Since Fire Emblem: Three Houses has so much customization when it comes to classes and what weapons to use, it can be kind of daunting and hard to choose what role each character should fill. Therefore, I thought I’d give you a little hand with this guide on characters and which roles suited them best.
Claude
The leader of the Golden Deer house is quite the versatile man. He is proficient in swords, bows, authority, horses and flying. He even has a hidden talent in axes. His personal skill doesn’t give him any bonus in combat, but it does net him +20% EXP. His only downsides are lances and faith magic (your typical healing spells), but he still has a ton of options when it comes to class choice.
· Lord: Since he is the Golden Deer house leader, Claude has access to the special Lord class, which eventually has its own special promotions. He can even still use his typical bow, just make sure to also train him in authority. He also eventually gets a wyvern; if that isn’t badass, I don’t know what is.
· Cavalier/Paladin: Due to his knack for riding, Claude would make a pretty damn good cavalier. The only thing that sucks is that he isn’t very good with lances, so be wary about this decision. He would make a pretty cool cavalier that uses bows though, and added mobility is always a great thing in Fire Emblem.
· Archer/Sniper: Wow what a surprise, the guy who starts with a bow would make a good archer. It’s definitely a viable option for Claude. The only thing is that after sniper, there is no further bow only class options. His other two options are much better, but if you’re gung-ho on having another archer in a house that’s already dominated by bow users, you totally can.
Raphael
Look at this big boy! This guy is like the Hercules of Fire Emblem. By saying that, you might already guess what kind of classes are good for him. Raphael has high HP, strength, and pretty decent defence. All of his other stats are pretty lacking though. His personal skill is probably one of the worst in the game; he has a luck percent chance (meaning the skill will activate depending on how high his luck stat is) to heal 10% of his health every turn. Raphael is good with axes, gauntlets and heavy armour, and bad at bows, faith magic and riding. He’s probably bad at riding because any horse would have a difficult time carrying that wide load. Nevertheless, some good class choices for him are;
· Armour Knight/Fortress Knight: Although he doesn’t have the greatest base defence, his high HP and strength are right up the armour knight’s alley. Raphael is one of the only really bulky units you get on the Golden Deer, so making him into a class that can cut off choke points and hold his own against a lot of units is a good decision. You may want to slap some gauntlets on him to counteract his low speed.
· Brawler/Grappler: Since he has a lot more strength than defence, a Brawler might be a better option for Raphael. The downside is that gauntlets are less accurate and Raphael has a low base accuracy; however, since it’s a more offensive class, that might be better for his stats.
· Fighter/Brigand: With his high strength, Raphael would do a ton of damage as a fighter. The downside is that Warriors typically also use bows, and Raph is terrible with them, so training him to be a warrior might be difficult. It seems that every class he’s good in, doesn’t really offset his bad accuracy.
Hilda
This little ball of complaints will absolutely surprise you by being one of your main powerhouses. She may act like a princess, but she will destroy anything in her path. Hilda has a very high base strength stat with pretty decent speed and HP. She’s good with axes and lances, and she has a hidden talent in armour. She’s probably bad in authority because she hates taking responsibility for anything. In my playthrough at the moment, Hilda is my most powerful student. She isn’t good with a lot of weapon types, but she really excels in these classes:
· Fighter/Brigand: Hilda’s high strength mixed with this class will wreck anything in her path. With a few lucky increases to her speed, Hilda will always be on the front lines. Thankfully she isn’t bad with bows, so eventually making her into a Warrior is a good option. Hilda, just like Raphael, has sub-par dexterity, so making her into an axe dominant class will mean she is likely to miss her target a bit more.
· Armour Knight/Fortress Knight: Due to her hidden talent in armour and proficiency in axes, Hilda would make one hell of an Armour Knight. The only issue is her sub-par defence, which would be a bit odd for an Armour Knight. Seeing Hilda in a huge set of armour would also be pretty funny.
Lorenz
The only class change this guy needs is whichever one gives him a better haircut; sadly none of them do. He makes up for it by having pretty decent stats all around. Lorenz’s only bad weapon attribute is also gauntlets, which doesn’t really matter since he is made to be the perfect Cavalier.
· Cavalier/Paladin: As mentioned above, Lorenz’s stats are perfect to become a horse rider. His personal skill, Distinguished House, means that If he has a battalion equipped, he does +2 damage. Having a unit that can get halfway across the map and kill anything in his path is extremely useful.
· Archer/Sniper: Archers usually have pretty lop-sided stats, which means they don’t always turn out the greatest. But Lorenz has the potential to be a great archer due to even stats and decent strength. Again, if you don’t want too many archers on your team, be careful about your choices. However, if you do want more than one archer, Lorenz is a great choice.
· Dark Mage/Warlock: Lorenz is one of those units that has decent strength and magic, giving him lots of options. There are a few other candidates for Mage, so Lorenz would make a great Dark Mage and eventual Warlock. His base defence and resistance are equal, which is suitable for a dark mage.
Marianne
There is no denying that Marianne is supposed to be the healer of your group. She has a really high base magic and good base resistance. Her personal skill is very good because anytime she is near a horse or Pegasus unit, she regains 20% of her health every turn. Therefore, keeping her near Claude or Lorenz is a good idea. It’s not known if she gets this bonus if she herself uses a horse or Pegasus. But nonetheless, you should still make her into these classes.
