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I don’t think there is a character that is both more hated and more loved than Corrin. For many fans, Corrin is the character that started the complete decline of the franchise. Corrin is the character that allowed Fire Emblem to survive for other fans. I am of the opinion that Corrin is a character that just… exists. I’m not a super fan of the character, but I don’t hate him either. He’s just another character of the bunch.
On a protagonist level, his conflict of getting caught up in a war between two factions he considers family is curious. He’s not one of the best protagonists in the series, but he’s not the worst thing to happen to the games either. It is in a rather curious middle ground. For my taste, the story could have been better written, perhaps dedicating a little more time. Even so, it is moderately enjoyable on some routes.
At a playable level, Corrin is one of those Lords that is good at everything and, at the same time, is good at nothing. This can be seen especially in the classes he has access to. I won’t get too far ahead, but I’ll tell you now that Corrin’s strategies are limited due to his class. But, without further ado, let’s start to see how Corrin can become a good character if you apply the proper steps.
Important Information to Know about Chrom
- Health: 19
- Strength: 7
- Magic: 4
- Skill: 7
- Speed: 6
- Luck: 5
- Defense: 6
- Resistance: 2
- Movement: 5
- Special Ability: Supportive and Nobility
- Weapon: Sword -E, Stones -D
- Equipped items: Bronze Sword.
- Class: Nohrian Prince
You have to consider that Corrin is a character created by the player. Because of this, the actual base stats and growth may differ in every route of the game you play. This guide assumes you use the neutral base stats and the best boons and banes.
Corrin is the unit that you will control throughout the game. Everything that happens in the game will directly relate to him. You control Corrin even in the game’s tutorial. To some extent, he could be considered a relatively balanced character. He is the most flexible unit in the game just because of his ability to be the player’s avatar. This can be seen in the weapons that Corrin usually uses in his starting class. These weapons in question are Swords and dragon stones. These weapons give him quite an opening when attacking the rest of the enemy armies.
One of the points that can turn the game’s tables is that Corrin can gain access to most classes. This is due to the talent options provided by the character creation option. He also gains access to another class every time he reaches an A support rank with any other unit. We can also observe that flexibility is in the range of growth that Corrin exhibits in most of his stats.
His stats growth is entirely neutral. As you will see, it is set between 30 and 60 percent like most protagonists, as you can see below:
- HP:60%
- Str: 60%
- Mag: 40%
- Skl: 50%
- Spd: 50%
- Lck: 55%
- Def: 45%
- Res: 30%
As you can see, the only stat that can be considered low is his resistance. The rest of the stats are neutral, which is expected. Because Corrin is the central unit, they try to give you as much freedom as possible to modify it as much as you want.
Unlike most characters, Corrin’s bonuses depend on your decisions when creating him. Even so, most bonuses provide a maximum of +4 experience points. Therefore, one of the things you have to pay attention to when creating Corrin is his Boon and Banes. This makes Corrin one of the characters that are a surprise card due to the number of variants he can have.
Corrin’s Background
I can’t start explaining Corrin’s backstory without getting into spoiler territory. With that in mind, I want to clarify from this moment on Spoilers Alert. The backstory of Corrin’s story is a complete mystery throughout the game. The only point they start to tell you something is almost at the end of each route. Of the three possible routes, Revelations is the one that tells you the most about Corrin’s past. The other two routes also tell you things about him, but they are less important to some extent.
Well, consider this your last Spoiler warning. If you want to know the most basic backstory on Corrin: He is a Hoshido prince who was kidnapped by Nohr as a child. So Corrin was raised in Nohr, though he has Hoshido blood. This makes him have a direct relationship with both families. That’s all I can tell you without spoilers. Having said that, let’s start with the real backstory. And that is that Corrin is the son of Anakos, the benevolent soul of Valla.
Anakos was a spirit divided into two parts. On one side was his human form, the benevolent soul that begot Corrin. On the other, there is Anakos, the dragon, who has no conscience and is a creature of destruction. Corrin lived in the realm of Valla, deep in the endless canyon between Hoshido and Nohr. Despite the initial happiness in the kingdom due to Corrin’s birth, they had to flee because Anakos, the dragon, started to destroy the kingdom. Because of this, Corrin does not belong to either family, being the incarnation of the primordial dragon instead.
The best way to play with Corrin
Corrin cannot be taken lightly. He is a character that has many different growth possibilities. His classes can vary based on how you create him, so it depends on the decisions you make from the moment you start the game. However, his personal class is the equivalent of the typical Lord class in the rest of Fire Emblem, so being the game’s protagonist, it’s the best class to give him. After all, it is better to have him as a balanced character since you will use him throughout the game.
Being a balanced class, it is best to leave him as a Nohrian Prince and later take him to his personal promotion. Corrin has two versions of his promotion, depending on which route you play. In Birthright, his promotion will be to Hoshidian Royalty, while in Conquest, the promotion will be to Nohrian Royalty. If you want my advice, of the two classes, the best is Nohrian Royalty if you are looking for a direct attack. Hoshidian Royalty is good if you are looking for a support unit. This is because Hoshidian Royalty gives you access to make use of staff.
