Great Knight

The Great Knight is a horse-mounted combat physical class that recurrently appears across the Fire Emblem Series, beginning from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.

History in the Series[]

Introduced as the promoted form of the Axe Knight class, the Great Knight has also been instituted as one of the possible promotions for the Cavalier and Knight classes. The Non-Armored incarnation wields Axes as their sole weapon of choice, while the Armored incarnation are known to be able to wield Swords and Lances in addition to Axes.

In its original inception in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, the Great Knight class is established as the promoted form of the Axe Knight class, focusing on strength, and wielding Axes as its sole weapon of choice.

In Thracia 776, the Great Knight class is again the promoted form of the Axe Knight class, but this iteration can dismount, and is forced to do so for indoor chapters. When dismounted, Great Knights are entirely unable to use axes, and must arm themselves with Swords.

While TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga does not feature Great Knight, the Iron Knight class is retroactively similar to the Armored Great Knight incarnation introduced in the Sacred Stones, though it predates it. Like all armored units in the game, Iron Knight uses Swords exclusively.

The Great Knight class is absent until the onset of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, where it is one of the promoted forms of both the Cavalier and Knight classes. This version of the class is able to wield Swords, Lance, as well Axes as its weapons of choice. Additionally, Great Knights are classified as Armored units, and have lower move than the other mounted classes.

In Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, the class is renamed as the Axe Paladin in localized versions of the game to make them thematically similar to Lance Paladins and Sword Paladins. Radiant Dawn reverted the Great Knight class to the original unarmored, and axe specializing version of the class. Axe Paladins further promotes into the Gold Knight class when the necessary requirements are fulfilled.

The armored version of Great Knight appeared again in Fire Emblem Awakening. The Great Knight possesses the Luna, and Dual Guard+ class skills. Great Knight wielded all three melee weapons like in Sacred Stones, and due to Generals losing swords, they are the only class with this weapon combination.

In Fire Emblem Fates, the Great Knight class is treated as a Nohrian class, and is again an armored class with one of the promoted forms of both the Cavalier and Knight classes. While Great Knight can still use all three melee weapons, unlike other appearances, Lances are the Great Knight's main weapon as it is their highest weapon rank.

In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the Great Knight class a optional promotion for the Noble and Commoner class. Great Knight is part of the Master Class curriculum, requiring qualifiable units to reach Level 30 to be able to take the Certification Exam for the class, requiring an A in Heavy Armor, as well as B+'s in Axes and Riding.

In the spinoff, Fire Emblem Warriors, the class does not feature the ability to use Lances or Swords for simplification, as well as being the base class of Frederick, though their ability to use Lances and Swords are referenced within Frederick's Awakening Special. Additionally, Great Knights can pop up under the Hoshidan flag unlike how it was in Fates, where they are called Steel Knights. Here, Great Knights can promote into Guardian Knights. The class is playable for all units in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, as the Master class promotion of the Fortress Knight class.

In Vestaria Saga I, the Great Knight is known as the Axe Lion. This incarnation of the class is very similar to it's Jugdral and Tellius incarnations, being non-armored and exclusively wielding Axes.

Overview[]

Combat[]

The Great Knight is a powerful horseback-mounted class that has higher Strength and Defense as compared to other physical damage-oriented mounted classes.

The Axe Cavalry variation of Great Knights that appears in Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776 and Radiant Dawn is locked to Axes exclusively, but aside from this, it should, in most situations, be treated much as one would Paladins. Their high Strength at the cost of Skill means that they should have little difficulty with dispatching defensive units wielding lances or axes, but they will face more difficulties when dealing with faster Sword-using classes such as Swordmasters.

The armored variation of Great Knights can use Swords, Axes and Lances, giving them a better selection of weaponry compared to Paladins. However, they have poor Skill and Resistance caps (somewhat akin to that of Generals), which means they will miss more often and be more susceptible to magic attacks. They also have a Movement of 7 as a mounted unit, compared to other mounted units which have a movement of 8, which can cause problems when retreating.

In The Sacred Stones and Awakening, Great Knights are considered to be both an armored and a horseback-mounted unit. Because of this, both armor and horse "slayer" weapons (such as Armorslayer and Halberd) are effective against Great Knights, but weapons effective against armored and mounted foes, such as the Rapier, only inflict normal bonus damage (x3 weapon might instead of x9).

In Awakening, Great Knights learn two different skills. Luna, for one, causes the opponent's Defense/Resistance to be cut in half (Defense for all physical weapons such as axes, Resistance for all magical weapons such as Levin Swords and Tomes) when activated. This skill is excellent when facing units with high Defense or Resistance as it will allow them to deal greater damage to their foes. Dual Guard+, on the other hand, increases the chances for Dual Guard to activate by 10%, which can be helpful when facing strong enemies or protecting weakened units.

