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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Class: Great Knight -> Guardian Knight

Weapon type: Axe

Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries

How to unlock: Finish Chapter 2.

Cordelia

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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

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Class: Lord -> Great Lord

Weapon type: Sword

Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries

How to unlock: Finish Chapter 5.

Robin

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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

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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

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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

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Class: Archer -> Sniper

Weapon type: Bow

Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries

How to unlock: Finish Chapter 7.

Elise

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Class: Troubador -> Strategist

Weapon type: Magic

Healing item: Can equip Staves or Rods in addition to Vulneraries

How to unlock: Finish Chapter 9.

Camilla

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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

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Class: Dark Knight -> Chaos Knight

Weapon type: Magic

Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries

How to unlock: Finish Chapter 10.

Ryoma

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Class: Swordmaster -> High Prince (Hoshido King in Japanese)

Weapon type: Sword

Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries

How to unlock: Finish Chapter 13.

Xander

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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

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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

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Class: Lord -> Lodestar

Weapon type: Sword

Healing item: Can only equip Vulneraries

How to unlock: Finish Chapter 14.

Caeda

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.