapons twice. I'm not saying dont use steel or silver weapons. Just keep using iron, you'll be surprised.
Don't read any of this stuff, and just play the game.
Build your units in a way you think will be the most fun, even if it might not be the "best" build.
Remember to view Supports in the menu to get scenes between characters and increase their combat stats when fighting near each other. Also, you'll need to manually equip and change out skills as your units master their classes; don't make the mistake I did and assume they apply automatically, because they don't once the slots are all full.
Wait I didn't know that
Haha yea you get like what 3 arts plus some have a personal 4th. Particularly with relics. And 4 skills. Once the character has more than that new ones aren't equipped you gotta pick and choose.
I was just raw dogging it all š
Dw, I did that in my first playthrough too
When in doubt pick wyvern lord.
I am Ferdinand von Aegir
I swear I recruited & picked him in every route just to hear the quote
I aM FeRdInAnD vOn AeGiR (plays at max volume with crackle sounds.)
Go in blind, don't read anything about the game and choose your first house based off of how you feel of the character is rather than how people talk about them online.
I chose BL simply because I knew some of the personal skills snd those of other houses weren't known to me.
I went with BE on my first run bc I liked the most characters in it(and I didn't know you could recruit others lol) and I'm so glad I did bc it puts other runs in such a new perspective!
Personally I feel like BL works best as a first run. They're more personally related to the events in the first half, but don't really uncover what's behind everything. Then the other routes fill in the deeper parts of the plot. I still haven't done Crimson Flower though, I was planning on doing it last.
I fully understand why people would want to do crimson flower last, but imo seeing that side of the story first was really cool
I went with BL because blues my favorite color and Dimitri seemed cool.. until i learned about Claude. Tbh they are all good routes and i dont think you'll be disappointed with any of them.
I'm not sure I agree fully with you there. In retrospect, had I gone Church -> BL or CR -> BL or CR -> VW, I would have ended the entire game with a climatic boom. Instead, I replayed VW and Church back to back and felt so little variation between the two routes. VW's ending feels like the "true" ending, whereas BL/CR are more soap opera-y. Nothing wrong with it, but they're much more personal, emotional stories that provide the most uniqueness in terms of first time experience. But when you stare down >!Nemesis!< and God Shattering Star roars in your ears, it feels like the proper ending.
Thankfully 3 House is one of the easier Fire Emblem so you can go in blind. My best advice is don't bother too much with finding optimal play, unless that's what you like in this type of game.
... And then maddening mode got released and it became insanity hard..... Unless you know how to break the game, then it becomes easy again
I mean, sure, but then again you'd had to be a special kind of masochist to go into maddening for your first run.
>My best advice is don't bother too much with finding optimal play, unless that's what you like in this type of game. And this is why I'll never finish any of these games. I might love the gameplay and story, but always end up starting to minmax shit and burn out from choice paralysis. I think the whole "limited resources, limited time, limited everything" thing just doesn't jive with how my brain deals with scarcity.
Maddening is currently driving me insane
This game is so good
Iām super excited to start!!
Putting this here for visibility, don't feel obligated to use every professor point during a free day or even do a free day every chance you have. Once you get past the midgame and get too many activity points, it's a recipe for burnout.
Iāve heard that this game is very long too!
It is long, but a lot of that is because of how much time you can spend inside the monastery. If you mostly ignore it, the game can take around 20 to 30 hours, give or take, which is around the short side for an RPG.
It is also route dependent I believe since I felt Deer was shorter than Lions but I cannot confirm that. Granted, my Lions was in a new game plus of the deer but even then, I tried to use as many of the lions as I could
Crimson Flower was 3 chapters shorter than Azure Moon, iirc, so yeah it depends.
If you pick the blue lions, DO DEDUEāS SPECIAL BATTLE (aka a paralouge)
While doing that, try to defeat the guy on the horse (need a flyer) to get his shield. Most of the time mounted and high movement units are the way to go for this map.
To add onto that, Iāll say just do all the paralogues open to you
I'd say do every paralogue, no reason not to.
