Welcome to Fire Emblem: Three Houses, a tactical RPG where you step into the shoes of a professor at the Officers Academy in Garreg Mach Monastery. You’ll spend your days teaching students, building relationships, and preparing them for the inevitable war that will engulf the continent of Fódlan. The moment-to-moment gameplay involves managing your time, choosing activities like lectures and training, and leading your chosen house – the Black Eagles, Blue Lions, or Golden Deer – through challenging turn-based battles.
This guide is your comprehensive companion to mastering all aspects of the game. We'll walk you through the main campaign, including specific chapters like 'Skirmish At Dawn' and 'The Magdred Ambush,' and even cover the Cindered Shadows DLC. Beyond the main story, we’ll detail how to effectively recruit students, manage weapons and skills, and navigate the day-to-day activities within the monastery to uncover every treasure and secret.
Walkthrough
Your expert guide to Fire Emblem: Three Houses! Get walkthroughs, battle strategies, and dialogue tips for the entire story mode and beyond on Hard difficulty.
Hey there! This section is gonna be your go-to for navigating the ins and outs of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Think of it as me, your experienced buddy, walking you through everything. We'll cover the main story, tackle tough battles, and even give you the lowdown on side quests. Plus, I'll help you with those tricky dialogue choices to get the best outcomes.
Now, a heads-up: I'm not going to list every single little item you find in chests or dropped by enemies. Honestly, most of them aren't super valuable unless they're special Hero's Relics or powerful unique weapons. You can totally check out the weapon list yourself to see what's worth grabbing. Treasure chests usually don't hide the good stuff, so don't stress too much about them.
Also, I'm focusing on the Hard difficulty for this walkthrough, as stats and skills can change a lot. But don't worry, the strategies here should still give you a solid foundation, even if you're playing on a different setting. You can always check enemy stats before a fight to prep.
Since Fire Emblem: Three Houses has different story paths, I'll split up the walkthroughs accordingly. Some parts will be repeated across routes, but I'll copy-paste them where needed to keep things consistent. Just remember, all these walkthroughs are based on Classic mode on Hard difficulty.
Ready to dive in? We'll be covering everything from the main story battles to those pesky side quests, making sure you're well-prepared for whatever the game throws at you. Let's get started!
- 1Previous: Introduction
- 2Next: Madness tips
Early game common route
Navigate the early game of Fire Emblem: Three Houses with this common route guide. Learn about difficulty settings, prologue choices, and Chapter 1 decisions to set you on the right path.
Before starting Fire Emblem: Three Houses, you'll choose between Normal and Hard difficulties, and Classic or Casual modes. Normal is for newcomers or those prioritizing story, while Hard offers more challenge. Difficulty can be lowered from Hard to Normal permanently, but not raised. Maddening difficulty, added in update 1.02, significantly increases enemy stats and skills, and makes bosses more aggressive. While Maddening doesn't impact most out-of-battle elements, completing it without NG+ alters the title screen and grants bonus renown. Skill acquisition is slower on Maddening, but battles feature more enemies. This walkthrough primarily covers Hard difficulty, with some Maddening battle tips where possible.
In Classic mode, fallen units are permanently lost (except for specific exceptions), and the protagonist's death results in a game over. Casual mode allows fallen units to return in the next battle, and a game over only occurs if all units are defeated. For new players, Casual and Normal are recommended to get acquainted with the game.
Prologue:
After the opening scenes, choose your protagonist's gender; this affects some support scenes and romance options. Your first dialogue choice, "I'm Mortal," is inconsequential. Your birthday choice is minor, granting a present from your chosen house leader on that day. Setting it to 4/30 ensures the earliest possible item receipt.
When speaking with an old man, choose any option for the first dialogue, then "Of course" to increase Support (affection). Use the tutorial battle to learn mechanics; press A on an empty field, select "Guide," and follow Jeralt's instructions until the enemy force is eliminated. Focus finishing blows on characters you wish to develop and manage weapon durability. The enemy leader yields more experience.
During this first battle, your protagonist's death means game over on Classic. You win by defeating the enemy commander. Jeralt will assist midway; try to secure kills yourself. Focusing kills on yourself and your intended house leader is recommended.
After the commander's defeat, a cutscene plays. Reply "Less than a child" and "Turn back the hands of time" to increase Support. The battle ends, and the MVP is the character with the most enemy kills. Save your game. In the next scene, choose "I'm a bandit" to increase Support with Alois. Later, answer "I didn't know he was a captain." You'll then choose one of three nations, which boosts Support with that house leader. This is not the house choice yet.
Chapter 1: 4/23
Following some scenes, you'll have more dialogue choices. For the third choice, answer "My name is...". When speaking to the two other professors, ask "You're a songstress?".
After the scenes, you can explore. Speak to Rhea to accept her quest. Interact with everyone who has a speech bubble on the minimap, including house members and the three house leaders. You can learn about their stats, personalities, and backgrounds to help decide on a house. Completing this quest returns you to Rhea, where you will choose your house. This decision significantly impacts your units, enemies, and the story's direction.
White clouds (Black Eagle Route)
Complete walkthrough for Fire Emblem: Three Houses' White Clouds (Black Eagle Route), covering exploration, side quests, mock battle strategy, and character interactions.
- 1April 26th: During the conversation with Hanneman, select the response "Do what you can to find out".
- 2April 27th: You gain access to the calendar and can explore. You can view house members' stats and info in the journal. Interacting with members of other houses is possible, and recruitment is available later with requirements. Explore the school and talk to characters with speech bubbles to improve support. Note that the list of interactable characters, their locations, and conversations change monthly.
- 3Go to the second floor, visit the library, and read books for world background.
