Perfecting your fire emblem: fortune’s weave recruitment strategy is the key to unlocking the game’s massive roster of optional characters scattered across Dagda. Since character requirements shift dramatically depending on your chosen protagonist, building Support and raising your Renown can get confusing. I missed a couple of key units on my first run by missing tight quest windows, so let’s make sure you get everyone on your first try.
How to Recruit Part 1 Units
To recruit allies during the first part of the game, you will need to focus on increasing your protagonist’s Renown and building your relationship with them. This relationship mechanic is tracked via Support levels, which you can easily raise in town. Most characters also demand a unique “negotiation” requirement before they agree to join your ranks.
While the exact Support level you need depends on your current route, the easiest way to farm points is to invite your targets to meals and shower them with gifts once a week. Some characters have specific items they absolutely love, which will speed up this process significantly.
How to Recruit Alexandra
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | Rank 2 | Level 7 | None |
| Leda | Rank 3 | Level 10 | None |
| Theodora | Rank 1 | Level 6 | None |
| Dietrich | Rank 3 | Level 8 | None |
Alexandra is incredibly straightforward to recruit because she doesn’t require any wacky side quests; you just need to hit her Support and Renown benchmarks. If you are playing Theodora’s route, you can pick her up almost immediately after she appears in Dagison. On the other hand, both Leda and Dietrich will have to wait until much later in their respective campaigns to recruit her.
How to Recruit Benditz
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | Rank 3 | Level 9 | None |
| Leda | Rank 3 | Level 7 | None |
| Theodora | Rank 1 | Level 8 | None |
| Dietrich | Rank 2 | Level 7 | None |
Like Alexandra, Benditz does not require any special negotiation quests to join your army, which is great because you will definitely want a solid Chariot Rider on your team. However, his pride as a general means he demands quite a high Renown level before he will take you seriously. Theodora has by far the easiest time recruiting him, needing only a Rank 1 Support level.
How to Recruit Bonaventure
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | N/A | N/A | Unrecruitable |
| Leda | N/A | N/A | Unrecruitable |
| Theodora | Story | Story | Automatic Progression |
| Dietrich | N/A | N/A | Unrecruitable |
Bonaventure is exclusive to Theodora’s route and recruits automatically as part of the main story progression. He is an incredibly powerful mage, so make sure to deploy him early and let him tear through enemy lines.
How to Recruit Buccar
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | N/A | N/A | Unrecruitable |
| Leda | Story | Story | Automatic Progression |
| Theodora | Rank 3 | Level 8 | Clear Leda’s Paralogue |
| Dietrich | Rank 3 | Level 8 | Clear Leda’s Paralogue |
If you are playing as Dietrich or Theodora, you’ll have to wait until the ninth month of the year to recruit Buccar because his recruitment is tied to a specific Paralogue. This quest has an incredibly tight window: you must speak to Leda in Dagison between 9/2 and 9/8 to trigger it. If you miss this brief one-week opportunity, you’re locked out of recruiting him.
Once you accept the quest from Leda, you will be tossed directly into a bizarre battle where a horde of wild bears has escaped and overrun Dagison. While the premise is hilarious, the actual fight is quite straightforward and shouldn’t cause you too much trouble.
Your sole objective here is to eliminate all 25 bears on the map. Don’t let that high number intimidate you; these beasts are significantly weaker than the standard bears you encounter in the wild. The game even provides a handful of generic ally units to draw aggro and help you clean up the map.
Once the map is clear and the Paralogue is complete, simply track down Buccar in town. As long as you have met the required Support and Renown thresholds, he will agree to join your squad.
How to Recruit Catania
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | Rank 3 | Level 10 | None |
| Leda | Rank 1 | Level 2 | None |
| Theodora | Rank 3 | Level 7 | None |
| Dietrich | Rank 1 | Level 8 | None |
Catania acts as the introduction to the recruitment system during Leda’s campaign, meaning she has exceptionally low requirements there. If you’re playing as Dietrich, you won’t need to put in much effort either due to her low Rank 1 Support requirement, though Cai players will have to grind quite a bit more.
How to Recruit Dadao
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | Rank 3 | Level 7 | Give 2 Kothar Gar |
| Leda | Rank 2 | Level 5 | Give 2 Kothar Gar |
| Theodora | Rank 2 | Level 5 | Give 2 Kothar Gar |
| Dietrich | Rank 3 | Level 10 | Give 2 Kothar Gar |
Because Dadao is desperately searching for romance, he is far more eager to join female protagonists like Leda and Theodora than male leads like Cai or Dietrich. If you want him on your team, start buttering him up early by gifting him his favorite items, such as Tales of Adventure and Poems of the Great.
Once you hit his required Support and Renown levels, Dadao will issue a special request before officially signing on. This is where he reveals his goofy nature, demanding a highly specific and slightly ridiculous trade: 2 Kothar Gar.
You probably remember gathering these during the early-game tutorials, but if you don’t have any left in your inventory, don’t sweat it. You can easily gather more Kothar Gar at the designated fishing spot on the world map, located exactly one space to the left of Dagison. It only takes a single turn to run over and grab them.
Despite the incredibly simple quest, Dadao is a fantastic unit to have around. His personal skill grants him a massive +5 Attack bonus whenever he engages an enemy who is too slow to perform a follow-up counterattack.
How to Recruit Dante
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | Rank 3 | Level 10 | Pay 8,000 Gold |
| Leda | Rank 3 | Level 10 | Pay 8,000 Gold |
| Theodora | Rank 3 | Level 6 | Pay 8,000 Gold |
| Dietrich | Rank 2 | Level 8 | Pay 8,000 Gold |
Dietrich and Theodora have a much smoother path to recruiting Dante, with Theodora players getting the benefit of her presence for more than half the campaign. Meanwhile, if you are playing as Cai or Leda, you won’t be able to add her to your roster until the absolute final stretch of their routes.
Your biggest hurdle with Dante is building up your relationship. To get her attention, you’ll need to treat her to lavish feasts, escort her to the local theater, and hand over weekly gifts until she finally stops treating you like a common peasant. She appreciates literature, writing, and anything related to dramatic arts.
Amusingly, her absolute favorite gift is her own self-published work! Handing her a copy of The Works of Dante will net you a massive boost in Support points. If you don’t have her writings on hand, you can also win her over with Magic-Trick sets or high-quality alcohol.
Once you finally hit her required relationship benchmarks, she will offer to join your cause—for a steep price. To secure her services as a researcher, you’ll have to pay an eye-watering fee of 8,000 Gold, making her the absolute most expensive unit to recruit in the entire game.
Trust me, saving up the coin is entirely worth it because she possesses one of the strongest passive traits in the game. Her personal skill grants any adjacent allies within a two-tile radius a spectacular +10 Dodge bonus during combat. This is a massive lifesaver if you love running squishy glass-cannon units that can’t afford to take a hit.