In Fates, Great Knights remain arguably parallel to their Awakening incarnation, but their Lance rank caps at A while Swords and Axes cap at B. Their Skill is also reasonably higher from what it was in Awakening in comparison to other classes, making them more likely to trigger Luna whenever needed. Their Dual Guard+ skill has been replaced by the outstanding Armored Blow, a very useful skill that allows them to push through most physical attacks, provided that they initiate battle (nothing they should have much issue with, given their wide range of Movement), matching their exceptional Defense perfectly. It is also possible to further improve their assets by making them spend time as a General in order to obtain the Wary Fighter skill, ridding them of any concerns of being double attacked due to their poor Speed, essentially turning them into wide-reaching, versatile and impenetrable physical walls.

In Three Houses, Great Knights are considered both Armored and Cavalry, taking bonus damage from attacks against either of those types. They innately have Canto, Axefaire, and Lancefaire, but lose 1 Movement compared to the Paladin. Stat-wise, they are also somewhat slower than Paladins, while not being as durable as Fortress Knights, and still being highly vulnerable to magic. As such, experienced players tend to view the Great Knight as an unfavorable class in Three Houses, given that Paladin is more mobile and not as slow, while War Master is a better choice for Axes thanks to its innate critical hit bonus. Wyvern Lord is also favored more due to better stats, flight capability, and better growth rates. If one intends to use an armored unit, however, it is still far better than Fortress Knight as it exceeds that class in every way besides 10% defense growth and 2 class bonus, arguably negligible as by level 30 the armor unit should have massively inflated Def anyway.

In-Game[]

★ - SP Class

Base Stats[]

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE4	40	12	0	7	7	0	10	3	9	-	-	A	-
FE5	24	5/4	1	6/5	6/4	0	5/4	-	9/6	9	-	E D	-
FE8	21/20	8/6	-	4/6	6/7	0	11/9	3	6	13/10	-	E D D	-
FE10	33/35	18/11	5/1	16/6	16/8	0	15/10	10/3	9	11/8	36/33	C	-
FE10 ★	38	20	7	18	18	0	17	12	9	11	36	A	-
FE13	26	11	0	6	5	0	14	1	7	-	-	E E E	-
FE14	21	10	0	6	6	3	10	2	7	-	-	E E E	-
FE16	34	18	10	14	10	12	17	10	7	-	-	B+ A B+	-
FE17	26	9	2	8	5	3	13	2	6	8	-	B^ B^ B^	-

Maximum Stats[]

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE4	80	27	15	22	22	30	25	18	9	-	-	A	-
FE5	80	20	20	20	20	20	20	-	20	20	-	A A	-
FE8	60	28/26	-	24/26	24/25	30	29/28	25/26	15	20	-	S S S	-
FE10	45	26	15	25	23/25	30	24/22	16	9	11/8	36/33	S	-
FE10 ★	58	34	17	33	29	30	28	22	9	11	36	SS	-
FE13	80	48	20	34	37	45	48	30	7	-	-	A A A	-
FE14	65	35	25	29	27	28	37	28	7	-	-	B A B	-
FE17	75	42	19	43	25	30	51	22	8	20	-	B^ B^ B^	-

Growth Rates[]

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE4	100%	30%	10%	30%	30%	0%	30%	10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE5	70%	30%	5%	30%	20%	20%	30%	-	-	-	-	-	-
FE8	70%	30%	-	20/25%	15/20%	20%	21%	20/22%	-	-	-	-	-
FE10	55/60%	30/60%	40/25%	35/40%	25/40%	55/30%	35/40%	20/35%	-	-	-	-	-
FE10 ★	105%	75%	55%	80%	60%	80%	60%	55%	-	-	-	-	-
FE13	50%/95%	25%/45%	0%/0%	15%/30%	15%/30%	0%/40%	15%/35%	5%/15%	-	-	-	-	-
FE14	20%	20%	0%	10%	5%	5%	20%	0%	-	-	-	-	-
FE16	30/50%	10/22%	0%	0%	-10/-20%	0%	5/55%	-5/-10%	-	-	-	+3 +3 +3	5%
FE17	20%	15%	0%	15%	0%	5%	25%	10%	-	5%	-	-	-
FEW3H	30%	20%	0%	0%	0%	0%	35%	0%	-	-	-	-	10%

Class Modifiers[]

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE16	5	1	0	0	-4/-2	0	8/6	0	3/0	-	-	-	0
FEW3H	800	2	0	0	-6/-3	0	12/9	0	7/1	-	-	-	0

Class Skills[]

	Skill	Requirements
FE4	Re-Move	Hidden base skill of all flying and mounted units.
FE10	Canto	Base skill of all flying and mounted units.
FE13	Luna Dual Guard+	Learnt at Level 5. Learnt at Level 15.
FE14	Luna Armored Blow	Learnt at Level 5 and above. Learnt at Level 15 and above.
FE16	Canto Axefaire Lancefaire Defiant Defense	Class Ability of Great Knights. Class Ability of Great Knights. Class Ability of Great Knights. Mastery Ability of Great Knights
FE17	Allied Defense Warding Stance	Class Skill of Great Knights. Maddening mode skill.
FEW3H	Impregnable Lance Buster Lv 4 Armored Cavalry's Ploy Armored Cavalry's Wisdom Armored Strike Armor Smasher Lancebreaker Def +10 Knucklebreaker Luna Defiant Def Nullify Armored Effect Stalwart Stance Inspiring Agility Ironclad	Class ability. Class ability. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 2-star Class Mastery for Dedue. 2-star Class Mastery for certain units. 2-star Class Mastery for certain units. 2-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. Innate Ability for certain units. Innate Ability for certain units.

