[Top 15] Fire Emblem: Three Houses Best Characters For All Roles

Fire Emblem: Three House's Claude tries to convince you that he's the best character.

Updated:

31 Mar 2023

Fire Emblem: Three Houses has a long and daunting list of characters. How are we supposed to know where to start, who to use, and how to use them? With Fire Emblem: Three Houses’ 4th anniversary coming up in a few months, it’s about time to get another playthrough in to celebrate.

Whether you’re new to the game, haven’t touched it in a while, or want to diversify your main crew, you might wonder which characters are the best to have in your house. Here are my top 15 characters to recruit, which roles they are best suited for, and why.

This list will be forgoing the house leaders, units that must stay in certain houses, and the Ashen Wolves from the DLC. As powerful as all of these characters are, you might be limited to them depending on which route you’re playing and whether you have purchased the DLC or not. Don’t worry—Your team will be awesome!

15. Dorothea

Dorothea is not only a beautiful and mystifying songstress, but she is one of the best magic users in the Black Eagles house. While I know some people swear by her, hence why I’ve put her on this list, I have always gotten unlucky with a less-powerful Dorothea. However, I know that she has the potential to be incredible! Dorothea is going to be your best possible Dancer and, later on, a Gremory if you want to class her up and remove the Dancer’s unique ability to let another unit have another turn.

Dorothea has a high charm growth, meaning you likely don’t have to practice her dancing much before the competition. She will be a given!
Her special ability, Songstress, pairs well with the extra turn she can give as a Dancer. Songstress grants nearby allies up to 10% of health at the beginning of each turn.
When you focus on magic abilities, Dorothea has some of the most powerful white magic spells, such as Meteor and Thoron.
As a Gremory, she’ll get an extra 10% magic growth, strengthening her spells.

14. Lorenz

Yes, yes, I know, Lorenz has a horrible haircut and he’s awfully pretentious, but there are a couple of reasons you should recruit him. Personally, he has always leveled up horribly for me, but he can make a great Dark Knight.

Out of the characters the game wants to funnel into a Dark Knight, Lorenz is the most well-rounded in his physical and magical statistics.
You will get the Heroes’ Relic Thyrsus when you have Lorenz. This weapon allows you to use magic up to 2 extra spaces away. I often give this weapon to Lysithea, but this is a weapon you want to have regardless.
Using Thyrsus with his Crest of Gloucester grants the use of both Pavise and Aegis, which reduce the skills of other classes.

13. Linhardt

Linhardt would much rather sleep than kill on the battlefield, so sometimes in my playthroughs, I decide to give him what he wants and keep him on as a healer. However, he’s not the strongest healer in the game, but he has some useful skills.

He would be an incredible Gremory, but unfortunately, male units don’t have access to that class. Linhardt is fun to explore with as a Dark Knight if you’ve used him a bunch before, but he will be best classed as a Bishop. While he can still fight, you can honor his request not to kill as much.

The thing that stands out most with Linhardt is his spell Warp. This can move a nearby unit to somewhere much further away on the battlefield and will really come in handy when your last enemy is just out of reach.
As a Bishop, he gets to use his White Magic spells two times more, meaning you can get one extra warp per battle! This is absolutely necessary when using Linhardt. This is why he stands out, and Bishop gives you MORE of that. How can you possibly turn that down?
Linhardt’s healing skills will increase by 10 as a bishop, so while he isn’t the most powerful healer you could have, he will still help a lot. You can never have too many healers to help your allies on the frontline!

12. Marianne

As shy and depressed as Marianne is, she is a great healer. Yes, Linhardt will heal, and another one will come on this list, but healers are always good to have. Plus, Marianne develops defensive attacks, so she is great to have as a Holy Knight. Plus, she loves horses, so she’ll be happy on one!

Being a Holy Knight will increase Marianne’s movement so she can gallop around the field and heal more allies or fight more enemies if nearby.
Marianne does not have a strong defense, so the more movement she has, the quicker she can run away to the back and have more defensive units cover for her.
With a magic sword like the Levin Sword, Marianne can cause more damage from a few units away, ultimately saving her health.
Marianne can use the Heroes Relic Blutgang, which like all Heroes Relics, is incredibly powerful.

11. Raphael

When you meet Raphael, you will notice two things: He absolutely loves to eat, and he loves to fight. After all, he can’t get so big that his buttons pop off his shirt without working out so often. You are going to want someone that strong on your team as a War Master. Give Raphael a pair of gauntlets, and you’ll be all set!

