Dancers are a strange but powerful class in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. They’re largely a support class thanks to their ability to enable allies to move again and a lack of useful combat abilities or proficiencies. When they’ve fully mastered their dance moves, they can even give an ally a +4 bonus to Dexterity, Speed, and Luck.
Given their niche role, it can be hard to identify not only who would make a good dancer, but who would be best at it. While anyone can become a dancer given enough work, here are the best units to step into this role.
Updated May 31, 2022 by Ryan Bamsey: With Fire Emblem: Three Hopes swiftly approaching, it makes sense that a lot of people will be playing Three Houses to refresh their memories of the game's story and characters. No matter how many times you play it, the choice of who to make a Dancer remains a tough question to answer - we've added some more suggestions to this list.
12 Annette
- HP – 23
- Strength – 6
- Magic – 11
- Dexterity – 7
- Speed – 7
- Luck – 6
- Defense – 5
- Resistance – 4
- Charm – 6
Annette is a good candidate, given she has good Dexterity and Speed stats starting out, which is important for a Dancer. Her high magic can also be useful as Dancers can synergize well with magical abilities and lend aid with White Magic. The game's lore also supports her becoming a Dancer, given her love of singing and dancing.
The reason she ranks low is that her Charisma skill isn’t very high, which is an important stat when it comes to making a unit a Dancer. She’s certainly a better choice than many of the other students, but it’ll take quite a bit of work.
How To Recruit Annette
If Byleth joins Blue Lion's house, she’ll be automatically recruited. If you’re with another house, she can be recruited if Byleth’s Magic stat is high enough. It must be level ten, though each Support Rank decreases this need by two.
11 Lysithea
- HP – 22
- Strength – 4
- Magic – 11
- Dexterity – 7
- Speed – 7
- Luck – 4
- Defense – 3
- Resistance – 4
- Charm – 5
Like Annette, Lysithea has decent Dexterity and Speed stats that are so valuable for the Dancer class. Since Dancers usually spend their time in the back of your party, Lysithea's slow stat growth and terrible health and defense stats won't matter very much.
The big reason that Lysithea isn't higher on this list is that she's so valuable as an offensive magic user, so her time would be wasted just giving other players extra turns! She can deal out immense damage with Dark Magic spells, despite her poor health and strength stats.
How To Recruit Lysithea
If Byleth is the leader of the Golden Deer house, Lysithea will be automatically recruited. If Byleth is in any other house, they'll need to have a good relationship with Lysithea and high Magic and Faith stats before Lysithea will agree to join.
10 Flayn
- HP – 28
- Strength – 8
- Magic – 15
- Dexterity – 12
- Speed – 9
- Luck – 8
- Defense – 7
- Resistance – 19
- Charm – 16
Flayn can be a powerful Dancer, given a strong starting Charisma and decent Dexterity. Her Speed is a bit low, which is why she doesn’t rank higher, but she makes up for it with a high Resistance to tank magical attacks. Her special ability Lily’s Pose is also helpful, as it provides damage resistance to allies near her.
Again, her low Speed is the liability here and makes her susceptible to physical-based attacks. But, honestly, she makes a strong Dancer that can hold her own against magical opponents.
How To Recruit Flayn
She’ll be automatically recruited no matter which house Byleth chose. But if Byleth is leading the Black Eagle house and sides with Edelgard in Chapter 11, she’ll be locked out — you must side with the Church to keep her.
9 Felix
- HP – 26
- Strength – 10
- Magic – 5
- Dexterity – 6
- Speed – 9
- Luck – 5
- Defense – 5
- Resistance – 3
- Charm – 5
It turns out the lone wolf Felix can make a halfway decent Dancer. He has incredible speed, and while his Dexterity and Charisma aren’t amazing, they aren’t bad either. His high proficiency with swords will also help when he has to get his hands dirty.
While he makes a better Dancer than most other characters in the game, he is best suited to being a Swordmaster, plain and simple.
How To Recruit Felix
Felix will join the team automatically if you choose the Blue Lion’s house. If not, he can be recruited if Byleth has a high enough Speed stat. Without support, the Speed stat needs to be 15, and this decreases by three for each Support Rank.
8 Marianne
- HP – 23
- Strength – 5
- Magic – 11
- Dexterity – 6
- Speed – 7
- Luck – 6
- Defense – 4
- Resistance – 8
- Charm – 7
With talent in swords, fantastic spells, and great stats to go with them, Marianne is a fantastic Dancer candidate. While the extraverted class doesn't match her dour personality, Marianne is a very effective Dancer.
Not only does she have great spells and stats that would absolutely rock with a Levin Sword or Blutgang, but her talent for Riding also makes it quite easy to nab the Move +1 skill - this makes it far easier to glide across the battlefield to refresh a unit with a dance.
How To Recruit Marianne
Recruiting Marianne is a no-brainer if you start in the Golden Deer house. If you start elsewhere, however, you'll need a decent Magic and Riding stat spread.
7 Ferdinand
- HP – 28
- Strength – 8
- Magic – 5
- Dexterity – 6
- Speed – 8
- Luck – 6
- Defense – 6
- Resistance – 2
- Charm – 7
With high HP, great Speed, and fantastic Confidence personal ability, Ferdinand is pretty well-suited to being on the front lines. With good luck, he'll end up dodging quite a lot of what's thrown at him, especially if he stays at full health - Confidence gives him a huge +15 Avoid at full health.
