Fire Emblem: Three Houses's Maddening Mode provides even the most seasoned veterans to the series with rigorous difficulty. In the earliest stages of the difficulty, the majority of a player's units can't survive more than a single round of combat (if that), and every tactical decision a player makes can put a unit at the risk of death.
RELATED: Top Staff Users In Fire Emblem History
As Three Houses is among the most free-form entries in the Fire Emblem series, allowing players a sizable degree of freedom when it comes to training their units as they see fit, there are certain classes a player can use that can make the difficulty much more manageable.
Updated July 31, 2021 by Paul DiSalvo: Due to the high difficulty and unforgiving nature of Maddening Mode, nearly every choice a player makes can have an impact on their chance of success. While Three Houses offers players a substantial degree of freedom when choosing how to train and raise their various units, players are setting themselves up for disaster if they’re going to wing it rather than planning out their units classes in advance. Luckily there are useful classes for players to utilize in Maddening Mode at every stage of the game.
15 Paladin
One of the most integral elements of any Fire Emblem game is being able to flexibly and quickly maneuver units where they need to be through the use of high mobility. While the most optimal form of mobility comes in the form of flying, any type of mounted unit offers great movement for a given character. A powerful class that dates back to the earliest days of the series, Paladins are combatants on horseback that have incredibly well-rounded stats without any glaring weaknesses. While their mobility isn’t as impressive as that of a Wyvern Rider, these units don’t need to worry about weapons that can easily take out fliers.
14 Monk, Priest, And Bishop
When playing Maddening mode, it should be a given that one of a player’s key objectives it to keep their units alive against the hordes of overpowered foes the difficulty has to offer.
RELATED: Most Expensive Fire Emblem Games (And How Much They Cost)
One of the most reliable means of doing so is to utilize a Monk, Priest, or Bishop depending on where you are in the game. These classes naturally progress into each other and allow a unit to reliably access faith magic to heal other units and keep them in fighting shape while preparing a unit for the excellent Gremory class.
13 Trickster
Released as part of the Cindered Shadows DLC, the Trickster class offers a blend of support and offense, specializing in both swords and faith magic. While this blend of healing and offense is nice, by and large the biggest appeal of the Trickster class is its unique Foul Play ability. This ability allows the unit to exchange spots with another unit within five spaces, open the door for a variety of tactical maneuvers that wouldn’t otherwise be available.
12 Valkyrie
When Fire Emblem: Three Houses was first releases, one common critique of the game was its lack of a proper mounted magic class. Luckily, the Valkyrie class was added in the Cindered Shadows DLC. With the same stellar mobility as Paladins, this class can safely attack with magic from affar. Additionally, Valkyries provide themselves with a bit of extra utility, augmenting all of their spells to have an increased range of one space, allowed for more accessible long range healing and spell-sniping.
11 Dark Flier
No matter what game they appear in, Dark Fliers are one of the strongest classes in the Fire Emblem series. Mounted fliers with some of the best mobility in Three Houses, Dark Fliers blend flexible movement with flexible offense, allowing the best casters in the game to dish out heavy magical damage and then reposition themselves with Canto.
10 Brigand
While they may not seem too impressive at first glance, Brigand is an excellent early-game class that can help pave the way for powerful units later down the road. With an above-average strength growth, making a character a brigand will often allow them to deal more damage as they level up, all whilst working on increasing one's ability to wield weapons associated with other potent classes on this list such as War Master and Wyvern Lord. Mastering this class notably provides a character with the Death Blow ability which can greatly raise a character's offense, allowing a unit to more easily deal with the bulkiest foes in Maddening Mode.
9 Wyvern Riders
It's no secret that wyvern riders are an excellent class in the Fire Emblem series. With phenomenal mobility and access to the canto ability that allows them to use the remainder of their movement after either attacking or using an item, this class excels at maneuvering around the battlefield, flying over all terrain.
RELATED: Best Fire Emblem Games Of All Time (According To Metacritic)
While this class is vulnerable to bows, Three Houses' dismounting mechanic allows the class to remove its most glaring weakness. While there is still room for improvement as a character progresses, this class is quite optimal for the mid-game of Maddening Mode.
8 War Master
When it comes to raw damage output, few physical classes can compare to War Master. A Master Class exclusive to male units, War Masters have the incredible benefit of gaining a constant +20 to their critical chance, pairing well with their already excellent strength growths. While this class notably lacks a mount, detracting from its mobility, units that master this class gain the stellar Quick Riposte ability!
7 Sniper and Bow Knight
Enemies in Maddening Mode are able to dish out absurd amounts of damage that can quickly widdle down one's units' HP. One of the most surefire ways of preventing the death of a unit is to simply utilize ranged attacks. When it comes to ranged combat, the Sniper and Bow Knight Classes can't be matched. Sniper is a class that not only increases the range of a unit's bow attacks but when mastered, allows them to use the Hunter's Volley combat art. Once this skill is learned, progressing a unit into a Bow Knight is a no brainer, as the class totes even longer range with bows, improved mobility, and the ever-useful canto.
6 Gremory
While there are plenty of useful magic classes that players have access to in Three Houses, Gremory does what nearly all of these classes do but better.
RELATED: Top Magic Units In Fire Emblem History
While other magic classes are focused around either offensive or support magic, the Gremory wields both, doubling the amount of time each spell the unit knows can be used. This allows Gremories to flexibly heal one's units with spells such as Physic while dealing additional damage from afar.
5 Dancer
It's safe to say that Dancers are among the most valuable units available to players in any Fire Emblem game, and this is still the case in Maddening Mode. Rather than focusing on offensive capabilities, Dancers are able to dance for another unit, allowing it to move and attack a second time in a turn. This essentially allows Dancers to let a player's best units deal twice as much damage and cover twice as much ground.
4 Death Knight
Only available in the Crimson Flower Route on a single unit, the unique Death Knight class should not be under-valued. While Paladins are a great class in their own right, they lack a proper Master Class to progress into. However, the Death Knight class essentially fills this role. In addition to toting canto and lancefaire, once the class is mastered, it provides the unbelievably useful Counterattack ability. As a player only has access to a solitary Death Knight, one should get as much out of this excellent class as they can.
3 Great Lord
Great Lord is an exclusive class for Dimitri within the Azure Moon route, and it makes an already impressive unit all the more useful. Toting above-average movement, lancefaire, and charm, once this class is mastered, it provides Dimitri with the unique Paraselene combat art that provides additional mobility options. Between the solid mobility, offensive support in lancefaire, and the buff to hit and avoid through charm, it's not hard to see why many players keep Dimitri as a Great Lord once the class is unlocked.
2 Wyvern Lord
As far as universally available classes are concerned, it's hard to beat Wyvern Lord. Often lauded as the best class in all of Three Houses, this class is a strict upgrade from the already useful class, improving in nearly every category. Toting impressive offense, defense, and mobility, Wyvern Lords are the total package and as they aren't gender locked, can be accessed by every character in the game. It's not uncommon for a player to use a unit in maddening mode simply because they can quickly access this class due to their starting skill levels.
1 Barbarossa
Like the Dimitri-exclusive Great Lord class, the Barbarossa is a class that is only useable by Claude within the Verdant Wind route. As a class, Barbarossa ties together numerous elements of other potent and useful classes on this list. With the mobility of a Wyvern Lord, yet with range found within a bow-based class like sniper, Claude is capable of dealing absurd amounts of damage from afar. When paired with Claude's personal ability that allows him to move through enemy units, this unit can be wherever it's needed at a given moment to help deal with the terrors of Maddening Mode.
Next: Top Armored Units in Fire Emblem History