Raphael has an incredibly high strength growth rate of 50%, which means that he will very quickly turn into one of your strongest units and he can cause A LOT of damage early on in the game.
Once Raphael is classed into a War Master, his strength growth rate increases to 65%. You do not want to miss out on a growth like that so that one of your strongest units can only become stronger.
As a War Master, Raphael’s HP growth becomes 105%. That’s insane! With a strong and very high HP War Master, you will be able to do a lot of damage without having to stuff Raphael in the back away from harm. The enemies on the battlefield will be terrified of a powerful man rushing at them!
Paired with his personal skill Goody Basket, he has the chance to recover up to 10% of his max health on each turn. Raphael is practically impossible to defeat!

10. Hilda

While Hilda may come off as lazy and doesn’t want to put in the work, you can MAKE her put in the work if you recruit her. As long as you’re not in Black Eagles, you’ll be able to have Hilda as your axe user, which is the only reason she’s not higher on this list. She’s going to be incredible in the Warrior class.

Given Hilda’s above-average strength growth for the axe and the additional 10 crit that comes with the Warrior class, she’ll be a wrecking ball on the battlefield!
With Hilda, you’ll receive the Heroes' Relic Freikugel. She has the crest of Goneril and paired with the Freikugel, she can use the combat art Apocalyptic Flame. This move is an absolute beast and causes nearby enemies to have -5 strength for one turn. This is great for weakening stronger foes!
Her personal ability, Advocate, makes nearby male allies cause an extra 3 damage. Hilda loves to make others do work for her, after all!

9. Shamir

Shamir is one of the few Knights of Seiros that will stay with you regardless of which route you choose, so she’s great to recruit. She already comes as a Sniper, meaning you don’t have to deal with a Commoner status. You’re going to want to keep her as a Bow and make sure you give her a Killer Bow as soon as you are able to get your hands on her.

Shamir can easily crit with a Killer Bow, especially with her 55% dexterity growth rate.
She has a high strength (more so than other bow users Bernadetta, Ashe, and Ignatz) and speed growth, allowing her to double hit her enemies from afar and cause a lot of damage, especially to flying foes. She is the most powerful bow you could have on your team.
Shamir’s combat arts are designed to remove enemies and clear a battlefield easily.

8. Leonie

Many people find Leonie annoying because of her love for Captain Jeralt, our father in the game. Regardless of your feelings for her character, you can’t deny that you need her on your team as a Falcon Knight.

Leonie’s personal skill is Rivalry. Since she wants to prove herself as the next best mercenary, she will deal an extra two damage and take two less damage when positioned next to a male ally on the screen. Having Leonie on your team allows you to play around with positioning on the battlefield.
As a Falcon Knight, Leonie has high movement to fly around the field and protect her male allies with her personal skill. If those allies are listed later on this list, you’ll want to keep them alive!
Most of her stat growths are great, but she stands out with her high dexterity and speed growths of 55% and 60%, respectively, causing her to double hit and crit over and over. These are necessary skills when you’re fighting harder bosses.

7. Catherine

Catherine is a member of the Church of Seiros that you are not going to want to skip out on. If you are playing with Edelgard, you might not want to waste your time getting on her good side, as she won’t join the Empire, but otherwise, she has a lot of skills to offer.

She would do anything to protect Lady Rhea, after all! She is great as a Falcon Knight or Mortal Savant. Seeing as others on this list will be your best Mortal Savant, give her some flying lessons and get her on a pegasus.

With Leonie on a pegasus, too, Catherine offers different skills. Rather than using a lance, she comes with her powerful Heroes’ Relic, Thunderbrand. If you don’t have Catherine, you won’t be able to get this relic on your own.
When she uses this sword, she will learn the combat art Foudroyant Strike which causes heavy damage to armored units. Seeing as armored units are tough to beat with physical attacks, having Catherine’s Thunderbrand on your side will be a lifesaver.
Catherine has the personal ability of Fighting Spirit. If she’s without a battalion, her damage is heavily reduced. On Normal, battalions aren’t necessary, but they’re always fun to play with. If you send her without one or it’s run out, her HP will stay high so she can be more of a service to you.
Her strength growth is 50%, dexterity is 40%, and speed is 55%, meaning she causes a lot of damage with high chances of crits and multiple hits. As a Falcon Knight, her strength growth increases to 60%, and her speed growth increases to 75%. She will do boatloads of damage over and over flying around on her pegasus.