· Pegasus Knight/Falcon Knight: Having a flier on your team is always a great idea. Their mobility is matched by no one and Marrianne’s high resistance is a perfect fit for a Pegasus Knight. Making her a flier that can heal will mean that she will be able to get to anyone in dire need of some heals. She’s also good with swords and has a hidden talent in lances, which is exactly the weapons that a Falcon Knight uses.
· Priest/Bishop: Due to her proficiency in faith magic and a high base magic stat, Marianne should be your party healer. Her personal skill means she will be harder to hit when around certain units, which is always a good thing for a healer. Just make sure she has a good way to dish damage too.
Ignatz
This little ball of nervousness will be quite a boon to your team. Ignatz doesn’t really excel in any other class that doesn’t involve bows, so you should know what to pick. Due to the Golden Deer having lots of bow users, I wouldn’t have too many of them become archers, but Ignatz has a personal skill that is quite handy for bow users. He gains +20% accuracy when he attacks. You would think because of his personal skill, that he would have a hidden talent in axes or gauntlets considering they are less accurate, but this isn’t the case. Nevertheless, Ignatz is good with swords, bows and authority, and has a hidden talent in reason magic (offensive spells).
· Archer/Sniper: Ignatz should be the main Archer of your team besides Claude. Archers will eventually be able to attack from farther distances, but by doing so, they will lose accuracy. Luckily, his personal skill will give him +20 accuracy to all of his attacks. Because of this, he wouldn’t ever have to get in the thick of combat, which is always a good thing for archers. He also has pretty decent speed, so hopefully he will be able to double hit a lot of enemies.
· Thief/Assassin: It’s always a great help to have a Thief on your team so you aren’t carrying keys everywhere. With his proficiency in swords and bows (the weapons a typical Assassin uses) it fits Ignatz perfectly. The only thing is that Thieves aren’t usually very strong, and Ignatz doesn’t have a very high base strength stat. His personal skill really isn’t useful if you become a Thief because they almost always have very high dexterity anyway. It’s more of a utility class than anything.
· Myrmidon/Swordmaster: Honestly, everything that was just said about the Thief can be said about the Myrmidon. He will already have high dexterity so his personal skill would be useless, but his decent strength and high speed is perfect for this class.
Lysithiea
She isn’t called a prodigy for no reason. Lysithiea has excellent base magic, so she will be the main Mage on your team. She’s bad with literally every physical weapon type, and has horrendous base strength, so don’t give her any weapons. No matter what class you assign to her, she will be a glass cannon. She will be able to do a ton of magical damage, but not take many attacks, especially if they’re physical. The oddity with Lysithiea is that she has a hidden talent in swords, but is also bad with them, so she will gain half the experience from them. But her personal skill means she will get double the weapon EXP from battle, so she gains a normal amount of weapon EXP? Very strange. But, all of her good class choices will involve magic.
· Mage/Sage: Lysithiea will be doing a ton of magical damage as long as she has an offensive magic role. The only strange thing is that she will have quite low resistance for a magical user, but it’s still better than a lot of physical based classes. Her magic has a max stat of 86, which is crazy high for anyone.
· Dark Mage/Warlock: It’s pretty much the same as a Mage, but she might have better defence in the end. Dark Mages are typically stronger than Mages, so it might mean she maxes out her magic stat more than being a Mage.
· Priest/Bishop: In some cases, Lysithiea might be the best choice for your healer due to her stats. Because she is pretty slow and has low defence, putting her on the front lines may be a bad decision. Her high magic means that she will always heal people fully, and not only partially when they are hurt. Plus, Marianne might be better for the front lines due to her personal skill which gives her more avoid.
Leonie
Leonie is quite the offensive woman. She has good strength, dexterity, speed and defence, but has bad magical stats. She’s a unique case because she isn’t bad with any weapons or magic, but is strong with lances, bows and riding. She has no hidden talents. Her personal skill, Rivalry, is pretty much the exact opposite of Sylvain’s because she gets +2 damage when she is beside a male unit in combat, and she also takes -2 damage as well. It’s a pretty handy personal skill, so always keep her near a male student or male Byleth. She has some good choices for classes;
· Cavalier/Paladin: At this point, if you take everything I say as gospel, you’ll have a ton of horses on your squad, but it’s up to you to pick and choose who you want as a Cavalier, or if you even want one on your team. But you can’t deny that she has the stats and weapon proficiencies that would make her a good Cavalier.
· Armour Knight/Fortress Knight: Although she doesn’t have an affinity for armour or axes, she could be a decent Lance Knight. With her good offensive base stats and great personal skill, she would be quite the defensive beast. Once again though, just be mindful that she isn’t good with axes or armour, but she isn’t bad with them either.
· Archer/Sniper: Since she is good with bows, and the fact that in almost every trailer, she’s seen as an Archer, it might be a good choice for Leonie. It will all depend on who you choose as an Archer, and she might be better to keep on the front lines due to her stats and personal skills.
And there you have it ladies and gentlemen, my guide for the Golden Deer Faction. Just remember that these are only suggestions and that you can play however you want.
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