You have to decide from the beginning of the game what kind of unit you want in Corrin. Am I looking for a strong character? Am I looking for a supporting character? Do I prioritize defense? Do I prefer to rely on the staff? I recommend that you leave it as balanced as possible. If you don’t, you will end up with a character that can only end up in one of two ways: Either being better than the rest of your army or being a liability. It all depends on the Boons and Banes you place on him when you start to create him.
Once you create it, the reality is that everything adapts to your play style. If you prefer an aggressive play style, I recommend that you create the character with Boons in Strength or Skill and with Bane in Resistance or Sickly. If you want a character that is a supporting character, create one with Boons in Speed, luck or defense, and Bane in Strength or Magic. And if you want a completely neutral character, place both his bonuses and his Bane in HP. That way, he won’t have any kind of overall level of growth. But at the end of the day, the decision is yours.
How to transform Corrin into the best Noble
After you have decided the type of character that will be your version of Corrin, the next thing is to decide where to invest his experience points. So, it all depends on how you will play the game. If you want to be more aggressive, consider what kind of aggressive character you want. If you are looking for a character that uses contact weapons, then invest in Strength and Skill. If you want him to make critical hits, invest in Strenght, Skill, and Luck. If you want him to attack faster but less intense, then only Strenght and Speed. Those are the best options in general.
If you want Corrin to become a supporting character, you must decide where to use your experience points. Consider that becoming a royalty of Hoshido gives you access to the use of staff. So, in that case, it is better to invest your experience in Magic, Defense, and Resistance. When you start using it, you will notice that it lacks its magical capabilities at a general level. If you want him to heal fast and avoid hits, it is best to concentrate on improving his Magic, Defense, and Luck. The point is to always have the points of interest covered.
Finally, focusing on Skill, Speed, and Luck is best if you want to be a middle ground. This is because those three stats are pretty vital. Skill is essential to attack with better weapons and do more damage. Speed to attack twice and increase evasion capabilities. Luck to have a better chance of making critical hits or performing an evasion. The three options to improve stats are good and allow you to have a different way to play with Corrin.
Corrin Nobility Abilities
Corrin has the following innate abilities:
- Supportive: If paired with a support C+ attacker, grants Hit +10, +2 dmg dealt, and -2 dmg taken.
- Nobility: Grants this unit a 20% bonus to EXP.
At level 10, he will win
- Dragon Fang: Inflicts half of the attack power as extra damage. Trigger % = (Skill stat × 0.75)
Once he becomes a Hoshido Noble, he wins at level 5
- Dragon Ward: Halve damage when an adjacent ally is attacked. Trigger % = (target’s Lck × 0.5)
And at level 10, he gains:
- Hoshidan Unity: Increases the trigger rate of this unit’s skills by 10%.
If he becomes a Nohrian Noble, he wins at level 5
- Draconic Hex: After combat, reduces all of the enemy’s stats by 4 (recovers 1/turn).
And at level 10, he gains:
- Nohrian Trust: This unit can use a supporting unit’s triggered skills in combat.
How to play with Corrin on each campaign?
Well, let’s start with Hoshido. In the Birthright campaign, Corrin will be forced to become a Hoshidian Noble, so there really isn’t much you can do. In that case, the best thing to do is to focus on his defense, stamina, and overall defensive abilities. Those are the points that allow Corrin access to better chances of survival.
An interesting option is to leave Corrin’s second class in Hoshido, the Ninja class. With that class, he has access to the Poison Strike and Lethality skills because they allow Corrin to have a better attack capacity. By gaining these skills, Corrin has access to a more varied set of attack options, which do not leave him too exposed to the enemy.
The build for Hoshidan Noble is:
- Health: 60
- Strength: 34
- Magic: 28
- Skill: 29
- Speed: 30
- Luck: 33
- Defense: 31
- Resistance: 28
- Movement: 8
- Special Ability:
- Supportive: If paired with a support C+ attacker, grants Hit +10, +2 dmg dealt, and -2 dmg taken.
- Dragon Ward: Halve damage when adjacent ally is attacked. Trigger % = (target’s Lck × 0.5)
- Hoshidan Unity: Increases the trigger rate of this unit’s skills by 10%.
- Poison Strike: When user triggers the battle, the enemy’s HP is reduced by 20% after the battle
- Lethality: Instantly defeats the enemy. (Does not work if the user would deal 0 damage)
- Weapon: Sword -A, Stones -A, Staff-B
- Equipped items: Blazing Yato, Silence, Moon Festal, Dragonstone+, Concoction
In the case of Revelations and Conquest, the best option is to leave Corrin as a Nohr Noble. This is because it is a much more aggressive option, allowing for a better attack force that prepares him for any type of situation. Also, for story reasons, it makes more sense for Corrin’s final phase as a unit to be the Nohr Noble. This is because Corrin’s ties are primarily to the kingdom of Nohr at the end of the day.