6. Petra

Being a huntress, she has the personal ability of Hunter’s Boon’ Her chance to crit increases by twenty when an enemy has less than 50% health. She is great for finishing off tough bosses, and you’ll want her by your side when you’re fighting boss battles every month.
Petra has a speed growth of 60%, which means that she should be hitting enemies twice almost every single turn.
As an assassin, Petra will crit even more, especially with her 60% dexterity increase. Her crits will cause a lot of damage quickly, allowing you to clear a map fast.

5. Mercedes

Mercedes is a sweet character, just like the sweets she loves to bake and eat, and she will come in handy on your team. When you’re in a tough battle, you will need a healer. I cannot tell you how many times my characters have had low health, only for Mercedes to come in and save the day. Make Mercedes a Gremory, and you will not regret it.

She has a magic growth of 50% and a resistance growth of 45%, meaning she can take hefty hits without immediately abandoning the battlefield.
Her unique skill Live to Serve comes in handy. This heals her by however much she healed her allies for. This way, you don’t have to waste another turn using a vulnerary to heal Mercedes and instead can put her to work.
As a Gremory, Mercedes will be gifted with twice the amount of uses for all of her spells, meaning she will not run out before the battle ends! If you find your other characters catching a lot of damage, you’ll need this skill.

4. Sylvain

If you’re playing as female Byleth, run and recruit Sylvain right now! Sylvain’s love for all things women makes him incredibly easy to recruit. You might find him a little annoying because of that, but he’ll grow on you… If his power doesn’t sway you over first.

If you’re playing as male Byleth, don’t worry, you can still get him on your team. Instead, spam him with gifts, invite him to tea and lunch, and try to up your charm stat and reason skill. Once on your team, you won’t regret it.

I strongly recommend that instead of keeping him as a Paladin as so many characters end up being, change Sylvain to a Wyvern Lord. Instead of an axe, give him his lance. Just keep him away from bows!

Having Sylvain on your team gives you access to the powerful Heroes’ Relic, the Lance of Ruin.
Due to Sylvain’s Crest of Guatier, using the Lance of Ruin gives him the Combat Art Ruined Sky, which causes high damage to any enemy, particularly flying ones.
As a Wyvern Lord, he will have a speed increase of 60%, giving him a higher chance to strike enemies multiple times in one turn. With Sylvain on a wyvern, he will be able to fly around and cause a lot of damage!

3. Lysithea

Do NOT mistake Lysithea for a child—She makes sure to tell you that! Her insane power speaks for itself. This incredible power is best used if you make Lysithea your Warlock.

Lysithea’s unique ability Mastermind makes it so that she gains double the experience from combat, meaning she is going to level up really fast. She will be a strong unit only a few chapters into the game, making it easy to beat hard characters early on.
Her magic and dexterity growth are both a whopping 60% meaning that her spells will cause a lot of damage and she will crit a lot. However, Lyisthea is often called a “glass cannon,” meaning she can not take a lot of hits. Keep her out of trouble and she’ll serve you well!
She has a Crest of Gloucester, which will raise the damage of her magic attacks, making her an even stronger unit.
As a Warlock, her black magic damage increases and gives her access to new black magic skills.

2. Felix

Felix lives and breathes the sword, as he will tell you throughout the game. He is always training to make sure that he is the very best. His training is worth it, because I always recruit him. I cannot play this game without having him on my team! Put Felix into the Mortal Savant class to make use of his budding talent.

Felix has a magic growth rate of 30%, so it is worth keeping him in a class that can use magic. Felix’s budding talent gives him +10 Black Magic Crit.
He can use the spells Thoron and Thunder to cause a lot of critical damage.
Felix, in general, has a high critical rate. On your team, he will constantly be critting and killing enemies, just as he’s always dreamed.

1. Ferdinand

Ferdinand is often overlooked as a must-have on your team and he’s commonly used as a lance-user in the Cavalier class.

Personally, I have used him as a Wyvern Rider, a Sniper, a Dancer, and more. Every single time, he proves to be one of my best units. If you realize you’re missing any class on your team, recruit Ferdinand and he’ll do the job for you.

His special ability, Confidence’ increases his hit and avoid rates by 15 when he’s at max HP.
Ferdinand does not have any weaknesses, meaning he has a right to be so boastful! He can easily master any class.
Ferdinand has a strength growth of 45%, defense of 35%, and speed of 50%, meaning that he will cause a lot of damage as well as a good chance of avoiding hits. Combine that with his confidence, and he barely gets hit at all!
Ferdinand may come off as cocky, but he is a charming character. Watch his supports and see his character develop into a noble yet kind man.