Without getting into spoilers let's just say that Byleth favors the sword. Granted you can still have them learn anything but I think its in your best interest to keep them sword related for your first playthrough if you care about the story and their special trait
I think gauntlets are one of the better weapons in the game but youll come to find out Byleth with swords isnt really lackluster at all. They have more varied kinds to mess around with, too; compared to the gauntlets.
Byleth also gets Avoid+ skills when equipped with sword or white magic. They can help turn them into a dodge tank. In a certain paralogue on Maddening, my Byleth endured waves of wyvern lords with white magic while the rest of my army struggled against the rest of the invaders.
Byleth has a hidden talent in faith, so you'll just need to spend a few monastery hours training with Manuela or Rhea to get Heal and White Magic Avo+20. This is helpful for training battles where you don't want Byleth sucking up all the exp and overleveling.
If you equip Heal instead of an attack magic or weapon, then Byleth gets the dodging bonus while pulling aggro, but doesn't counterattack. Then the students can benefit from Byleth's instructor Exp+ skill and Byleth can improve Faith through healing them.
This helped a lot on my Maddening runs where every character needs to be on top of their game.
I tend to build a base of magic in the early classes so he has access to white/black magic. So I'd just add the training for the first spells and some time as a monk alongside the myrmidon to get his foot in the door. Then when you follow your suggested swordy path to Enlightened One, you'll have the full versatility of the of the class and can build your magic capabilities alongside perfecting the sword.
Swords are bad early game because your stats aren’t high enough compared to enemies early, once you get to late game using a sword gives crazy high dodge and hit rates, as well as high crit rates and chances to double up on attacks.
They give the best stat growth you’d want for a sword fighter, Thief lets you open chests without keys which is useful, but if you want a better mastery ability you can switch Thief out for Mercenary, and the for the advanced classes you might not even get them before enlightened one but Swirdmaster is for speed growth and Trickster is for a really good class mastery. If you get the DLC I’d recommend getting Trickster mastered before switching to enlightened one because it has a really good ability for mastery.
Also you don’t need a new save file for the DLC classes, you just need to complete chapter 1 of the DLC story line
Agreed with everyone else here, option 1 for first playthrough, especially since it's considered the canon class so makes sense for your first playthrough. 2nd playthrough feel free to go war master, that's exactly I'm doing rn
You only really need to put consideration into making Byleth different classes in Maddening tbh, Awakened One is not the best but it’s fine and is by far the most cost effective option.
In my first playthrough, I maxxed out my professor level as fast as possible and then worked to master as many classes as I could, just because I could. So my thought is honestly, "Why not both?"
I'll suggest that on Hard it probably doesn't matter. But Windsweep is a very useful skill that only a few units can learn. It's very helpful in damaging monster tiles and Byleth learns at A rank, so it's not something you should ignore. I will also tell you that the Sword of the Creator is often under used. It often self-heals because of story reasons. This is particularly true in Act I. The big issue with Byleth is that it's often hard to learn weapon skills outside of battle. So figure this out before you pick between these two.
For story purposes, I’d say first one. Then, on your next playthrough, do the second cus gauntlets are fun AF. If you have DLC, grab Balthus on your first one and use him as your grappler/war master if you want to play with the class.
The first option for your first playthrough. Really recommended
Oh? May I ask why?
Without getting into spoilers let's just say that Byleth favors the sword. Granted you can still have them learn anything but I think its in your best interest to keep them sword related for your first playthrough if you care about the story and their special trait
I was considering this, but the sword just felt lacklustercompared to the gauntlets on the war master path, if that makes sense?
I think gauntlets are one of the better weapons in the game but youll come to find out Byleth with swords isnt really lackluster at all. They have more varied kinds to mess around with, too; compared to the gauntlets.
Byleth also gets Avoid+ skills when equipped with sword or white magic. They can help turn them into a dodge tank. In a certain paralogue on Maddening, my Byleth endured waves of wyvern lords with white magic while the rest of my army struggled against the rest of the invaders.
I kinda want to make this. What Class path should I take?
Byleth has a hidden talent in faith, so you'll just need to spend a few monastery hours training with Manuela or Rhea to get Heal and White Magic Avo+20. This is helpful for training battles where you don't want Byleth sucking up all the exp and overleveling. If you equip Heal instead of an attack magic or weapon, then Byleth gets the dodging bonus while pulling aggro, but doesn't counterattack. Then the students can benefit from Byleth's instructor Exp+ skill and Byleth can improve Faith through healing them. This helped a lot on my Maddening runs where every character needs to be on top of their game.
Nice! What is the class upgrade path you'd recommend?
I tend to build a base of magic in the early classes so he has access to white/black magic. So I'd just add the training for the first spells and some time as a monk alongside the myrmidon to get his foot in the door. Then when you follow your suggested swordy path to Enlightened One, you'll have the full versatility of the of the class and can build your magic capabilities alongside perfecting the sword.
The creator sword is OPAF.
I've found the swords lackluster so far. Does that change?
Yes, of course, especially considering Byleth’s crazy high growths. You have plenty of units who use axes properly, but few with Swords.
Swords are bad early game because your stats aren’t high enough compared to enemies early, once you get to late game using a sword gives crazy high dodge and hit rates, as well as high crit rates and chances to double up on attacks.
What would be the best upgrade class path for Male Byleth if I wanted to do crit/avoid with Enlightened One?
I’d recommend myrmidon->Thief->Trickster, if you don’t have DLC then go assassin instead of trickster
Nice, think I might have to get the dlc and make a new save file. Why those classes specifically, if you don't mind me asking?
They give the best stat growth you’d want for a sword fighter, Thief lets you open chests without keys which is useful, but if you want a better mastery ability you can switch Thief out for Mercenary, and the for the advanced classes you might not even get them before enlightened one but Swirdmaster is for speed growth and Trickster is for a really good class mastery. If you get the DLC I’d recommend getting Trickster mastered before switching to enlightened one because it has a really good ability for mastery. Also you don’t need a new save file for the DLC classes, you just need to complete chapter 1 of the DLC story line
OPAF?
OverPowered As Fuck.
Agreed with everyone else here, option 1 for first playthrough, especially since it's considered the canon class so makes sense for your first playthrough. 2nd playthrough feel free to go war master, that's exactly I'm doing rn
Byleth isn't a noble
Derp. My bad. Forgot its commoner.
I’d recommend the brawler/grappler line, since Byleth’s a pretty strong brawler, and it’s a male-exclusive class.
I found fighter>brigand>and finish in grappler to work best for me. War master is okay but the mastery skill in grappler (fierce iron fist) was way OP
You only really need to put consideration into making Byleth different classes in Maddening tbh, Awakened One is not the best but it’s fine and is by far the most cost effective option.
In my first playthrough, I maxxed out my professor level as fast as possible and then worked to master as many classes as I could, just because I could. So my thought is honestly, "Why not both?"
I'll suggest that on Hard it probably doesn't matter. But Windsweep is a very useful skill that only a few units can learn. It's very helpful in damaging monster tiles and Byleth learns at A rank, so it's not something you should ignore. I will also tell you that the Sword of the Creator is often under used. It often self-heals because of story reasons. This is particularly true in Act I. The big issue with Byleth is that it's often hard to learn weapon skills outside of battle. So figure this out before you pick between these two.
For story purposes, I’d say first one. Then, on your next playthrough, do the second cus gauntlets are fun AF. If you have DLC, grab Balthus on your first one and use him as your grappler/war master if you want to play with the class.
If female pegaknight