Integral to the lore and many unique weapons, Crests in Fire Emblem: Three Houses occupy an extremely special role in the game. As one of the driving forces in the plot and a surefire way to boost a unit’s combat potential via the Crest-restricted relic weapons, anyone playing Three Houses would do well to have a solid understanding of these mysterious blessings.

Fire Emblem Three Houses Crest Lore

Much like Holy Blood from previous entries in the series, Crests are blessings (typically passed down genetically) that enhance one’s combat capabilities and grant them access to unique holy weapons, called “Relic weapons” in Three Houses. With the inclusion of the DLC characters, there are 22 Crests present in Three Houses, although three of those Crests are considered “unknown” and the 4 DLC characters’ Crests are considered “Lost”. Crests were known to be passed down from the Ten Elites, the Four Saints, and the holy Saint Seiros.

Because of their great power, Crests have become associated with noble families in-universe, and Fodlan’s upper crust places great importance on them as both a means of proving legitimacy and a way of wielding great power. Acquiring and maintaining a noble bloodline’s access to a Crest became extremely important, to the point of abandoning children who fail to possess Crests or attempting to bribe or force those with Crests into marriages in hopes of producing many heirs. This behavior leads to a lot of turmoil in Fodlan’s politics.

Fire Emblem Three Houses Crest Abilities

Each Crest has both regular combat effects and a corresponding Relic weapon or Relic accessory (such as a shield, gem, or staff) that contains unique powers or Combat Arts. Units without Crests can use Relic weapons, but take damage afterwards and cannot access its unique combat arts. Units with mismatched Crests can use other Relics but still cannot access unique combat arts or passive effects. Here’s the full list of Crests and their passive benefits, excluding benefits gained from wielding the corresponding Relics.

Keep in mind that Major and Minor Crests generally have different activation rates, with Minor Crests having lower odds.

  • Crest of Blaiddyd: Chance to double attack and durability loss when using Combat Arts. Crest of Charon: Chance to raise might of Combat Arts. Crest of Daphnel: Chance to raise might of Combat Arts. Crest of Dominic: Chance to cast offensive magic without losing any uses. Crest of Fraldarius: Chance to raise might when attacking with a weapon. Crest of Gautier: Chance to raise might of Combat Arts. Crest of Gloucester: Chance to raise might of magic attacks. Crest of Goneril: Chance to prevent enemy counterattacks when using Combat Arts. Crest of Lamine: Chance to conserve uses of healing magic. Crest of Riegan: Chance to restore HP equal to 30% of damage dealt to enemies when using Combat Arts. Crest of the Beast (Maurice): Chance to raise might when attacking with a weapon. Crest of Cethleann: Chance to raise might when using recovery magic. Crest of Cichol: Chance to prevent enemy counterattacks when using Combat Arts. Crest of Indech: Chance to strike twice when attacking with weapons. Crest of Macuil: Chance to raise might when attacking with magic. Crest of Flames: Chance to restore HP equal to 30% of damage dealt when attacking. Low chance to raise might when attacking and prevent counterattacks. Crest of Seiros: Chance to raise might of Combat Arts. Crest of Ernest: Chance to prevent enemy counterattacks when using a weapon.

DLC Crests -

  • Crest of Aubin: Chance to prevent enemy counterattacks when using a weapon. Crest of Chevalier: Chance to restore HP equal to 30% damage dealt when attacking with Combat Arts. Crest of Noa: Chance to conserve uses of offensive magic. Crest of Timotheos: Chance to conserve uses of recovery magic.

Fire Emblem Three Houses Dragon Signs

Dragon Signs, also called Crest Signs by the in-game journal, are New Game+ items that can be bought with Renown or unlocked during a playthrough. These items take up one inventory slot but allow their holder to have a small chance to activate the effects of that Crest and the ability to use that Crest’s unique Relic properties. Using the special Combat Art that Relic weapons have also consumes more durability on the Relic weapon than it normally would. There’s one Dragon Sign per type of Crest in the game.

Utilizing Dragon signs, Relic weapons, and units’ built-in Crests can open up new doors of power, but be careful not to be short-sighted: Crest passive abilities aren’t guaranteed to trigger, and the Relic weapons typically have comparably low durability next to other weapons. If you plan on winning the war with your house leader of choice, Crests should serve as a complement to your strategy - not a replacement for it.

NEXT: Fire Emblem: Three Houses - All Paralogues And Their Rewards