The time has finally come for me to finish talking about the children of Fire Emblem Fates. Previously, I’ve done the kids that appear inall three versions(and their parents) and the children ofBirthright/Revelation(and their parents). Now, we’ll talk about the kids that appear exclusively in Conquest/Revelation (because of course all the unique kids from the Birthright and Conquest versions appear together in Revelation). There’s also a guide for the parents of Conquest. To start off today, we’re going to talk about something that I’m not super proficient at but that some folks consider to be pretty important: stat maxing.
GETTING THE BEST STATS FOR YOUR KIDS
For a lot of players of Fates, the marriage system is a fun way to pair different characters together and see what their relationships would be like. People have specific couples that they ship and probably at least one “waifu” that they prefer for themselves (and whatever the male equivalent of that is). But there are some people who want to use the power of eugenics to pair together the ideal parents in order to breed the ultimate armor of Nohrian or Hoshidan child warriors. If that’s the kind of thing you’re into, there are a few tricks you can use to achieve the best possible stats.
First of all, every character has a set of unique maximum stat bonuses. Normally, your maximum stats are decided by the class of your character. So all sorcerers would have the same max stats, all berserkers would have the same max stats, etc. However, each character modifies these numbers in different ways. For example, Xander can have +2 maximum in Strength and Luck and +1 maximum in Defense, but -1 in all other stats. If stat maxing is really what you’re into, I recommend you use a website such as Serenes Forest to get these numbers – you’re not just gonna stumble upon them as a normal part of gameplay. Anyway, when you marry two characters together and they have a kid, the child’s maximum stat adjustments are a combination of the parents and then +1. So for the best bonuses for your kids, you’ll want to pair parents that have similar bonuses. For Xander, someone like Effie or Charlotte that increases Strength would be a great choice. This means that Siegbert will have a whopping +6 adjustment to his maximum strength, making him significantly more powerful than typical members of the same class.
The next thing you have to look at are growth rates. Growth rates represent the likelihood that a stat will go up when you level up. Kids’ growth rates are based on their own base rate averaged with their mother’s growth rates. To continue with the above example, Xander’s growth rates don’t matter to Siegbert, but his mother’s do. Effie and Charlotte both give us the Strength boost we want in stat maximums, but what about with growth rates? Turns out that Charlotte has a significant lead in Health growths – 30% more than Effie – but Effie has anywhere from 5%-15% better growths in every other stat across the board (except Magic, where they both have 0). Since Siegbert has balanced rates across the board, Effie will help him out more than Charlotte, who brings him down in a lot of his stats. Now growth rates are not necessarily as important as maximum stats – with enough leveling up, eventually a guy with a 20% Strength growth will hit the same cap as the guy with a 60% Strength growth – but it does matter in that it controls how quickly you reach your stat caps. This is particularly important in Conquest, where you cannot grind for XP and levels the way you can in Birthright or Revelation.
When we talked about Seals last time, there’s one Seal I left out: the Eternity Seal. I did that because this particular item isn’t related to class changing. Instead, it allows your character to continue leveling up beyond the maximum, increasing their level cap by 5. Now this doesn’t increase your maximum stats, but it gives you more opportunities to reach those stats. Using the Siegbert example above, perhaps you get him to level 20 of his promoted class and he still hasn’t maxed out that massive strength. In that case, an Eternity Seal gives him 5 more levels to get those missing points. When maxing out your characters, you’ll want to use Eternity Seals to your advantage.
Also helpful to the stat maxing endeavor are the stat-increasing items. You know the ones: stuff like Goddess Icons, Energy Drops, Dracoshields, and Speedwings – these items give a small increase to one stat. They don’t allow you to go beyond your maximum, but they help you to get there faster if you’re having a little bit of trouble.
If all of this seems like unnecessary work to you, worry not – for the typical person playing on standard difficulty, stat maxing need not cross your mind. Particularly if you are playing in Phoenix or Casual mode. However, if this does interest you, then know that you can work towards having the ultimate stats regardless of what mode you’re in. It’s just easier or harder depending on your difficulty. In Casual and Phoenix modes, take advantage of Battle Saving to get better level up bonuses – save just before combat and if someone only has one or two stats that increase when they level up, reset until you get a better outcome from the level up.
