Fire Emblem: Three Houses – How to build a perfect Byleth

Byleth, like several Fire Emblem avatars before it, is extremely powerful since it can use whatever class he or she wants. What puts Byleth over the top is that due to the way classes work in Three Houses, Byleth can dip into classes for certain skills and then ditch them. This makes Byleth a blank canvas that players can build any way they want. That being said, there are certain skills that players should consider when building.

Which skills work best on Byleth in Fire Emblem: Three Houses?

Female Byleth > Male Byleth

Byleth honestly works well regardless of gender, but Female Byleth has a couple of advantages her male partner doesn't get in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The first is that they get a free Sylvain. If players choose the Black Eagles or Golden Deer, they can recruit Sylvain for free before the second mission. This is only if Byleth is female, though: Male Byleth needs to go through many more loops to recruit Sylvain.

The other advantage Female Byleth has is access to the Pegasus Knight and Falcon Knight classes. Pegasus Knight, in particular, is worth at least dipping into for Darting Blow, a skill that gives +6 Speed when the unit attacks. Byleth will definitely need this later in the game if she wants to his doubling thresholds (for Maddening, Byleth will need Darting Blow throughout the game).

Related: Fire Emblem Three Houses Unit Tier List (2023)

Make sure to train Axes early

There are many variants of Byleth that can work well, but most Byleth's builds will involve getting Death Blow. This skill gives +6 Attack when the unit initiates combat and the only way to get it is by going through the Brigand class. Whether Byleth is a Wyvern Lord, Falcon Knight, Brawler, War Master, or any other class, they will want this Attack buff.

Raise Sword level to at least A

Byleth gets a phenomenal weapon in the Sword of the Creator regardless of class. Players will definitely want to keep this weapon on them, even as they focus on other weapon types. It's always worth it at some point, though, to at least get Byleth to A Swords. This is where he or she will learn Windsweep.

This Combat Art can be very powerful. When used, Byleth won't take retaliation from enemies. This is essentially free chip damage on bosses and the tankier enemies in the game. Any players who have trouble with a certain old turtle near the end of the game (or Rhea on Silver Snow) will have a much easier time with Windsweep Byleth.

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