As you start Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, you need to choose one of the three houses in the game, Black Eagles, Blue Lions or the Golden Deers. The route choice in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is important as it affects your storyline, and even though you will end up experiencing all the three storylines, your first playthrough is always special and you deserve to pick the best for your first run of the game.
This guide will help you familiarize yourself with the different routes you can follow in the story and which house is the best to choose in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes Routes / Paths
When choosing from the houses, you need to consider various aspects of the house, what characters they have, what abilities you will have access to make it through the game and if those abilities will work well against your enemies.
All the three houses have different abilities and qualities that make them useful in different aspects and weak in others. Though we fully recommend a well-balanced playthrough for the first time, some players may choose differently depending on their playstyles.
Following are the routes of all the three houses in FEW:3H.
Black Eagles Route/Path
The leader of the Black Eagles House is Edelgard, an Armored Lord. The class features powerful offense and strong magical powers. The house is well suited for players who prefer an aggressive playstyle and believe that a good offense is the best defense.
The house lacks in any particular defense and are extremely weak as a whole. The variety of units is lacking and you will often find yourself at a disadvantage against your enemies with high resistances for magic.
Black Eagle is the advanced house of the three. The house has powerful magicians and units focused mostly on ranged attacks. The house is the best for offense and has powerful attack capability.
Following are the units you get when you chose Black Eagles to experience the Scarlet Blaze Route/Path.
Edelgard (Leader) – Armored Lord
An Axe Wielding powerhouse who can imbue her attacks with fire with Solar Prominence.
Hubert – Mage
A Loyal follower of Edelgard and a powerful magician who can use dark magic, causing his enemies to impale them on dark spikes and then explode these spikes.
Dorothea – Mage
Dorothea is a commoner who uses her magic to both defend herself and heal her allies. She can spawn musical notes on the battlefield and use them to attack her enemies.
Ferdinand – Cavalier
He is a cavalier nobleman who is proficient with a lance. His ability allows him to increase his speed according to the hit counts.
Bernadetta – Archer
A gifted archer who can spawn an ice zone that increases critical hit range.
Caspar – Brigand
A justice seeker who can charge his attacks to increase both the range and damage of the attacks.
Petra – Thief
Heir to the thorn of Brigand and made a vassal to the Adrestian Empire, Petra can increase her dodge instances and each dodge causes a small amount of wind damage.
Lindhart – Mage
Another powerful but daydreaming magician who spawns two wind orbs every time you land a final regular attack.
Blue Lions Route/Path
The leader of Blue Lions is Dimitri, a High Lord. Blue Lions are the exact opposite of the Black Eagles. They are highly defensive units with high survivability. A lot of these can be evolved into Cavalry or Flies, allowing for high mobility.
Unfortunately, as appealing it sounds, Blue Lions lack any magical prowess. They have lower damage output as compared to other houses in the game and depend almost only on physical damage to make through the hordes of the enemies.
Blue Lions feature powerful defenses and use pure physical damage to clear out hordes of enemies in their path. The class is the most defensive of the all three houses.
Following are the units you get when you chose Blue Lions to experience the Azure Gleam Route/Path:
Dimitri (Leader) – High Lord
Dimitri is the crown prince on Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, wielding a lance and his Azure Lightning ability allows him to imbue his weapons with lightning.
Dedue – Armored Knight
Dimitri’s protector and his friend, Dedue can hold his attack, so they cause a small blast on impact.
Felix – Mercenary
The childhood friend of Dimitri, Felix’s ability allows him to dodge mid-attack whilst also increasing his movement speed.
Mercedes – Priest
A religious orphan, Mercedes uses her power to restore the health of others. Her ability allows her to restore the H of her allies gradually as she fills her gauge. Once the gauge fills, she launches a devastating attack that damages the enemies and further heals her allies.
Ashe – Archer
An orphan who turned to thieving to provide for his family, Ashe is a skilled archer whose ability allows him to target the ground and create a zone where the enemies get damaged from wind attacks.
Anette – Mage
She is the daughter of a disgraced knight of King Lampert. Anette’s ability allows her to provide buffs to herself and her allies.
Sylvian – Cavalier
A skilled Cavalier who can increase his speed according to the hit counts.
Ingrid – Pegasus Knight
Ingrid is striving her best to be the perfect knight in memory of her deceased fiancé. She can use Icy Plunge to make enemies explode and deal ice damage to the other surrounding enemies.
Golden Deer Route/Path
The Leader of Golden Deers is Claude, a Wyvern Master. Golden Deer house is the middle house and the most well-balanced choice of the three. The team is well diverse allowing you to counter almost any enemy you face and is featured with good mobility and damage and good overall defense.
As said, “Jack of all Trades, Master of None”, none of the Golden Deer units stand out in any way. You do not get high mobility, insane damage or superb defenses. You will trade supreme power for a variety of characters.
Since there are three houses to choose from in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, each of these houses have different routes with different characters and units to aid you in your journey.
A collection of fighters, Golden Deer house features a large variety of units, fit to engage in every situation. The house is well balanced and ready to face any enemy with any resistance.
Following are the units you get when you chose Golden Deer to experience the Golden Wildfire Route/Path:
Claude (Leader) – Wyvern Master
Claude is a skilled archer and wishes to unite all despite their ranks and races. He is a Wyvern Master and his Dustcloud ability allows him to imbue his attacks with Wind.
Lorenze – Cavalier
A true ladies’ man, Lorenz uses his ability to block enemies’ attacks, or draw them in to attack them if they are far away.
Hilde – Brigand
The right hand to Claude and a somewhat lazy person, Hilda can hold her attacks to increase the damage and imbue their lightning.
Rapheal – Brawler
A merchant’s son who became a knight, Rapheal can charge his attacks to deal higher damage.
Lysithea – Mage
A magical prodigy and youngest of the Golden Deer house, Lysithea makes her enemies explode when they are sent flying with any attack.
Ignatz – Archer
A merchant with skills for archery, Ignatz creates a zone that deals elemental damage to any enemy that walks through it.
Marianne – Priest
A young magical girl who was raised by her uncle and with a talent for magic, Marianne can rain ice attacks down after you achieve 300 hits.
Leonie – Cavalier
Leonie is a hunter-turned mercenary and is well versed with a lance. She will carefully study her enemy and increase her normal attack count by double.
Secret Route/Path
There is a rumor that there is a fourth secret route that you can follow in FEW: Three Hopes. However, this rumor is false and no fourth route has been discovered as of yet.
The main reason for this rumor is a small change in the story if you manage to recruit Byleth to your party, where Solon possesses you and your army, causing them to fight among themselves. This is a small mission that only triggers when you have Byleth in your party.
Though this mission can be triggered no matter which house you chose at the start of the game, this does not lead to another secret route in FEW: Three Hopes.
FEW: Three Hopes Best House to Start
After we have discussed what each house has to offer, now let us recommend the best house to choose from on your first journey in FEW:3H.
The best house to pick from the start is Golden Deer in our opinion. The main reason is that this is the most well-balanced house in the game. You get access to all types of units and this allows you to be prepared for any situation you find yourself in and fight any enemy you face, regardless of their resistance. The units of Golden Deer house also have good damage as well as good defenses making them adequate in fights.
The Leader of the Golden Deer House, Claude is a Wyvern Master and he is the only character that can use a bow and arrow whilst flying, making him the most unique character in the game.
