#which is just below S tier and the only thing above S tier is ''Dimitri.''

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

i remember when the hopes leaks were first coming out and i saw the miklan screenshot and basically lost my shit immediately

bc at that point most of my stuff for him was headcanon and i'd been co-writing a fic with a friend that included him in it and i was getting very attached to him over that time (previously i was interested in him and what he could've been based on dimitri talking to byleth about him and crests, thus sprouting a lot of those headcanons).

originally the plan was to kill him and glenn off after making them secondary major characters so that people reading would be attached to them when it happened and feel sylvain and felix's grief better, but then i got too attached to them and chickened out and decided not to go with that (the fic is still in progress bc we haven't touched it for a long time bc my friend got very busy with medical school and eventually her job). we're nowhere near where that was going to happen but by chapter two i was like wait no i can't do this djhskgfjga.

so this fic had started getting written and i had started writing out his relationships with glenn and sylvain primarily. it's a dmcl au primarily but with other major characters. during this time i was like what do you know i rly like the personality that i gave miklan that feels very "what he would be in a better situation".

eventually hopes got announced and not too long after that my thoughts drifted to "i wonder if miklan will even be in this game" but it was a pretty brief thought bc i wasn't sure he even would be. in fact, i was thinking more abt glenn bc i was like, they have a chance to finally show his face and/or more about him, so i was anticipating more glenn lore between the two of them (ironically, considering we got the opposite!).

AND THEN I SAW THE SCREENSHOT WHERE DIMITRI WAS TALKING TO HIS LIL GROUP ABOUT HOW HE'D MADE MIKLAN A COMMANDER AND STUFF AND I LOST MY MIND IN THAT MOMENT AND BOOKED IT TO TELL MY FRIEND (who i asked if i could share my excitement with bc it was technically a spoiler at the time but she was fine with it!) and i was losing my mind until the game came out bc i was like damn he's actually gonna be on our side this time??? i am finally going to get more miklan content??? will he be everything i imagined him being???

AND THEN THE GAME CONFIRMED MY (non AU) HEADCANONS FOR HIM and then i melted away and the rest is history and commissions.

[radiantresplendence]

The Dark Knight Class - Fire Emblem Three Houses

In my opinion, the Dark Knight is on the high end of the “viable” classes in the late game. I think that a lot of the mage girls have better options where they’d excel, because females horse mages have access to classes like Valkyrie. This isn’t a jab at Dark Knight however, for what it’s worth, it’s a good class. I just feel that its desire to be hybrid physical and magic holds it back for a lot of characters. 

The class exam wants C in lance, B+ in reason and A in riding. This is annoying, to say the least. In most cases, the characters that you’ll want as a Dark Knight won’t see a horse until they qualify for this class, being that (though hybrid) the class favors magic and there are no mounted mages until Valkyrie at level 30 (which is both gender-locked and a better class, I’d argue). Essentially to qualify for this class by the time it becomes available, you’ll need to have someone’s goal set to riding for most of the game with little payoff until you get here. C lance is neat, and opens up the possibility of potent lance Combat Arts, particularly Frozen Lance, without going too far out of your way. Basically, I like the lance requirement and don’t like the riding, but while you’re on a horse, you might as well pick up Movement +1. 

Analysis

The Dark Knight’s notable bases are 17 magic, 14 dexterity and 16 speed. These bases are fine, but are a little low for level 40 and probably won’t affect your stats much, seeing as the Warlock that you were probably in before qualifying for this class also grants 17 magic. You’d have to be really statscrewed to get any serious buff just for passing the exam and even then you’d have to get here off of a class like Fortress Knight. The stat boosts that Dark Knight provides are 1 strength, 2 magic, 2 dexterity and 1 speed (but you lose 2 while mounted). They’re not anything to write home about, as you’ll hit ever-so slightly harder as a Warlock, at the cost of having significantly less mobility. 

The Dark Knight boasts a solid 7 movement while mounted and 6 while dismounted. Every point of movement counts, especially with Canto and being placed in the mobility tier right below the likes of Dark Flier is not a bad place to be. 

Dark Knight’s Class Skills are good. They’d be better if the Class just opted for the faire that the student in question had access to though. As it stands, they have Black Tomefaire, Dark Tomefaire and Canto. The class’s Mastery Skill is Seal Resistance. 

Black Tomefaire is great. +5 damage for being a mage that stacks with a copy of itself once you max out your reason is great free damage. 

