Fire Emblem is one of the most iconic tactical RPGs of all time. As a turn-based strategy game, players are given a wide variety of unit types to use within their army. Each class comes along with their own strengths and weaknesses and varying degrees of utility they provide to a player.

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However, not all of these classes are created equally, and the usefulness of some greatly outweigh the viability of others. So today, we're going to examine the strongest classes players have had access to across the span of the Fire Emblem franchise!

10 Trickster

Trickster has appeared in two entries in the series, first in Fire Emblem: Awakening as a promotion for thieves, we most recently saw this class in the Cindered Ashes DLC of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

While in Awakening, the class was a hybrid sword user with healing capabilities, the Three Houses incarnation has yet even more utility. In addition to being proficient in swords and white magic, Tricksters gain access to the highly valuable Foul Play ability. This ability allows its user to exchange positioning with another unit within five spaces, allowing for a new flexible means of mobility.

9 Bow Knight

For much of Fire Emblem's history, bow users have been largely viewed as subpar. However, Bow Knights in Fire Emblem: Echoes and Fire Emblem: Three Houses have truly shaken up the status quo when it comes to bow users.

Bow Knights are quite potent units for a player to have access to, due to their combination of mobility and range. As mounted units, Bow Knights can easily traverse maps, allowing for them to be used rather flexibly when it comes to positioning.

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Furthermore, Bow Knights receive a significant boost to their bow range, allowing them to strike down foes from four spaces away.

8 Valkyrie

Two elements that often make for incredibly worthwhile classes are mobility and flexibility. Valkyries are units that possess these two qualities in spades.

Traditionally promoting from troubadours, Valkyries are the premier mounted magic users of Fire Emblem. Usually capable of wielding both offensive and healing magic, Valkyries can maneuver around maps and providing healing and additional damage where needed.

When equipped with the long-range healing staff/spell, Physic, few healers can make as much difference to a battlefield as a Valkyrie.

7 Paladin/Gold Knight

Whether they're referred to as Paladins or Gold Knights, these mounted powerhouses are often the measuring stick when discussing what makes a good class in Fire Emblem. Possessing incredible mobility, the ability to consistently rescue allies (in games that allow it), and capable stats, it's hard to imagine playing Fire Emblem without Paladins.

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As if the class weren't strong enough, in the sixth and seventh games in the series, Paladins have access to the entire weapon triangle, and are able to wield swords, lances, and axes. Their flexibility does not end there either, as in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, when a player promotes a unit into a Paladin, they can provide that character with access to any weapon type of their choice.

6 Dark Flier

Dark Fliers are perhaps one of the only magically oriented classes that can give Valkyries a run for their money.

Possessing incredible movement and the ability to traverse any type of terrain with ease, a Dark Flier can typically be wherever a player needs it to. Furthermore, Dark Fliers have the distinction of being the only airborne class in the game capable of using magic. This allows them to consistently attack foes safely from two spaces away. In the hands of a skilled player who is unlikely to put this class in range of enemy archers, Dark Fliers are unparalleled in the magic department.

5 Wyvern Lord

Often regarded as one of the strongest offensive classes in Fire Emblem, it's hard to find a reason why not to use a Wyvern Lord. Traditionally possessing high stats across the board and incomparable mobility, Wyvern Lords can strike fast and hard.

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In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Wyvern Lords are perhaps the strongest we've ever seen them. Traditionally, Wyvern Lords' primary weaknesses come in the form of vulnerabilities to arrows and magic. However, Wyvern Lords are able to essentially remove said weakness through dismounting in Three Houses, allowing them to serve as units without flaw.

4 Freelancer

Only appearing in the first entry of the series, its sequel, and the respective remakes of these games, no class is as flexible as the Freelancer.

Only appearing in the form of the character Xane, the freelancer is capable of becoming a copy of any other unit in a player's army. This allows them to serve any role needed at a given moment and allowing them to adapt to any situation. Need an extra healer? One can copy one with their freelancer. Require an extra Paladin to quickly reach an objective? A freelancer is perfect for the job.

3 Ballistician

Another class with limited availability in the series, no class can compete with the range of a Ballistician. While most players associated Ballisticians with troublesome enemy units, some games such as Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon provide players with access to their very own Ballisticians.

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While these units cannot promote and tend to have lackluster stats, they can remove threats from across an entire map without putting themselves in harm's way.

2 Royal Laguz

Though Royal Lagus technically come in numerous forms such as the Raven King and Wolf Queen, these units from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn are in an entire league of their own.

In Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, players have access to units known as Laguz. These units are shapeshifters who can assume forms of different animals. While in these animal forms, these units can deal large sums of damage and tend to have impressive stats. However, they come along with a catch. Laguz possess a gauge that when depleted, reverts them into a weak humanoid form.

As the name would imply, Royal Laguz are the rulers of the respective tribes of the Laguz. These units are completely absurd and throw the concept of unit balance completely out the window. While all other Laguz are hindered by their shift-gauge, Royal Laguz are capable of permanently assuming their alternate forms. As if this weren't enough, each of these units possesses stats that are well above average, each coming with useful and worthwhile abilities to boot.

1 Dancer

While Dancers, Herons, and Bards provide little to no value in combat, their signature ability makes them some of the most integral units in Fire Emblem history.

Rather than attacking, these units are capable of providing another unit with the ability to act again. They can move, attack, and do anything else a player may want that unit to do. This ability essentially doubles the value of a single unit for a turn, allowing it to contribute twice as much damage and utility in a given turn. Dancers can allow healers to heal two units in a single turn, a wyvern to cover twice as much ground, or even allow a unit to kill an enemy that they wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

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