Dimitri Fire Emblem Guide

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Justin Alicea

Justin is a freelance writer who is avid Fire Emblem gamer. As an avid gamer, he knows everything about the FE series. He is into learning great storylines which add to the excitement of the game. He poured his time into knowing different characters with strong and unique personalities. He completes possible endings of the series.

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Fire Emblem Three Houses has a wide selection of different characters and storylines, all filled with strong and unique personalities, which add to the overall enjoyment of the game. Out of that cast of characters, one that is able to stand out incredibly well is the House Leader of the Blue Lions, Dimitri. He has what I feel is one of the best stories in the game. But, depending on what route you pick, Dimitri can become a standout leader and king, an incredibly powerful ally, and even possibly a large obstacle in your way who won’t go down without a fight.

Who is Dimitri, and What is his Story?

The following will contain spoilers for the Blue Lions route. 

Dimitri is the crown prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and was the eldest son of the family. Things would take a turn for the worst for Dimitri as in 1176, the Tragedy of Duscur had taken place, and in that event, his entire family was slaughtered in front of him. He ended up saving Dedue during the event, and the two would become best friends going forward, along with Dedue becoming his vassal.

In 1180 he would enroll in Garreg Mach Monastery as a student in the Officers Academy and would become the house leader of the Blue Lions. During his time there, Dimitri would prove to be a good leader with a strong fighting sense along with being compassionate and caring to those around him, but at times he’ll show glimpses of this intense rage and bloodlust hidden inside of him due to the events that happened not long before.

These feelings would only increase when he comes to learn that Edelgard was in fact the Flame Emperor. On top of that, she was working with Those Who Slither in the Dark and even believed she was the one responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur that had his entire family killed.

A Ghost Of His Former Self

After the time skip happens, the next time we see Dimitri, he is only a shadow of his former self. Long gone is the person who was incredibly compassionate to those around him. In his place stood a man consumed by anger and loss. You come to find that during the time skip, Dimitri was falsely accused of killing the Grand Duke Rufus by Cornelia, who ended up taking over Faerghus from Dimitri and allowing it to become a vassal state of the empire.

Dimitri would end up becoming imprisoned due to this, and it’s then revealed that he escaped with the help of his best friend Dedue, who sacrificed his life to help Dimitri escape and is now presumed dead. After this event, rumors would circulate of a warrior who would slaughter his foes in such a fashion many believed it to be the work of a beast. On top of that, Dimitri would be haunted by the ghosts of those he once knew who are now dead.

Although eventually, he does meet up with Byleth and the other members of the Blue Lions, they can’t do much to help him as the only thing he thinks about is finding a way to hunt down and kill Edelgard. Even after Dedue is revealed to be alive (If you had done Dedue’s paralogue before the time skip), Dimitri is still consumed by this hatred and anger. It isn’t until the battle of Gronder Field that his surrogate father, who helped look after Dimitri after the Tragedy of Duscur, would sacrifice himself to save Dimitri’s life.

A New Outlook On Life

It’s this event that allows Dimitri to break free from his hatred and bloodlust as he realizes that it could affect those around him. Then you see a massive change for Dimitri as he starts to become caring and thoughtful once again, even becoming allies with the Leicester Alliance and eventually being able to overthrow Cornelia from her position of power and becoming the King of Faerghus.

To Dimitri’s surprise, before he takes out Cornelia, she reveals that it was his stepmother Patricia who was responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur and not Edelgard. After hearing this news before the Kingdom and Alliance set up an assault on the empire, Dimitri attempts to talk with Edelgard and tries to form a parley with her to understand why she was doing what she was doing and to hopefully end things in a peaceful manner. Things didn’t go according to plan, and Edelgard ends up turning down the parley, and the two groups end up fighting one another.

Although Dimitri does end up winning, instead of instantly striking her down, Dimiriti once again tries to end things peacefully with Edelgard reaching out a hand for her to join him. Edelgard however, wanted to fight till the end and ended up striking Dimitri with the dagger he gifted her as a child, this prompts him to kill her once and for all. Dimitri would then go on to lead Fodlan into a new peaceful era, with him working to end poverty, creating a form of government, and fixing the messes that were created due to the war.

Dimitri’s personal story for me is easily some of the best writing in this game. During my entire run through this route, I was hooked from beginning to end as the game does an amazing job of making you feel and care for Dimitri in a way words can’t do justice.

Dimitri’s Key Info

At the beginning of Three Houses, Dimitri will be a level 1 Noble with the following stats

• HP: 28
• Str: 12
• Mag: 4
• Dex: 7
• Spd: 7
• Lck: 5
• Def: 7
• Res: 4
• Charm: 9

Dimitri’s starting stats put him on par with everyone else within the Blue Lions. He shouldn’t have issues dealing with anyone you would come across at this point in the game. That said, Dimitri, being one of the lords of the game, along with being the head of the Blue lions, does have some good growth rates.

