If you’ve been following news of Three Houses, the last two months or so have been pretty stellar. During that time, we’ve had three in-depth Famitsu articles and several character profiles, with more on the way.

This month–the one before the game launches–is probably set to be the busiest as well, especially because of E3. Before that happens, I’d like to quickly go over some loose ends from earlier articles and whatnot, which I didn’t get time to cover because I was in a hurry.

Reminder about the Class System

To begin with, this isn’t new analysis, but I wanted to let people know a few quirks about the class system used in Three Houses.

Firstly, the protagonist and all the students start their career in the Commoner or Noble class. This is a trainee type class, like the Villager in past games. It’s officially known as a “Special” class, although the terminology may be different in English.

Once a character is Level 5 or higher, they can take an examination to become one of four Beginner (aka Novice) classes. These are Myrmidon, Soldier, Fighter and Monk. Your pass rate depends on the required Professor Levels (aptitudes) in specific weapon types. For example, the Myrmidon exam may ask for D in Sword or something.

After changing class, a character’s Level is not reset. In addition, before and after changing class, any character can equip pretty much any weapon, with some exceptions. Namely, Gauntlets cannot be used when riding. Additionally, magic is restricted by class. However, classes can be more proficient in certain weapons.

This is the reason why the house leaders can use their signature weapons in the Lord class. If you check the window for the Lord class, you can see they’re proficient in Sword, Lance and Authority. Yet Edelgard can still wield axes and Claude bows in this class. There aren’t any special exceptions here; anybody can wield pretty much anything.

If that doesn’t convince you, check out this screenshot of an enemy Fighter. As you may know, Fighters are proficient in Axe, Bow and Fighting. But look at his Professor Levels. He can also wield Sword, Lance and has a rank in Authority. However, he has an inaccessible rank in Reason and Faith magic, because they’re incompatible with his class.

Anyway, from Level 10, characters can take examinations to upgrade to one of several Intermediate classes. These include Mercenary, Brigand, Thief, Archer, Cavalier, Knight, Mage, etc. I believe there is no set path. So you could potentially go from Myrmidon to Mage. But bearing in mind, you need the right qualifications (Professor Levels).

In addition to promoting to higher tiers, it’s implied that characters can take examinations to change to other classes in the same tier. So basically Reclassing. Furthermore, in theory, you can probably avoid certain tiers or avoid class-changing at all. I’m looking forward to an all Commoner/Noble run! But you’ll be stuck with poorer stats and skills.

Possible Advanced Classes

Up to now, Famitsu has covered all the Special, Beginner and Intermediate classes. Meaning we can only go up. While we’re waiting, I think they’ve teased two possible advanced classes.

The first is one you probably expected: Warrior. This is mentioned when Caspar suggests a focus when setting study goals. He says he wants to train his Axe skills to become a Warrior. Notice that he only mentions Axe. Could Warrior have a singular proficiency in Axe like Berserker in previous games? That said, there isn’t much to go off.

The next one is a bit easier to miss, but is also related to study goals. When developing Dorothea’s hidden talent, if you check her focus in the bottom-right corner, it’s currently Reason. More importantly, the description says “I want to become a Warlock…”. We’ve never had a Warlock in Fire Emblem, but that definitely sounds like a class name.

Known Seasons

During the academy part of the game, players will proceed through the days of a calendar. On weekdays, they will teach their students, while on weekends, they can indulge in various extra-curriculum activities. At the end of each month or season, there’s a field study task. Once that’s complete, the next chapter or act starts.

Among all the screenshots and videos we’ve seen, many of them can easily be attributed to a particular season. Below, I’ve compiled all of the information I know about each season they’ve shown.

4th month: Great Tree Season

This looks like the month you begin teaching at the academy. On the 23rd, there seems to be a mandatory quest to speak to the three house leaders. Is this before you decide which house you choose to teach?

Otherwise, many of the student introduction videos are taken from the 27th. Perhaps this is the first weekend you can officially stroll around the monastery? This is also when your Instructor Level (currently E) and Stroll Gauge (maximum value of 1) are first visible. So I’m guessing the 23rd was a special occasion.

By the way, the 20th is the anniversary of the series, so it would be pretty funny if that was the day the game started.

5th month: Harp Season

This appears to be the second month you’re at the academy. Screenshots from the 11th show the protagonist’s Instructor Level still at E. Various quests can be found on the bulletin board. You can currently explore the left half of the Officer’s Academy, the Abbey across the bridge and part of the 2nd Floor that seems to house Rhea’s chamber.