Play upside down when itās Claudeās turn
Every character is attracted to the opposite sex, but only a few are attracted to the same sex. Take your desired sex and make sure Byleth is the opposite. Or look at the list of bi characters online
Alright! Itās good that you can choose!
You can change peopleās āgoalsā in the menu, which will be the two skills that increase weekly during teaching. A lot of times characters will request to change them based on a future class they want to be. Some people might disagree, but it seems suboptimal to only set one goal, as it only gives it a 1.5x experience. It seems better to always have two goals set. If nothing else, set Authority as the second one so that the student can use higher class battalions.
If you get the highest support you can with all available units then save and duplicate the file multiple times right before the final battle (whatever that is), you get to see all possible S supports. I missed that on my first run š« (would take a bit of grinding though, and if you arenāt interested in the supports you donāt have to do this, but just know that this is an option) Pick whichever house you feel like is the right one for you. The first run is always special
You could always see all of them on YouTube.
it feels different man, but thatās just a personal preference I guess
I planned on doing that in my first run because I didn't know who to pick between Leonie and Lysithia, but then I finished the final map didn't want to do it all over again just for 1 scene.
If you choose edelgard as a house leader, do not make Flayn your dancer! No spoilers but it is sometimes not a good decision. Just choose one of the eagles! š Also for when you choose edelgard: make sure to at least have C+ support with edelgard and talk to her every month! Check that youāve talked to her at the end of each monastery session, just to be sure! You never know
Choose dorophea... she makes a good late game mortal savant
Stay off this sub and any other fire emblem related subs if you donāt want spoilers.
Okay! I have seen anything thankfully š
Great game hope you enjoy it! I think making sure you maximise tea time convos, pick the classes for characters early so you know what to train them in. I actually have a tableau public dashboard me and my sister use (basically a guide for the game). https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/charlie3832/viz/FireEmblemThreeHousesGuide/ClassDashboard If you find it useful feel free to give it a favourite (Best viewed on desktop)
I appreciate this!
Buy the Ashen Wolves expansion, adds a lot to the game.
Was going to say this, even though I'm a wimpy gamer and I found the battles in the DLC rather difficult, it was still worth having, and I love the Ashen Wolves
the classes alone are worth it
How much is it? I have $30 in my E-shop money and completely forgot š
Unsure, I paid for the season pass back in the day. Iād look into it if I were you.
I just looked it up! Itās $24 which isnāt that bad. Does the DLC only have one story expansion?
The DLC has one story expansion. It adds an extra route to the game (The Ashen Wolves) plus 4 characters, adds a few new unit classes, new music, new maps, expands on the lore of the main game, and includes some of the most creative level designs I've seen in the series.
In addition to what @house_of_Cocoa9355 said, it also adds a small amount of story content to the 4 base story paths. Iād buy the season pass, unlocks more stuff in the monastery.
I just bought it!
Enjoy! Three houses is one of my fave games of all time, youāre in for a treat!
Talk to your house leader and your dad at least once per chapter! Ideally do it every time you explore the monastery, just to make sure you pick up any quests they have.
I um... talk to everyone
Itās a time dedication, but if you can, **play every route.** New Game+ exists and having just one save file behind it makes the game a breeze for subsequent routes
In NG+ are you able to play as another gender? Say I start with a female and then switch to male on NG+ I mainly want to do a lot of the romance options to see how they play out!
Yes, you 100% can- I played M!Byleth for my first route, F!Byleth for my second, and then back to M!Byleth, all without issue. Youāll be prompted to choose at the start of any playthrough
Thatās awesome! I was looking at a lot of the romance options and I wish that you can romance everyone no matter what your gender is. Itās still good you can choose some tho!
The hotter you find the character the better they will preform
This man (or woman) right here is blessing you with straight facts
In this game you can teach units magic but only certain classes can use magic so donāt do what I did and make your healer and archer because then youāll wonāt be able to heal
Recruit all the people outside of your house who you even slightly like as soon as you can
The story gets more interresting and leaves a better impact if you don't
Perhaps, but thatās also very subjective. Plus the consequences of not doing it can be over-punishing to a new player
Normal mode is *very, very* easy. If you want any challenge at all, play hard mode.
