Nintendo Switch’s Fire Emblem: Three Houses takes the series’ core concept, forging relationships with units players genuinely care about, and dials it up to eleven. Byleth’s students each have distinct personalities, hopes, dreams, aspirations, and budding talents to draw out. Many of them, for that matter, also have Crests.

Crests are a new mechanic for Three Houses, a kind of blessing which bestows the holder with a unique power. They generally run through noble families (hence the amount of Black Eagles students with them in particular), are locked to specific characters, and give them a different buff in battle– with a higher or lower chance to proc, and greater effect depending on whether it’s a Minor or Major Crest of its type— when they activate. Which are the best Crests? Bear in mind that we’re not considering the effects of New Game Plus items (which can give the effects to Crests to characters other than the ‘intended’ bearers) and let’s take a look!

10 The Crest Of Daphnel

The Crest of Daphnel is compatible with another central Fire Emblem mechanic: Combat Arts. These are more costly (in terms of weapon usage) attacks with a variety of special effects, which can turn the tide of battle when used over a standard attack at a timely moment.

This Crest has a chance to raise the holder’s Might when they’re using a Combat Art. While this can further increase said art’s effectiveness in a pinch and can allow some incredible plays, the fact remains that Combat Arts are to be used sparingly in the first place. Couple this with the fact that the only playable character with this Crest is Ingrid and you just won’t get it to kick in very often. The Crests of Seiros, Charon, and Gautier also share this effect.

9 The Crest Of Timotheos

This powerful Crest is wielded by Hapi of the Ashen Wolves in the game’s DLC. It grants a chance for healing magic not to consume one of its precious uses, which can be a huge advantage in protracted battles or when you make a tactical error or two and are taking a beating.

The trouble with this is that it’s only accessible to Hapi (who does happen to have the Major Crest), who tends to be more of a Reason-based magic user. A handy Crest, for sure, but we’d rate the rest of our picks higher.

8 The Crest Of Indech

The Crest of Indech is a bit of a tough one to judge. Its effect allows the bearer to sometimes deal a second consecutive hit when attacking with a weapon. Both Bernadetta and Hanneman have a Minor Crest of Indech, and Bernadetta enjoys the obvious benefit (being primarily a Bow user) of the chance of a second shot.

Having said that, there’s only a 10% chance of the effect activating on any given attack, and Hanneman tends to be more of a magical attacker. As such, while Indech’s can be an excellent Crest, it’s also very unreliable.

7 The Crest Of Aubin

In any turn-based strategy title, the player’s goal is to deal as much damage as they can in their turn while mitigating any they take during the opponent’s. Any effect that hampers enemy units’ ability to counterattack, then, is super useful.

The Major Crest of Aubin, held by Ashen Wolves leader Yuri, grants a chance to prevent enemy counterattacks when he strikes with a weapon (Anna’s Crest of Ernest in the DLC has this same effect). This can be very handy indeed, but depending on the battlefield situation and Yuri’s own stats & weapon, it may either not kick in or not be needed at all. However, it does give him access to the potential of the Fetters of Dromi weapon, which is very nice.

6 The Crest Of Cethleann

The Crest of Cethleann also grants a simple-yet-effective bonus to its bearer: the chance to raise Might when casting Recovery magic. It’s exclusive to two healing-inclined units: Flayn and the Black Eagles’ Linhardt.

This is another Crest that can be very nice when it procs at an opportune moment, but often either won’t do so or won’t be needed when it does. It’s like scoring a critical hit in a Pokémon battle when the foe would’ve been defeated by the attack anyway.

5 The Crest Of Fraldarius

Another Major Crest holder, the Blue Lions’ Felix has access to the most powerful version of this particular Crest. As is usually the case, this one doesn’t have the most glamorous or interesting effect (simply boosting Might sometimes when the holder attacks with a weapon), but it’s a welcome boost when it does proc.

Most importantly, this Crest allows Felix to equip the Aegis Shield (obtained by acing his Paralogue). With this in hand, his defensive shortcomings are mostly overridden, meaning that his Crest is key in making him a better unit both offensively and defensively. He’s the only playable character with access to it, though (again, without taking new game plus into account).

4 The Crest Of Reigan

This Crest shares its effect with the Crest of Chevalier (possessed by Balthus of the Ashen Wolves): its bearer is sometimes granted healing equal to 30% of the damage they inflicted with a Combat Art.

This may sound rather niche, but fan favorite Claude is granted a 30% chance for the effect to activate (as a Minor bearer). With careful and tactical use of Combat Arts (which is the point of the mechanic in the first place), it can really help to sustain him. An excellent Crest, though access to it is very limited.

3 The Crest Of Gloucester

The Crest of Gloucester, for our money, is definitely one of the very best in the game. Its effect is to sometimes raise the Might of magic attacks. Who has a Major Crest of Gloucester? The pintsized powerhouse they call Lysithea, that’s who.

Granted, Lysithea’s magical damage output allows her to melt through formidable foes like the enigmatic Death Knight as it is, but extra Might on top never hurt anybody. That’s not even to mention the fact that Lorenz also has a Minor Crest of Gloucester, which allows him to wield Thyrsus with no drawbacks too (the main draw of this Crest). Really, the only major downside of this one is that its effect will sometimes be overkill.

2 The Crest Of Cichol

Another Crest based around the use of Combat Arts, The Crest of Cichol is possessed by both Seteth (Major) and Ferdinand (Minor). It has a chance to stop enemies counterattacking when struck by a Combat Art, which doesn’t sound all that impressive. The fact is, though, there’s a lot of surprising utility to this one.

With an activation rate that’s actually practical and the chance to proc with Swift Strike hits, the player will surely find that they’re getting much more use from this than they may have thought. A surprising entry for one of the very best in the whole game, though our final entry just beats it out.

1 The Crest Of Flames

Well, of course the signature Crest of Byleth would be the star of the show here (yes, it’s also wielded by others we don’t want to spoil). The protagonist doesn’t know that they’re armed with this powerful Crest at first, but it’s soon identified.

This Crest sometimes heals the wielder for 30% of the damage they deal, as well as having a small chance to prevent counterattacks and raise Might. These effects won’t come to fruition very often, but they certainly contributed to making this the most varied and potentially powerful Crest in the game. We haven’t even mentioned the Sword of the Creator!

NEXT: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: 5 Reasons To Play Byleth (& 5 Not To)