6th month: Flower Crown Season

Screenshots from this month show the protagonist’s Instructor Level at E+ and their Stroll Gauge with a maximum value of 2. The protagonist can train with fellow instructors by this point. Some of you may be interested to know that Edelgard’s birthday is on the 22nd.

The field study task at the end of this month seems to be “Help Retake Gaspard Castle”. This appears to be the incident involving Lord Lonato’s rebellion against the church in the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.

Confusingly, in the Venture menu, there also seems to be a field study task called “Magdred Surprise Attack”.

I don’t think the task depends on the house, since the Black Eagles and Blue Lions are confirmed to be present during the Gaspard Castle incident. In addition, there’s a Golden Deer crest on the calendar with the Gaspard Castle field study, which probably means the player chose the Golden Deer.

The only difference I can think of is that the Gaspard Castle field study task is visible on the calendar during the 8th, while the Magdred field study task is visible from the Venture menu on the 15th. However, we’ve been told that field study tasks are only available on the last day and there should only be one. Maybe the Magdred one is something else entirely…

Anyway, there are no available paralogues; either they haven’t appeared yet (most likely) or have already been cleared. One of the optional skirmishes has a suggested level of 7, suggesting it’s still early days for the students.

7th month: ???

I don’t believe there’s any footage from this month–or at least with the month clearly visible.

8th month: Falling Rain Season

There’s only one screenshot from this month, showing the protagonist standing in front of his/her crest somewhere on the 2nd floor of the academy grounds. Their instructor level is currently D and their Stroll Gauge has a maximum value of 3.

10th month: Wyvern Season

This month’s field study task is called “Gronder Griffon Battle”. It seems you’ll get the following paralogues if aligned with the Blue Lions (although they could be universal to all): Battle of the Weak, Have-Nots and Kingdom Nobles’ Marriage (this one involves Dorothea and Ingrid). The suggested level for the paralogues is 13, which is above the requirement for Intermediate classes.

11th month: Crimson Wolf Season

This is the furthest time period that we’re sure about. The only details we know are from the Venture menu.

During this month, the field study task is called “Remire Frenzy Battle”. Also, Terror extermination skirmishes start to appear during this month. Presumably, if leading the Golden Deer, the following paralogues are available: Crimson Valley Adventure, Golden Deer’s Sanctuary and Disquieting Death Co-ordination (the latter involves Raphael and Ignace).

The suggested level for the last paralogue is 15. Assuming a standard level cap of 40 (for both unpromoted and promoted classes in a typical game), it seems that–7 months down the line–we’re not even halfway through the game. If the level cap is actually 60 as I’ve theorised (search for “Supreme”), then we’re only a quarter way through. Does that mean there are around 28~30 acts?

Finally, the Venture Gauge seems to remain capped at 1. However, remember that it’s tied to the protagonist’s Instructor Level and we don’t know how much the player has tried to increase it.

My gut feeling, given the introduction of Terrors in skirmishes and the curious field study task, is that Terrors will become more prominent starting now. From the dialogue, it sounds like Terrors were already known to exist, as Raphael’s parents were killed by them in the past. But perhaps their presence was less noticeable back then?

Year 2, 2nd month: ???

We don’t have any physical footage from this far-off month, but many paralogues (from the 10th and 11th months) are set to expire on the 22nd of this month. Is there some kind of big incident that happens on this month? Could there even be a point of no return…?

Monastery Map

On the subject of the academy, the recent Famitsu article revealed a (partial) full map of the Garreg-Mach Monastery from the strolling mode. Obviously, I couldn’t pass on the chance to study the map in fine detail and try to identify areas of interest from all the various screenshots/footage we’ve seen.

Ta-da! Here’s what I ended up with! Now, I wasn’t able to place every single location we’ve seen, especially from the very first trailer. But I think I got most of the important ones. By the way, if you count the dormitories, it may seem like there are fewer than required. But there looks to be a second floor of dormitories near the top-right corner that I’ve kind of obscured.

One more thing, while compiling the map, I found something neat in Caspar’s introduction video. You may know there are cats in the monastery, but there appear to be dogs too! What’s next? Rabbits?!

The Church: The Big Enemy?

In what looks like a hilarious slip-up, the official Nintendo UK Store claims that the Church of Seiros is the game’s main enemy in an advert for the game. If true, this is probably the least shocking revelation ever, since a lot of RPGs have the church as the villain. Alternatively, it could be a misassumption.

Personally I’m inclined to believe the ad. Even ignoring the ad, Nintendo and the developers aren’t even trying to hide the fact that the church is probably evil. Above is a fairly innocently framed picture of Rhea, the church’s leader.