The next section will give specific details about kids from Nohr. If you’re looking for a specific one, just bust out the CTRL + F shortcut to search for the child’s name – or the father’s name, if you don’t know who the child is yet. After each child’s name I’ll list their parent, starting class, personal skill, and then go into more detail about how to recruit and use each character.
SIEGBERT
Parent: Xander
Class: Cavalier
Skill: Gallant – When supporting an ally, if the lead unit is female, she deals +2 damage
Siegbert is the diligent son of Xander, the crown prince of Nohr. His formal education and extensive training don’t help him feel like he lives up to his father’s potential, but he’s a cool guy. You can recruit him from paralogue 15 just by playing it – he’s on your team as soon as the first turn starts.
Siegbert has the kind of personal skill that I really like – straightforward and easy to take advantage of. Anytime a female ally needs a little boost in power, just pair her with this guy and put him in the back. And if she ever gets to the point where she’s in pretty rough shape, putting Siegbert in the lead is usually a pretty safe bet – he’s a tough guy.
Because of the way that inheritance works in Fates, Siegbert has the exact same class combination as his father (plus one extra from his mother). This means that if you’re willing to invest the time, Siegbert could actually learn any of his father’s skills on his own instead of inheriting them. That means that if you want Xander to pass down something unique, you’ll need the help of a Partner or Friendship Seal. Since his potential friends are Kaze, Laslow, and Leo, they all have unique skills they can hand over. If you’re gonna go this route, I particularly recommend Leo’s Lifetaker – it’s an awesome skill that works well on an offensive unit like Siegbert. Of course, in Conquest version you may not have time to invest all that energy into a character, in which case it’ll be way easier to just pass down a skill from one of Xander’s natural classes so that Siegbert doesn’t have to change to it. The Malig Knight’s Trample skill is a good option, as it increases Siegbert’s damage by 5 against unmounted units. Combine that with his natural strength and he’ll be doing tons of damage to enemies without mounts. You could also just pass down something like Luna or Armored Blow from the Great Knight line.
When it comes to mothers, you probably want to pass down skills based on whether you’re going with a more offensive or defensive strategy with Siegbert. If you plan to make him a Great Knight (and therefore a defensive role), consider something like the Pavise skill from Effie or Draconic Hex from the Avatar. The former will reduce damage he takes from melee weapons such as sword, lances, and axes, while the latter will reduce all enemy stats by 4 if they survive combat with Siegbert. For an offensive strategy, consider Lifetaker or Vengeance from Nyx – the first heals 50% HP if you trigger a battle and defeat the opponent, while the second has a Skill x1.5 chance of adding your sustained damage to your attack power. Since Siegbert is a beast in melee and is consequently a target for ranged attackers, you might consider getting Tomebreaker from Felicia, Bowbreaker from Nyx’s Sorceress class, or Shurikenbreaker from Selena’s Bow Knight class. These skills raise Avoid against the specified weapon by 50, making it much harder for these ranged attackers to land their blows. It also increases Siegbert’s accuracy against them by 50. Finally, Siegbert’s balanced growth rates and access to the Paladin class make him a really good candidate to scoop up Aptitude from Mozu, which will make his level-ups a lot more likely to enhance his overall ability dramatically.
Siegbert’s balanced stats make him quite suitable for the Paladin class, but he also functions very well as a Great Knight. At lower difficulties, even with the lower speed cap he will still be fast enough to double attack quite a few enemy types, and the greater strength and defense make him more physically imposing. Whichever path you choose, you’ll want to scoop up skills from the other – Aegis is a great defensive ability that the Great Knight really appreciates, while Armored Blow and Luna make the Paladin more viable offensively. Siegbert is a great unit that I highly recommend you take advantage of.
FORREST
Parent: Leo
Class: Troubadour
Skill: Fierce Counter – When a male enemy initiates combat, this unit deals +2 damage
Forrest is a fashionable young man who loves to sew his own clothes.His father is a bit humiliated by this, but Forrest is a strong young man who doesn’t take any crap from people who reinforce archaic gender stereotypes. Forrest is recruited in paralogue 16, which you have to beat before he’ll be able to join your party.
