Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave delivers one of the franchise’s largest ensembles of recruitable units, making your roster decisions far more complex and rewarding. Half of these characters are optional and scattered across the vast continent of Dagison, demanding strategic navigation of story routes and character bonds. Understanding each recruit's conditions not only enriches your gameplay but can tangibly shape how your party develops throughout the campaign.
During the first part of Fortune's Weave, recruitment revolves around boosting your protagonist’s Renown and cultivating strong supports with potential party members. While most characters require meeting these metrics, many come with additional, unique negotiation demands that challenge you to engage with the game world in more nuanced ways.
Recruiting units in Part 1 of the game involves raising your protagonist’s Renown as well as raising the support level between the protagonist and the unit you wish to recruit. Most character also have an extra recruitment requirement that the game refers to as a negotiation which varies for each character.
Support thresholds fluctuate depending on which protagonist you follow, but good practice includes consistently inviting units to meals and presenting them weekly gifts. This steady interaction accelerates support rank growth, crucial for recruitment. For a deep dive into gift preferences enhancing these relationships, there’s a dedicated guide focusing on the favorite gifts of each character.
Alexandra stands out as a straightforward recruit who requires no special conditions beyond sufficient Support and Renown. While some routes like Leda and Dietrich will meet her recruitment criteria only late in their journeys, Theodora’s path allows for an early pickup, despite their limited narrative overlap. Route Support Requirement Renown Requirement Special Requirement Cai 2 7 N/A Leda 3 10 N/A Theodora 1 6 N/A Dietrich 3 8 N/A
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | 2 | 7 | N/A |
| Leda | 3 | 10 | N/A |
| Theodora | 1 | 6 | N/A |
| Dietrich | 3 | 8 | N/A |
Alexandra is one of the few non-tutorial units in the game with no special recruitment requirement other than raising your Support with her high enough and reaching a high enough level of Renown. Leda and Dietrich will have to wait until near the end of their routes to recruit her while Theodora will be able to recruit her almost immediately after Alexandra appears in Dagison, which is quite strange considering their only story interaction.
Benditz
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | 3 | 9 | N/A |
| Leda | 3 | 7 | N/A |
| Theodora | 1 | 8 | N/A |
| Dietrich | 2 | 7 | N/A |
Benditz is another free unit in terms of having no special quest to recruit him, presumably so the player will have at least one free Chariot Rider unit, but his Renown requirement is high across all four routes due to him being a proud general and not being willing to serve just anyone. Theordora will have the easiest time recruiting him.
Benditz similarly has no special tasks to earn his loyalty, but his pride means he demands a high Renown before joining. Theodora's route offers the easiest path to recruit him, with lower support needed. Having a solid Chariot Rider like Benditz early can turn the tide of battle quickly. Route Support Requirement Renown Requirement Special Requirement Cai 3 9 N/A Leda 3 7 N/A Theodora 1 8 N/A Dietrich 2 7 N/A
Bonaventure is exclusive to Theodora’s route and a powerful mage addition. His recruitment is tied to story progression, so timing your playthrough along this path will unlock his abilities to devastating effect.
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Leda | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Theodora | Story Requirement | Story Requirement | Story Requirement |
| Dietrich | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Bonaventure is one of Theodora’s and thus can only be recruited on her route. He is an excellent mage so make use of him to blast through the game.
Buccar
Buccar has some intriguing recruitment conditions. For Theodora and Dietrich, you’ll need to conquer Leda’s Paralogue, an event marked by a bizarre bear outbreak in Dagison. This mission unlocks if you speak to Leda between September 2nd and 8th, so timing is critical.
During the Paralogue, waves of bears swarm the map, but don’t let the numbers intimidate—you’re aided by guest units and the bears themselves are weaker than normal enemies. Clearing this battle opens the door to recruiting Buccar by fulfilling his Support and Renown criteria.
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Leda | Story Recruitment | Story Recruitment | Story Recruitment |
| Theodora | 3 | 8 | Clear Leda's Paralogue |
| Dietrich | 3 | 8 | Clear Leda's Paralogue |
Because Buccar’s recruitment is tied directly to one of the game’s Paralouges, both Dietrich and Theodora will need to with until the ninth month of the year in order to recruit him. In order to start this Paralogue you must speak to Leda in Dagison from 9/2 to 9/8, giving you only a week to accept the quest.
After speaking to Leda, you’ll be instantly thrown into one of the strangest Paralogues in the game as dozens upon dozens of bears break loose and begin attacking people in Dagison. Not only is this the strangest Paralogue in the game, but it’s also the simplest in terms of gameplay.
The only thing you need to do in this Paralogue is defeat all of the bears. That may sound a bit scary because well, it’s 25 bears, but these bears are a bit weaker than the normal ones you see during battles so it shouldn’t take too long. The map will even give you some generic guest units to help you out if the bears are giving you too much trouble.