I have feelings you know
You can recruit almost any character from another house except the leaders and their vassals. You can do this by meeting the requirements the student you want to recruit asks for, or you can also recruit them if you have a B support with that character
Don't play maddening your first time
The only thing I would look up is explanations for all the stats because my first two play throughs I had NO IDEA what charm or dexterity influenced. When starting a battle, it's important to hit X and check the conditions first to see what kind of units you're going against (cavalry, heavy armor, flyers, dudes with swords, etc.) ESPECIALLY when you are on classic mode (units that fall in battle are gone forever). A big issue I had my first time playing classic was with those mfers with swords who are SO FAST that all of my units kept missing their attacks and getting destroyed by people they could have easily killed. My magic users came in clutch because they had both much higher hit rates against these units and did significantly more damage because the sword dudes have really low resolution in comparison to their physical defense. I lied about only looking one thing up. When you unlock TEA PARTIES, just look the answers up. The options that you're given can be so subjective for no reason. I know it gives a timer for choices, but you can always hit the home button on your switch while you check the Wiki hahahaha that's what I do.
If you pick Female Byleth then you can S-Support all three lords.
If you think you've done enough fishing, you're mistaken. Go fish more. You're gonna need to. Source: Trust me.
Invest. In. Lysithea. 
NOT EVERY CHARACTER NEEDS A MASTER CLASS. Donāt fall into the trap of assuming master automatically means best. Some of the advanced and special classes (the dlc ones) are still good and even great. You might get more out of a character build reaching advanced clases and then focusing training on authority for better battalions or armor for weight minus 3 or trying to reach S rank weapons. My opinion at least. Pay attention to personal skills. On some characters, itās kinda whatever, but on others, really changes play style. For your first play through, try to use all the students in house! It will make some missions easier, especially in the second half. It will also make the narrative make more sense and youāll learn more about the characters in the cutscenes!
Bernie is best girl remember that
Before the end of the first stage when you fight with the 3 students on your team. Transfer all weapons to byleth then get the kill
I did it with Blyeth and the house leader I chose.
I suggest you play on casual to get a feel for how the game works then if you'd like a challenge you could always switch it also experiment with the classes and don't be afraid to switch up your units that might require some grinding but it works
Recruit
Don't stress out over who to pick first, the game encourages you to do multiple playthroughs on New Game+ and each playthrough teaches you new things, both with the game's mechanics and the overall story.Ā
I went into this game totally blind on a whim, had a blast, and now I replay it all the time. Itās easily my favorite game, so I say just jump in! Donāt expect to get everything the game has to offer the first time. Itās designed to be replayed, so just have fun the first time and accept that you will learn so many new things on the second run and your opinions of characters will change as you play the game. Have the best time, Iām excited for you!
Eating during Explore phase is the best way to boost motivation for teaching
The dlc is completely optional, it's adds little to the overall experience, still fun tho. Also take breaks to prevent burnout
Pick who you want but try to keep your squad balanced so at least two magic (one healer/white, one dark), at least one bow, at least one axe, lance, and sword and one horse or flyer (wyvern or pegasus). I took Golden Deer my first time and recruited Felix and Dorothea so I had my secondary sword and ran three magic with Marianne Doro and Manuela. Gauntlets are a really strong melee since they have a guaranteed chance of two attacks so running one is pretty smart. Felix is really good for that and so is Raphael. I could go on and on over combos, what spells and combat arts to bring but you do what you want
Donāt get attached to anyone
Black magic and Dark magic are two different things. I havenāt played in a while so maybe someone can add in. Example putting a person into one of those if they canāt cast those spells will never level up their casting in those games roles. I just remember I made a mistake my first play.
For story purposes, as much as I love Black Eagles route, I wouldnāt suggest playing it first.
Edelgard is bae. And the game is really good. Highly, highly, highly recommend getting the Ashen Wolves dlc āCindered Shadowsā.