• HP 55%
• Str 60%
• Mag 20%
• Dex 50%
• Spd 50%
• Lck 25%
• Def 40%
• Res 20%
• Cha 55%

Out of everything Dimitri has, the only thing that could be seen as a downside is his low resistance, but other than that, Dimitri hits incredibly hard for a majority of the game. Besides some bosses, Dimitri will be killing most enemies in one hit. In terms of weapons, Dimitri is proficient in Swords and Lances, so you could take him into any class that revolves around those, and he’ll be completely fine. That said, given Dimitri is one of the lords of this game, he has access to classes exclusive to him. These are the Lord, High Lord, and Great Lord classes. It’s probably best to have him end in one of these classes, given how powerful they are. The Great Lord class, aside from increasing his growth rates in Hp, Str, Dex, Def, and Charm, will also grant him great skills such as Lancefaire, which grants plus five attack while using lances. This is great to have, considering the odds are he’ll primarily be using lances alongside giving Dimitri 6 movement, which puts him on par with some of the Infantry Master Classes.

Dimitri’s Relationships

Dedue

Dimitri saved Dedue’s life during the Tragedy of Duscur, and now, Dedue devotes his life to him. Because of this, Dimitri is trying to have Dedue see him as a friend instead of someone from royalty. Both Dimitri and Dedue see how people talk about Dedue given where he is from, and Dedue, more times than not, will worry about accompanying him for the sake of Dimitri’s reputation. While Dimitri understands why he worries about that, he’d much rather Dedue could see him as a friend rather than someone he has sworn his life towards. At the end of their stories, while they do still stay as a Lord and his Vassal, the two ultimately become much more like family to one another, with Dedue guarding Dimitris’s grave till he eventually passed and was then buried beside him.

Felix

Dimitri and Felix’s relationship starts out pretty rough. After the Tragedy of Duscur, Felix’s father brought Dimitri in and looked after him as if he were his own, and Dimitri and Felix became friends. Not long after, the two were taking part in ending a rebellion, and Felix was the first person to see the dark side of Dimitri as he slaughtered the rebels. Since then, Felix would go on to have some hatred for Dimitri, calling him the boar prince as he views him as nothing more than an animal craving bloodshed and carnage.

After the time skip, when Felix’s father sacrifices his life to defend Dimitri, they talk once again, and Dimitri explains how he’s been holding on to the memories of those who have died and how they haunt him. Felix explains that although he feels the pain from the death of his loved ones, he wouldn’t allow it to hold him down, and from this point onward, the two begin to grow close again where in their endings, Felix ends up becoming Dimitri’s right-hand adviser. As time passed after their death, stories were told of the King of Lions and his sworn friend. This is one of my favorite supports for Dimitri as you witness this relationship from the very beginning and it has a very natural feel to it compared to some others.

Ashe

Similar to Dedue, with Ashe, Dimitri spends some time trying to have Ashe treat him as an equal and not just the crown prince. Even trying to train with Ashe and asking him to join him to eat, Ashe has a hard time speaking to Dimitri, given his nobility and the fact that he looks up to Dimitri. In the end, Dimitri is able to get Ashe to treat him as an equal and for him to stop being shy around him. There’s not really much to say about this one which is a shame because I think Ashe on his own is a great character and it feels like more could have been done with these two.

Sylvain

Most of the time, Dimitri is trying to get Sylvain to stop womanizing as much as he does. Sylvain even offers to focus more on his studies if, in return, Dimitri learns to loosen up and even tries to go out with someone. Sylvain also likes to make fun of Dimitri for giving Edelgard a dagger as a going-away gift since he liked her as a child. It concludes with a funny interaction between the two as Dimitri asks a girl out and has her chase him around a bunch, so he goes to Sylvain and asks him for help with getting her to go away. Similar to Ashe I feel like more could have been done with this support. It’s more of a gag than anything.

Mercedes

 Dimitri and Mercedes have a fun relationship. In the beginning, Dimitri will find her on the training grounds and would offer to teach her how to wield a sword properly. In the process, she accidentally cuts a part of his clothing, and Mercedes offers to fix it, given she enjoys sowing. Dimitri attempts to join her in doing so but fails miserably at it. The two use these instances to bond with one another and help each other in their respective strengths. If you deepen their bond far enough, Dimitri and Mercedes talk about how Dimitri is a killer. Despite it being true, Mercedes justifies it by explaining he did it all for the sake of those he cares about and explains to him that she wants to stay by his side, even after the war. If the relationship gets strong enough in their ending, the two would marry. Although they lead busy lives after the war, the two of them are happy with one another. In terms of romantic relationships, I feel like this is the best choice for Dimitri. After everything he has gone through having someone like Mercedes be there for him in this type of way is something he would benefit greatly from.

