Anna Fire Emblem Guide

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Anna is a curious character in basically every way. She is the only character that has appeared in every game of the saga (the only exception being Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remakes).  Anna is the keeper of the secret store in the games. Still, from Awakening onwards, she is a recruitable character in every game she has appeared in. With that in mind, the best way to approach Anna is to talk about her in all of her versions, or at least the versions where we can use her as a playable character.

In terms of the story, the truth is that Anna could be considered a joke character. She is not a bad or a good character, but a character created as a joke between the developers. The funniest thing about the situation with Anna is that despite being a joke character, she is among the most powerful characters in the game. If we were to follow the saga’s lore, Anna would be like a chaotic goddess who helps the heroes in all the games.

Something curious about Anna is that in all the occasions she has been a playable character, she usually has the trickster archetype. That is a character who bases all her strategies on luck, speed, evasion and delivering critical hits. With that in mind, you can get an idea about whether Anna is going to be a suitable character for you or not.

Important information to know about Anna (Fire Emblem Three Houses)

  • Health: 28
  •  Strength: 8
  • Magic: 8
  • Dexterity: 9
  • Speed: 11
  • Luck: 14
  • Defense: 6
  • Resistance: 8
  • Charm: 9
  • Movement: 5
  • Special Ability:  
    • Business Prosperity: +5 Luck
    • Sword Prowess Lv2: Grants Hit +6, Avo +10, and Crit Avo +6 when using a sword.
    • Axe Prowess Lv1: When wielding an Axe, Hit Rate +7, Evade +5, Critical Avoid +5
    • Bow Prowess Lv2: When wielding an Bow, Hit Rate +10, Evade +6, Critical Avoid +6
    • Faith Lv1: Improves the users Hit Rate, Evade, Critical Rate, and Critical avoid when equipped with faith magic.
  • Combat arts: Wrath Strike, Curved Shot
  • Crest: Major of Ernest
  • Magic: – 
  • Weapon: D+ sword (Bonus), E lance, E+ axe (Bonus), D+ Bow (bonus), E gauntlets, E reason (weakness), E+ Faithg (Bonus), E authority (Weakness), E armored Unit, E horse riding unit (Budding talent), E flying Unit
  • Equipped items: Iron Sword, Vulnerary, Large Bullion
  • Class: Myrmidon 

I’ll start talking about Anna in the most recent game in which she can be recruited. In this case, it is Fire Emblem Three Houses. In this game, one of the things that put Anna at a disadvantage is that she is a character that you can only recruit if you have the Cindered Shadow DLC. If you don’t purchase said DLC, you won’t be able to play with her. She will only appear in the story as the one responsible for tending to the secret stores during the second half of the game. This is relatively bad, as it locks one of the most exciting characters behind a paywall.

Still, Anna in this game is a character that, as in the rest of her appearances, is characterized by her versatility. Her base stats are relatively good but do not allow her to specialize in anything. As far as her personal story the charisma that characterizes her is intact, being the same playful and sarcastic girl she is most of the time. Still, if I had to say something negative about her, it’s because her new design looks weird. I don’t know what to call it, but it doesn’t look like it fits the game.

Still, aesthetics aside, the reality is that Anna is a fascinating character. She will allow you to take any path to create a suitable unit with your play style. Even so, my personal recommendation is that you take advantage of her natural advantages, as they are the ones that favor her the most.

Important information to know about Anna (Fire Emblem Awakening)

Anna from Fire Emblem Fandom
Image from Fire Emblem Fandom
  • Health: 36
  • Strength: 12
  • Magic: 17
  • Skl: 23
  • Speed: 22
  • Luck: 26
  • Defense: 8
  • Resistance: 10
  • Movement: 7
  • Special Ability:  
    • Movement +1: Grants user Movement +1
    • Locktouch: Allows the user to open normal doors and chests without keys.
  • Weapon: Sword -C and Staff D
  • Equipped items: Steel Sword, Heal, Concoction
  • Class: Trickster

The first occasion that Anna was a playable character was in Fire Emblem Awakening. It was one of the most curious first impressions. We were controlling the red-haired store girl who always served us in the previous games. She was one of the strongest characters in the game and an exclusive character, only recruiting her with a paralogue. One of the points that made her stand out was that she was versatile, far above most of the rest of the characters, only behind Gaius (who is not even a trickster).