Dark Tomefaire is really just here for Hubert. It does the same thing as above, just most characters won’t get any use out of this. 

Canto is always good. You melt someone with magic and then use the rest of your movement to leave. It’s great. 

Seal Resistance sucks and shouldn’t be used in favor of more reliable skills to give you more kill potential. If you deal damage to someone, they suffer -6 resistance until the next turn. I suppose you could do interesting things with Deadeye Ashe on NG+6 though if you really wanted to. 

In terms of growths, Dark Knight gives a 5% increase to strength and a 10% increase to magic. Like most mounted classes, you suffer a loss in speed growth, in this case 5%. They’re solid growths for a Master Class, to the extent that they’ll help much that late into the game. 

Good Dark Knights

Lorenz is the poster child for the class: Solid strength and magic, solid reason spell list (albeit lacking much spice), access to Frozen Lance at C+ lances, and strengths in everything that he needs to get here. Lorenz makes a strong Dark Knight, even if he’s a little lackluster until he gets here. He’d be better if he had a cooler faith spell list though. 

Ingrid lacks the same kind of punching power and the ease of access that Lorenz enjoys in regards to this class, but she has a lot going for her to make up for it. She too learns Frozen Lance, albeit at an A lance investment and she’s fast enough to not really care about the speed penalty in most cases. She also learns Thoron and Physic, despite having a more limited spell list. She may lack the reason strength that Lorenz has, but if you build her as a mage, she should be able to reasonably get the the B+ to qualify by level 40 pretty easily. (Additionally to note, I think the optimal way to use Ingrid if you’re playing Blue Lions is as a mage and this class is the best class for her to do it.)

Using Sylvain as a Dark Knight is also viable. He’s arguably the only unit I’d have on a horse before qualifying for this class. His reason budding talent grants him Black Magic Avoid +20 which is a good skill, even if finding a golden use for it is a little difficult on Sylvain outside of NG+. He has a more robust spell list than Ingrid, and notably picks up Seraphim at the cost of Thoron. I’d argue he’s better as a Paladin for Swift Strikes though. Interestingly, he also can learn Lightning Axe but not Frozen Lance... but I’d only really get his axe rank that high if I were making him a flier. It could be of note in NG+ maybe, but you’d have to pick that over making him a Black Magic dodge tank with Alert Stance. Basically, Sylvain can do some neat stuff as a mage and Dark Knight is probably where he should wind up if you’re doing that. 

While I’m on the topic of NG+, Bernadetta can fit fairly comfortably as a Dark Knight, especially after a couple of playthroughs of training. Thoron, Physic and Rescue are in her surprisingly robust spell list, despite being a pretty lacking mage. C+ lances can get her Vengeance to go with her Personal Skill Persecution Complex and she has a budding talent in riding that grants her Pass. I’d build Bernie normally through Brigand and Archer into Sniper to get here, but I could see some value in going Paladin for maximum Vengeance with a guard adjutant. Just understand that if you keep her in bows, she’ll have exceptional versatility in the class with with Deadeye and Encloser. If you’re playing Blue Lions and recruit her, you can even give her Failnaught. This may be the only unit I’ll include who may get a magic boost for qualifying for the class. 

This is probably Hubert’s best class, all things considered because it’s the only way for him to get a real Class Skill to act as a boon to his dark magic. He can even pick up Frozen Lance as a budding talent. It’s a real bummer that Hubert’s faith list is as bad as it is, but I suppose it makes sense given his character. Much like my thoughts on Dark Bishop, Hanneman and Hubert are surprisingly similar in their roles. I personally feel like Hanneman loses more than Hubert does when moving up to a Master Class though, not to imply that it’s a bad transition, more like a give and take. After all, Canto and that added mobility is really nice, even if you lose out on some versatility/double meteor. 

Edelgard is the only unit that can make use of both of Dark Knight’s faire skills. Make mage Edelgard a Dark Flier instead or don’t do it at all.

Conclusion

Play Blue Lions, recruit Bernadetta and Lorenz and make everyone a Dark Knight. Felix doesn’t get to complain because of his budding talent in reason, Dedue dies during the timeskip and has Vengeance and Dimitri won’t let you train him anyways. Dark Knights of Faerghus: It’ll be rad. 

Dark Knight is pretty okay. Boys kinda get shafted as dedicated mages. This review kind of got away from me. 

Here’s hoping you enjoyed this. If you’d like to read more of my thoughts on FE3H classes, here they are.