- 4Accept the three side quests from Flayn, Dedue, and Sylvain.
- 5Dedue's Quest: Plant the seeds he gives you. Reward: Seeds and veggies.
- 6Flayn's Quest: Catch one fish using the bait she provides. This bait is reusable. Reward: Fish and bait (recommend saving).
- 7Sylvain's Quest: Go to the dining hall and share a meal, which costs activity points. Use "today's special" or the full menu with available ingredients.
- 8Meet Edelgard for a tutorial on free time activities.
- 9End free time after completing activities.
- 10April 30th: Ferdinand's Birthday. You can choose to give him flowers for 200g. Consider your finances. Tea time will be unlocked later.
- 11Mock Battle:
- 12Before the battle, answer "Leave it to me" in the preceding scene.
- 13Select your units and set up your battle formation.
- 14In the battle, defeat Ignautz (archer), Lorenz (lance user), and Ashe first.
- 15After defeating these three, enemy units will not advance until you approach them.
- 16Choose your approach:
- 17Option 1: Go after Claude and Hilda by moving around the barrier.
- 18Option 2: Go after Dimitri's group. This is recommended as it allows for easier unit picking and lower risk to your own units.
- 19Use your protagonist and Edelgard as vanguards against Dedue, who is a tough tank. Lean on magic and long-range attacks.
- Blue sparkling objects found during exploration can be items, quest-related items, or lost items. Some are books that increase Professor level experience. Refer to the "Exploring the monastery" section for item spawn details.
- Lost items can be given to specific characters. The table below lists characters with recruit options, choice-based dialogue, or who can receive lost items on this route.
- Activity points are limited but increase with Professor level.
- The Mock Battle is a practice battle where defeated units are not permanently lost, even in Classic mode. The number of units is limited for this battle.
Character Interactions and Lost Items (Black Eagle Route):
| No. | Character | Locations | Responses | Lost items |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lindhardt | Dormitory 1F | "Now I'm feeling sleepy too..." | N/A |
| 2 | Bernadetta | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 3 | Sylvain | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 4 | Leoni | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 5 | Seteth | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 6 | Petra | Dining hall | N/A | N/A |
| 7 | Felix | N/A | "I was hoping to spar with you." | N/A |
| 8 | Raphael | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 9 | Flayn | N/A | "That's a shame" | N/A |
| 10 | Marianne | Fishing pond | N/A | N/A |
| 11 | Ashe | Greenhouse | "You seem well informed on the subject." | N/A |
| 12 | Cyril | N/A | "Can't we talk just a little?" | N/A |
| 13 | Edelgard | Officer's academy | N/A | N/A |
| 14 | Hubert | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 15 | Ferdinand | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 16 | Dorothea | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 17 | Mercedes | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 18 | Ingrid | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 19 | Lorenz | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 20 | Ignautz | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 21 | Caspar | N/A | "Not a chance" | N/A |
| 22 | Lysithea | Reception hall | "You like reading?" | N/A |
| 23 | Annette | N/A | "Looking for Someone?" | N/A |
| 24 | Hanneman | Second Floor | N/A | N/A |
| 25 | Alois | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 26 | Manuela | N/A | N/A | N/A |
White Clouds (Blue lions route)
Walkthrough for Fire Emblem: Three Houses' White Clouds chapter on the Blue Lions route. Includes dialogue choices, side quests, free time activities, and mock battle strategy.
- 1April 26th: During the conversation with Hanneman, choose the response "Do what you can to find out".
- 2April 27th: The calendar becomes available, allowing exploration. You can view house members' stats and info. Interacting with members of other houses is possible, with recruitment options available later (refer to the recruitment guide for details).
- 3Explore the Monastery: Look for blue sparkling objects (items, quest items, lost items, books for Professor EXP). Refer to the "Exploring the monastery" section for item spawn details. Talk to characters with speech bubbles; some dialogue choices improve support.
- 4Side Quests: Accept three side quests from Flayn, Dedue, and Sylvain on the second floor library.
- 5Dedue's Quest: Plant the seeds he gives you. Reward: Seeds and veggies.
- 6Flayn's Quest: Catch one fish using the bait she provides. The bait is reusable this time. Reward: Fish and bait (save the bait for later).
- 7Sylvain's Quest: Share a meal in the dining hall, which costs activity points. Use "today's special" or ingredients from other quests.
- 8Dimitri's Tutorial: Meet Dimitri to receive a tutorial on free time activities.
- 9End Free Time: After completing activities, end free time.
- 10April 30th: Ferdinand's Birthday. You can choose to give him flowers for 200g. Tea time will be unlocked later.
- 11Mock Battle: Before the mission, answer "I'm looking forward to it".
- 12Battle Setup: Choose your units and battle setup. This is a practice battle, so defeated units are not permanently lost. Unit count is limited.
- 13Battle Strategy:
- 14Enemy units Ignautz, Lorenz, and Dorothea will advance initially. Lorenz (lance) and Ignautz (archer) are less aggressive, while Dorothea (mage) attacks when in range.
- 15After defeating these three, enemy units only move when you approach them.
- 16Option 1: Go after Claude by moving around the barrier to ambush him and Hilda.
- 17Option 2: Go after Edelgard's group. The Golden Deer will move towards them, and the Black Eagles will target you. This is generally the easier option for picking off units. Use the protagonist and Dimitri as the vanguard.
- Activity points are limited initially but increase with Professor level.
- Save Flayn's reusable bait for later use.
- Consider the protagonist and Dimitri as your front-line units for the mock battle.
- The mock battle is a good opportunity to learn the battle system.
- Completion of side quests yields seeds, veggies, fish, and bait.
- Mock battle completion provides experience and potentially other rewards depending on performance.
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