Which character should you pick first in Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave?

September 2026 · 10 minute read

Deciding which route to play first in Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave seems like a big choice, and that's because it is. Each of the four playable heroes, or Flame Lords as Fortune's Weave calls them, follows a drastically different path from the others, with unique storylines and battles, mechanics no other hero can take advantage of, and even some classes specific to them. There's no wrong choice here, though, and you can clear the first act for all four heroes before moving on with the game — no restarting or fresh playthroughs required. The "right" decision just depends what kind of experience you want first.

Below, we help you decide which character to pick first in Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave and break down what you get in each path.

Cai's path

Cai taming an animal in Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo via Polygon

Pick Cai if you want:

Cai's path is ideal for series beginners. The first five chapters are tame, at least compared to, say, Dietrich's, and the route eases you into Fortune's Weave's complexities at a more gradual pace. That said, Cai and his friends are just kids. They're pretty fragile for most of the first act, so you'll want to focus on building up their skills and rely on stronger units you can recruit around the city.

Cai's Blaze Art — that's the term used for the special ability certain heroes in Fortune's Weave have — is very powerful, too. It deals damage in a wide area, and its third form even hinders movement for a turn. Cai can tame animals, and you can then assign them to anyone in the party. Tamed animals come with special abilities. Some are fairly basic, like giving you extra movement. Others are rare and character-defining, like an Ornius (the game's giant ostrich-like birds) that increases the rider's build stat, which affects attack speed, or a pegasus that lets its rider deal extra damage to magic users.

When you're playing as Cai, you can't access about half of the world map, since letting kids explore deserts and dungeons and the like is a pretty flagrant dereliction of duty even in fantasy worlds. However, he can use certain map tiles to plant vegetables. Crops grow after a few turns and produce multiple versions of what you originally planted or one new, rare veggie. You can use these as currency at the Vandahl Trading Company and swap them for powerful weapons, rare accessories, or just extras of standard things the local shops have run out of.

And you get Kindness Quests. These are slightly more involved side quests unique to Cai's route that reward you with money and renown. Combined with the money and renown you get from standard side quests, it gives Cai a slight advantage in recruiting new characters.

You'll have some extra funds for gift buying and should be able to reach renown level 10 at least by the time you hit Cai's ninth or 10th chapter.

This path's story gives you a pretty solid understanding of important events in Dagda's history and what's happening behind the scenes. It leaves a lot out, though, including the main villains and anything not strictly connected to a few members of Dagda's pantheon.

Dietrich's path

Mikaela discussing the People of the White Egg in Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo via Polygon

Play as Dietrich if you:

Dietrich loves fighting, so combat defines his path. Battles on this route are challenging even at the start, before the Heroic Games begin, and you'll often find more varied map objectives thrown in alongside the standard "defeat the enemy commander." Dietrich's special ability increases his critical hit rate after every combat instance where he doesn't land a critical hit, and his Blaze Art lets him move further than his standard movement allows him to. He's kind of a one-man map-clearing machine depending on how you build him, so you'll need to make it a point to let the rest of your party fight and gain experience, too.

If Dietrich is your first route, it's a bit harder to build up a big party, though. He can make enemy groups appear on the world map at any time and earn renown for defeating them, but the amount of renown is very small. He can also take on headhunter bounties each chapter and earns renown and a lot of gold from each contract. It's just one per chapter, though.

However, those contracts reward him with new combat arts. You can strengthen those and any standard combat art at Smyrnos' temple in Dagsion, improving their power or hit rate, or both, the same as if you refined a weapon. And eventually, Smyrnos lets you teach Dietrich's special combat arts won through headhunting contracts to everyone else. These processes require a currency you only earn by defeating enemies on the world map, though, so again: Expect a lot of combat.

Story-wise, Dietrich's path is where you'll find a lot of the game's Three Houses connections. Expect a deep-dive into Agarthan politics and that society's relationship with the Nabateans and the people who worshipped them. It ties in neatly with a major aspect of Dagda's history that the other paths don't really touch on as well, and you also get more of a behind-the-scenes look at what Fortune's Weave's villains are up to, more than you do in the other routes.

