When it comes to Fire Emblem: Three Houses, healers are some of the most important units in the game. When you're playing with permadeath on, they're in charge of keeping everyone safe and making sure that you don't hear Lysithea's scream as she's struck down for the 459th time.
While none of the healers are too bad in Three Houses (Faith magic will always prove super useful) and will always carry their weight, there are certainly some that just do the job better than others. Today, we'll be ranking every character that has a proficiency in the Faith stat, to see which are the best. Let's jump into it.
7 Linhardt
Linhardt certainly isn't a bad character, but there really isn't anything that sets him apart from the others. He doesn't have the utility that some of the others do (such as the Silence spell), making him a very vanilla healer who can't really operate much outside of that realm.
Like many other healers, he also has a very tough time keeping himself alive. His offensive spells just don't put in the work either, without significant investment. He just struggles all around. He's fine at being a middling healer, and will work perfectly well for the Black Eagles. However, if you do choose that house, it wouldn't be a bad idea to start prioritizing recruiting a different healer (maybe someone who is a bit higher on the list).
6 Manuela
When she's not busy making sure that every conversation you'll ever have with her revolves around her romantic woes, Manuela can be found doing her best impression of a healer on the battlefield. It's not a great impression, that's for sure.
While Manuela can learn useful tools such as Warp and Silence, she doesn't do much outside of that. She also has trouble, like many of the healers on this list, staying alive. Manuela functions well as an adjutant unit, being able to heal her assigned unit here and there while ultimately not wasting a spot on the battlefield. Manuela is a very sub-standard healer, and sending her into combat really isn't your best move.
5 Flayn
Flayn has a few problems of her own. Sure, she has a bit more utility than Linhardt, with spells like Rescue and Fortify being two that come to mind right off the bat. However, if you even think about putting Flayn next to any enemy unit at all, she is basically done for right there. She cannot take hits to save her life, and her counterattacks don't do anything for her either.
However, Flayn is a natural fit for the dancer class. She absolutely excels in this class, and she can quickly switch between dancing and healing depending on what the team needs on that specific turn. While Flayn isn't the best as simple healer, putting her in the dancer class helps her immeasurably.
4 Byleth
Byleth, the avatar character, actually has a hidden stat in Faith, allowing them to act as a semi-healer. You could even center them around Faith, if you choose. While this can work fine, Byleth's immense power and tools like the Sword of the Creator really tend to push them toward sword-heavy roles.
If Byleth has no units he is able to attack, healing is fine, and using a Nosferatu can be useful in certain scenarios. When it comes right down to it, you shouldn't completely shut the door on Byleth's Faith spells, but you shouldn't train them solely in this stat either. Make it a secondary resource to swords for best results.
3 Marianne
Marianne is certainly one of the better healers available in the game. She has access to some tools (such as Physic and Silence) that can keep her out of danger while keeping her allies safe. She also has a few damaging moves, such as Aura, that are nothing to sneeze at either.
While she certainly isn't the best healer there is, she does her job very well. If you're playing the Golden Deer route and would rather prioritize other recruits over healers, that would be fine, as Marianne can manage the bulk of the team's healing on her own. Take notes, Linhardt. Shape up.
2 Lysithea
Lysithea's Faith spells should certainly be a secondary option for her, but either way, this girl is literally a cement truck. She is the equivalent to a Thwomp from Mario. She destroys everything she touches, but she literally cannot move. Her low movement can keep her away from battle at times, which is when her healing spells come into play. She can't do much in that area, but she can help if she doesn't have any enemies she can reach. Never a wasted turn.
However, if she is able to actually reach the battle, she can one-shot a large majority of the enemies found in the game. The one major flaw that hurts Lysithea is that she's incredibly squishy, meaning that just about anything can take her down. Get Lysithea into the right position and she can wreak havoc on the enemy team. Just be careful, as if you put her into the wrong position, you're going to have a bit of a rough time.
1 Mercedes
Without a doubt, if you're looking for an all-around healing and damaging unit, Mercedes is your girl. All of her damaging spells (both Faith- and Reason-based) are incredibly powerful, and she can one- or two-shot many common enemies found on the field. Her real utility comes in the form of her healing, though. She has a few different healing spells that she can use depending on the situation. However, whichever one she uses heals her for the same amount she healed the target for, thanks to her Personal Ability, Live To Serve.
This allows Mercedes to be in places on the battlefield that many other healers wouldn't dare venture out to, as she can just take more hits than all of them. Mercedes has Reason proficiency too, affording her a wide pool of magic strategies to pull from. All around, Mercedes is an incredibly powerful magic user who should not be underestimated. No matter which route you're playing on, make sure that you get Mercedes into your house as one of your very first recruits. She's absolutely the best Faith-based unit in all of Fire Emblem: Three Houses.