Who Should You Pick First in Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave?

Determining which narrative route to experience first in Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is a pivotal decision, and rightfully so. Each of the four primary protagonists—known in the game as Flame Lords—embarks on a profoundly distinct journey. These paths feature exclusive storylines, specialized battle scenarios, bespoke mechanics, and unique character classes. Fortunately, there is no incorrect choice; you have the freedom to complete the opening act for all four heroes before committing to a single overarching campaign, meaning no premature resets or fresh save files are necessary. The ideal starting point simply depends on the precise gameplay atmosphere you desire.

Below, we help you determine which protagonist to select first in Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave by outlining what awaits you on each distinct path.

Cai’s Path

Choose Cai if you want:

• A gentler, more accessible introduction to tactical combat
• Access to a devastatingly powerful Blaze Art
• A high concentration of mounted units
• The ability to barter with harvested vegetables
• A foundational overview of the overarching lore
• Exclusive side objectives that yield extra currency and renown

Cai’s campaign is exceptionally well-suited for series newcomers. The initial five chapters are relatively forgiving—especially when contrasted with Dietrich’s brutal trials—and gracefully ease you into the intricate mechanics of Fortune’s Weave. That said, Cai and his companions are youths, rendering them fragile throughout the early acts. Consequently, you must prioritize nurturing their proficiency while relying on sturdier, city-recruited mercenaries to hold the frontline.

Cai’s signature Blaze Art is remarkably potent, dealing widespread area-of-effect damage while culminating in a third tier that restricts enemy mobility for an entire turn. Furthermore, Cai possesses the unique talent to domesticate wildlife and assign these beasts to various party members. While some creatures merely grant a bonus to movement, rare specimens offer profound strategic advantages—such as the Ornius, a colossal avian mount that boosts the rider’s build stat to enhance attack speed, or a pegasus that inflicts bonus damage against magical combatants.

Due to narrative constraints, approximately half of the world map remains locked during Cai’s route, as sending children wandering into perilous dungeons stretches fantasy parental supervision to its absolute limit. However, certain terrain tiles can be utilized for agriculture. Crops mature after a few turns, yielding abundant harvests or rare mutations. These yields serve as valuable currency at the Vandahl Trading Company, letting you acquire premium weaponry, elusive accessories, or standard inventory restocks.

You will also gain access to Kindness Quests—narrative-driven side tasks exclusive to Cai’s journey that reward generous sums of gold and renown. When paired with standard skirmish rewards, this grants Cai a distinct advantage in expanding his roster. Expect to accumulate surplus funds for gifting and comfortably reach renown level 10 by chapters nine or ten.

Narratively, this route imparts a robust understanding of Dagda’s historical foundations and backstage political maneuvers. However, it deliberately omits major antagonistic forces and broader lore not directly tied to Dagda’s pantheon.

Dietrich’s Path

Play as Dietrich if you:

• Crave a rigorous, demanding tactical challenge
• Possess an unwavering devotion to pure combat
• Find satisfaction in upgrading and mastering combat arts
• Are searching for explicit narrative ties to Three Houses
• Prefer an unconventional storytelling structure

Dietrich lives for battle, making high-octane combat the defining pillar of his journey. Skirmishes on this route present steep challenges even before the Heroic Games commence, frequently replacing standard rout objectives with complex victory conditions. Dietrich’s personal skill incrementally boosts his critical hit probability each time he executes an attack without landing a critical blow, while his Blaze Art permits explosive mobility far exceeding standard movement parameters. Depending on your character investment, he can evolve into a solitary battlefield-clearing engine, making it crucial to deliberately feed experience to the rest of your brigade.

Building a robust army proves more arduous if Dietrich is your inaugural choice. While he can instigate world-map skirmishes at will to farm minor amounts of renown, his primary financial and renown influx stems from exclusive headhunter bounties available once per chapter. These lucrative contracts also yield specialized combat arts. By visiting the Smyrnos temple in Dagsion, you can refine these techniques—enhancing their might and accuracy akin to weapon forging. Eventually, Smyrnos grants you the ability to tutor Dietrich’s proprietary headhunting arts to your wider roster. Because these upgrade processes require resources harvested strictly from world-map combat victories, expect an exceptionally high volume of fighting.

From a lore perspective, Dietrich’s path serves as the primary conduit for Three Houses crossovers. Prepare for a deep psychological plunge into Agarthan politics, their historical dynamic with the Nabateans, and the mortals who venerated them. This route intertwines seamlessly with a fundamental epoch of Dagda’s past largely ignored by the other campaigns, while shedding stark light on the true machinations of the game’s antagonists.