Forrest’s personal skill is interesting. It requires him to be the victim of an enemy attack, something you ordinarily don’t want him to do because he’s not particularly sturdy. However, it’s a good skill when it does activate, as most enemy randoms are male by default. This means that pretty much any time you get caught off guard and Forrest gets attacked, he’ll be attacking back with some extra force. While this skill isn’t one that you’ll want to adapt your strategy to, it’s still useful when circ*mstances force you to capitalize on it.
Like with Xander and Siegbert above, Forrest and Leo share the same class selection. This can ordinarily be a pain, but Leo has one of the best skills in the entire game – Lifetaker. Hand that down to Forrest and you’ll be healing 50% HP every time you initiate battle and finish the job. This is a great way for Forrest to heal himself if he ends up taking physical damage, and trust me when I say that he has the offensive presence to take advantage of it. If you want to let Forrest get that skill for himself, a Friendship Seal could help you scoop up stuff like Vantage or Astra (from Odin), Armored Blow (from Xander), or Shurikenbreaker (from Niles). Vantage in particular combines well with Fierce Counter, as it allows Forrest to attack enemies first even when they initiate combat and deal extra damage when he does so (as long as the enemy is male and Forrest is under 50% HP).
So let’s talk about mamas. One good choice for Forrest is Selena, as she can pass down Shurikenbreaker from her Bow Knight class. Ninja are very common enemies in Conquest – Hoshido is full of them and they are a serious problem in battle. They are particularly problematic for magic users like Forrest because they have high resistance, their shuriken deal physical damage, and they have weapon advantage over tomes. Shurikenbreaker helps to take the edge off of that, giving Forrest +50 to both Hit and Avoid against those pesky ninja. Scooping up Armored Blow from Peri’s Great Knight class could be valuable, as it increases Forrest’s physical defense when he is initiating combat. Azura’s Voice of Peace compliment’s the Strategist class (which is absolutely what you want to make Forrest, by the way), while Felicia’s Live to Serve functions well on any healer.
As I just mentioned, you want Forrest to be a Strategist. You’ve already got plenty of options for the Maid/Butler class (Felicia, Jakob, and Flora in Conquest version), and the Strategist class has incredibly powerful magic, making it more offensively viable than the Butler. It’ll be a pain training up Forrest’s weapon level, but the good news is that he’s got so much power that even weak tomes will tear enemies up. In my play experience, Forrest has regularly been in my top magicians, competing even against the more offensively-oriented sorcerers. Add to that the fact that Forrest can serve in a healer role whenever needed, and you’ve got a fantastic unit who is absolutely worth using.
IGNATIUS
Parent: Benny
Class: Knight
Skill: Guarded Bravery – If this unit is the lead unit, damage taken -2. If unsupported, damage taken +2
Ignatius is the cowardly son of Benny. He wants to be brave, but is often hampered by his many phobias. He joins you in paralogue 17 when you speak to him with his father, Benny.
Ignatius has the kind of personal skill that you’d better use or else. If he’s not paired up, he takes 2 extra damage from every attack. This makes it a lot more difficult for him to fulfill his role of a physical wall. Luckily, when he is paired up, he takes 2 less damage from all attacks, making him even more viable. Just make sure he’s always got someone behind him and you’ll be fine.
Benny and Ignatius share classes, so this is yet another situation where Friendship Seals will be necessary to pass down skills that the child can’t learn himself. Benny can be friends with Keaton or Arthur, the former giving him the Outlaw class (since Wolfskin can’t be copied) and the latter giving him the Cavalier class (since Benny’s secondary class is fighter). This means he can pass down skills like Pass or Shurikenbreaker from Keaton, or Aegis from Arthur. You could also just use Benny to pass down some skills that you don’t want Ignatius to bother learning himself, something like Pavise, Armored Blow, Sol, or Axefaire.
When it comes to mothers, Ignatius needs someone brave enough to smash the bugs that fill him with fear. But in all seriousness, here are some suggestions. Seal skills are great on Wall characters, so the Avatar’s Draconic Hex would be pretty cool here. Nyx can pass down Seal Magic from her Dark Knight class, although that Seal skill is pretty situational. Selena or Charlotte can pass down Sol from their Hero class, a great move for restoring HP during combat. Or you could pass down Axebreaker to protect Ignatius against the one weapon heavy enough to dent his armor, giving him Hit and Avoid +50 against axes. Similarly, having Felicia pass down Tomebreaker could protect him against magical enemies that otherwise mess up Ignatius pretty badly. Scooping up Warding Blow from Selene’s Falcon Knight class pairs really well with Armored Blow, giving you a total of 10 reduced physical damage and 20 reduced magical damage.