Still, one of Anna’s most significant disadvantages in this game is that she has no pair-ups. Except for Robin and their possible future child, Anna has no friendship rank with the rest of the shepherds. While canonically, it makes sense, the reality is that it leaves her at somewhat of a disadvantage compared to the rest of the characters. That was one of the things that disappointed me the most. When I recruited her, I already had Robin Casado, so I couldn’t take advantage of the benefits I would have with her pair up. On top of that, the version of Morgan that can become her daughter is not good at all.

The first impression of Anna as a playable character is a pretty good summary of her in all the future games: interesting to use, versatile, but with the feeling of being incomplete.

Important information to know about Anna (Fire Emblem Fates)

  • Health: 23
  • Strength: 9
  • Magic: 11
  • Skl: 10
  • Speed: 14
  • Luck: 15
  • Defense: 6
  • Resistance: 15
  • Movement: 6
  • Special Ability:  
    • Movement +1: Grants user Movement +1
    • Locktouch: Allows the user to open normal doors and chests without keys.
    • Make a Killing: May obtain a random amount of gold upon defeating an enemy.
  • Weapon: Bow C
  • Equipped items: Arms Scroll
  • Class: Outlaw

Like most characters in Fates, Anna could be considered: Good idea terrible execution. The reason? Her class. Her starting class is outlaw, and if you play Conquest, you’ll already have another Outlaw in your party with much better stats from the start of the game. So, suppose you have Niles with a sufficient level advantage. In that case, you probably won’t even consider training or recruiting Anna as you will see it as a waste of time. However, there is one advantage she does have: Her personal skill

Her personal ability is “Make a Killing.” This allows her to get gold every time she defeats an enemy. In the Birthright version, the reality is that it is not such a helpful skill. However, in the Conquest version, it comes handy since it allows you to save a large amount of money. Remember that gold and experience are really scarce in this version, so it is an excellent personal ability. Still, it’s understandable if you don’t want to recruit her. She’s a character that appears relatively late in the game and at a point where you no longer have much access to gaining experience in such an easy way. 

That aside, as far as personality and story go, the Anna in this game feels generic. It feels more like a joke about how she’s always the same character in every game. It’s funny, but it gets old pretty fast. One thing that sets her apart from the Awakening version is that she has more Pair Up options. This gives her access to various friendship and marriage sets, which is a good thing. Remember that Anna is pretty versatile, so you can use said sets to get better options for her. 

Is Anna a good choice for my playthrough?

Anna Fire Emblem
Image from Fire Emblem Wiki

The reality is that although I could tell you that yes, Anna is the best character no matter what route you are playing, it depends a lot on multiple factors. On the one hand, it depends on the game. On the other hand, it depends on your play style. Also, you must consider factors such as the units you have in your army and the synergies you have made with the characters. Even the amount of experience and gold you have available if you will recruit Anna in Conquest. However, we can leave it pretty simple, and that is that Anna is a situational character.

In Awakening, Anna is a good character. Not only does she appear early in the game, but her stats and evolutionary abilities make her a safe play option. Anna allows you to cover weaknesses. You could use her to fill a gap if you missed the opportunity to recruit a character (like me with Gaius in my first run). The only thing you have to keep in mind is that she has no pair-ups; therefore, you won’t be able to use her to get good stats on future children.

In Fates, Anna is a mediocre character. In Birthright, she has no use because the game’s difficulty is straightforward, so she will break the game’s economy. Her personal ability is not put to good use, and she generally feels like a character that doesn’t contribute anything to the army. In Conquest, Anna is helpful because of her personal ability. Still, she will always be below Niles in terms of stats, so you have to decide if you will take the time to make the experience investment he requires. In Revelations, the reality is that Anna is a character who does not find the middle ground needed in the army. Her leading utility is her use in pair-ups.

Finally, in Three Houses, Anna is a good character, but you have to pay to be able to recruit her. Anna is a good choice for your game if you don’t mind paying real money. She covers any weakness, has one of the best crests in the game, and her versatility makes her a perfect, wild card.

The Best Build for Anna in Fire Emblem Three Houses

Fire Emblem Three Houses

  • Health: 68
  • Strength: 55
  • Magic: 49
  • Dexterity: 76
  • Speed: 65
  • Luck: 75
  • Defense: 44
  • Resistance: 49
  • Charm: 60
  • Movement: 7 or 9
  • Special Ability:  Open
  • Combat arts: Wrath Strike, Curved Shot
  • Crest: Major of Ernest
  • Magic: Open
  • Weapon: Open
  • Equipped items: Open
  • Class: Open 

I leave Anna’s options open in this game because of her wild card nature. Anna is a character with good speed, dexterity, and luck ( her personal ability gives her 5 additional luck points). In addition to that, she has one of the highest Charm levels, as well as one of the best resistances. Despite this, Anna is handicapped by the fact that she cannot receive assistance or chained attacks. This is because she cannot form relationships with members of the rest of the houses in the game. Even so, she complements it with her crest, which allows her to negate counterattacks.

