Henry Fire Emblem Guide

About
Latest Posts

Ethan's first contact with the FE saga was with a Super Nintendo emulator that his father had installed on his PC. The ROM in question? Genealogy of a Holy War. After that, He remembers the first Fire Emblem game he managed to complete was The blazing Blade on a GBA emulator for android and his favorite character of the whole saga is Seliph. Outside of FE, Ethan is a keen indie gaming fan and loves reviewing games when he gets the chance!

Important Facts About Henry

Level: 12
Health: 28
Strength: 6
Magic: 13
Skill: 14
Speed: 8
Luck: 10
Defense: 12
Resistance: 5
Movement: 5
Skills: Hex and Anathema
Weapon: Tome- c
Equipped items: Ruin, Elfire, concoction

One of the first things you may notice about Henry is his special attack and defense characteristics. He is clearly far from being a gem in the characteristics mentioned earlier. Still, on a general level, he is one of the most decent options out there in the game, especially when it comes to magic units. The only thing that could be considered a weakness is that he doesn’t have many points in speed, making him less capable of evading attacks.

However, one of the main things that stands out is that Henry can immediately use a large pool of Dark magic-based abilities. This is very useful because, at this point in the game, you don’t have many characters that use Dark Magic on your team. Henry can continue to improve in the attributes considered the most important (Magic and Resistance), especially if you promote him to a class that follows the magic line, which is ideal.

He also has an excellent physical attack and defense, which generally seems not to be very important. However, these stats are the basis for Henry becoming an excellent option to be a mixed attacker or a class that can use physical and magic damage (for example, a dark knight). Making him a mixed class is a good idea as long as you are willing to improve his speed, which will always be his main weak point no matter how much you improve the rest of his skills.

Henry’s Background

Henry

Henry has one of the saddest stories in the game. As a child, he was abandoned by his parents and sent to an orphanage. Inside the orphanage, people treated him cruelly and carelessly punished him frequently. Henry managed to cope with these adversities with his animal friends’ help. He had a close relationship with several animals that lived in a forest near the village where the orphanage was located. After several of these animals were killed by the villagers, Henry decided to burn the village and its inhabitants.

Henry gained a reputation as one of the best mages on the continent, so much so that even other Dark Mages you will find in the game know about him (for example, Tharja). Still, nobody knew his true identity because he always hid behind a flock of crows. Henry is one of the most essential characters in the game because he is the one who informs Panne, one of the taguel, about the plot to eliminate Emmeryn (Chrom’s older sister). Because of this, Panne arrives at Ylisstol. They begin to suspect the assassination attempts against Emmeryn. Still, more importantly, Henry is the person who gives Lucina the ability to let Chrom hear her voice when they’re apart. This ability is critical in several moments of the game.

Henry, despite being a member of the army of Plegia, decides to desert the army after seeing Emmeryn’s death. He does so not to join the army of Ylsse but rather to eliminate a large number of enemies of the kingdom just for fun. As the story progresses, Henry decides to join Chrom’s army, at first just for the fun of combat, but then his ties become much closer to the members of Chrom’s team.

Why Should I Play with Henry?

Henry is a bit slow compared to the rest of the plaegian Dark Mages you may end up recruiting. However, even though this may be a drawback in general, he has the advantage of having one of the best Skill Growths in the game. This allows him to make more frequent use of advantageous destructive abilities such as Vengeance and Ruin. Suppose I had to define him in one word. In that case, he is much more balanced compared to other dark mages since most of his stats are capped at 42, making him one of the best characters overall and an excellent candidate to use mixed attack options.

I don’t consider it necessary to use a reclass with him, as the two options he offers for class switching (thief and barbarian) are fragile options for him. They have zero use for his magic abilities, which goes against what you should be looking for with Henry being a mixed character. Henry is just a middle ground, always needing the option of at least minor magic usage to be able to play him properly. That is why the best thing to do for Henry to be able to use his full potential is to use a mixed class like a Dark Knight. The main advantage that Dark Knight gives Henry is access to swords. This is one of the best direct attack options and gives him access to a strategic advantage to have an adequate defense against attacks that happen adjacent to him, compared to mages that can only use ranged attacks — a general problem faced by most Dark Mages in the game.

In addition to that, he can acquire quite adequate skills, for example, Lifetaker, which allows him to recover a good amount of his health points when receiving attacks. On the other hand, abilities like revenge are also quite adequate, since in case you neglect defense or resistance, he can still have a means by which to survive. A skill that I personally recommend is Slow Burn because even if it seems that its boost takes a while to appear, it’s perfect for the final turns of most of your confrontations. As for Pair Ups, Henry is one of the best options, thanks to his growth rate. It’s ideal for most mages in the game, especially for Miriel (because she has no dark magic cover) or Robin if you teach him to properly use tomes without much trouble. He is one of the best overall companions in the game.

In terms of story and personality possibilities, Henry is a charismatic character with a somewhat shady sense of humor as a result of all the mistreatment he has experienced throughout his life. Despite having a fear of abandonment and difficulties opening up to other people, however, he actually has a big heart. All that joking and vengeful personality he pretends to have is actually a facade he created to avoid being hurt again. To appreciate that side of him, you have to play the following conversations:

Robin
Cherche
Cordelia
Lissa
Maribelle
Miriel
Nowi
Olivia
Panne
Sully
Sumia
Tharja
Frederick
Ricken
Henry’s children

I recommend that you marry Henry to either Cherche or Miriel (I personally married him to Miriel), not only because it allows you to better understand his personality but also because they are the best options for the physical abilities of Henry potential son. Overall, Henry is one of the best options in the game. You should consider him if you want to have more open options in terms of both magical attacks and physical attacks without deciding on only one type of attack.