However, they sandwiched her in-between these two very sinister-looking images. Which I definitely think is on purpose. Plus, she has a pretty creepy smile, don’t you think?

Plus there’s this image from the Japanese steelbook, showing an ominous-looking figure at the abbey in the Garreg-Mach Monastery. The lighting in the image, as well as the person’s pose, are clearly meant to evoke a sinister feeling.

Now, say the church really is evil. Or at least a part of it. What would this mean for the story? Well, the church’s insistence on hiring the protagonist because of his/her power becomes very dubious for starters. Not only that, but since the officer’s academy is located in the church’s home base, you’ll probably have to relocate when things turn ugly.

Heck, maybe you’ll even side with the shifty-looking people who hate the church. Assuming you haven’t already killed them by the time the church reveals their true colours. Man, it would suck if you played right into the church’s schemes by defeating their enemies for them…

The Protagonist’s Unknown Crest

As you may know, the protagonist bears the mysterious crest seen above. The same crest features prominently on the game boxes, on Sothis’s clothes and even on the cape of the warrior-like king in the debut trailer–who may be Nemesis the Liberation King.

In-game, the crest is literally called the “Crest of ???”. Nobody seems to know anything about it, with Hanneman–the crest-researcher–showing a great level of interest in it. All crests are divided into major and minor variants and the protagonist seems to have the major version.

That said, I believe the protagonist doesn’t possess the full power of the crest. In a screenshot where he uses its power, you can see the icon for the crest; however, it looks rather unusual. Upon inspection, the icon seems to show half of the crest. Which may mean it only has half its original power.

Still, protagonists not having access to the full powers of something at the start is pretty common fare. We’ve had it with Corrin and the Yato and Chrom with the Sealed Falchion. Obviously it’s so the game isn’t a cakewalk at the start and to emphasise growth. I wonder if the crest’s shape ties in with the protagonist’s sword? More on that later…

There’s a bit more to this tale. Recently, the Cipher card game added cards of the three house leaders. All cards have a symbol/faction declared–for Three Houses, this appears to be the same crest we’ve been talking about. More importantly, the card list calls it the “Crest of the Goddess”.

Okay, I think this solves one big mystery, but at the same time, it raises so many questions. How did the protagonist get this crest? Was it from their ancestor, Nemesis? If so, how did he get the crest? Was he actually a hero that was painted evil or a hero that turned against the goddess?

Update: It was pointed out that the Cipher symbol for Three Houses is technically ambiguous. What it could be symbolising is all the crests, as in “Crests of the Goddess”. For example, Elibe’s “Divine Weapon” symbol is specifically based on the design of Durandal, but refers to all 8 Divine Weapons.

The more I think about it, the more I think this is actually the case. Although it would be pretty cool if they just casually revealed the crest’s identity like that, I don’t think they would. So in all likelihood, the Cipher symbol is the mystery crest, but I reckon they’ve labelled it in a way that avoids naming it.

Ignoring the crest’s identity for a moment, Lord_Grima made an interesting find on our forums. If you draw an outline around the key features–especially the pegasi and wyvern–in the centre of the Goddess’s mural, you can actually recreate the mysterious crest. This is similar to Yusuke Kozaki hiding a skull in the key art for Book 3 of Heroes.

This seems to be some really clever foreshadowing, although I’m not sure what the consequences are. Perhaps history wanted the crest forgotten for some reason? Maybe because of something Nemesis did–or instead Seiros, the victor of the ancient war? If so, whoever drew the mural apparently didn’t want it completely wiped from history.

The Golden Sword

Last but not least, a few people pointed out that in the example of a co-ordinated attack, the protagonist is wielding the golden sword from his/her artwork. Which is also the same sword held by Sothis in her key artwork, as well as who we think are Seiros and Nemesis.

Now this isn’t the first time we’ve seen him/her holding it in gameplay. But there are two things that are different. Firstly, it’s glowing red, similar to how it looked when Nemesis was using it. Crucially, the weapon in its current state has at least 2 range.

We can infer this because Lorenz is performing a co-ordinated attack against an enemy sword wielder with the protagonist and Ignace. However, allies can only join in if they can target the enemy from their current position–and the protagonist is 2 squares away.

Presumably, when the sword is used at range, it will transform into a whip like in the debut trailer. If so, that’s pretty dang cool. What we don’t know is if the sword is at its full power yet, or if it still has room to grow. Considering Lorenz is in an intermediate class (Cavalier), the screenshot is probably from the early portion of the game.

Well, that’s pretty much all the key things for now. Hopefully next week will be one to remember! Also, if you’ve noticed anything cool that you think I’ve missed, do let me know!