When it comes to playing Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Personal Abilities can make or break your performance in any given match. These abilities give their respective unit a unique passive effect that benefits them. Sometimes Personal Abilities are small, and don't do something that you're really going to notice all that much. Other times, though, they can turn what would be a mediocre unit into a fantastic one.
Today, we'll be going over ten of the best Personal Abilities in the game, in no particular order.
10 The Lords- Lineage
Unit earns 1.2x experience.
Edelgard, Claude, and Dimitri all have a unique Personal Ability that gives them 1.2x experience in battle. While that not seem like much at first, as this happens throughout the entire game, they become incredibly powerful later on, and will become absolute monsters in the end game. All of the lords have a unique additional effect added on later in the game, making their Personal Abilities even better.
9 Balthus- King of Grappling
Grants Str/ Def +6 when Hp is less than or equal to 50%.
The King of Grappling's effect gives him additional strength and defense when he's at below 50% health, which essentially makes him an incredibly effective glass cannon. Balthus is already a very powerful unit, so this just pushes his power over the edge.
8 Lysithea- Mastermind
Unit earns 2x experience.
Death Knight melter and known child Lysithea Von Ordelia has the Mastermind ability, which affords her 2x experience.
Mages are known to not level up too fast in Three Houses, so Lysithea's ability allows her to keep up with and surpass her classmates, it's incredibly powerful. Just like the child herself. She really is a mastermind.
7 Ashe- Lockpick
Unit does not need a key to unlock doors and chests.
Ashe's ability might not seem like much, but rather something that would come in handy every now and then throughout the story, and that's exactly what it is. However, Ashe lands on this list due to a specific mission in the DLC that makes his Personal Ability hugely important. No spoilers, but you'll know which it is as soon as you start the mission.
6 Mercedes- Live to Serve
When healing an ally, user gains an equal amount of HP.
Mercedes becomes one of the most important healers in the game due to her Personal Ability, which keeps her strong while healing others. This allows her a bit of flexibility to get close to enemies that other healers might not have. Mercedes is a must-recruit due to her ability alone.
5 Byleth- Professor's Guidance
Multiplies this unit's and adjacent allies' experience earned by 1.2x. When upgraded, the unit deals 2 extra damage during combat.
Byleth's Personal Ability is a souped-up version of the house leaders' abilities, as adjacent units get the experience boost too. Byleth will always be one of your best units in the game, and their Personal Ability is part of the reason as to why. The upgraded version increases Byleth's insane damage even further, making them a very dangerous unit to engage with.
4 Dorothea- Songstress
At start of the turn, restores 10% HP to adjacent allies.
Dorothea's simple ability helps keep units near her healthy, giving her some passive healing abilities in addition to the rest of her arsenal. Dorothea already makes a great Dancer, and this ability only adds-on to her utility if taken down that route. Even if you don't make Dorothea a Dancer, having someone to keep your units healthy and take some of that burden off of your main healer is something that is always going to be greatly beneficial.
3 Bernadetta- Persecution Complex
If HP is less than full, Attack +5.
Keeping any unit at 100% health is hard, so Bernadetta's ability will come in handy pretty often. It allows her to deal more damage than she would normally about 90% of the time. Bernadetta becomes an incredibe archer as the game progresses, and her Personal Ability furthers her power.
2 Petra- Hunter's Boon
Critical Rate +20 when foe has less than 50% HP.
Petra is an incredibly dangerous unit no matter what route you choose to take her down. She's always going to be dealing a high amount of damage, and she works great as an Assassin, a Class that is known for doling out critical strikes. Thus, Petra's Personal Ability gives her an even greater chance to deal a critical hit, meaning that she can one-shot virtually all units that she comes across with ease.
1 Cyril- Aptitude
Makes each stat 20% more likely to increase on level up.
Cyril is an interesting unit, as he has a massive amount of potential, and can become one of your most deadly units if trainer properly. His Personal Ability, Aptitude, means that his stat growth can go out of control easily, which, of course, is something that does nothing but benefit him. If Cyril is lucky enough, he'll rise the ranks of your house with ease.