How to Transform Henry Into the Best Dark Knight?

The main thing is to keep him on a scale where he does not exclusively improve his magical abilities or his physical abilities. Train him to make use of dark magic attacks and to make use of swords. That is the secret to making him one of the best dark mages in the game. However, the real secret to being able to use Henry as a dark mage is the fact that you will get an improvement in his speed, which is one of the main things that is needed to be able to continue advancing with him in the game. Pairing Henry up with physical attack characters (like Chrom, Frederick, or Robin) is one of the best ways for him to build up his own defense. Still, it is also a good idea to have him group with magic characters to improve his magic attacks and stamina. The best way to do this is to use options such as Miriel or Tharja (the two female magic options) or the Robin himself to generate resistance.

Don’t try to change his class to get him the speed upgrades he needs. Not only is this a bad idea, but you will limit his possible magic and stamina growth because the two classes he can switch to are entirely physical, which is a completely and utterly awful idea since not even his abilities are helpful in the slightest. The only ability that could be useful is pass from his thief line, but it really isn’t indispensable in the slightest. It’s a terrible idea at general levels to switch classes just to get that ability. A strategy that might be a bit complicated but pays off is to get the sorcerer class just to gain access to the Vengeance skill and then change it back to Dark Knight. It’s a bit of an unconventional idea, but gives you access to one of the best skills in the game and, at the same time, improves your stamina thanks to the increase in that stat with the promotion.

The Abilities of Henry Dark Knight Promotion

Henry Starts By Default With:

Hex: Grants foes within 1 space. Avoid -15
Anathema: Avoid and Critical Avoid -10 to all enemies within a 3-tile radius

When He Becomes a Sorcerer, He Gains Access To:

Vengeance: Add half accrued damage as damage to attacks.
TomeBreaker: Hit Rate/Evasion +50 if the enemy is equipped with a Tome.

Once He Becomes a Dark Knight, He Also Gains Access To:

Slow Burn: Hit and Evasion +1 for each passing Turn, up to 15
Lifetaker: It recovers the user’s HP by 50% if they defeat an enemy

How to Play Henry Dark Knight Promotion

Health: 80
Strength: 39
Magic: 42
Ability: 42
Speed: 40
Luck: 43
Defense: 43
Resistance: 37
Movement: 8
Special abilities:
- Hex: Grants foes within 1 space. Avoid -15
- Anathema: Avoid and Critical Avoid -10 to all enemies within a 3-tile radius
- Vengeance: Add half accrued damage as damage to attacks.
- Lifetaker: It recovers the user’s HP by 50% if they defeat an enemy
Weapon: A-Tome and A-Sword
Items equipped: Ruin, Superior Edge, Concoction.

This build for Henry seeks to take advantage of his high Skill stat and, at the same time, take advantage of his high mixed attack and magic stat. With Ruin, he can deal exceptional damage to most enemies, which is boosted with Vengeance to avoid any possible counterattack. The use of Lifetaker allows him to resist a more significant amount of direct attacks. On the other hand, using Hex and Anathema allows all the attacks Henry makes to hit the target due to the amount of evasion he limits, leaving most enemies with no option to run away.

The use of a Superior Edge allows him to deal with most physical weapon users, including those who use axes. Although they can represent a problem, they are solved by using revenge with Lifetaker. On one hand, Henry can always recover life when making a counterattack, and on the other hand, all his attacks towards enemies are boosted. An alternative build can include Nosferatu or some similar spell to recover even more life. However, it is unnecessary since Lifetaker works as a replacement for Nosferatu, more comfortably allowing for Henry’s survival.

The Best Way To Level Up Henry

Henry

Using him as a member of one of the pair-ups is best. This is because, in general, Henry is one of the best options as a partner. He can defend himself from the start, but pair-ups benefit not only him but also his possible partner due to the use of pair-ups in the game. It is generally a good idea to use pair-ups as a quick way to level up, especially if you want to see most of his conversations since you can recruit him quite late in the story. However, if you want an even faster way to level him up, just use him in every skirmish you find — every xenologue and paralogue. In that way, he will consistently be winning experience.

FAQs

Question: Canonically, who is Henry’s wife?

Answer: He doesn’t have a canonical wife. However, the best options for him are Miriel and Cherchen. Miriel is a good option because she has a personality similar to Henry. Cherchen, on the other hand, is better because she has ideals similar to Henry. However, I recommend Miriel more than Cherchen because I think Cherchen is better for Lon’qu than Henry.

Question: Is it necessary to reclass Henry once he becomes a sorcerer?

Answer: No, it is optional but very recommendable as Henry is a mixed unit, not a pure Dark Mage. A sorcerer class limits him to use only magic, which is not a very good option overall because of his shallow speed and low resistance.

Question: Is there a way to recruit Henry earlier in the game?

Answer: No. Henry can be recruited in chapter 13 only.

Final Thoughts On Henry

Henry is an excellent dark mage. This is because, unlike other options that only make use of magic, he has the opportunity to become a mixed unit, which allows him to cover his weak points and gives him access to a much larger pool of skills than most mages. On top of that, he has a pretty exciting personality, being one of the coolest in the game overall.

Henry is one of those characters that, if you like and get attached to them, you will never forget, and that’s not a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s one of the best things and shows that Fire Emblem Awakening has a lot of personalities. Therefore, if you want the best dark mage in the game (and the best dark knight), Henry is the best alternative, whichever way you look.

For more interesting readings about Fire Emblem check out: