A healer is a necessity in your Fire Emblem army, ensuring you can recover from injury and press on through the fight. Across the Fire Emblem series, healers are not a specific class, but consist of members from the staff or rod-wielding classes, including Priests, Clerics, and Troubadours, among others.
It’s easy to overlook and take your healer for granted, but some of the healer characters have the most interesting backstories or play a meaningful role in the game they appear in. The best Fire Emblem healers have a balance of strong recruitment to your Fire Emblem squad and a memorable personality.
9 Lena
Lena is a vital part of your army in the first Fire Emblem game, Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. A Cleric you meet early on in the game, her excellent availability and abilities make her a great asset to your team as a healer.
In addition to the benefits she brings to the battlefield, Lena also has an interesting story: rejecting a proposal and becoming a Robin Hood-like figure before ultimately joining Marth’s army. Her giving nature is further emphasized by her ending: starting an orphanage.
8 Laura
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn’s Laura is an invaluable member of the Dawn Brigade. Starting out as a Priest, Laura is one of the only staff wielders and healers who can join your army in the earliest parts of the game, so recruiting and using her is a huge benefit.
As a character, Laura is incredibly brave, demonstrated through her resistance to the Begnions and her courageous journey to retrieve medicine for her Abbot. Like Lena, she also concludes her game by opening up an orphanage.
7 Brady
Brady is one of the child characters from Fire Emblem Awakening, the future son of Maribelle. He is a Priest with stats and skills that set him up to help out the Shepherds well in their campaign, including his healing abilities.
On the surface, Brady comes across as intimidating and mean, but this is merely a mask for his true character. In reality, he is emotional, simply putting up a tough exterior to hide his vulnerable feelings. He is also a skilled violinist, which he goes on to pursue with success in the end.
6 Lissa
Lissa is another excellent healer choice in Fire Emblem Awakening, and your first choice in the game. She is particularly valuable in the first several chapters and can continue to be a vital healer for your army throughout the game. She starts out as a Cleric, with multiple options for reclassing or promotion.
As Chrom’s sister and princess of Ylisse, Lissa also serves a significant role in the game’s story. She refuses to sit on the sidelines and is determined to help her brother in the Shepherds’ conflicts.
5 Serra
The first healer you encounter in Fire Emblem The Blazing Blade, Serra not only fills a crucial need in your army, but also breaks the selfless healer archetype. Serra is a Cleric whose main usefulness lies in her healing abilities, especially early on in the game.
Serra is also very self-centered, an interesting break from the typical self-sacrificial healers like Lena and Laura. She grates on the other characters’ nerves, but her egotistical personality gives her some of the funniest lines of dialogue in the game. This break from the healer mold sets her apart as a distinct and memorable one.
4 Natasha
Natasha, a Cleric in Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones, is the optimal healer in the game. Much like healers from prior Fire Emblem titles, her base stats and growth rates, as well as her path to becoming a Bishop, set her up to be an excellent asset to your army.
Natasha also plays a vital role in the story, as she was entrusted by her mentor with the plot to demolish the Sacred Stones. She brings this secret to Eirika and continues to selflessly aid them in rescuing the Grado Empire.
3 Azama
One of Fire Emblem Fates’s best characters is Azama, a Monk and a personal retainer for Hinoka. Azama’s usefulness in battle also extends beyond his healing abilities, as his stats and potential growth paths allow him to become a more aggressive fighter than most other healers.
Azama’s personality is also distinct. Despite his standing as a Monk, Azama isn’t the typical serene, religious type. Rather, meditation is less about spiritual growth for him, and more about fulfilling his own personal desire for solitude. He’s also very sarcastic, and one possible ending for him involves starting a new religious cult, of all things.
2 Elise
Elise, the youngest of the Nohrian noble family, appears in Fire Emblem Fates as a recruitable ally in the Conquest and Revelation paths. She is a Troubadour and an outstanding healer, with extremely high magic stats. She makes for one of the best healers in the game.
Elise’s infectious joy also makes her a delightful character to interact with, as she is affectionate and warm in all her speech and actions. This sets her apart from the darker vibe of Nohr and fits with her role as a healer.
1 Flayn
Flayn is an excellent asset to your army in Fire Emblem Three Houses, as her combination of healing skills and magical abilities set her up to serve you and your other units well. She starts as a Priest, and depending on which side you pick, will stick with you through the entire story.
Flayn also has a major role to play in the story. She hides several secrets about who she truly is, including her true identity as a Light Dragon and Seteth’s daughter.