Ignatius, as a General, has a class that functions well in environments suited to it and poorly in environments that aren’t. In the case of Conquest, you spend a lot of the latter parts of the game in large, open areas where you need to make your way across the battlefield. That certainly isn’t a great environment for Generals, and in these cases Ignatius will probably be more helpful to you as a Great Knight. Statistically, Generals have better defenses and strength, but way less maneuverability. It’s up to you whether you emphasize power or transportation.
VELOURIA
Parent: Keaton
Class: Wolfskin
Skill: Scavenge – At start of turn, this unit has Luck% chance to recover 10% HP
Velouria is a fuzzy ball of contradictions – on the one hand, she’s a lone wolf with a healthy distrust for everyone around her. On the other hand, she’s a puppy dog sniffing everything in sight. She joins you in paralogue 18 – once you get to the central part of the map, she automatically appears as a blue unit.
Her personal skill is alright, I guess. 10% HP recovery is never a big number, and on top of that you have to hope that it activates based on her luck. When you compound that with the fact that her Wolfssegner class gets a better start-of-turn healing ability with a more reliable activation rate, Scavenge seems pretty unhelpful. However, it’s not like it hurts you to have it around, either. While this personal skill can’t exactly be trusted to come through when you need it, it’ll be kind of helpful from time to time.
This is another case where you’re going to want the father to pass down skills from a class you don’t want the child to train in, or otherwise use a Friendship Seal to expand your options. With Benny you can pick up stuff like Pavise, Luna, or Armored Blow, while Arthur can offer the latter two while also giving you the option for Aegis. Then there’s Laslow, whose Sol ability would be pretty cool on Velouria. Of course, Keaton can learn Sol for himself if you use a Heart Seal, so that one may not be worth the effort. I definitely recommend Armored Blow, Aegis, or Sol, as they all function really well on Velouria.
From mothers, you have a few more options. Picking up Warding Blow from Selena’s Falcon Knight class is always helpful – reducing magic damage by 20 is awesome for physical units. As always, Nyx’s Lifetaker skill is a great choice. Velouria is another character where Mozu’s Aptitude could be particularly helpful. Draconic Hex from the Avatar wouldn’t be bad either, although Velouria rarely leaves survivors.
Honestly, I think the Wolfssegner is an incredible class. The high strength and defense makes them incredibly imposing, and when you add a very solid speed stat as well, Velouria has the ability to tear through most enemies with ease. With the Wolfssegner Better Odds skill equipped, she heals 40% of her HP every odd-numbered turn, making her an excellent Wall – again, assuming she isn’t just killing everything. Velouria has been one of my most powerful units each time I let her loose, and I definitely recommend using her.
PERCY
Parent: Arthur
Class: Wyvern Rider
Skill: Fortunate Son – Allies within two spaces gain Dodge+15; this unit gains Dodge+5
Percy is, in my opinion, a case of great design but poor execution. I’ve never really liked him, which is odd because his father is one of my favorite characters (at least when it comes to personality). Anyway, that’s all my personal opinion. It is fact that Percy is recruited in paralogue 19 and that you need to defeat him in combat to beat the paralogue and recruit him.
Fortunate Son is a great and valuable skill. Trust me when I say that there is nothing more frustrating than having a 4% Crit from a bad guy ruin your day. I’ve had it happen multiple times, and Percy is a great way to keep those sorts of shenanigans from happening.
For the first and only time on this list, we have a character whose father can pass down unique skills without having to rely on a Friendship Seal to do so! Arthur has access to the cavalier class, which Percy does not. This means that you could have Arthur pass down something like Aegis, Luna, or Armored Blow just by using a simple Heart Seal (and a Master Seal, of course). Of course, if you don’t want to bother training Percy as a Berserker, passing down Axefaire is an absolutely incredible choice that’ll increase Percy’s offensive capabilities quite a bit.