After defeating all the bears and clearing Leda’s paralogue, speak to Buccar with the appropriate Support and Renown to recruit him into your party.
Catania
Catania serves as a tutorial recruit in Leda’s route, with no special conditions attached. She’s accessible early and also easily recruited by Dietrich thanks to low Support and Renown thresholds, providing reliable support early in your roster.
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | 3 | 10 | N/A |
| Leda | 1 | 2 | N/A |
| Theodora | 3 | 7 | N/A |
| Dietrich | 1 | 8 | N/A |
Catania is the tutorial unit for recruiting new party members during Leda’s route and as a result has no special recruit requirements. Leda is the only character who can recruit her early in the game but Dietrich won’t have to work hard to get her either due to the low support requirement.
Dadao
Dadao is a character whose recruitment uniquely reflects his personality. He prefers the company of female protagonists, making Leda and Theodora the routes where he’s easier to recruit. Raising Support with gifts like Tales of Adventure and Poems of the Great will help you win him over faster.
Once Support and Renown are sufficient, Dadao requests two Kothar Gar—a seemingly absurd item but one you can easily gather on the world map, just left of Dagison by a fishing spot. Securing these lets you add a character with a valuable personal skill: a +5 Attack bonus against foes too slow to counterattack.
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | 3 | 7 | Give him 2 Kothar Gar |
| Leda | 2 | 5 | Give him 2 Kothar Gar |
| Theodora | 2 | 5 | Give him 2 Kothar Gar |
| Dietrich | 3 | 10 | Give him 2 Kothar Gar |
Due to Dadoa’s primary character trait being about him searching for someone to love him, he is much more willing to join the parties of the game’s female protagonists Leda and Theodora than he is to join men like Cai and Dietrich. If you want to recruit Dadao as either of them then you better hurry up and begin to gift him items he loves like Tales of Adventure and Poems of the Great.
After raising your Support Level with Dadao high enough and reaching the appropriate amount of Renown, you’ll be given a request by Dadao before you can recruit him. At this point, you may begin to suspect that Dadao is a complete joke character as he has an utterly ridiculous recruitment requirement of giving him 2 Kothar Gar.
You likely don’t need to be told where to get Kothar Gar as you retrieved them during the tutorial for searching, but just in case you are in need of them, they can be gathered in the fishing spot on the world map exactly one space to the left of Dagison. Even if you don’t have any, it’ll only take you a single turn to go and get them for Dadao.
For your lack of effort, you’ll be rewarded with a party member who has a personal skill that gives him +5 Attack if he’s fighting an enemy who is slow to the point of not being able to perform a follow-up attack.
Dante
Dante is the most expensive recruit, demanding a steep 8,000 Gold fee upon reaching the required Support and Renown levels. Theodora and Dietrich have it easier recruiting her early, while Cai and Leda must wait longer.
Building her Support requires regular outings to feasts and the theater plus weekly gifts. She favors gifts reflecting her interests, including her own writings like The Works of Dante, Magic-Trick sets, or alcohol.
Her personal skill grants nearby allies a +10 Dodge bonus, making her indispensable for parties featuring fragile but powerful units. Despite the cost, recruiting Dante is a game-changing investment.
| Route | Support Requirement | Renown Requirement | Special Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cai | 3 | 10 | Pay Her 8,000 Gold |
| Leda | 3 | 10 | Pay Her 8,000 Gold |
| Theodora | 3 | 6 | Pay Her 8,000 Gold |
| Dietrich | 2 | 8 | Pay Her 8,000 Gold |
As you can see, Dietrich and Theodora will have the easiest time recruiting Dante though only Theodora will have her for theoretically more than half a route. Cai and Leda meanwhile won’t be able to get her until near the end of their routes.
Our biggest obstacle to recruit Dante will be raising our support with her. To do that we’ll need to take her to feasts, bring her to the theater, and give her a gift once a week until she decides we are more than a simple plebeian. Dante likes herself, writing, and searching for dramatic subjects.
So what do we give her as a gift? Well her favorite gift item is actually her own writing! Give her “The Works of Dante” and you’ll be swimming in Support Points! Magic-Trick sets and alcohol are also pretty good for getting Support points with her if you don’t have her writing on hand.
Once you’ve hit the appropriate support level with Dante, you’ll be able to recruit her. There is a fee though, as she’ll ask you to pay her a huge salary for the honor of being one of her study subjects. It’ll cost you a whopping 8,000 Gold to put her in your party, making her the most expensive recruitment in the game.
The money is well worth it though as Dante has one of the best Personal Skill in the game. Any allied unit within two spaces of her will gain +10 Ddg during combat. If you are running a party with a lot of glass cannon characters, then Dante will be key to your survival.