The characteristics are not that different, the only difference being that Corrin will have better attack characteristics. This is the best thing to happen to him as a character since, unlike his Hoshido version, it will allow him to be in the center of the action.
The only thing that changes between the revelation and conquest version is Yato’s form. In Conquest, the final version of Yato is the shadow yato, and in revelations, the one you have to have is the omega yato.
The build for the Nohrian Noble is:
- Health: 60
- Strength: 32
- Magic: 31
- Skill: 28
- Speed: 32
- Luck: 27
- Defense: 29
- Resistance: 32
- Movement: 8
- Special Ability:
- Supportive: If paired with a support C+ attacker, grants Hit +10, +2 dmg dealt, and -2 dmg taken.
- Draconic Hex: After combat, reduces all of enemy’s stats by 4 (recovers 1/turn).
- Nohrian Trust:This unit can use a supporting unit’s triggered skills in combat.
- Life Taker: Users recover 50% Max HP after defeating an enemy during the user’s Turn.
- Seal Magic: After the battle, the enemy’s Magic -6
- Weapon: Sword -A, Stones -A, Tomes-B
- Equipped items: Shadow/Omega Yato, Ragnarok, Rabit Spirit, Dragonstone+, Concoction
The best way to level Up Corrin on each campaign
Depending on the version, Corrin’s level can be raised differently. On the one hand, if you want Corrin to level up quickly in Birthright, just repeat the quests to get experience. This is the easiest and not really challenging. This is because, in Birthright, Corrin has access to unlimited attempts in the form of skirmishes.
On the other hand, in Conquest, it is always best to initiate direct conflict. That way, you can ensure that Corrin has constant access to a good amount of experience. Remember that in Conquest, you cannot replay missions. It is also a good idea to take him to the Paralogues so that you can have greater access to experience points without problems.
Finally, in the case of Revelations, it is best to only play it at a midpoint. In Revelations, the experience is easier to get than in Conquest. It is more limited than in Birthright, so you still have to take him to skirmishes, but play him properly to avoid unnecessary damage to his weapons.
Other apparitions of Corrin
In addition to Fire Emblem Fates, Corrin has appeared in the following games:
- Fire Emblem: Shadow of Valentia: He appears as an illusory hero to fight when you scan his amiibo from the Smash Bros. version. He is an NPC that will remain on the field for a single turn. It cannot be used by the player.
- Fire Emblem Warriors: In the Warriors version, he appears in chapter 13 as an enemy to defeat. It is being controlled by the enemy of the game. Besides, he is also part of the DLC based on Azura, which tells what happened in chapter 6 of Fates.
- Fire Emblem Heroes: He has several appearances in Heroes. These are for Corrin Male:
- Corrin Fateful Prince: Infantry/sword.
- Corrin Enjoying Tradition: Infantry/ Bow
- Corrin Dream Prince: Infantry/Breath
- Corrin Bloodbound Beast: Infantry/Breath
- Corrin Daylight Ninja Act: Infantry/Lance
For female Corrin:
-
- Corrin Fateful Princess: Infantry/Dragonstone
- Corrin Novice Vacationer: Flying/tomes
- Corrin Dream Princess: Infantry/Breath
- Corrin Wailing Soul: Infantry/Breath
- Corrin Child Of Dusk: Infantry/Breath
- Corrin Nightfall Ninja Act: Cavalry/Tome
- Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U: He was the last character to receive DLC. He was the best character in the game for a long time, which led him to be banned from several tournaments.
- Super Smash Bros Ultimate: He is one of the game’s unlockable characters; his attacks were tweaked in such a way that he is still a powerful character but to a lesser extent.
FAQ
Question: Canonically, who is Corrin’s Wife?
Answer: He doesn’t have a canon wife. However, the best option is Azura because of its options for their children.
Question: Canonically, who is Corrin’s Father?
Answer: Anokos. That is revealed in Fire Emblem Revelations. However, he was adopted by King Sumeragi of Hoshido.
Question: Canonically, What route does Corrin choose at the start of the game?
Answer: The Revelation One. However, the three stories are essential to understanding the game.
Final thoughts on Corrin
Corrin is a character that exists. He is not a bad character, but he could be better. He has a lot of possibilities, limited by the classes he can choose. With that in mind, if you want to play Corrin, it’s best to devote adequate time to his growth. If he doesn’t, you may end up accidentally limiting yourself to not being able to bring out the full potential he has as an attack character. However, my recommendation at the end of the day is to leave him as a balanced character.
As far as the story goes… Well, it’s good, I guess. Within Fates standards, he’s a good protagonist. Generally, it’s one of the weakest plot-wise, but for what it’s trying to tell, the reality is that it’s adequate enough that you won’t feel bored when playing.
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