More so than any other in Three Houses, the Black Eagles need some good recruits. Where the Blue Lions and Golden Deer have powerhouses in a variety of roles, Edelgard and her group seem a little thrown together, the team filled with unusual growths and strange spell selections that leave it feeling a little unbalanced. Three Houses is nothing if not malleable however, so there are plenty of recruitment choices with which to bolster your ranks. That being the case, who should you grab? Which units make the most sense for the Black Eagles? If you’re struggling to settle on a selection of recruits, check out the following 5 sure fire hits.
Recruit #5: Felix
If you have played Three Houses even slightly, you’ll understand that the three house leaders – Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude – are just about the three strongest characters available, alongside Byleth. When it comes to the students, they’re mostly tailored to certain classes through their stats, destined for specific roles rather than the world beaters that lead them. There are exceptions to this rule however. Or rather, there is one exception to this rule: Felix.
Pierce the veil that is his moody character and you’ll find an absolute monster of a unit. His speed, strength and dexterity can each be surpassed by other units in their chosen roles, but Felix excels in all of these at the same time. He’ll hit very hard, more than once, and is likely to critical hit more often than not. These stats mean he can turn his hand to any class you would like. Make him an Assassin and he’ll double critical everything with a bow or a sword, equally with an Axe on a Wyvern, or with fists weapons as a Grappler. Nothing will stop him demolishing any opponent you put in front of him. Recruiting him can feel a bit like a cheat code, but on higher difficulty levels we’ll take every advantage we can get, and so should you.
Black Eagles Benefits
- Ultimate combination of speed and strength available in Three Houses.
- Will excel as any physical class.
- Recruiting Felix will free up Petra to be used as an Archer or Flyer.
- Operates well just behind Edelgard and Ferdinand, near the front lines.
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Recruit #4: Lysithea
It’s a strange position that the Black Eagles find themselves in, at least when it comes to magic users. Take Hubert for example; his statistics are very good and his basic spell selection isn’t bad, especially with the debuffs, but he he’s very limited in the late game thanks to poor Faith spell selection and limited class options. How about Dorothea then? Well, she does have a better selection of skills, especially the Meteor siege tome, and she can take up a good master class, but her growths aren’t great and she’ll often fall behind other options later on. We’re not saying both of these options are weak, but they’re hardly the world beaters you want.
Enter the glass cannon herself, Lysithea. She is the answer to all of your caster based requirements in any house, but more so in Black Eagles than any other. Not only does she have a fantastic selection of attacking skills, lacking only a siege tome, but she’ll also gain access to the Warp spell through Faith training. In the early to mid game she’ll be a powerhouse damage dealer, and by the late game she’ll be a one stop shop for everything damage and healing related.
Black Eagles Benefits
- Huge magical stat confers massive damage.
- Damage potential will put Dorothea and even Hubert to shame.
- Fantastic spell selection, can either replace or work alongside both mages and healers in the Black Eagles.
Recruit #3: Balthus
If you have paid any attention to the other houses, you’ll have no doubt noticed something missing from the Black Eagles: The Tank. By this we mean a dedicated defensive unit, destined to become your Armour Knight, that most slowest of classes. One play through of the DLC provides the reason for this, since your Edelgard there is locked into the very same class herself, but unless your name is Hector we’re damned sure not wasting our super powerful Lord type on such a poor class, so we’re left with a gap. Dedue cannot be recruit, and Raphael is hilariously bad in some key growth areas, so who’s left to take up the thick, defensive role?
Enter Balthus, the thickest of lads, ideally positioned to choke the deadliest of entrances. It’s hard to state just how good he is, suffice to say that he’s a flat upgrade on any other ‘beefy’ character that exists in the game, and he’ll even give your very best units a run for their money. He has proficiency in a huge amount of skills, heavy armour included, yet he has the statistics to become just about anything you could want. Grab him early for his defensive prowess, then pivot him into a late game War Master for massive damage.
Black Eagles Benefits
- Likely the best purely defensive unit in Three Houses.
- Black Eagles do not have ‘canon’ tank unit, rather expecting players to use Edelgard in this role. Using Balthus will free her up to use better classes for her.
- Still capable of great damage, despite being defensively positioned.
- Much better growths than the defensive options from other houses.
- Makes for an amazing fist user, eclipsing the Black Eagles canon unit for this role, Caspar.
Recruit #2: Ingrid
We should preface our discussions around Ingrid with the fact that we really prefer to keep Petra in a foot locked role for the majority of the game. Admittedly, we will sometimes push her into a flying role towards the end game, but for the majority she’ll be pushing through Assassin and Swordmaster. That being said, there really isn’t an ideal option for another physical flying unit in the Black Eagles. Oh sure, you could go for Bernadetta in this role, or even Edelgard herself, but if previous Fire Emblem games have taught us anything it’s that you can never have too many flying units.
Enter Ingrid then, one of the best Pegasus/Falcon Knight options in the game. Naysayers will point to her low strength and middling growth, but to dismiss her out of hand for this reason would be a mistake. She has incredibly speed and dexterity growths, which will combine with class growths to ensure that she can double pretty much any enemy in the game, no matter the difficulty. She also has a huge resistance growth, meaning her stats and class combination will make her the ideal mage slayer.
Black Eagles Benefits
- Huge speed growth will see her deal damage no matter what class she occupies.
- Ingrid is an ideal flying unit, freeing up the likes of Petra to go down other routes.
- Often outperforms Bernadetta in the canon archer role, despite her advantages.
- Will remove groups of mages in short order, without issue.
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Recruit #1: Leonie
It’s hard to overstate just how good Leonie is, suffice to say that if you’re not with the Golden Deer house, you really must recruit her. She’s a character that is very much in the vein of the old high performing Cavaliers from Fire Emblem of old – think Abel or Franz – only… Better. Not only does she have the strength and defence to deal with being on the front lines, but she has the speed and skills to eliminate most enemies in a single round. In fact, the only real issue we’ve had with her previously is getting her going in the early game. Once she does however, you’ll be in possession of a unit on par with Felix in terms of sheer enemy slaying power.
Why recruit her to Edelgard’s house then? Well, we can’t say that she’s offering something new here, after all Ferdinand and Petra can probably cover every physical requirement between them. What we can say however, is that she’ll probably outperform both of them, no matter the role. Some like to turn her into a flying unit, which she’ll excel at, and others enjoy pushing her down the archery tree, which she’ll also excel at. Hell she can even turn into a tank should you wish. Regardless, Leonie is a character that manages to combine the benefits of others in this list, into one slick, high performing package. Yes, she does mention Jeralt at the end of every paragraph, but that’s what the start button is for, right?
Black Eagles Benefits
- A great front line unit operating alongside Edelgard and Ferdinand.
- Outside of the lords, she’s the best mounted unit option available.
- Leonie is just a physical monster that you should have in any house. No matter the class, she’ll destroy enemy units and her growths will keep her going throughout.
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Categories: Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Ranked
*Sees Leonie at #1*
Ahhh….a man of culture here. She’s the beast of the game and I often ditch Bernie the moment I get Leonie into the Black Eagles
Hi Ethan,
Too true! I was initially put off by the sheer amount of Jeralt, but her stats just go crazy no matter what role she takes. Fave has to be the archer route – others can get stat screwed a bit in the late game but Leonie just never quits!