Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Essential Tips On Classes, How To Change Them

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a long, involved game with multiple endings and seemingly endless permutations when it comes to your students' classes and the overall makeup of your battle party. Through a series of lectures and general support, you take your students and transform them into perfect killing machines (and a few perfect healing and support machines for good measure). Before you start each Sunday, you'll be given the chance to certify your students in a new unit class, provided they've met the requirements, and you'll want to start thinking early on about which classes you'd eventually like your best fighters to fit into.

You'll need Seals to do so, which can be found in battle or purchased from the item shop. You'll have a greater chance of passing a certification exam if your student has reached all the recommended skill thresholds listed. You can definitely still pass on lower percentages too, but it's worth noting that each unit can only take on exam per week.

It's also worth noting that there's value in sticking with a more basic class for a little while: Maxing out the experience of a certain class will earn you a class-specific ability which you can retain, even if you change to a different one. In a similar vein, you'll later find that some students will develop a personal, unique Combat Art when they master an Advanced class--one that will be available on top of the three Combat Art slots for each character--which is a pretty good reason not to push them any further into a Master Class just for the sake of it until you're sure they're ready.

To make sure you're working towards the right goals for each of your units, here are the thresholds and requirements for your convenience:

Beginner - Level 5 Requirement

• Myrmidon (Sword: D)
• Soldier (Lance: D)
• Fighter (Axe: D, Bow: D, Brawl: D)
• Monk (Reason: D, Faith: D)

Intermediate - Level 10 Requirement

• Mercenary (Sword: C)
• Thief (Sword: C)
• Armored Knight (Axe: C, Hvy Armor: D)
• Cavalier (Lance: C, Riding: D)
• Brigand (Axe: C)
• Archer (Bow: C)
• Brawler (Brawl: C) [Male Only]
• Mage (Reason: C)
• Dark Mage (Reason: C) [Male Only]
• Priest (Faith: C)
• Pegasus Knight (Lance: C, Flying: D) [Female Only]

Advanced - Level 20 Requirement

• Hero (Sword: B, Axe: C) [Male Only]
• Swordmaster (Sword: A)
• Assassin (Sword: B, Bow: C)
• Fortress Knight (Axe: B, Hvy Armor: B)
• Paladin (Lance: B, Riding: B)
• Wyvern Rider (Axe: B, Flying: C)
• Warrior (Axe: A)
• Sniper (Bow: A)
• Grappler (Brawl: A) [Male Only]
• Warlock (Reason: A)
• Dark Bishop (Reason: A) [Male Only]
• Bishop (Faith: A)

Master - Level 30 Requirement

• Falcon Knight (Sword: C, Lance: A, Flying: B+) [Female Only]
• Wyvern Lord (Lance: C, Axe: A, Flying: A)
• Mortal Savant (Sword: A, Reason: B+)
• Great Knight (Axe: B+, Hvy Armor: A, Riding: B+)
• Bow Knight (Lance: C, Bow: A, Riding: A)
• Dark Knight (Lance: C, Reason: B+, Riding: A)
• Holy Knight (Lance: C, Faith: B+, Riding: A)
• War Master (Axe: A, Brawl: A) [Male Only]
• Gremory (Reason: A, Faith: A) [Female Only]

For more in-game know-how, check our complete collection of essential advice and tips for Fire Emblem: Three Houses. It's a huge game, and after our multiple playthroughs, we have plenty of guidance we're dying to give you.

For a behind-the-scenes look at the game, read our interview with the directors of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, where they talk about the series' increasing popularity in the West, the dramatic changes they made to the combat system, and the refreshing new character designs.

In our Fire Emblem: Three Houses review, Kallie Plagge concluded: "When all was said and done, all I could think about was starting another playthrough… whether you're managing inventories or battlefields, it's the kind of game that's hard to put down, even when it's over."