Fire Emblem: Three Houses - New Game Plus and Renown Guide

One of the key components to Fire Emblem: Three Houses is that the player gets to choose with House to join, which will significantly affect the storyline from there. So, in order to see all of what the game has to offer, you'll have to play through Fire Emblem: Three Houses more than once. It's a pretty long game, but Intelligent Systems implemented a New Game Plus mode to make those replays just a little easier for you.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses - What is Renown?

Before talking about New Game +, you need to understand Renown. Renown are points you can earn during the game through Quests and Battles. During your playthrough, you can spend this Renown at the cathedral Statues (starting in the 8th Month) to get various bonuses, such as +2 Skill points when instructing a certain skill, or EXP+10%. You won't be able to get all these Statue bonuses in one playthrough, but these are carried over for New Game Plus. (If you are familiar with the Tales series, you can kind of think of Renown as GRADE, and the statues as a sort of GRADE Shop.)

Once you clear your first storyline, you'll be asked to make a Cleared-Game Data in one of your save slots (the game also calls this an "End-game save" in places). Then, when you start about a New Game, you are asked if you want to load a Cleared-Game Data into your new file. Your Statue bonuses are maintained and any unspent Renown is returned to you.

Want more Fire Emblem: Three Houses help? Check out our full Fire Emblem: Three Houses guide and walkthrough, which ranges from beginners tips to advanced strategy. 

Fire Emblem: Three Houses New Game Plus Bonuses

Here's how the game itself describes New Game Plus

You can carry your end-game data over into a New Game +. End-game saves and New Game + saves are indicated with a Sothis Mark.

In New Game +, you retain your renown and hired battalions as well as your shop and saint-statue levels.

You can also use your journal to spend renown to unlock professor levels, support levels, skill levels, combat arts, and abilities gained from mastering class skills that you had unlocked in your cleared game-save.

Use the Unit Appearance option in your journal to choose your units' look from options such as their monastery uniforms or war attire. Profile portraits and voices will not change.

Additionally, you may receive items containing Crest powers based on the choices you made in your cleared-game save. Use you journal to spend renown to unlock an Crest items you do not already possess.

So the Statue bonuses you spent Renown on do not have to be purchased again in a New Game Plus. Secondly, shops will carry end-game items from the onset on your NG+ file.

But also importantly, in a New Game Plus file, a new Journal will show up in Byleth's quarters. In this new menu, you can spend Renown on Professor Level, Skill Levels, Support Levels, Class Masteries, and Crest items. With the exception of Crest items, these unlocks can only be purchased if you achieved them in your clear file.

Crests are a new item in New Game Plus files. You'll unlock a few automatically based on which route you cleared in your Cleared-Game Data, and the rest you can buy with Renown. The bonuses these items offer range from a variety of effects, such as occasionally preventing counter-attacks, or sometimes increasing Mt of your own attacks. These items sort of work like accessories, but do not have to be equipped in the accessory slot. As long as they are taking up a place in a unit's inventory, they should take effect.

Other Notes about New Game Plus

When checking the amiibo gazebo after NG+, there's a new option that lets you go to the Holy Tomb. You can pick even more random items here every week, and you can also speak with Sothis. The first time you do so will unlock Sothis Shield command for battle ."Once per battle, using Sothis Shield grants +7 resistance (Res) to all allies. The effect decreases each turn and ends after 3 turns." This option only appears if you've scanned at least one Fire Emblem series amiibo.

In a New Game Plus, you can change difficulty, Byleth's gender, and Classic/Casual modes.

For a third playthrough and further, it seems most New Game Plus bonuses will stack. For example, if you got your Axe Skill level to A in your First game, but never used Axe in your Second game (remained at E), you should still be able to buy Axe Skill of A in your Third game.

However, any renown you spend in a New Game + will NOT be returned to you, so spend it wisely if you are planning another go around. Also note you get 3000 Renown right at the end of the game.

The only exception we aren't sure about are Crest Items. It's not clear what specifically unlocks these items, or if they remain purchased in new files.