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.