There really are no overtly weak characters in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. No matter the strange stat distribution or poor selection of skills, it’s always possible to make use of even the weakest of characters. If anything this is even more true with the characters added in the Cindered Shadows DLC. Upon it’s completion the four stars of the show become available for recruitment, and in many ways they’re all very good choices, capable of joining any house and improving it. Suppose however, that you only have a few slots remaining and all of your archetypes are full, which should you choose? From a purely battle performance perspective, which of the four perform best? Join us below as we give you our take on their ranking, from worst to best.
4. Constance
First on our list is the spell slinging, personality splitting enigma that is Constance. She takes up the mantle of the Dark Flier during the DLC content, introducing players to this wonderful new class and it’s skill set. As a character she is certainly unusual, given that her rather polarising personality trait has her behave differently depending on her surroundings. As you might imagine she’s a magic user and compared to the other mage option in the DLC – Hapi – we consider Constance as the more ‘offensively’ oriented of the two.
In battle she’s somewhat similar to Lysithea; super squishy, yet capable of hitting very hard. This in itself isn’t a bad thing, not at all, but rather it’s her statistics that hold her back. Where the aforementioned Lysithea excels is that she can hit very hard and often more than once, thanks to her high speed growths. Unfortunately Constance doesn’t have this luxury, so on higher difficulties you’ll notice that she starts to fade as the game progresses. None of this means that she’s a terrible character, far from it in fact. Constance has access to some fantastic spells, including the legendary Bolting siege attack, but this too comes with a drawback: Terrible accuracy. All of this adds up to her battle performance equalling something similar to her personality; sometimes fantastic, sometimes terrible.
Character Highlights
- Great offensive spell selection, including the Bolting siege spell.
- Very high Magic growth means she’ll always hit hard.
- Poor speed growth means she’s unlikely to hit more than once on higher difficulties.
- Her personal skill is situational at best.
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3. Yuri
Next on our list is the sharp tongued, witted Yuri. Of the four characters available within the DLC, he has to be considered the ‘fast’ archetype, specialising in the quicker class roles available, whilst also steering the player away from the usual Wyvern route by heaving a weakness in Axe skill. Said archetype does mean that he’s not exactly going to be the most defensive of characters, but he makes up for this with a combination of incredible speed and a good deal of cunning.
On the battlefield he plays like a cross between a thief and a house leader. His speed growth ensures that he can take up almost any role and excel, but we found the most success making him a Sniper to really make use of his stats. Its unfortunate that his banes in Riding and Flight stop him from taking to the skies easily, but we get the sense that this was very much a deliberate decision by the developers. As such, he’s a tremendously fast unit that should be considered very useful, just not quite up there with the very best the DLC has to offer.
Character Highlights
- Very high speed growth, very likely to double no matter the difficulty level.
- Spell selection whilst not great, is still good enough for him to keep the Trickster class if you want.
- Outside of speed his stat growths are not great.
- Feels a bit like somebody cello taped Faith spells to Lyn.
2. Balthus
Regular readers may have seen Balthus already in our recommended recruits articles. There we recommended that he make the ideal replacement for those ‘tanky’ units that you might find in your House, like Raphael. In this regard he is just a straight upgrade, but this may not be immediately apparent upon his introduction. He initially joins the team as a War Monk, which is unfortunately a rather underwhelming class, which often sours the player against his value. Dig a little deeper however and you’ll discover one of the best bulky units in the game, capable of turning his hand to almost any melee class thanks to his diverse boon selection and balanced statistics.
At this point we would normally list out the best ways to build the character with reasoning as to why. With Balthus this is a little different – he has so many Boons that you’re going to struggle to find something he can’t do well. Pick any of the weapons on his list and he’ll likely out-damage almost any other member of your team. His statistics mean that he’ll consistently be relevant, mainly thanks to his bulk balancing out his lack of speed, and his personal skill combined with the brawling classes can make him into an absolute monster.
Character Highlights
- Huge amount of skill Boons means he’s super versatile.
- Well balanced statistics whilst being very tanky.
- Naturally performs very well when brawling, assisted by his personal skill.
- Doesn’t fall off in the late game, unlike other tank-ish units.
- Probably the best Great Knight in the game (with fists).
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1. Hapi
Finally our gaze falls upon the second of the spell caster types in the DLC: Hapi. Don’t worry, you’re not the only one that got a little confused by her ‘sigh’ quirk and it’s apparent monster magnetism, but taking some time to get to know her will reveal a fantastic character that performs incredibly in battle. That benign, plaintive face belies someone with tremendous magical power that is capable of improving any team she may join, and she introduces the fantastic Valkyrie class within the DLC.
In short, Hapi is a magical powerhouse in almost every sense of the word. She has access to some amazing spells within her Reason skill list, including the speed reducing Swarm and the tremendously powerful Hades. She even has access to the Death spell, which features an additional unit of range, ensuring Hapi can contribute no matter the current party formation. This is only half of the story however, because she also has access to the very best Faith spells in the game, including Physic and Warp, which brings her on par with the likes of Linhardt. She is a shoe in for the Gremory class which will double her magic uses, but she can also eventually become a fantastic Dark Knight, which further buffs her damage. Cap all of this off with a personal skill that increases damage to monsters and you have one of the best units in the game, and certainly the best available in the Cindered Shadows DLC.
Character Highlights
- Incredible spell selection in both Reason and Faith.
- The Above includes the 3-range Death spell and the map breaking Warp.
- Balanced statistics mean she’ll cope with any magic role.
- Personal skill is very useful when taking down monsters.
- Her Major Crest – Timotheos – occasionally returns spell uses.
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Categories: Fire Emblem: Three Houses