haven't played a Fire Emblem game, but romance options are a big deal, and getting them right can be the difference between enjoying a full narrative and regretting every second after accidentally starting a relationship with someone else.
Luckily, despite innovations and complexities ing the social elements in Fire: Emblem Three Houses, romance options remain pretty simple by comparison. Players will need to achieve S- with the character of their choosing and the main hero Byleth. Increasing character ranks isn't terribly difficult, though it is time consuming, meaning Byleth can't realistically attempt to achieve S- with all characters they're interested in and then choose at the end in the first playthrough. Not all characters are available as an S-, either, and some of them are only available to certain genders of Byleth, so knowing which to chase after and how is the best way to spend time in Fire Emblem: Three Houses' dramatic and intimidating tea party systems.
Once players have narrowed down which relationships they want, it's a simple matter of committing to raising them using lost items, tea time, private instruction, and whatever other tools are available during the exploration portion of the game in order to establish a strong bond. To begin, it's best to just check out exactly who is available for each Byleth, and go from there.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses Romance Options - Male
- Edelgard (only if a member of the Black Eagles)
- Linhardt (Black Eagles)
- Bernadetta (Black Eagles)
- Dorothea (Black Eagles)
- Petra (Black Eagles)
- Annette (Blue Lions)
- Ingrid (Blue Lions)
- Mercedes (Blue Lions)
- Leone (Golden Deer)
- Lysithea (Golden Deer)
- Hilda (Golden Deer)
- Marianne (Golden Deer)
- Flayn (no house affiliation)
- Manuela (no house affiliation)
- Alois (no house affiliation)
- Rhea (no house affiliation)
- Sothis (no house affiliation)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses Romance Options - Female
- Edelgard (only if a member of the Black Eagles)
- Clause (only if a member of the Golden Deer)
- Dmitri (only if a member of the Blue Lions)
- Caspar (Black Eagles)
- Dorothea (Black Eagles)
- Ferdinand (Black Eagles)
- Linhardt (Black Eagles)
- Ashe (Blue Lions)
- Dedue (Blue Lions)
- Felix (Blue Lions)
- Mercedes (Blue Lions)
- Sylvain (Blue Lions)
- Ignatz (Golden Deer)
- Lorenz (Golden Deer)
- Raphael (Golden Deer)
- Seteth (no house affiliation)
- Hanneman(no house affiliation)
- Alois (no house affiliation)
- Cyril (no house affiliation)
- Rhea (no house affiliation)
- Sothis (no house affiliation)
How Fire Emblem: Three Houses Romance Works
To reach S- with a given character, Byleth needs to interact with them as much as possible. Most of the time, the best options exist during Exploration at the Garegg Mach monastery. Sharing a meal with the character, giving them gifts, and returning lost items found throughout the monastery that belong to them all do wonders for building a relationship. On top of that, these actions help max out their motivation, which can then translate into a lengthier tutoring session during the Lecturing phase of each week. Doing private tutoring with a student raises the relationship they have with Byleth even more and with each instance of a skill being selected - so having a student who has 4 selections in a single tutoring session nets Byleth four times the relationship bonus one who was only slightly motivated would have.
Players can raise relationship levels on the field of battle, too. This simply requires Byleth to be near the unit when either of them take an action, like healing each other, fighting an enemy, or using a different skill. Given that Byleth will be the centerpiece of most battles, all players need to do is choose a class for their would-be lover that allows them to stick near them throughout battle, and they'll indirectly raise their relationship points with them without having to try very much.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses Marriages and Children
First of all, this section will have some light spoilers, so consider this a warning - those who want to get into Fire Emblem: Three Houses with absolutely no knowledge of what unfolds should skip this part.
In short, this can't happen. Fire Emblem: Three Houses doesn't let players achieve an S-Rank during the first section of the game. Once the time-skip happens and full-on war is upon the students and Byleth, S-s can be earned. Unfortunately, since it's after the time-skip, that means there isn't a chance in between for units to pair off and produce children. If that sounds weird, it's not - most of the more recent Fire Emblem games make use of that system. Fire Emblem: Three Houses romance options are innovative and so is the game's approach to them, so the game skips out on the second-generation of heroes to tell a tighter story involving the cast it introduces during the beginning. Don't worry - it works very well. It's just a change from what fans might have come to expect from a modern Fire Emblem.
