Just like with Three Houses, there are three different routes to choose from in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. There’s another interesting detail beyond that, however, as each route’s story can split depending on one key decision: whether or not you recruit the Three Houses protagonist Byleth. Despite being propped up as a villain early on in the new game, you can recruit Byleth. You’ll need to put in a bit of work to do so, however. Recruiting Byleth also means that you recruit Geralt, and doing so will also alter the final missions and ending of each route. The game warns you about the impact it has on the story when you reach the chapter where you can recruit Byleth, so here’s everything you need to know.
How to recruit Byleth in Golden Wildfire
Golden Wildfire is the easiest route to recruit Byleth, as you don’t have to unlock any specific strategies before the battle. The main battle of Chapter 10 is where you’ll recruit Byleth, and there’s also an option to recruit Yuri during this battle. There’s one step during this battle that can be a bit tricky as you need to quickly escort Claude and defeat enemies. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to try and fully charge Shez’s Warrior and Awakening gauges, so don’t use them up until that moment. Here are the steps you need to take during battle.
- Complete the main objectives by capturing strongholds and gathering info.
- As soon as Alois and Yuri pop up, defeat them immediately (or recruit Yuri if you chose that strategy). Make sure you get to Alois quickly, as he can escape and you’ll need to start over.
- Help Claude push the advance and capture strongholds.
- Byleth will appear and pursue Claude. Do not engage Byleth and help Claude escape to the point.
- Complete the rest of the mission without engaging Byleth.
If you’ve completed the battle without engaging Byleth in any way, you’ll be able to recruit them and Geralt. Byleth is easily one of the most powerful units in the entire game with the Divine Pulse special ability that lets you stop time and hack away at enemies. After you level up their starting class, you can use a Master Seal to unlock the unique “Enlightened One” class, which bumps up their power and combos even more.
How to recruit Byleth in Scarlet Blaze
Recruiting Byleth is a little more complicated in Scarlet Blaze, and the option will pop up in the main battle of Chapter 12. Before you hit that battle, however, you need to unlock the Resonant Lightning strategy in Menja territory. Just complete the battle in Menja then examine all the points and you’ll unlock it, then make sure to choose it at the start of the main battle. Here are the steps you need to take.
- Unlock Resonant Lightning and choose it at the start of the battle.
- When the option pops up activate Resonant Lightning during battle.
- Help the engineers and complete all of their side objectives.
- When Byleth appears, ignore the side objectives and defeat them.
- Finally, defeat Alois and Rodrigue to finish the battle and recruit Byleth and Geralt.
How to recruit Byleth in Azure Gleam
Azure Gleam presents the biggest challenge for recruiting Byleth, as there are a couple of specific steps you’ll need to take. The first thing you’ll need to do is unlock the Locate Ambushers strategy in Menja territory. Like with Black Eagles, conquer the territory and then examine all survey spots in order to unlock it. Here are the steps you’ll need to take in the main battle of Chapter 12.
- Unlock the Locate Ambushers strategy, then make sure to choose it at the start of battle.
- When prompted, activate Locate Ambushers.
- Don’t get spotted by any mercenaries while completing the objective. This is where things get tricky as even one of your units getting spotted will make you fail. Your best bet is to use All-Out Defensive on your main base, moving all of your units there while you control a single character. Follow the green arrows on the map to avoid the mercenaries and conquer any strongholds along your way. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when the main missions changes to “Defeat Fleche.”
- Another mission will pop up to defeat the mercenaries and stop them from infiltrating the allied base. Focus all your efforts on beating the mercenaries, then defeat Fleche after.
- Ignore Byleth and defeat Randolph before they reach him. Time is of the essence here, so go all out on Randolph. Once he’s defeated, you’ll recruit Byleth and Geralt.
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is currently available for Nintendo Switch.