Due to her bonuses with faith-based weapons, swords, axes, and bows, she can become a Holy Knight or a bow knight. However, you can take advantage of training her in reason because she has access to Meteor, one of the best spells. Still, if you want to play it safe and not waste too much time in training, simply turn her into a trickster, as it gives her the best utility in the late game.

The best build for Anna in Fire emblem Awakening 

  • Health: 80
  • Strength: 34
  • Magic: 38
  • Skl: 46
  • Speed: 43
  • Luck: 48
  • Defense: 29
  • Resistance: 40
  • Movement: 7
  • Special Ability:  
    • Movement +1: Grants user Movement +1
    • Locktouch: Allows the user to open normal doors and chests without keys.
    • Lucky Seven: Increases Hit Rate and Avoid by +20 until the 7th Turn
    • Acrobat: Lowers movement cost of terrain to 1.
  • Weapon: Sword -C and Staff D
  • Equipped items: Levin Sword, Heal, Concoction
  • Class: Trickster
In the case of Awakening, Anna is an excellent trickster. Her main differentiator is her stats growth, having the highest luck growth of all the characters available in the game. In addition, she also has significant growth in her defensive skills. This allows you to strategize around her high luck stat and speed stat. These stats will help you perform critical hits without difficulty, and will also allow you to evade attacks consistently.
An alternative is to change her class to Assassin. I personally do not consider it a good alternative. The reality is that she will lose one of her most significant advantages: her resistance. Likewise, she will have losses in the part of her magic attack but will have the advantage of greater speed and strength growth. She will also gain offensive abilities such as lethality. This is good because Anna’s high-skill stat will allow a reasonably frequent activation. Even so, I didn’t bother to change her class, as it takes some time to find that center point between attack and defense.

The Best Build for Anna in Fire emblem Fates

  • Health: 50
  • Strength: 26
  • Magic: 32
  • Skl: 27
  • Speed: 32
  • Luck: 29
  • Defense: 23
  • Resistance: 36
  • Movement: 6
  • Special Ability:  
    • Movement +1: Grants user Movement +1
    • Locktouch: Allows the user to open normal doors and chests without keys.
    • Make a Killing: May obtain a random amount of gold upon defeating an enemy.
    • Lucky Seven: Increases Hit Rate and Avoid by +20 until the 7th Turn
  • Weapon: Bow A Staff B
  • Equipped items: Arms Scroll
  • Class: Adventurer

The main drawback of this build is that Anna has minimal offensive ability when you first recruit her. This can be problematic, especially in the conquest version. However, when you have the proper growth, she is one of the best units in combat and has constant stat growth. The main advantage is that she allows you to obtain large amounts of gold with her personal ability. she also lets you clear areas pretty fast from enemies thanks to her locktouch and movement +1 abilities. In general, we can consider her as a kind of complete attacker.

Placing Anna within the adventurer class allows you to cover a much-needed niche. The niche in question is that of bow users with mixed attack and defense stats and allows you to cover most enemy flanks.

How to recruit Anna in every fire emblem?

recruit Anna in every fire emblem

You can only recruit her in three games

  • Awakening: Complete Paralogue 4. You will have to talk to her to recruit her.
  • Fates: Complete Xenologue 10. You will have to talk to her to recruit her.
  • Three Houses: You need to have DLC wave 3 and complete at least chapter 3 of the game.

How to Defeat Anna? 

You will fight Anna in Both Fire Emblem Fates and awakening. Both Annas are similar, and even the map you will fight them in is the same. So the strategy works in both games. Your main objective will be to damage her using physical attacks. If you have to choose, the best option is to use close combat ones. The reason behind that is that Anna has a shallow physical defense. Also, she doesn’t have any tool to defend herself if you attack her using close combat (for example, a sword). So if you follow the triangle of arms and hit her with a strong unit, you won’t have much issue with defeating her. 