Mother options for Percy will probably depend a lot on the role you choose for him. He has some potential as Aura support, flying in for the first strike and then giving passive bonuses to other units that come in. For that role, having Elise pass down Inspiration, Selena pass down Amaterasu, or Azura pass down Voice of Peace would be a good idea. If you want to go offensive, you could have Charlotte pass down Sol or Axefaire (and you can always get the other from Arthur). Defensively, having Nyx pass down Bowbreaker would be very helpful for protecting the airborne Percy from enemy archers.
Despite my dislike of Percy, he’s actually a really solid unit. The fact that he naturally has access to Axefaire and Swordbreaker is pretty awesome, and when you combine that with some good parenting, Percy’s skill selection is fantastic. He naturally protects your party from crits, which is definitely a valuable role to play. His skill options and his versatility make him a great unit to have around.
OPHELIA
Parent: Odin
Class: Dark Mage
Skill: Bibliophile – If unit is holding at least three tomes/scrolls, Crit+10
Most of the time, it frustrates me in Fire Emblem when a child character is exactly like their parent. In Ophelia’s case, it’s just freaking awesome. Just as obsessed as her father with playing the role of a chosen hero, this girl loves to name all of her weapons, special moves, and pretty much anything else she can find to name. She joins you automatically at the very beginning of paralogue 20.
Ophelia has one of my absolute favorite personal skills. Giving her three different kinds of magical weapons is easy – I mean, most of your units are probably carrying multiple weapons, right? With Ophelia, you can take that and use it to your advantage, multiplying your chances for a critical hit and making her way more dangerous.
Ophelia has the same class selection as her father Odin, but that’s honestly not a reason to complain. Unlike with most of the examples above, Odin and Ophelia have a massive skill selection from their various classes, and it’ll probably be a good idea to pass one of them down. I personally recommend Lifetaker from the Dark Knight class, or Astra from the Swordmaster class. Both are quite powerful in their own way, and it’d very likely be a pain to get Ophelia to learn both of them without inheritance.
When it comes to mothers, Ophelia benefits a lot from those that can offer her defensive skills. Shurikenbreaker from Selena’s Bow Knight class is particularly good, since ninja pose a serious threat to magical units. Of course, getting Tomebreaker from Felicia could make Ophelia a capable mage killer. Scooping up Pavise from Effie protects Ophelia from melee attacks, against which she is ordinarily oh-so-squishy. Charlotte could give you the Gamble skill, which will amplify Ophelia’s high crit rate at the expense of some accuracy.
I recommend the Sorcerer class for Ophelia (once you’ve scooped up Lifetaker from the Dark Knight path). Sorcerers are the leading name in magical offense, and they are unique in their ability to equip S-level tomes, the strongest that there are. Their only flaw in my book is that they don’t get Tomefaire, which you have to inherit onto Ophelia by choosing Diviner as the Avatar’s talent and then changing her to an Onmyoji, or by marrying Orochi on the Revelation path.
SOLEIL
Parent: Laslow
Class: Mercenary
Skill: Sisterhood – When this unit is the lead unit and the support unit is female, damage +2 and damage taken -2
Like father, like daughter. Soleil is more interested in wooing the ladies than defeating bad guys – unless of course defeating bad guys will woo the ladies. She’s recruited in paralogue 21, a mazelike battlefield where you have to speak to Soleil with Laslow to recruit her.
Soleil has a really nice personal skill; just pair her with a lady to increase both her offensive and defensive power! Nowthis won’t help you much when you’re trying to get her married, as male characters don’t provide the boost. But whenever you need Soleil to have a little extra oomph, just put a woman behind her and watch her power increase.
Aaaaand now we’re back to the whole “let’s all have the same skills as our parents” situation. Soleil and Laslow can switch freely between the mercenary and ninja classes. If you wanted to pass down a strong ninja ability (something like Lethality or Replicate), you could always have Laslow be a ninja so that Soleil never has to mess with it. If you take the Friendship Seal path, though, your options suddenly get way more interesting. With Xander, you can get the cavalier class and pick up stuff like Armored Blow, Aegis, or Luna. With Odin you can access the dark mage class to pass down Lifetaker or Vengeance. With Keaton, you can access the fighter class to scoop up Axefaire and make Soleil more dangerous as a Hero.
