Unit Crests might seem like a new introduction to the Fire Emblem series with Three Houses, but such things have been around since the early years of the series, with similar effects being seen as far back as Genealogy of the Holy War. These runes or symbols are attached to select characters and have a percentage chance to activate, causing a myriad of beneficial combat effects when they do, and whilst the Holy Blood of said previous title only directly influenced growth rates, they too allowed the usage of key pieces of weaponry. Like most additions to the Fire Emblem arsenal however, not all Crests are created equal, and their relative power must surely be considered alongside their owners. That said, which of those featured in Three Houses truly stand out from the crowd and push their chosen units to the fore?
5. Crest of Indech
Occasionally allows weapon attacks to strike twice.
There are two things that you should know about us prior to giving you the details around this crest. Firstly, we’re not exactly huge fans of the characters that house the Indech crest; both are somewhat underwhelming when compared to the heavy hitters that exist in Three Houses and they’ll often be replaced by better options. Secondly, and key to why this Crest made our list in spite of our prior point, is that we really like getting additional free hits.
In truth both Bernadetta and Hanneman can be strong units, and whilst we’d argue that the former can be screwed over by the RNG gods, they’ll certainly perform well enough to push through Three Houses without too much issue. It’s unlikely that you’ll want to keep them in their base class types however, and this is where the strength of the Indech crest is shown; it’s not limited to combat arts, nor is it tailored for any particular class, so you can throw them into your favourite flying class and they’ll still see the benefit – even more so if they’re already hitting twice.
Crest Users
- Bernadetta – Minor (10% Activation Rate)
- Hanneman – Minor (10% Activation Rate)
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4. Crest of Gloucester
Occasionally raises Might during magic attacks.
Key when discussing the Crest of Gloucester is to make note of it’s owners. We are aware of course that one of the owners – Lorenz – is a rather mediocre unit. Actually let us rephrase that, Lorenz is a good unit that gets overshadowed by much better choices, and this is a trend that unfortunately continues when it comes to Crests – the ladies man of Golden Deer only gets a Minor version. That’s not bad by any means, though his statistics do push him towards a physical & magical hybrid class of sorts, limiting the 10% even further thanks to it only working on magic attacks.
The real main event here is the pocket rocket herself, Lysithea. Not only is the glass cannon of Golden Deer a tremendously powerful unit in her own right, but she’s also the owner of a Major Crest of Gloucester. As if she weren’t already powerful enough, she now has a significant chance to hit even harder than usual! Bear in mind that this girl can get an incredibly high magic stat and you have the recipe for an even more powerful mage!
Crest Users
- Lysithea – Major (20% Activation Rate)
- Lorenz – Minor (10% Activation Rate)
3. Crest of Aubin
Occasionally prevents enemy counterattacks when using a weapon.
We realise that it’s been one whole week since we wrote specifically about Yuri, but his personality and unique skill set always keeps us coming back for more. It should be worth noting at this point that Yuri is purposefully designed to work alone; his personal skill in particular rewards him for fighting alone. What better way then to augment his already quite significant skills than to give him a crest that’s able to nullify counters? Alone it might seem a little underwhelming, but considered alongside his skills as a whole it further enhances his performance. It extends his usefulness and yes, we’re not huge fans of RNG, but this particular one seems to fit just right.
Crest Users
- Yuri – Major (20% Activation Rate)
2. Crest of Flames
Occasionally restores HP equal to 30% of the damage dealt, and rarely raises attack Might and prevents counterattacks.
No doubt there will be a chorus of gasps and boos, or maybe we’re the only ones super passionate about ranking this kind of thing, but after a great deal of deliberation we’ve decided to rank the Crest of Flames second. We must first insist that this is a tremendously powerful Crest, one that belies a great deal of power and you’ll likely feel like you see it much more often than the 20% activation rate would suggest. It is all of these things and more, and it absolutely must be good because well… It’s always with you.
It’s this last point that really pushes it down to second place for us. You really don’t have a choice, you’re going to attack things with Byleth and indeed Edelgard should you choose her route(s), so you’re going to enjoy the benefits and perks of the crest regardless. The healing will come in handy at times, though probably slightly less than you’d like, and the increased Might and reduction of counters will likely surprise you from time to time, but they’re just an ever present part of your Three Houses experience. It’s already separate from the pack by dote of being on the main character, and we’re going to have to look a little further from home to find the truly remarkable choice…
Crest Users
- Byleth – Major (20% Activation Rate)
- Edelgard – Major (20% Activation Rate)
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1. Crest of Fraldarius
Sometimes raises Might when using a weapon.
If you have played your way through what has to be described as the objectively ‘best’ route of Three Houses – Blue Lions – then you’ll no doubt be familiar with Felix. Some of you may have even chosen to recruit the moody young lad over to the Black Eagles or Golden Deer. Either way, any player that has spent a reasonable amount of time with Felix will likely understand and agree with the following: Felix is an absolute beast. His stat growths, boons, personal skill and indeed Crest all combine to make him a veritable killing machine. Nothing compares to Felix and outside of the ‘lord’ units he stands alone as the most powerful party member possible, perhaps approached only by Leonie or Lysithea for pure power.
Thus the Crest of Fraldarius has two major benefits; it’s housed by one of the best units in the game, and it’s Major variant has an incredible 40% activation rate. So what happens when you take one of the fastest and strongest units in the game and give him an ability that increases his damage almost half the time? Well… It just makes him even better at destroying enemies in whichever class his has chosen to master. Yes, we can see the arguments that the Crest of Flames is better for a variety of reasons, and we’ll admit that just using Felix tends to drop the difficulty level alone, but for crying out loud it’s a 40% activation rate on an already tremendously powerful unit!
Want some more convincing? Give him a brawling class and some good fist weapons. Go on, we dare you.
Crest Users
- Felix – Major (40% Activation Rate)
- Rodrigue – Minor (20% Activation Rate)
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Categories: Fire Emblem: Three Houses