Gift List, Share a Meal and Lost Item (Fire Emblem Three House Only)

Goddess Statuette
Image from Fire emblem wiki

The Gift list for Annette is: 

  • Goddess Statuette: Favorite (Three stars)
  • Forget-me-nots: Favorite (Three stars)
  • Landscape Painting: Favorite (Four Stars)
  • Blue Cheese: Favorite (Four Stars)
  • Coffee Beans: Favorite (Four Stars)
  • Exotic Spices: Favorite (Four Stars)
  • Owl Feather: Favorite (Three stars)
  • Fishing Float: Dislike (One Star)
  • Smoked Meat: Dislike (One Star)

The Share a Meal List is:

Grilled Herring
Image from Fire Emblem Wiki
  • Beast Meat Teppanyaki: Favorite
  • Vegetable Pasta Salad: Favorite
  • Sautéed Jerky: Favorite
  • Spicy Fish and Turnip Stew: Favorite
  • Sweet and Salty Whitefish Sauté: Favorite
  • Pheasant Roast with Berry Sauce: Favorite
  • Pickled Rabbit Skewers: Favorite
  • Peach Sorbet: Favorite
  • Pickled Seafood and Vegetables: Favorite
  • Sautéed Pheasant and Eggs: Favorite
  • Bourgeois Pike: Favorite
  • Fried Crayfish: Favorite
  • Derdriu-Style Fried Pheasant: Favorite
  • Grilled Herring: Dislike
  • Fruit and Herring Tart: Dislike
  • Fish Sandwich: Dislike
  • Country-Style Red Turnip Plate: Dislike
  • Daphnel Stew: Dislike
  • Gautier Cheese Gratin: Dislike
  • Vegetable Stir-Fry: Dislike

And the lost item list is:

  • Secret Ledger
  • Balance Scale
  • Rare Item Index

The Best Way to Level up Anna in Every Game

In Awakening, Birthright, Revelations, and Three Houses, your best option is to take her to skirmishes. This is because it is the best and fastest way to grow your experience points quickly without much trouble. Likewise, in the case of Awakening and the two versions of Fates, take her to Paralogues and Xenologues. These quests usually give very high amounts of experience without many prerequisites. On the other hand, in the case of Three Houses, make her take tutoring classes. These tutorings will allow her quick access to her spell pool and cover possible strategic weaknesses.

In the case of Conquest, it is best to simply take her to xenologues such as boo camp or gold rush xenologue. This is because it will allow him to use his personal ability without much trouble to your benefit. The gold rush is the best since it already gives a large amount of gold. With ana’s ability, that amount can even quadruple.

Other Games Featuring Anna

The Sacred Stones

Anna also appears in:

  • Shadow Dragon and Mistery of the emblem: She is the owner of the secret stores and the romantic interest of one of the characters (Jake). In the DS Remakes, she is the one in charge of helping you to create Kris.
  • Genealogy of a Holly war: She is a minor NPC in chapters 7 and 8 of the game. 
  • The Blazing Blade: She is the owner of the secret store and appears in port badon.
  • The Binding Blade: She is in charge of the Link Arena.
  • The Sacred Stones: She is in charge of the link arena and the secret stores. 
  • Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn: She appears in the tutorial of both games. 
  • Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE: They are in charge of the Hee Ho stores in Shibuya. 
  • Fire Emblem Heroes: She is one of the game’s main characters. Its units are:
    • Anna Commander: Infantry/Axe
    • Anna Wealth Wisher: Infantry/Bow
    • Anna Secret Seller: Infantry/ Lance
  • Warriors: She is a secret character that appears as the Mission Mode protagonists

FAQs

Question: Is the Anna from each game the same Anna?

Answer: No. At least not in each game. The only ones that we can think are the same are the one from Shadow Dragon and Mistery of the emblem, the one from Genealogy of a Holy War and Thracia 776, the one from the Biding and the Blazing Blade, and the one from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn.

Question: Is Anna an enemy?

Answer: No. She is an ally in every game. However, in some paralogues and xenologues you can fight her.

Question: Is Anna  Joke Character?

Answer: Yes. We could consider Anna something like the unofficial mascot of Fire Emblem. She appears in every game, and in every game, she has the same role.

Final Thoughts on Anna

Anna is easily one of my favorite characters. My favorite part of every fire emblem is wondering, “Where will Anna appear this time?” The appearances she makes in the game, while not very significant, are charismatic and fun. Without a doubt, I can understand why she is many people’s favorite character. 

In the games in which we can use her, Anna is a versatile character that can give rise to outstanding strategies. However, she is not a balanced character since she always has a disadvantage that does not allow her to get all the benefits she can have. 

However, if you don’t consider that, and the only thing that interests you is to enjoy a light, simple and hilarious story, then Anna will have you covered. She is not just a joke character, but one full of charisma and personality, so you can always be sure that when you play with her, you will have at least one laugh. 

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