Fire Emblem Warriors Character Guide: how to unlock all the best characters, plus class and weapon information
Like any hack-and-slash musou style game, Fire Emblem Warriors is very much about your choice in character. There's a wide range of classic Fire Emblem heroes to choose from, and while you might be tempted to gravitate towards the most iconic hero from your favorite Fire Emblem game that's featured in Warriors, each character actually has their own unique strengths, weaknesses, class, weapon type and play style.
Which character is the best is a difficult question, and that's one you can really only answer: the best character for you in Fire Emblem Warriors is based largely on what sort of play style you want to go for - though you'll want to have a few characters you're proficient with and happy to use in order to fully engage with the weapon triangle system that adds a pleasing tactical layer to the game and helped it to score strongly in our Fire Emblem Warriors review. Some characters learn some of the best skills in the game before others, so unlocking the right character can help there, too.
Don't forget, too, that there's a range of Fire Emblem Warriors DLC - including nine new characters - on the way.
In order to truly make an informed decision you'll want to try each and every character out, but most of them start out locked away in Fire Emblem Warriors until you complete certain conditions. On this page we're going to detail those conditions - so let's get to it! Be aware, of course, that the character list contains spoilers in the form of playable character names and the chapters or conditions when they're unlocked.
Rowan
Class: Lord -> Great Lord
Weapon type: Sword
Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries
How to unlock: If you pick Rowan at the beginning of the game, he will be your starting character. Otherwise, he will be available after you've finished Chapter 5.
Lianna
Class: Lord -> Great Lord
Weapon type: Sword
Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries
How to unlock: If you pick Lianna at the beginning of the game, she will be your starting character. Otherwise, she will be available after you've finished Chapter 5.
Lissa
Class: Cleric -> War Cleric
Weapon type: Axe
Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries
How to unlock: You will get to start controlling her in the middle of Chapter 2.
Chrom
Class: Lord -> Great Lord
Weapon type: Sword
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: You will get to start controlling him in the middle of Chapter 2.
Frederick
Class: Great Knight -> Guardian Knight
Weapon type: Axe
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: Finish Chapter 2.
Cordelia
Class: Pegasus Knight -> Falcon Knight
Weapon type: Lance
Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries
How to unlock: Finish Chapter 4.
Lucina
Class: Lord -> Great Lord
Weapon type: Sword
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: Finish Chapter 5.
Robin
Class: Tactician -> Grandmaster
Weapon type: Magic
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: You will get the male version as default after finishing Chapter 5. To unlock the female version, clear the Invisible Ties map in History Mode (which is unlocked after finishing the same chapter), and she can be accessed from Robin's costume selection screen.
Sakura
Class: Shrine Maiden -> Priestess
Weapon type: Bow
Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries
How to unlock: Finish Chapter 6.
Hinoka
Class: Sky Knight -> Falcon Knight
Weapon type: Lance
Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries
How to unlock: She will come together with Sakura after finishing Chapter 6.
Takumi
Class: Archer -> Sniper
Weapon type: Bow
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: Finish Chapter 7.
Elise
Class: Troubador -> Strategist
Weapon type: Magic
Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries
How to unlock: Finish Chapter 9.
Camilla
Class: Malig Knight -> Malig Lord
Weapon type: Axe
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: She will come together with Elise after finishing Chapter 9.
Leo
Class: Dark Knight -> Chaos Knight
Weapon type: Magic
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: Finish Chapter 10.
Ryoma
Class: Swordmaster -> High Prince (Hoshido King in Japanese)
Weapon type: Sword
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: Finish Chapter 13.
Xander
Class: Paladin -> Crown Prince (Nohr King in Japanese)
Weapon type: Sword
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: He will come together with Ryoma after finishing Chapter 13.
Corrin
Class: (Female) Nohr Princess -> Nohr Noble / (Male) Nohr Prince -> Hoshido Noble
Weapon type: Sword
Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries (also applies to female Corrin regardless of her promoted class)
How to unlock: You will get the female version as default after finishing Chapter 13. To unlock the male version, clear the Ties That Bind map in History Mode (which is unlocked after finishing the same chapter), and he can be accessed from Corrin's costume selection screen.
Marth
Class: Lord -> Lodestar
Weapon type: Sword
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: Finish Chapter 14.
Caeda
Class: Pegasus Knight -> Falcon Knight
Weapon type: Lance
Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries
How to unlock: She will come together with Marth after finishing Chapter 14.
Tiki
Class: Manakete -> Divine Dragon
Weapon type: Dragonstone
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: She will come together with Marth and Caeda after finishing Chapter 14.
Lyn
Class: Lord -> Blade Lord
Weapon type: Sword
Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries
How to unlock: Finish the Lady of Caelin map in History mode (which is unlocked after finishing the Final Chapter in storyline)
Celica
Class: Priestess -> Princess
Weapon type: Sword
Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries
How to unlock: Finish the Together to the End map in History mode (which is unlocked after finishing the Final Chapter in storyline)
Anna
Class: Trickster -> Master Dealer
Weapon type: Bow
Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries
How to unlock: Anna is perhaps the most difficult character to unlock in the base game. First of all, you will need to complete an illustration by collecting Anna's Memories throughout stages. Once done, a bonus stage with Anna's sprite will appear in the corresponding History Mode map. Beat the new stage to finally unlock Anna, but be advised that the stages are very difficult with all enemy officers at around Lv80.
Finally, you may notice some characters that appear only as ally or enemy NPCs such as Darios, Owain, Oboro, Niles, and Navarre, as well as the enemy sorcerers Validar, Iago, and Gharnef. Currently, there are no known ways to unlock them as playable characters, so we are assuming that they would be made playable at a later time with update patches or DLCs.