Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Massive Famitsu feature shares tons of new gameplay details

A massive wave of details on Fire Emblem: Three Houses has released today, courtesy of Famitsu. Before we get to all of that, let's take a look at the daily character profile. Today's tweets focus on Felix, who's voiced by Ryuuichi Hase.

Felix is the heir of a Duke of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, and Dimitri’s childhood friend (that he nicknamed “Boar”). He’s a rather sarcastic individual, and a lone wolf. Felix always makes sure to hone his skills with a sword, and when finds a strong opponent, he will reach out to challenge them.

Crests

- some of the characters received crests from their ancestors
- a crest can determine the standing of a family in society
- the crest from the ruling family of the Adrestian Empire has been handed down from generation to generation
- the crest was first given by the Church of Seiros
- sometimes crests are given to people with extraordinary physical and magical skills
- the protagonist has their own crest, but what it is remains a secret

Students’ crests and skills

- skills are a key element to the personality and growth of a given unit, and are divided into three main categories:

Personal skills: skills that are inherent to a given unit.
Class skills: skills that are inherent to a given class.
Technical skills: skills that are learned upon reaching a given level, and can be learned by almost any unit

Protagonist

A mercenary in exile. They show promise, and so become a teacher at the Officer’s Academy.

Personal Skill: Teacher’s Guidance. Gives 1.2x EXP bonus to yourself and any adjacent allies;
Crest: ??? Crest. A rather mysterious crest…

Edelgard

Leader of the Black Eagles house, and future empress of the Adrestia Empire.

Personal Skill: Emperor’s Lineage. Gives 1.2x EXP bonus to Edelgard;
Crest: Small Crest of Seiros. A small crest said to have been given by Seiros herself.

Dimitri

Leader of the Blue Lions house, and future King of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.

Personal Skill: Royal Lineage. Gives 1.2x EXP bonus to Dimitri;
Crest: Blaiddyd’s Small Crest. A small crest handed down within the Blaiddyd family.

Claude

Leader of the Golden Deer house, and future leader of the Leicester Alliance.

Personal Skill: Leader’s Lineage. Gives 1.2x EXP bonus to Claude;
Crest: Riegan’s Small Crest. A small crest handed down within the Riegan family.

- each unit can have up to 5 skills set up at any time
- you’re free to choose which ones depending on the role you’re giving them in your army, and your strategy
- at the game's start, you choose which class to teach from among the three classes at the Officer’s Academy
- each one has a diverse set of students enrolled, with radically different abilities

Hubert (voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi)

Description: He has served Edelgard since he was but a child, and he would do anything for her.
Personal Skill: Adviser. Gives Strategy Power +5

Dorothea (voiced by Juri Nagatsuma)

Description: She used to be a Diva before enrolling at the Officer’s Academy. She’s the only commoner in the Black Eagles house;
Personal Skill: Diva. Allows you to recover 10% of the maximum HP of any adjacent allies at the start of a turn.

Doudou (voiced by Hidenori Takahashi)

Description: He serves Dimitri, leader of the Blue Lions house. He looks like a tough guy, but he’s actually a prtty mild person;
Personal Skill: Lord’s Shield. Grants Defense +4 during one turn if units does nothing.

Felix (voiced by Yuuichi Hase)

Description: a childhoor friend of Dimitri’s, who calls him “Boar”. He’s training to hone his swordsmanship;
Personal Skill: Lone Wolf. If the Knights have not been deployed, or if their stregnth has reached 0, then grants Damage +5;
Crest: Faerghus’s crest.

Lorentz (voiced by Hiroshi Watanabe)

Description: he’s from a noble family. He’s tried to seduce many a women at the Officer’s Academy… fruitlessly.
Personal Skill: Prestigious Nobility. If Knights are deployed, grants Damage +2
Crest: Gröstal’s small crest.

Hilda (voiced by Yuuki Kawahara)

Description: a sweet and skilled young lady, the lone daughter of a Duke. Fond of fashionable and beautiful things.
Personal Skill: Scrounge. During battle, if adjacent to male units, ally units get Damage +3
Crest: Goneryl’s Small Crest.

New characters

Manuela (voiced by Sahicko Kojima). She’s both a teacher and a physician. She used to be the top Diva of an opera company.

Hanneman (voiced by Kenji Hamada). A teacher, and a scholar studying the power of the crests. He tends to get pretty enthusiastic when it comes to crests.

Battles

- units don’t get to fight on their own
- they instead get to lead a group of knights, and you get to see them take part in battle
- when Knights are deployed, the area a given unit can interact with changes
- to give orders to the Knights, you use a skill known as Command

Major Technical Skill: Command Lv. 1 – When using a strategem, gives Strategy Power +2
By raising the level of the Command skill, you can deploy stronger Knights in battle, but also learn various skills useful for strategems.

Gauntlet

Major Technical Skill: Martial Arts Lv. 1 – Grants Hit Rate +5, Avoid +7, Dodge +5
In this game, you can get hit twice by one attack. If the attack speed is 4 or higher than your opponent, then you can even hit them 4 times with a single attack. You cannot use Gauntlet with cavalry or Pegasus units.

