Claude

Claude is a playable character and one of the main protagonists in Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. He possesses a minor Crest of Riegan, and is the presumptive heir to the noble house of the same name. Claude is the leader of the Golden Deer house at the Officers Academy, and wields bows as his main weapon. He is 17 years old at the start of the game. Claude is the heir to House Riegan, the preeminent house of the Leicester Alliance, and the grandson of its leader through his mother, Tiana. Though he was born in Imperial Year 1162, he was not legitimated as heir until Imperial Year 1179, a year before enrolling at the Officers Academy. Three Houses Academy Phase

As a student at the Officers Academy in Garreg Mach Monastery in Imperial Year 1180, Claude is the house leader of the Golden Deer. Contrary to his position as heir to the Leicester Alliance, Claude has a relaxed, casual front that is a source of frustration for his fellow noble peers, namely Lorenz. He is genuinely friendly, especially with his Golden Deer peers, though he also tends to lightly tease some of them like Lysithea. He is constantly looking for chances to hold feasts for his classmates, particularly whenever the Golden Deer wins competitions. Even when formally introducing himself to Byleth as they were determining which house to teach, Claude chooses to withhold information to entice them to teach the Golden Deer if they want to get to know him better. Regardless if they teach the Golden Deer or not, he casually speaks to them, calling them "Teach", even in the War Phase.

Behind his easygoing front and aloofness is a cunning strategist that even as a student has been noted by several students and faculty. He is far more astute than he seems and takes his role seriously behind the scenes. He has a wealth of knowledge of the Alliance's current state of affairs. Claude has shown to be on top of things and even seems to be ahead of his peers in conversations when issues arrive. This also gives him something of a mischievous streak towards the other house leaders, such as directly declaring them that he would give them food poisoning prior to the first house competition simply to rile them up. He is also a natural skeptic as his hunch that Flayn is not Seteth's sister is founded, though hardly the biggest secret the two have. Likewise, while not hostile towards her, he can sense that Rhea is hiding more to her story, though does not press on it. However, he is the least connected to the Church of Seiros out of the current three house leaders, mostly due to his dislike of blind faith in gods, preferring more to believe in the strength of men.

By the War Phase, Claude's guile has managed to keep the Alliance afloat through its neutrality. However, even Hubert acknowledges that he still maintains a threatening position because of it and chooses not to underestimate him as a result. Now at the reins of the Alliance, Claude greatly values the lives of his comrades, often advising them to retreat rather than sacrifice their lives in battle as shown in the Crimson Flower route. Claude also sees killing as a last resort with most of his tactics ending in incapacitation, though he has shown some level of mercilessness against the revived Nemesis in the Verdant Winds route.

Claude seems to hold unspoken turmoil regarding his position and can be seen as a desire to prove himself far beyond just being the heir. He is oddly knowledgeable about the people of Almyra, a nation outside of Fódlan that has a complex relationship with the Alliance as the only nation directly bordering it. He has enough diplomatic sense to understand the ramification of this tense relationship, yet seems oddly empathetic towards both. This empathy translates over to his fellow allies as well as he has strong belief in them, making him ultimately an inspiring leader who will fight alongside and for his people.

Claude enjoys archery, long rides, subjects of curiosity, poetry, scheming and organizing feasts. Claude is the primary Lord for the Golden Deer, meaning that he will be one of the most used members in Verdant Wind for most chapters. He has the best Speed and Dexterity of the Lord trio, allowing him to easily double and land criticals, but has the lowest Strength and overall bulk growths, leaving him more fragile than the other two and giving him a bit more difficulty in dealing with heavily-armored opponents. His Luck growth is better than both Dimitri's and Edelgard's, letting him avoid magic attacks and score criticals with ease (while also making him less susceptible to criticals). He also naturally has a high Charm growth, allowing him to effectively use Battalions. Overall, he is generally geared towards ranged combat, namely Bows, of which is his highest starting subject affinity and his primary choice of weapon. His Magic growth is low and his Reason mostly comprises of Wind magic and his Faith list is also fairly standard, though he notably learns Silence. While this may be a quirky option, it is not particularly optimal, especially when playing Hard and Maddening, where battles are more limited.

Claude bears the Crest of Riegan, occasionally restoring 30% of his HP when he uses Combat Arts. Bows heavily utilize them to increase range through Arts like Curved Shot and Claude is no exception, thus he can use its effects whenever he is injured. He has a Hero's Relic and a Sacred Weapon at his disposal. His Hero's Relic is Failnaught, a powerful bow that grants him the ability to use Fallen Star. By consuming four uses, Fallen Star not only deals effective damage against Dragons, but also allows him to completely avoid all attacks the next turn, giving Claude an excellent means of softening an opponent and then protecting himself. His sacred weapon is the Sword of Begalta, giving him a Renewal effect whose effect is increased in his hands.

Claude's subject strengths are in Swords, Bows, Authority, Riding, and Flying, and has a Budding Talent for Axes, which grants him the Combat Art Diamond Axe when unlocked. His Subject Weaknesses are Lances and Faith. Claude shines best in the Myrmidon and Fighter lines due to his inherent strengths, but he also has his exclusive Lord line with the aforementioned lines, plus his timeskip Wyvern Master and Barbarossa, the latter two turns him into a mobile attacker with superior movement due to being a flying class, though it does make him vulnerable to Bows and Excalibur as a result. Mastering Barbarossa grants him Wind God, a huge range Combat Art, and superior version of the similarly Ranged Deadeye, that far exceeds Curved Shot with a massive 2-5 range.

His normal class options for Claude to go through are Archer for Hit Rate +20 so he can counteract the huge bane to hit rate when attacking at long range with bows; this bonus can be combined with Bow Prowess, an Accuracy Ring, and a Battalion with a High Hit rate bonus. With his unlocked mastery in Axes, Brigand's Death Blow is available. Warrior offers Wrath, which can be combined with Mercenary's Vantage, but this is more of a novelty as Claude shouldn't take hits anyway. Afterwards, Sniper will be his best option until the timeskip is unlocked, as it grants him extra range with bows and passable stat growths until he can slot into his personal classes.

Bow Knight can also be a viable option, but again, his Lance weakness does hinder him somewhat in unlocking the class, but he only requires a C mastery of Lances, unlike Paladin which requires a B. Moreover, one may still take the exam with a very good success rate at D+ or even D rank, given that the other two requirements are met. One should not have Claude gain levels as a Bow Knight, however, due to its terrible growth rate bonuses; he should only use the class for important battles and not for training. Other options include Thief and Assassin for their excellent growth rates and stats that mesh well with Claude's already high Speed and Dexterity, and obtaining Lethality from Assassin may help with tougher enemies on higher difficulties. Claude is arguably the best Lethality user in the game thanks to his Dexterity growth; while Lysithea ties him in said growth, she's not suited for being an Assassin due to her terrible physical stats.

Overall, Claude lives up to his Lord status and is the most nimble of the three Lords in the game. Though he lacks Dimitri's raw power and Edelgard's magical prowess, Claude makes up for this with his Speed and strong crit capabilities. Claude also is far more mobile than the other two thanks to his skill strengths, and his unique Barbarossa allows him far more tactical maneuverability than his peers.