Theodora's path

Theodora on the world map in Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo

Play as Theodora if you like:

That first point isn't a joke. Theodora's special skill is ripping a rock out of the ground and throwing it across the battlefield at enemies, and yes, it's as fun and destructive as it sounds. It never gets old! And it comes in pretty handy, too. Theodora's campaign is similar to Dietrich's in terms of difficulty, though in addition to rock-chucking, she does have a few extra advantages that help make for a distinct and well-rounded experience.

Theodora can send out troops to gather supplies and recruit willing citizens from villages to act as gambit squads. You'll face plenty of enemies later in the game who use gambits — healing, fire and ice magic, poison, flames, all the standard Three Houses stuff — but this method is the only way to get them yourself. You can't get gambits with the other three lords. Theodora also gets extra resources from searching at nodes thanks to her retinue, which you can use to exchange for goods with Vandahl Trading Company merchants. And she can sail the Dagdan waterways, which opens access to new gathering spots and enemies to fight.

The advanced classes you can unlock in Theodora's route are all sturdy melee fighters. They include the armored cavalry unit Cataphract, a spear user called the Guardian, with high defense and higher resistance than you usually get from melee fighters, and a Dragoon, Fortune's Weave's version of a wyvern rider. The Dragoon and Guardian are unlockable in other routes as well, but having them all together in one path lets you focus on making a small army of high defense, high-attack characters if you want.

Theodora's story is the story of Saramis, a kingdom in the Dagdan empire that's tied to a dark and terrible past. That fate is mentioned in some of the other routes, but the perspective you get in Theodora's quite literally turns the empire's history on its head. If you like Troy in the prologue and wondered what's up with her, you'll learn a bit more about her in Theodora's route, too.

Leda's path

Leda crossing a name off her hit list in Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave Image: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo via Polygon

Play as Leda if you:

Leda is a traveling bard-slash-murderer out to take her revenge on the group responsible for her family's death. In addition to taking on subquests, she can perform at local taverns for money and get tips on nearby secret spots with rare and valuable resources, spots no other character can reveal on the map. She also learns songs. In battle, Leda's kind of an all-rounder. Her natural affinities are with a sword and bow, but spellsongs are her standout feature. These melodies increase certain stats for all allies within range, and Leda learns these by completing performance quests.

Her story is more personality-driven, and the group that forms around her resembles the strong, clashing bundle of personalities from Fire Emblem: Awakening or one of Bandai Namco's Tales of… games. It's also the most well-rounded starting group in the game. Leda's songs let her play a support role when needed, though she also gets a cursed weapon that poisons enemies very early in the story. Sirocco is fast, proficient with magic and melee, and has a special skill that heals him after combat, while Buccar's skill automatically reduces all incoming damage by 10%. Mu is essentially the Trainee-class units from Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones brought back to life, as her personal skill gives her very high stat growth rates. Whether you're playing as Leda or just recruit Mu, the latter is almost guaranteed to be the most lethal unit in your army. Then there's Olympia, a superb healer who specializes in bumping up the power of her Nosferatu spell.

Leda's route is also the only way to unlock the Dancer class. Like in previous Fire Emblem games, Dancer can spend an action to let an ally move and act again. It's an exceptional support class that anyone can learn, and unlocking it in Leda's route makes it available in all the other paths as well. You get Ranger, a thief-like upgrade for the Rogue class, and Troubadour, a mounted white-and-black magic wielder, too.

Story-wise, the personal nature of Leda's tale makes it different from the other three. Her quest is tied up in the political conflicts of a smaller kingdom in the Dagdan Empire, a conflict referenced in the other paths but never explored. You're getting much less of the full story here, but it does elaborate on a crucial missing piece the other paths never reveal.

Eshmel's path

Skip the other four and head immediately to the war against Balor if you:

After you arrive in the Obelisk Chamber at the end of the prologue, you can turn around and exit the room. Doing so prompts you to start the final campaign, and you can continue or turn back. If you continue, you cannot recruit the four main characters from the opening acts and a handful of other important characters. You're facing down the lord of the underworld with a tiny army. Good luck! You'll need it.

If you're new to Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, we can help you navigate the complex paths of causality. We have put together explainers on how to change heroes and if you should play in casual or classic mode, so you can set up the campaign according to your preferences.

Fortune's Weave is a massive game, that's why we explain how long it will take for you to finish it. As you progress through the initial Heroic Games matches, you should focus on recruiting more characters, unlocking Boons of Salvation, and spending free time in the best way possible. Just don't forget to visit the Perch and have a quick Bird Time session.