Promotions[]

	Base Class	Promotion Method	Promoted Class
FE4	Axe Knight	Choose the "Class Change" option in the Home Castle when the relevant unit reaches Level 20.	Great Knight
FE5	Axe Knight	Use a Knight Proof on a Level 10+ Axe Knight.	Great Knight
FE8	Cavalier	Use a Knight Crest on a Level 10+ Cavalier	Great Knight
FE8	Knight	Use a Knight Crest on a Level 10+ Knight	Great Knight
FE10	Axe Knight	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Axe Knight or train an Axe Knight to Level 21.	Axe Paladin
FE10	Axe Paladin	Use a Master Crown on a Level 10+ Axe Paladin or train an Axe Paladin to Level 21.	Gold Knight
FE13	Cavalier	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Cavalier.	Great Knight
FE13	Knight	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Knight.	Great Knight
FE14	Cavalier	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Cavalier.	Great Knight
FE14	Knight	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Knight.	Great Knight
FE16	Any class	Use a Master Seal on a Level 30+ unit and pass the Great Knight Certification Exam.	Great Knight
FE17	Sword Armor	Use Master Seal on Level 10+ Sword Armor with Lance or Axe Proficiency.	Great Knight
FE17	Lance Armor	Use Master Seal on Level 10+ Lance Armor with Sword or Axe Proficiency.	Great Knight
FE17	Axe Armor	Use Master Seal on Level 10+ Axe Armor with Sword or Lance Proficiency.	Great Knight
FEW	Great Knight	Use a Master Seal on Frederick.	Guardian Knight
FEW3H	Fortress Knight	Use a Master Seal on a unit that has mastered the Fortress Knight class.	Great Knight

Notable Great Knights[]

Genealogy of the Holy War[]

• Slayder - A general of Dozel working under Lombard.
• Schmidt - A Dozel officer serving under Danann during his reign in Isaach.
• Fisher - An aide to Brian, the current heir to Dozel.
• Possible promotions for: Lex and Iuchar.

Thracia 776[]

• Promotion for: Brighton and Hicks.

The Sacred Stones[]

• Duessel - A former Grado General known as the Obsidian. Joins Ephraim because he is suspected of treason after questioning Vigarde's acts.
• Aias- A former member of Caellach's mercenary group, who attempts to stop Eirika from reaching Jehanna Hall.
• Possible Promotion for Amelia, Franz, Kyle, Forde and Gilliam.

Radiant Dawn[]

• Titania - Second in command of the Greil Mercenaries.
• Kieran - Sub-commander of the Crimean Royal Knights under Geoffrey.
• Lombroso - A general of Begnion.

Awakening[]

• Frederick - A veteran who prefers to guide others in the Shepherds.
• Ephraim (DLC)
• (Spotpass) Mycen, Ephraim and Titania.
• Possible promotion for: Sully, Stahl, Kellam and Kjelle.

Fates[]

• Gunter - A knight and a retainer of Corrin's who has served the kingdom of Nohr for a long period of time.
• Possible promotion for: Peri, Silas, Siegbert, Sophie, Benny, Effie and Ignatius.

Three Houses[]

• Gwendal - Knight of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus known as the Grey Lion.
• Gautier - One of the Ten Elites, original bearer of the Crest of Gautier, and founder of House Gautier.
• Chilon - Named member of Those Who Slither in the Dark.

Engage[]

• Bunet - Retainer to Fogado and royal chef of Solm.
• Possible promotion for: Louis, Jade.

Vestaria Saga I[]

• Jamulan - A capable Axe Knight and the Ordom Clan's greatest warrior.

Trivia[]

• In Genealogy of the Holy War, all default and potential Great Knights hail from the duchy of Dozel. Additionally Dozel's squadron of knights, Grauen Ritter was composed mostly of Great Knights.
• In Awakening, the Great Knight's Magic cap is the lowest of all promoted classes, while it is tied with many unpromoted classes for said stat.
  • The Great Knight's Skill cap is also the lowest of all promoted classes available.
• The Great Knight, Bride, Conqueror, and Dread Fighter classes are the only ones to be able to use 3 different types of equipment with ranks in Awakening.
• The helmet worn by generic Great Knights in Fates, with minor differences, uses the same design as the helmet for the unused female variant of the generic Great Knight from Awakening.

Gallery[]