Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Recommended Characters to Recruit

A list of recommended characters to recruit in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Included are unique features of each character and how to recruit them.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Walkthrough and Strategy Guide

Recommended Characters to Invite to your House

Here is our list of recommended characters to recruit for each respective houses in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Visit our recruitment guide to check the recruitment conditions of all characters, including the Garreg Mach Monastery professors and staff.

Guide on Recruiting Characters Guide on Increasing Byleth’s Stats and Skills

Black Eagles

When choosing the Black Eagles house, it is recommended to enhance your team with flying and heavily-armored units. An additional healer is also useful for providing more survivability in battle.

Character Notes Recruitment Conditions
Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Ingrid IconIngrid
  • Strengths: Swords, lances, riding, flying
  • No weaknesses
  • A well-rounded character that can easily be built up into a strong melee unit
  • The Lady Knight personal ability grants her increased might and hit rate when using a gambit

It is recommended to change Ingrid to a pegasus knight to fill the mobility role in the Black Eagles house. This allows you to focus train Petra as a powerful swordmaster.

Dexterity: 15 or higher

Flying: D or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

MercedesMercedes
  • Strengths: Reason, faith
  • Weaknesses: Swords, lances, axes, heavy armor
  • High initial magic and magic resistance
  • Support-focused unit with good survivability because of her Live to Serve personal ability (when healing an ally, grants Mercedes an equal amount of HP)
  • Mercedes can take the Priest/Bishop Holy Knight while Linhardt focusing on the Dark Mage/Dark Bishop/Dark Knight progression path.

Gives additional survivability to the Black Eagles house along with Dorothea.

Magic: 15 or higher

Bow: C or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

RaphaelRaphael
  • Strengths: Axes, brawling, heavy armor
  • Weaknesses: Bows, reason, riding
  • High initial strength and defense

A defense-focused unit that can compensate for the Black Eagles’ lack of a dedicated tank character aside from Edelgard.

Strength: 20 or higher

Heavy Armor: C or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

LysitheaLysithea
  • Strengths: Reason, Faith, and Authority
  • Weaknesses: Sword, Lance, Axe, and Heavy Armor
  • Strictly a magic-focused character outside of triggering her budding talent for swords
  • Gains 2x skill experience in battle from her Genius personal ability, allowing her to quickly become a strong mage early on.
Magic: 15 or higher

Faith: B or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

Can also be recruited post-time skip if Byleth chooses to spare her in a mission battle.

Blue Lions

Additional back line characters should complement the Blue Lions’ abundance in powerful front-liners. Characters who are naturally good at white magic, black magic, and bows are preferred.

Character Notes Recruitment Conditions
MarianneMarianne
  • Strengths: Swords, faith, riding, flying
  • Weaknesses: Brawling, heavy armor

The Animal Friend personal ability works exceptionally well with the Blue Lions as there are many mounted units in your team

Magic: 10 or higher

Riding: C or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

Linhardt
  • Strengths: Reason, Faith
  • Weaknesses: Axes, Brawl

Can fill the dark mage role in the Blue Lions, as well as a secondary healer.

Magic: 10 or higher

Reason: C or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

LeonieLeonie
  • Strengths: Lances, bows, riding
  • Weaknesses: None
  • A well-rounded character with high strength, dexterity, and speed.
  • Suffers from low initial magic resistance.
  • The Rivalry personal ability synergizes very well with male characters to grant her increased attack and defense. Works well with Sylvain who has the same ability toward females.

Grants an additional ranged attacker like Ashe for the Blue Lions.

Strength: 15 or higher

Lance: C or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

LysitheaLysithea
  • Strengths: Reason, Faith, and Authority
  • Weaknesses: Sword, Lance, Axe, and Heavy Armor
  • Strictly a magic-focused character outside of triggering her budding talent for swords
  • Gains 2x skill experience in battle from her Genius personal ability, allowing her to quickly become a strong mage early on.
Magic: 15 or higher

Faith: B or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

Golden Deer

The Golden Deer’s roster should be enhanced with more offensive units. Healers should also be recruited to more easily manage the team’s HP.

Character Notes Recruitment Conditions
PetraPetra
  • Strengths: Swords, axes, bows, flying
  • Weaknesses: Reason, faith, authority
  • A very flexible spread of proficiencies makes it easy to build her up as any melee or ranged unit
  • High strength and speed
  • The Hunter’s Boon personal ability gives her a boost in critical chance against enemies at half health or less. This makes her a good finisher.

An excellent offensive character that provides additional damage potential for the Golden Deer.

Dexterity: 10 or higher

Riding: C or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

Linhardt
  • Strengths: Reason, faith
  • Weaknesses: Axes, brawling

Can fill the dark mage/dark bishop role in the Golden Deer, as well as a secondary healer.

Magic: 10 or higher

Reason: C or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Ingrid IconIngrid
  • Strengths: Swords, lances, riding, flying
  • No weaknesses
  • A well-rounded character that can easily be built up into a strong melee unit
  • The Lady Knight personal ability grants her increased might and hit rate when using a gambit

Grants the Golden Deer an additional flying unit like Claude since Marianne is best built up as a healer.