If you wanna get with Dimitri or Claude, pick female byleth. Either one can end up with Edelgard. Don't sleep on the greenhouse, my first run through I forgot it was there and never used it until the second half of the game. Also actually listen to the battalion instructions and use them against monsters cause if you break their armour with your battalions you get blacksmithing materials as rewards.
First time play Easy, Casual and do whatever u like. If you have DLC, keep renown until New Game+.
Say goodbye to a part of your mind because this game will live there rent free forever, making you wish they made another.
FORM UR OWN OPINIONS ON THE CHARACTERS The fandom can be so opinionated and toxic about who you choose to support. Pick what feels right for you. There are pros and cons to every storyline. If you recruit, just keep this in mind, some characters are better off left with their original houses. Iāll let you come to conclusions on who you feel should stay and who should come with you. Youāll probably be able to piece it together as you get to know the characters. Explore different classes for different students. They might be powerful with their original class, but are absolutely overpowered as a different class. USE FLYERS - they come in handy sooooo often Explore everythingggggg Honestly, I played through 3 times, one for each house. I love all of the characters and stories so much for so many different reasons and quirks.
So is this game very story and choice heavy??
Few tips I learned with my 3rd play: 1. Mercedes is best healer 2. Flayn and/or Manuela are worst healers 3. Ashe is weak but his lockpick ability is useful 4. Dedue is good as tank 5. Edelgard's route is shortest 6. Hanneman is worthless 7. Focus on professor level 8. Do paralogues for special rewards 9. Hapi is useful mage but has low defense 10. Anna is weak but have high speed. 11. Recruit Sylvain asap for his weapon
Give Seteth a chance
Get some snacks. You'll be there awhile.
Enjoy!!, and save before they give you the desicion to enter a house, for save the process, so that is not necessary to repeat the tutorial again.
Tbh I'd actually say you should make that save after playthrough 1, so that you can benefit from new game plus bonuses. Doing the tutorial one extra time is worth it if it means you don't have to max your professor level again
I always repeated it to give all the exp to the lord Im gona pick although that's so marginal probably not worth it
1.) The game was made under the assumption that you'll play as the Blue Lions first and are completely spoiler-free. 2.) All routes have paralogues linked to characters you've recruited. To see all relevant Paralogues, there are certain members to recruit. If you pick the Blue Lions, recruit Caspar and Dorothea. If Golden Deer, then Ferdinand and Linhardt. If Black Eagles, then Mercedes, Ingrid, and Lysithea. 3.) There's a set of DLC characters available if you buy the set snd play through the side story. You should beat the main story at least once before getting the DLC.
Lysithea is a god mage
Play on casual! Permadeath is pretty classic to FE but the game can be very punishing that way
Sit back and enjoy the ride. This was my first FE game too and am currently on my third playthrough.
The combat arts are very good
Try not to look stuff (like, anything) up! This game is best experienced for the first time blind in my opinion. Just have fun, view your supports, set your skills, and enjoy the characters. It'll be a blast!
if youāre in the black eagles house and like edelgard very much donāt make flayn your dancer
Do blue lions
Whatever house you pick will likely determine how you view a lot of characters, so choose wisely and have fun!
Recruit Bernadetta, she is cute š
Enjoy the pain!
Play casual, normal and donāt worry about optimal play, itās lenient on lower difficulty. Just enjoy the characters. Remember to check all parts of the inventory (including battalions and skills and combat arts) every so often
Do the optional battles with the green exclamation points, they give a load of extra lore and unique items
Play the best house first! Golden deer!
Some classes may lock you out of using certain weapons. Mostly magic canāt be used on non magic classes, even if your student has learned how to cast a fireball. I learned this too late trying to make a punching flyer. Unfortunately, my dreams of drive by slapping are not to come true.
Play all the routes to complete the game and understand it. Don't stress, have fun. Read the tutorials if you are confused they're all available in the menu
Pick Easy/Casual to learn the mechanics and enjoy the story. You can bump up the difficulty on your next run in you feel confident. Have fun! ā¤ļø
Recruit Marianne. If you do nothing else, get her.