- as you progress through the game, you will unlock the Knights Guild
- this is where you can hire Knights to use in battle
- if a unit takes damage, then the strength of the accompanying Knights decreases
- if it ends up reaching 0, the Knights will disappear, and you will no longer be able to use strategems with that unit
- once that happens, you can go hire more Knights at the Guild
- Knights can also get stronger by taking part in many battles
- at the Guild, you get a list of the various Knights you can hire
- here you will get info on their status, the stratagems available in battle, and more
- it costs a fair amount of money to hire Knights, but replacing units that fell in battle costs a lot less
- Strategems can be used by the units commanding the Knights
- Strategems can be for both attacking and support
- those used for attacking cannot be counterattacked, and you can even attack multiple enemies at once
- you can only use them a limited number of times per battle

All Out Attack: the name implies, it involves all the Knights attacking the enemy at once. This stratagem also inflicts “Unrest” on the enemy (-10% on all abilities, cannot move, nullifies stats increases, and prevents the enemy from using strategems).

Godspeed Preparation: during the turn it’s used in, grants movement +5. If multiples allies are gathered, then they all benefit from it. You can use this stratagem to speed up even infantry units with slow movements (armoured units, for example)

Total Attraction: a strategem to be used on enemies in adjacent spaces. It basically forces them to move close to you, which is really useful to lure them out. This can be used in many ways, such as forcing the enemy to move into unfavorable terrain, or out of favourable terain instead. You can also use it to move enemies away from a key point on the map.

Classes

Mercenary: great power and speed. Favours skills related to the sword and axe

Cavalier: a balanced unit that excels at Hit and Away tactics

Class Skill: Repositioning. If unit has movement power left after taking an action, then unit can use it keep moving after taking it

Brigand: they have high amount of HP and attack power. Great with axes and the Gauntlet

Fist Fighter: a male-only Class. Specialised in attacking enemies quickly with the Gauntlet

Class Skill: Barehanded Fighting. Allows unit to attack even when not equipped with weapon

Mage: can use magic, which is really effective against enemies with high defense

Class Skill: Fire. If a unit has already learned it, you can double the number of times it can use it

Dark Mage: a male-only Class. Unit needs to pass the Dark Magic exam first

Class Skill: Miasma. If a unit has already learned it, you can double the number of times it can use it

Class Skill: Curse. If there are enemies in adjacent spaces, they get hit with Avoid -20

Officer’s Academy parts

- at the academy, you can interact with the students, teach them to improve their abilities, and more
- utilize a calendar system where you can see what you have planned for each given day
- the Fodlan calendar has 12 months, an each month corresponds to a chapter in the story
- teaching involves enhancing the skills of your students
- you can let the game do that automatically for you, or go about it manually
- you need to strengthen the bond between teacher and students
- you can only teach a limited number of students per week
- leveling up your teaching allows you to spend more time teaching
- a face icon will show you the level of motivation of a student
- the more motivated they are, the longer they can be taught individually, leading to further growth than normal
- raising your teaching level also increases the number of actions you can perform
- to raise it, you can teach students, talk to them, go on walks together, and more
- when talking with your students, you will sometimes be asked questions from students seeking advice/help
- when teaching students individually, you can see have them learn specific skills
- you can also have the students equip stronger weapons
- the type of weapon used does not change even if a student changes Class
- teaching can have 4 different types of outcomes, and the experience gained changes depending on the one you get
- the outcome also has an impact on the motivation of a student
- you can set Goals to your students
- this allows you to improve up to 2 skills per week by having the student study on their own
- students will come up with skills to study on their own, but it’s still up to you to decide on which one they should focus
- improving skills is key to passing exams, and changing a Class
- you can either focus on specific skills to have specialized units, or instead treat all skills equally to end up with all-rounder units
- students get group assignments on a weekly basis
- when one is completed, the skill corresponding to the task will be strengthened, and the bond between the students rises
- you can also get various rewards depending on how well the task was completed
- group assignments include the following:

taking care of the stables
weeding
security

- the results of a group assignment will depend on the student’s affinity for it, but also its pros and cons
- the stronger the bond between students, the stronger they will perform on the battlefield.
- each student have fields they’re good in, and those they’re especially poor in
- skills from the latter are indicated via a star in the menu
- if you actually focus your teaching on those, your students will overcome their shortcomings
- doing so will not only allow them to master those skills, but also learn new ones and new techniques
- Skills students are poor with are indicated with 3 empty stars in the menu
- as you keep teaching, those stars will fill up, and when all three are complete, the skill has been mastered

Church of Seiros

- a religion deeply rooted in the Fodlan continent
- it was established by Seiros, a Goddess who is said to have defeated the Liberating King during the Heroes War
- she was involved with the creation of the Adrestia Empire
- both the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance have gained independence from the Adrestia Empire
- thanks in great part to the Church of Seiros, the continent is now at peace with the three powers kept in check
- many of the nobles are said to be descendents of people who fought in the Heroes War
- they have crests as proof of their lineage
- those are passed down from generation to generation, but simply being born in the right family doesn’t guarantee you get one
- there’s two types of crests: large and small ones
- the larger one carry more “weight” and power than the small ones
- the closer you are to descendants of the Heroes, the more likely you are to end up with a large crest.
- there will be times when a child is born with a large crest, out of the blue, though nobody really knows why