Theodora’s Path

Play as Theodora if you appreciate:

• Heaving massive boulders across the battlefield
• Heavy, impregnable armored classes
• The strategic utility of Three Houses-style gambits
• Navigable naval waterways
• The hidden facets of Dagdan history the pantheon conceals

The first point is entirely literal. Theodora’s signature ability involves tearing stone straight from the earth and hurling it at enemy forces—an act as delightfully destructive and satisfying as it sounds. Beyond rock-chuckery, her campaign matches Dietrich’s difficulty while introducing distinct mechanics that foster a well-rounded tactical experience.

Theodora can dispatch retinues to forage supplies and enlist willing villagers into specialized gambit battalions. While rival commanders utilize gambits later in the campaign—deploying healing waves, elemental magic, and noxious poisons lifted directly from Three Houses—this remains the exclusive method for acquiring them yourself, as the other three lords lack this capability. Furthermore, her retinue unearths surplus resources at exploration nodes for trading with the Vandahl Trading Company. She can also pilot vessels along Dagdan waterways, opening access to secluded gathering points and fresh maritime foes.

The advanced classes unlocked along Theodora’s path specialize in resilient frontline combat. These include the Cataphract (an armored cavalry unit), the Guardian (a lance infantryman boasting exceptional physical and magical defensive spreads), and the Dragoon (Fortune’s Weave‘s iteration of the classic wyvern rider). While the Guardian and Dragoon are attainable on alternative routes, consolidating them here lets you sculpt an impenetrable vanguard.

Theodora’s narrative focuses on Saramis, a Dagdan empire province shackled to a dark, suppressed legacy. While hinted at elsewhere, her perspective fundamentally alters your understanding of the empire’s foundation. Additionally, players intrigued by Troy during the prologue will discover substantial elaboration on her character here.

Leda’s Path

Play as Leda if you:

• Enjoy gritty, character-driven psychological dramas
• Prefer maintaining a healthy treasury in your RPGs
• Miss the growth-oriented trainee units from Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones
• Desire the most synergistic starting party with strong support options
• Refuse to play Fire Emblem without the iconic Dancer class
• Hold an appreciation for cursed, high-risk weaponry

Leda operates as a wandering bard and assassin bent on avenging her murdered family. Aside from subquests, she can perform in local taverns to earn steady income and unearth covert map locations containing rare resources inaccessible to other protagonists. In combat, Leda functions as a versatile utility unit. While naturally proficient with swords and bows, her standout trait is spellsong performance—melodies that buff surrounding allies’ statistics upon completing specific musical quests.

Her narrative focuses heavily on personal interpersonal dynamics, channeling the vibrant, clashing chemistry found in Fire Emblem: Awakening or Bandai Namco’s Tales series. Her starting cohort is the most balanced in the game. Leda’s musical support is complemented by a cursed weapon that inflicts early-game poisoning. Sirocco offers swift magical and physical proficiency paired with self-sustaining healing, Buccar’s personal skill natively dampens incoming damage by 10%, and Mu acts as a spiritual successor to Sacred Stones‘ Trainee units thanks to skyrocketing growth rates that make her a lethal powerhouse. Rounding out the group is Olympia, an elite healer specializing in maximizing the output of her Nosferatu tome.

Crucially, Leda’s route is the sole gateway to unlocking the coveted Dancer class. Operating identically to past franchise iterations, the Dancer grants adjacent allies an immediate secondary action—an indispensable tactical tool that, once unlocked here, becomes globally available across all other paths. You will also secure the Ranger (an advanced rogue evolution) and the Troubadour (a mounted hybrid magic caster).

From a storytelling standpoint, Leda’s vendetta is deeply intimate, anchoring itself in the regional politics of a minor Dagda vassal state. While withholding grand cosmological revelations, it supplies vital emotional closure missing from the other campaigns.

Eshmel’s Path

Bypass the other four routes and march directly into the war against Balor if you:

• Revel in supreme tactical agony

Upon reaching the Obelisk Chamber at the conclusion of the prologue, turning around to exit the room triggers a prompt to initiate the final, unadulterated campaign. Proceeding down this path bars you from recruiting the four primary lords and several key supporting figures, forcing you to confront the lord of the underworld with a critically undersized band. Good fortune to you—you will certainly need it.

If you are uninitiated in the ways of Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, we offer comprehensive guides to help you navigate its branching paths. Consult our explainers regarding hero swapping and deciding between Casual and Classic modes to configure your campaign to your exact preferences.

Because Fortune’s Weave is an expansive enterprise, we have also mapped out overall completion times. As you navigate the early Heroic Games matches, concentrate on expanding your roster, unlocking Boons of Salvation, and optimizing your downtime. Just be sure to carve out a moment to visit the Perch for a relaxing Bird Time session.

Source: Polygon