Annette

Dimitri apologizes to Annette because he feels bad that her father would spend so much time in the kingdom instead with her at home. Annette didn’t mind but did admit that she was lonely at times because of it, and explained to Dimitri that her father would often tell stories about Dimitri to her, and she would begin to consider him her brother despite never meeting him at the time. The two begin to bond over having known her father and would often share stories with one another. If the relationship between the two grows high enough, Annette offers to stay by Dimitri’s side so that he wouldn’t end up like her father. In their ending, if fully committed to this relationship, the two would marry, and Annette would help greatly in assisting Dimitri in making Foldan a better place, and it is said their marriage was a good one. I’m personally not a huge fan of this relationship, while there isn’t anything wrong with it per se, Annette feels more like a little sister to Dimitri and overall I just feel like there are better options for him to romance.

Ingrid

Ingrid and Dimitri share fond memories of their friend and the person who Ingrid was set to marry, Glenn. The two at times begin to argue with one another over Glenn’s final moments. They soon make up, and Dimitri, although he admires how much Ingrid follows in Glenn’s footsteps, doesn’t want her to share the same painful fate that he did. Through talking with Dimitri, Ingrid learns to move on from his death and begins to live for the sake of those she cares about. If the relationship is built up enough in their ending, the two fall in love with one another and marry and are happy together. Although she has no issues with being a queen, staying true to her nature, she still prefers to be on the front lines fighting for what she believes in. I think is the second-best choice for who Dimitri should marry. This relationship feels natural given the circumstances and you could see how their relationship with Glenn only brought them closer together.

Why Should I Care About Dimitri?

Dimitri is easily one of the best characters within this game from his story and how he is as a unit. Being a complete powerhouse with very few weaknesses, he can be used next to any class without any drawback except if it’s magic and or ax-based. He even has access to one of the game’s best offensive spells with Aura and the ridiculously powerful Wyvern Lord class.

Dimitri also has the ability to use battalions incredibly well, and if you were to build into his already high Dexterity, he has the potential to land 100% criticals with ease. Exclusive to him is the King of Lions Corps battalion, which is good at handling armored foes. Also, fairly early after the time skip happens, he’ll gain his personal Hero’s Relic Areadbhar. Combined with his Great Lord class and all of the benefits it grants him, like the 6 movement and Lancefair, he can deal effective damage to every enemy within the game. Along with a nice bonus of +15 Might and +20 Hit, there isn’t much that can stand in his way.

He also has the minor Crest of Blaiddyd, which allows him to double his damage output when using Combat Arts at the cost of using more of the weapon’s durability. Granted, the chance of this perk activating is only around 10%, but when it does happen, more times than not whatever you’re fighting will die. While he doesn’t have many weaknesses, his low resistance can make it so that he gets hit fairly hard by magic users.

Dimitri acts as the entire foundation for the Blue Lions and their route and is what makes this route so great. Everything story-related that happens within this route is directly tied to Dimitri and his past. This goes the same for a majority of the characters within the Blue Lions route as both the Tragedy of Duscur and Dimitri’s family has had an impact on their lives. The way Dimitri plays as a unit is very fitting for the leader of the Blue Lions and future king of Faerghus with him being able to cut open a path for everyone with next to no trouble.

Dimitri As An Enemy

In Edelgard’s route during a key point of the story, you may have to fight Dimitri and the other members of the Blue Lions. During this battle, many of Dimitri’s troops will turn into demonic beasts one by one, including Dedue. I recommend using Edelgard and Byleth to take out a majority of the Demonic Beasts alongside Bernadetta. Take it slow during this fight, eventually, you’ll be able to surround Dimitri and take him out. Just be careful of Dedue, as when he transforms it can catch some people off guard. This level can be incredibly annoying given how big the map is and the Bolting mage who’s surrounded by many other Dark Mages. Dimitri himself won’t really move so the difficulty comes more from the stage than him.

FAQS

Final Thoughts on Dimitri

Dimitri proves himself to be a standout character within Three Houses. From his backstory that acts as a driving force for the narrative of his route, to how he learns to deal with grief and loss there’s a lot to unpack with Dimitri to leave players interested for the entirety of his route. In terms of gameplay, Dimitri is easily one of the best units in the game. In my opinion, he is highly effective in almost any class you decide to put him in with very few drawbacks allowing for players to build him any way they see fit and still have an enjoyable time with him on the field. I didn’t have a dull moment going through this route and all of it can be tied back to Dimitri. In future entries of the series, I hope we get more characters with the depth that he has, as it can make a huge impact on people’s experiences playing through these games.

For more interesting readings about Fire Emblem check out:

• Fire Emblem Archer
• Tiki Fire Emblem Guide
• Felicia Fire Emblem Guide
• Lissa Fire Emblem Guide