When it comes to mothers, Selena can pass down the ever-helpful Warding Blow. Because Soleil works best as a hero and that class has pretty balanced stats, she’s a good candidate for picking up Aptitude from Mozu. A lot of the abilities you can get from Laslow via Friendship Seal are available through mothers instead – Peri can net you Aegis, Armored Blow, or Luna; Nyx can pass down Vengeance or Lifetaker; and Charlotte can pass down Axefaire. I personally recommend trying to get Luna or Vengeance – the mercenary/hero classes tend to suffer when it comes to killing potential, so an offensive ability would really help Soleil to be more deadly. Of course, you could work with her lack of killing power and give her Sealing abilities, like the Avatar’s Draconic Hex.
I always, always, always recommend Hero over the Bow Knight class. Rally Skill is probably one of the most useless Rally abilities (next to Rally Luck), and Shurikenbreaker is equally functional on both classes. While I did just mention that heroes can be lacking in offensive potential, they certainly possess more of it than bow knights. And bows are a pretty terrible weapon on any class that doesn’t specialize in them; they lack hitting power and leave their wielder really vulnerable. So make Soleil a Hero and equip her either with some offensive skills to offset her low damage, or some Seal/Poison skills to make her more of a chipping role.
NINA
Parent: Niles
Class: Outlaw
Skill: Daydream – When standing next to two male allies paired together, damage +2 and damage taken -2
“Does that say-?” Yep. Nina’s into some weird stuff. But let’s stop kink-shaming and focus on her other qualities. Nina is a Robin Hood character who wants to steal from the dirty rich folk and give to the innocent poor. Her father isn’t a fan of this, as he envisioned a life for his daughter that did not involve stealing. You recruit Nina in paralogue 22 by defeating her and her crew before she escapes the map.
Her Daydream skill may seem a little odd, but it’s useful when you have an opportunity to activate it. Whether Nina is the lead unit in a pair or she’s by herself, the ability still works, and the damage bonus she gets from standing next to paired males makes her a little more deadly. It’s a little tough to activate if you, like me, tend to have opposite genders paired together in order to marry people off, but there’s no real harm when it doesn’t work and a decent amount of benefit when it does. I just wish it was a little stronger than Soleil’s, since Soleil’s condition is a lot easier to activate. But whatever.
Naturally we can’t finish off this list with a parent and child that have different skills. Nina and Niles both can be an Outlaw or a Dark Mage, which means that they naturally have access to the wonderful Lifetaker skill, as well as Vengeance. If you decide to use Friendship Seals to change things up a little, Odin is a great option because you can scoop up Astra to increase Nina’s offensive presence. From Leo, you can access abilities such as Inspiration, Live to Serve, and Tomebreaker, and the latter two work particularly well on Nina. Then there’s Arthur…Sol could be good, or maybe Gamble, since the extra Crit will be useful and Nina will generally be accurate enough that -10 Hit won’t hurt her all that much.
When it comes to mothers, you can scoop up some of the skills I mentioned above. Elise or Felicia can pass down Inspiration, Live to Serve, or Tomebreaker. You can scoop up Lifetaker from Nyx. I definitely recommend Lifetaker because, as a thief, it’ll be a useful technique for Nina when she’s away from the rest of the party. If you make her an adventurer and start to use her in a more supportive role, Live to Serve gives you a nice recovery option. Having Charlotte pass down Sol can be helpful for the same reason as Lifetaker.
I fully recommend the Adventurer class for Nina, as it greatly enhances her ability to sneak off and steal things while also increasing her versatility. She may suffer in Strength a bit compared to the Bow Knight, but she’ll make up for that with enough of a Magic stat to effectively use the Shining Bow, a weapon that deals magical damage and as a result further increases her versatility. Nina is great at her job, and you’ll definitely want her around any time there is looting involved.
FINALLY! IT’S OVER! I’ve now finished all three children guides for Fire Emblem Fates. If you need to see one of the other two, just click on the Fire Emblem Fates Guides category over on the sidebar and it’ll take you to a page where they’re all conveniently grouped together. I’m probably gonna take a week or so to break from doing this sort of thing, but in the near future I will be doing guides for the adult characters. I hope you found this helpful, and remember that if you have any more specific questions you can always post them in the comments!