These are great features for a Dancer, a class that usually has a reputation for being slightly frail. Turning Ferdinand into a dodging maestro of unit refreshing is a surprisingly viable tactic.
How To Recruit Ferdinand
To get this loudmouth to join you on any route that isn't Black Eagles, you'll want to improve your Dexterity and Heavy Armor skills.
6 Petra
- HP – 32
- Strength – 14
- Magic – 6
- Dexterity – 15
- Speed – 20
- Luck – 11
- Defense – 8
- Resistance – 3
- Charm – 9
Petra falls into a similar situation as Felix, she has incredible Speed — one of the highest in fact — and her Dexterity and Charisma are above average. She can also hold her own with a sword in combat. But, once again, she’s much better suited to be a warrior, not a Dancer.
This is especially true when you factor in her special ability, Hunter’s Boon, which gives her a +20 to critical hits when her foe has less than 50 percent HP — something a dancer won't be able to take advantage of all that often.
How To Recruit Petra
Petra is automatically on the team if you choose the Black Eagles house. Otherwise, she must be convinced to join a different house by having a high Dexterity stat. With no Support Rank, you’ll need ten Dexterity. This need decreases by two with each Support Rank.
5 Edelgard
- HP – 29
- Strength – 13
- Magic – 6
- Dexterity – 6
- Speed – 8
- Luck – 5
- Defense – 6
- Resistance – 4
- Charm – 10
That’s right! The vicious leader of the Black Eagles is actually a prime candidate for a Dancer. She has an incredibly high Charisma stat and her Speed is also high. Where she falters is in her Dexterity, which is about average and might cause her to struggle now and then in this role.
That being said, her magical prowess would combine well with Dancing giving her a support role with teeth. Like others on this list she’s better suited to be a straightforward damage-dealer, but she’s got some moves.
How To Recruit Edelgard
Edelgard can be obtained if the player is in the Black Eagles house. You must also choose to side with her in Chapter 11, or else she becomes unusable.
4 Dimitri
- HP – 28
- Strength – 12
- Magic – 4
- Dexterity – 7
- Speed – 7
- Luck – 5
- Defense – 7
- Resistance – 4
- Charm – 9
Picturing this young warrior on the battlefield swaying his hips to support the troops is an odd image, but his high Charisma, good Speed, and Dexterity suggest he’d make a great Dancer. He also has the added bonus of having a high Defense stat, which makes him resilient to physical attacks.
The only reason he doesn’t rank higher is that he really is better suited to a more aggressive combat role. He’d make a good Dancer, but it would mean operating below his potential. Plus, the time skip would make him being a Dancer even stranger.
How To Recruit Dimitri
Dimitri can be recruited so long as you choose the Blue Lion house. If not, he is locked away forever.
3 Yuri
- HP – 25
- Strength – 11
- Magic – 7
- Dexterity – 8
- Speed – 10
- Luck – 8
- Defense – 6
- Resistance – 8
- Charm – 9
The leader of the Ashen Wolves you encounter in Cindered Shadows is a competent Dancer. His Speed growth rate is off the charts and he has a great deal of Charisma and Luck, which are essential for Dancers. He also excels with a sword, which is handy.
The only reason you might hesitate to use him as a Dancer is that he’s similar to Felix in the sense that he’s a lone wolf. His Honorable Spirit ability actually gives him a boost to Attack when he’s not around an ally, which is not a great position to be in as a Dancer.
How To Recruit Yuri
You must complete the Cindered Shadows side story to make Yuri recruitable Once this is done, he is accessible from Chapter 2 and on.
2 Claude
- HP – 26
- Strength –11
- Magic – 5
- Dexterity – 8
- Speed – 8
- Luck – 7
- Defense – 6
- Resistance – 4
- Charm – 8
It seems oddly fitting that the tactical genius prone to tricks and deceit would make a good Dancer. Encountering this young man on the battlefield dancing, given his reputation, would make enemies think he’s up to something.
But he’s actually very powerful as a Dancer given his high Charisma, Dexterity, and Speed, and he’s not too bad with a sword, which is the weapon of choice for Dancers. Granted, he’s a Lord so he’s good at most things, but he is oddly suited for Dancing.
How To Recruit Claude
Claude is automatically recruited following the prologue. He will stay with you if you choose the Golden Deer house. Choose any other house and he will be locked out forever.
1 Dorothea
- HP – 31
- Strength – 7
- Magic – 19
- Dexterity – 13
- Speed – 13
- Luck – 11
- Defense – 5
- Resistance – 17
- Charm – 14
Given Dorothea is a former singer for the Mittelfrank Opera Company and has a love of music, it makes sense she’d be a good Dancer. Her Charisma and Speed are high, and her Dexterity isn’t half bad, giving her a great early game and end game stat position for Dancer.
Her special ability, Songstress, is also incredibly helpful as nearby allies will recover a max of ten percent of their health at the beginning of each turn. Combine that with the extra turn she provides as a Dancer and she’s a strong candidate.
How To Recruit Dorothea
If you choose Black Eagles house, Dorothea will automatically be available. If any other house is chosen, she must be recruited by having a high enough Charm stat. Without support, a Charm level of 25 is needed. This requirement decreases by five for each Support Rank.