Free days in Fire Emblem: Three Houses can be a little overwhelming in terms of what the player should do. The player is always faced with four choices: explore, battle, hold a seminar, or rest.
Various players have boasted different strategies online for what is best for when. Some play online and go with whatever choice as the most online percentages while others just go with what they feel like at the given moment. It all depends on your play-style. However, it is important to know what each action does and why you may or may not want to use it on your free day.
Exploring
What most players suggest in terms of exploration is to choose explore on the first free day of every new month. That is because the monastery will refresh every month with new dialogue, quests, and items. It is highly recommended to explore once a month. There is little reason to explore more than once a month unless the player missed a quest or desire to grind gardening supplies and character closeness.
Exploring can also be the most time-consuming of the free days. There is a lot to do and a lot that can be done depending on your professor rank. The higher your professor rank, the more you can do and the longer you will spend exploring.
In terms of exploring, here is a list of things you can do that does not require energy.
- Talk to everyone
- Obtain and turn in quests
- Fish
- Garden
- Find lost items and return them
- Spend renown on Saint Statues
- Give away gifts
- Feed monastery cats and dogs
- Purchase items from NPCs
- Recruit teachers and students
- Check advice box
(For those with the Cindered Shadows DLC)
- Explore Abyss
- Use pagan alter
- Collect items from scrap heap
- Use Wayseer (only available in Chapter 13)
Then there are activities that take energy while exploring on a free day. The higher your professor rank, the more of these activities you can do.
- Cook
- Attend choir practice
- Participate in tournaments
- Have tea time
- Train with instructors
- Visit sauna
- Share a meal
In conclusion, exploring has a ton for the player to do. It is recommended to prioritize activities that increases teacher rank in the beginning of the game. This means checking the advice box, going to choir practice, having tea time, cooking, sharing meals, partaking in tournaments, fishing, gardening, and completing quests.
Battling
Grinding to level up characters in Fire Emblem Three Houses is quite easy, as there is always a battle available that does not cost any energy (unless you are playing on a higher difficulty).
It is recommended to complete all story battles available to you as soon as possible, as they are not available forever. If you pick battle for every free day, then expect to get over-leveled.
Some players love the battle system more than anything, and pick battle for every free day. However, it is recommended to raise professor rank as much as possible by exploring first. With a higher professor rank, more battles can be participated in later.
Battles are for those who want money and experience. If the game is not on hard mode or higher, there really is not a correct play-style for how much someone should battle. What is definitely suggested though is to do the story battles. That means battle should be selected at least once a month, preferably after exploring so that the player can pick up quests first.
Other than exploring, battle is the most popular free day option among players.
Seminars
Some players go through the entirety of Fire Emblem Three Houses without utilizes seminars. Many call it a waste of time.
However, is does have its uses for major strategists. While it does not deal out raw experience like battles do, it gives students a ton of skill experience. Seminars can be key to getting them to a master class fast.
Seminars teach six students, and their skills in a seminar go up way more than in regular instructing. On top of that, Byleth automatically attends all seminars (and you can't instruct Byleth regularly). It also raises the motivation of attendees.
The six students that can attend seminars are selected depending on their goals. If their goals are changed, which seminar they can attend will change as well.
While many players agree that battling is better, doing that most free days can be exhausting and boring. Seminars offer a break, and it certainly has its place in making a strong class of students.
In terms of who does the best seminars, many gamers agree that that is Seteth. He teaches lances and authority and most of the master classes use the lance skill.
Resting
Resting might sound like the most boring free day option, but it has its place. Many players consider it as basically the "skip" option in terms of free days. It shared the same fate as seminars in that a lot of players see it as pointless. In fact, many would agree that rest is even more pointless than seminars.
Other than just progressing through the game faster, the rest option gives all students a little bit of motivation. It also repairs the Sword of the Creator a little (though so does Umbral Steel).