Dexterity: 15 or higher

Flying: D or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

Sylvain
  • Strengths: Lances, axes, riding
  • Weaknesses: Bows
  • A well-rounded character like Ingrid with slightly more strength, but less magic, dexterity, magic resistance, and charisma.
  • The Philanderer personal ability synergizes very well with female characters to grant him increased attack and defense. Works especially well with Leonie who has the same ability toward males.

Depending on how you build up Ignatz and Leonie, you might need an additional mounted unit which Sylvain can fill.

Charm: 25 or higher

Reason: C or higher

Recruitable immediately (if Female Byleth starting from Chapter 2 onwards)

Other Characters to Consider

Character Notes Recruitment Conditions
Ferdinand
  • Black Eagles House
  • Strengths: Sword, Lance, Axe, and Riding
  • No weaknesses
  • Very flexible spread of proficiencies makes it easy to build him up as any melee unit
  • Confidence gives increased hit and avoidance when at full health.
Dexterity: 10 or higher

Heavy Armor: C or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

Felix
  • Blue Lions House
  • Strengths: Swords, Bow, Brawl
  • Weaknesses: Reason, Authority
  • Mix of proficiencies allow him to be built up as a melee or ranged physical damage-dealer
  • The Lone Wolf personal ability grants him increased attack when not assigned a battalion or loses it, making him a strong attacker even early on.
Speed: 15 or higher

Sword: B+ or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

Ashe
  • Blue Lions House
  • Strengths: Bow, Axe, Lance (Budding Talent)
  • Weaknesses: Reason
  • A high utility and versatile character that can be built up as a melee or ranged physical unit in battle. His budding talent which requires a lance proficiency complements his progression path in becoming a Bow Knight.
  • Able to unlock chests and doors early in the battlefield due to his Lockpick personal ability. This increases storage space for your units as well as reducing the cost of buying chest and door keys.
Charm: 15 or higher

Lance: C or higher

Recruitable immediately (Chapter 2 onwards)

Other Strategy Guides

Useful Guides
How to Get Certification Exam Seals How to Get Dark Seals How to Recruit Other Characters
Recommended Classes Recommended Characters to Recruit Holidays and Special Events
Character Initial Stats Character Strengths and Weaknesses Character Interests/Likes/Dislikes
Lecture Room Advice Guide Advice Box Guide Close Allies List
Lost Item Guide Gift Guide Dining Hall Menu
Hero’s Relics and Sacred Weapons Forging Guide Messenger Owl’s Feathers
How to Defeat Demonic Beasts Training Grounds Tournaments How to Unlock Harder Difficulties

Fire Emblem: Three Houses Recommended Article List

▼Top Page Articles
Walkthroughs Characters Classes
Beginner Guides Strategy Guides Game Database
Best Characters Best Classes Professor Levels
Dialogue Choices Lecture Room Advice Box
Tea Party Topics Favorite Gifts Lost Items
▼Popular Guides
Recommended Classes Tea Party Topics Lysithea Tea Party Guide
Ingrid Tea Party Guide Marianne Tea Party Guide Dorothea Tea Party Guide
Claude Tea Party Guide Hilda Tea Party Guide Petra Tea Party Guide
 Shamir Tea Party Guide Dancer Class List of Characters
▼Popular Tea Party Guides
Lysithea von Ordelia Ingrid Brandol Galatea Marianne von Edmund
Dorothea Arnault Claude von Riegan Hilda Valentine Goneril
Petra Macneary Shamir Nevrand Flayn
Felix Fraldarius Bernadetta von Varley Leonie Pinelli

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11 Comments

  1. Why isn’t Lysithea a priority? Making her a dancer along w/ gremory w/ her sword ability + her just straight up evil magic makes her a force to be reckon w/ especially when I pushed mine to kill bosses and death knight. Straight out of the gate, when she learns her dark magic she just makes him and others into a cake walk. Not just that, she really makes your gameplay easier if you can save scum her stats correctly and pair w/ a healer adjundant. Had her solo Edelgard w/ the +2 magic range staff. Like literally, I only moved her and had the minimal amount of units available. While everyone chilled in the back, she just killed everything without needed massive heals.

  2. Ashe. Ashe is a priority recruit in Golden or Black IMHO because of Lockpick – not relying on the vagaries of Keys and having a dedicated unit that can still pick locks even if he’s promoted to Cavalry. In theory, with enough Keys Lyseth can do the same thing, but Lyseth has more important things to do on the battlefield.

    With his focus on Bows, the best probable promotion chain is probably to Bow Knight.

    • Hi Aaron! We’ve considered adding Ashe on the list due to your points since he is a highly versatile and high utility character. 🙂

    • Anyone who masters the thief class can have that ability, so the effort spent on Ashe could be better spent getting someone else, IMHO.

  3. Does anyone know if all party members you recruit prior to the timeskip permanent? Because I got Catherine, Cyril and Shamsir during the pre-timeskip on my first Golden Deer playthrough. I know I’ll find out myself eventually, just wondering.