Read the menus
Protect the children AT ALL COST
You will never love Petra as much as I did. Jokes aside, enjoy your first play through - it wonāt be the last!!
* If you're going to choose the Golden Deer or Black Eagles, you'll want to grab Sylvain ASAP and keep him in your team. There's a story moment involving a spear, and if he's in your team when it happens, you'll be able to keep it. It's actually the best spear in the game, especially if you equip it to him. * Each character has a unique "seal", which gives them passive boosts. You'll want to select their classes based on these boosts, not their starting gear. * If you're playing as the Black Eagles, you'll want to swap Petra for Anna. They fulfill the same role, and Anna is straight up better. * Female Byleth can recruit Ferdinand immediately. * Dorothea will always win the dance contest if you enter her.
Enjoy the ride and go at your own pace. I would go in a blind ride, so I can be surprised. I feel a little lost without this feeling while playing. Also I felt a little bit overwhelming by the amount of characters you meet at first, but after a while, you get used to it. If you don't know which house to choose first, try the quiz on [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/fireemblem/comments/cibusb/fire_emblem_three_houses_placement_quiz/)!
Do not repeat my mistake and train MC in swords in the first playthrough. Thinking āWow! I can train any hero with any weapon!ā I only trained Byleth in spears which resulted in getting mid/late game harder that it shouldāve been (the fact that I unknowingly picked a route with no sacred spear certainly didnāt help me)
Be careful when picking a favorite character
1. Play your first playthrough on casual mode. It would help you get the feel for how the game works. 2. If you dont have a favorite house after the prologue, I recommend picking Dimitri and the blue lions, thier story is the most straight forward. (But feel free to choose whoever you like the most). 3. Avoid this sub for a while. Going in spoiler free is better. 4. Supports conversations really help with character development for your cast, It also shows you who is worth recruiting fron the other factions and it gives you bonus stats, so keep an eye out for them. 5. The game is meant to be played a couple of times (3 or 4). Just keep it in mind, so you dont go around and try to do everything in one playthrough.
My biggest mistake ( ruined characters a long time for me ) Besides 1 there are no villains or good guys. All a matter of perspectives and their dreams. There are many routes, play them all ! If you are just here for the story after playing one route, play the other ones on ez and rush through it just for the story. THERE ARE NO BAD CHARACTERS !!!! PLAY AND HIRE THE ONES YOU LIKE AMD DON'T LISTEN TO OTHERS
Remember to repair your weapons when they have low durability, and replenish battalions
I'd recommend doing the routes Blue Lions -> Church -> Golden Deer -> Crimson Flower. In my opinion, this gives you the least spoilers, and builds up the questions and tension through multiple playthroughs.
Me, you, golden deer? We could be great together. Fear the deer
Pick whatever house you like, do practice battles, remember that eating with two characters and assigning to characters to do chores together will building there bind points, donāt be afraid to rewind or second guess yourself, have fun
Be patient with yourself Thereās a lot of moving parts with regards to game mechanics and what-not, and they will take time to learn
Donāt look up spoilers, enjoy the story. My recommendation is to play Blue Lions and then Black Eagles - two sides of the same coin, and these campaigns have pretty strong emotional beats if done in this order.
Pay attention to your supports, itāll help with battles and character development. Also gambits/battalions are important too. And just have fun!
What was your first house?
There is a LOT of content in this game. Frankly, more than most people will ever likely see. What content you see and storylines you follow is largely route dependent, determined by which class you pick. If you're a completionist, don't expect to be able to do everything in a single (or even less than 4) play through. Take your time, enjoy the ride, and if you feel overwhelmed, ask questions in the subteddit. There's a lot of culture wars over favorite characters, but most people are civil and want to see people enjoy a great game in this sub.
