Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes: How To Recruit Byleth

"Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes" is a new story and partial retelling of the narrative from "Fire Emblem: Three Houses." Instead of a tactical RPG, however, "Three Hopes" is an action game in the same style as the "Dynasty Warriors" series, where a single person can take down hundreds of enemies in a few attacks. "Three Hopes" still includes many of the social elements from the mainline "Fire Emblem" entries, including the ability to recruit new people into your house. One of those recruitable individuals is Byleth, the main character from "Three Houses" and the antagonist for most of "Three Hopes."

Recruiting Byleth comes late in the 40 hours it takes to complete a single playthrough, and the method is different depending on which house path you take. You can easily miss the opportunity, so you need to pay attention if you want to snag them for your team. Here is how to recruit Byleth in "Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes."

For the Blue Lions, you get the opportunity to recruit Byleth in Chapter 12 –  long as you meet a few prerequisites. You need to unlock the Locate Ambushers strategy, which you can accomplish by surveying a spot on the map in the Menja Territory. This can be done in Chapter 12, as long as you don't start the next battle first. The game will warn you that decisions made in the next battle will alter the course of the narrative.

In the battle, "Three Hopes" will prompt you to use the Locate Ambushers strategy. Once activated, it will show all of the mercenaries on the map. You need to sneak through without engaging them by following the objective marker. Eventually, you will be forced to battle the mercenaries before taking on Fleche. After defeating her, you will battle Randolph, with the secondary objective of taking down Byleth. Don't do this, and after you defeat Randolph, Byleth, along with a few others, will join your crew.

The opportunity for the Golden Deer to recruit Byleth comes in Chapter 10 of the Golden Wildfire path. Unlike the other houses, you won't need a specific strategy unlocked prior to the mission, although the game will still inform you that actions taken will have a big impact on the story. The important thing here is speed. Alois will show up and you need to beat him before an invisible timer finishes counting down. 

After defeating Alois, Claude will attempt to draw Byleth into the open. He does this by rushing in and then retreating. You will need to protect Claude until he reaches his destination. Once he starts retreating, you will be given the optional objective of taking Byleth down. Instead, wait until Claude finishes his retreat and take out Fleche before Byleth dies. If done correctly, you get Byleth and their crew added to your squad at the end of the mission.

Like the Blue Lions, the Black Eagles get their opportunity to recruit Byleth in Chapter 12. The game will once again warn you that the next battle has major narrative implications, so make sure you are prepared before starting the mission. You will need to unlock the Resonant Lightning Strategy, which can be found by surveying the battle map prior to starting the mission.

Play through the mission until you receive the side objective to help the engineers. Make sure you complete this mission before continuing. As you progress, you will unlock the side objective of taking down Byleth. Ignore this directive and focus on eliminating Alois and Rodrigue. If you take both of them down before Byleth falls in battle, you will get to recruit Byleth and company at the end of the mission. As with any important mission in a game, you might want to make a save prior to the fight, in case you mess up and can't live with the consequences.