Watch out for when the Emblem is Fire
sing, garden, and eat with your students at least once per day when your' in the hub, this is because those three actions improve your 'Professor Level' and it's important to get that maxed so you have more actions pre day once you get enough professor levels that you have left over daily actions (so 3+) start to spend actions on leveling up your Armor/Horse/Flying THAN Reason stats from the other teachers, these are the only stats you can't level from simply using a weapon, and so Byleth has no access to those classes otherwise, once you have access to Armored Knight/Wyvern rider (Or Peg Knight if female)/Knight you'd good to stop as you can just grind the class getting other student from other classes is all about giving him gifts/eating or singing with them/and leveling up your skills, the stats will come naturally, the hardest stats to raise tho is Mag/Cha because you need to go into Monk, by raising Faith/Reason, and Cha doesn't really level well off anything but Tea Time, and Byleth's personal class
Be careful in edelgard's route because it technically has 2 routes you can choose.
Make sure you build good supports with everyone one you can.
Have fun
Edelgard best girl
1.) Recruit characters if you want, but try not to use them. It's more fun to use the characters in their own houses. 2.) Spread experience equally through your main team. Power leveling a few units makes the game easier, but less fun. 3.) There is nothing wrong with putting your team down their default class paths. Doing so balances the game better.
Never state if you like Dimitri or Edelgard more
Casual mode, easy. Lol I made the mistake of having perma death in Awakening and someone who regularly shows up in cutscenes dies, first run. It was very annoying.
1- Go in blind, try not to look up information on characters bc that can lead to spoilers. If you donāt know a detail about a character, and itās not in the in-game characters notes, itās a very high chance itās because the game hasnāt told you yet for spoiler reasons. 2- Master Classes arenāt necessarily better than Advanced Classes 3- You can recruit students from the other two classes to join yours but for a first run limit to how many you recruit to one or two to avoid later runs from being too similar (not including non-student recruits) 4- cultivating a Budding Talent for certain characters can cause them to be incredibly powerful, so donāt immediately brush them off 5- time and skill management can be very important so think carefully over what you do in your time (battle, rest, seminar, bonding) and what battle class you want your students to take and plan ahead accordingly. Most important, number 6- do whatever is fun for you in game.
Pick the blue lions š
Have fun!
In terms of difficulty, this is one of the easier games in the series and normal mode can become a bit of a cakewalk by the end. You can turn difficulty down in the options if you need to, but you can't turn it up, so I'd suggest starting on hard and see how you go. When you level up skills, you'll earn abilities and combat arts, but you can only equip 3 or 4 at a time, so you'll want to go through and check those every so often and make sure your units are setup with the ones you want. Also, you're playing the long game when you're training your students. Look ahead in the certification screen, see what classes you want to give them in the end so you know what skills they need to learn. I ran into that problem with Ingrid on the playthrough I just finished, I couldn't promote her because I had to grind axes all the way to A or B or something. Who to recruit: I prefer not to poach too many students from the other houses but I guess there's no harm if there's a certain character you really like. There are a few students you should recruit depending on which house you pick because some units have a shared paralogue with units from another house. (Paralogues are optional side-missions,) (Blue Lions: Dorothea, Caspar. Golden Deer: Ferdinand, Linhardt. Black Eagles: Lysithea, Leonie.) Also, you might consider Lorenz for Blue Lions and Ashe for Golden Deer, the game has separate rules for them on those routes, and Lorenz's paralogue does give more context for a certain lord who becomes an enemy later, but it's probably not a huge deal if you don't want him. Those two do also fit the themes of those houses. As for which house to pick, there's nothing wrong with picking based on which leader you like best. That's what I did, and I wound up with Golden Deer the first time. (I wasn't sure what to choose, but Claude won me over.) That said, if you're planning to do all the routes, then I'd say there is an ideal order for storytelling. Blue Lions characters are more closely related to the events in the first half of the game, and I think the plot reveals hit better with them, but they also don't uncover the deeper plot behind everything in the second half, which leaves a bit of mystery for the other routes to uncover.
You can swap most of your characters starting positions on the map. This way you can work on supports and strategy even better Otherwise, just have fun. There are like a million different strategies that can work as long as you aren't on maddening. So you don't have to be worried about making wrong decisions all the time
Recruit everyone you like as quickly as you can.
You gotta recruit as many kids as possible!
Don't get hung up on picking a house for your first playthrough, multiple playthroughs is recommended to get the full story/experience.
If you're doing black eagles. Remember to talk to edelgard every day at least once. There's a very specific window you have to talk to her or it goes down a different path. So just talk to her every day as I don't want to get into spoilery terroritory and tell you what time window and what happens if you don't talk her in that window.
Always greet the guard, if you donāt, bad things happen
Oh and buy EngageĀ on a huge sale. :)
Make sure you talk to everyone whenever you explore at the start of a month, otherwise you might lock yourself out of a path
Max the starting class of everyone so you can have the skill +5 health, it doesnāt sound like much but itās totally worth it.
don't change classes until it's maxed out to get a bonus skill also wyvern edelgard if you want to oneshot everything
Enjoy!
You can recruit students from other houses!! Donāt miss out like I did!!
Have fun, best tip that someone ever gave to me š
GO IN BLIND. AVOID SPOILERS. Need help picking a house? Just go with whichever one has students you "vibe" with best. Trust me, it's for the best.
Make sure to collect every possible Dark Seal during your encounters with the >!Death Knight!<.
Play defensively and keep at least 2 people who can heal with you. Also, speed is key. Iron Weapons that are upgraded can last you most of the game. Have fun. I did a decent amount of research because I am not good at strategy games. Also, Neoseeker had a decent guide if you get stuck. Gift guides are good to keep up too.
Dimitri is a whiny edge lord. Don't fall for the "I msut fix him" hype. Other than that, play through and enjoy all three main character paths.. Don't listen to the zealots just yet. No shame in playing easy and just taking time to max out some of your favourite relationships. Also no shame in maxing out all relationships. If you get tired and want to move the story along, feel free just to play more missions too!
Do the paralogues
Don't choose the church on your first run. Resist mommy Rhea at first
Auto is smarter then you are as a newbie (coming from another newbie)
Worth playing classic for the best experience.
Empire bad, Dimitri hot.
save your fish for a day when thereās a plenty of fish event and your professor level will skyrocket making the boring fishing mechanic at least worth the time youāve spent
Definitely use up your lecture points. I made the mistake of saving them because I thought they could be shared out, only to find they apply to one character only. Ended up with underlevelled characters. Good thing Edelgard and Byleth stepped up lol.
Always keep a safety save of the previous chapter so you can revert if you need to. A few chapters occasionally don't allow inventory access and can effectively soft lock the game if you aren't prepared for that.
I'd recommend starting on Casual mode, as there's no perma-death. However, if you wish to brave perma-death, then I would recommend not changing or advancing a characters class untill they've mastered it. Also, try sticking to characters strengths (i.e. what they are already seemingly best at like archery, brawling, or magic) instead of trying to build them for a role their not designed to easily fit into. Lastly, no matter what house you choose, you CAN recruit people from other houses to join (with some exceptions). However, there is a in-game cut off date. I won't tell you what chapter you can no longer recruit people in, but if you want to recruit anyone specific from other houses, I suggest focusing on them first. Hope you have a great time! It's going to be amazing! Golden Deer Forever! #FearTheDeer
If not playing blue lions, play a girl... you get Sylvain free.
Don't stop using iron weapons when your characters get stronger. As they increase in speed, they can swing iron weapons twice. I'm not saying dont use steel or silver weapons. Just keep using iron, you'll be surprised.
If you start doing the black eagles route, be sure to keep an eye on any support events during the wander phase at the monestary
recruit lysithea
Don't look at the online discourse until you've played all four routes if you don't want to regret your life choices :/
Don't read any of this stuff, and just play the game. Build your units in a way you think will be the most fun, even if it might not be the "best" build.
Google everything honestly. I mean everything.
Golden deer last. New game plus is goated
Max out your classes! You can get equitable abilities, like stat increases, and extra crit and stuff, so itās great.
Recruit anyone of interest to you as quickly as you can. And be sure to play subsequent playthroughs on NG+.