Bernadetta Fire Emblem Guide - FE Fanatics (2024)

Before I start, it’s essential to make it clear that Bernadetta is my favorite character in the game. Yes, I know, a bit cliché. However, I will try to be unbiased about her as a character. This is because I understand that there are a lot of people who don’t like Bernadetta very much. Something altogether and totally understandable.

Bernadetta is, at first glance, a weak character. She almost wholly fulfills the trope of the timid girl who talks to absolutely no one. But, the reality is that Bernadetta is much more than a trope that has been seen too many times. Unlike other Fire Emblem characters (such as Olivia, another one of my favorite characters), Bernadetta is not comic relief.

Bernadetta is extremely shy due to a rather complicated situation, which I’ll tell you about in her Background part because it would count as a spoiler. But rather than being a cheap excuse of “oh, she’s shy because that’s cute and quirky.” However, it’s a characteristic that gives her character a lot of depth.

Now, if the only thing you want to know about Bernadetta is if she is a good character. The answer is pretty simple: Yes. She’s one of the best archers in the game, being the best option you can have in any of the three routes. On top of that, she has good Budding skills that allow her to do heavy combos. Bernadetta is overall an ideal character for both the early game and endgame.

Important Information to Know about Bernadetta

• Health: 25
• Strength: 8
• Magic: 5
• Dexterity: 7
• Speed: 7
• Luck: 5
• Defense: 4
• Resistance: 2
• Charm: 6
• Movement: 5
• Special Ability: Persecution Complex, Lance prowess Lv 1 and Bow prowess Level 1
• Combat arts: Curved Shot
• Crest: Minor of indech
• Weapon: E-sword (Penalization), E+ lance (bonus start), E-Axe (Penalization), D-Lance, E-Gauntlets (penalization), E-Reason, E-Tomes, E-Authority, E-Armored unit (Penalization), E-Horseback unit (Budding Talent), E-Flying unit
• Equipped items: Iron bow and vulnerary.
• Class: Noble

One of the first things that can be noticed about Bernadetta is that she is almost tailor-made to be an archer. This is because her only two weapons that have starting bonuses are bows and spears. This makes sense in terms of the story (being a shy girl, she doesn’t want to be close to enemies) and allows you to define her from the start as a ranged attacker.

In addition, another of the most essential points regarding Bernadetta is that she has relatively high strength but has somewhat low defense. This makes her an alternative for ranged attacks, avoiding direct contact with enemies as much as possible.

This is reinforced by her unique ability, which makes all her attacks hit +5 points of damage if she has less than 100% of her health. It is a character that is made to attack from a distance. Still, in case of damage, she can free herself from her enemies as soon as possible to ensure her survival.

Bernadetta’s Background

Bernadetta’s background is quite exciting and, at the same time, sad. She is the eldest daughter of the Earl of Varley. She is a timid person toward anyone she considers a stranger, and most of her time, she prefers to spend alone on her own in her room. She considers it a safe place. And it’s really something that hasn’t allowed her to gain many social skills.

However, the reason why Bernadetta has this personality has to do with the trauma she experienced as a child. Her father manipulated her to become the perfect wife. This is because she, being a woman, could not assume the title of countess, having to marry a nobleman to ensure the survival of her house.

Unlike other children, Bernadettas was forced to remain still for several hours, tied to a chair. She was not allowed to do anything under the precept that she had to become a submissive and quiet girl. Because of this, she preferred the solitude of her room rather than being near her father.

In addition, her father forbade her to have any kind of friends who did not belong to the royal house. This is because her father considered them unworthy people who only wanted to be her friend for money. Despite this, Bernadetta tried to befriend a commoner boy, but her father found out and sent his guards to beat the boy, leaving him dead. This caused Bernadetta to feel guilty and gave her another reason to completely distance herself from anyone as a way to protect them.

One of the most critical things in the game’s story is revealed when Bernadetta discovers that the commoner boy she thought was dead is still alive. This commoner boy was actually Yuri, one of the classmates she met at the Garreg Mach Monastery. Yuri had been hired as an assassin because she had a minor crest of indech; however, due to their friendship, he could not assassinate her at the time. Her father never revealed this to her, and she finds out during the game’s events.

House Varley Backstory

Varley is located in the center of the Adrestian Empire. Really at the level of their participation in the story within the game, they have relatively high importance and are one of the leading houses in creating, manufacturing, and importing weapons. Not only new weapons but also armor. This is because, south of the Varley house, they have many resources that can be extracted from the mountain.

In addition, the Varley house is responsible for the ministry of the religion of the empire. However, due to their frictions with the church, the reality is that it is one of the ministries that has less and less use. Due to its importance, at the beginning of the war, Edelgard arrests the count of Varley to avoid rebellion.

Another critical point is that they are descendants of Indech, the saint of the water dragon and symbol of temperance. They are also the only ones who can use the inexhaustible weapon. Despite this, it is known that only Bernadetta has her crest developed canonically.

Is Bernadeta really that great?

Suppose you want a team member who can attack from a distance, can defend herself on her own, and can generally make use of a good variety of weapons. In that case, Bernadetta can be an excellent fit for your team. The only things that can be a bit low are her luck and defense, making her relatively vulnerable at close range. However, that’s where her personal ability comes in.

With persecution Complex as her personal skill, she will always do extra damage when she has less than 100% health. This means it’s very beneficial to let her suffer attacks (clearly not indiscriminately). But, if you know how to use her well, she is one of the best characters when starting the game.

On top of that, because she learns Deadeye and Encloser as part of her combat arts, she has an exceptional rank within the archer class. In addition, due to her minor crest of Indech, Bernadetta can make an extra attack and use hero relics. This makes her a critical piece when performing joint attacks or gambits.

Personally, I consider Bernadetta to be one of the best options to promote Bow Knight. Why? Due to her budding riding talent, she also has a bonus in Lance and Bow. Although she is weak with the rest of the weapons, she compensates for her chances of close defenses, which is something that sometimes many bowing units suffer in the endgame.

Other options that can be quite suitable for her (due to her low flexibility) are Brigand or Pegasus Knight. These options are good because she can get Death Blow or Darting Blow, which significantly improves her offensive potential. Even so, if you want to have it as a mixed class, always opt for physical classes, not magical ones.

If you want to use magic, the best thing to do is to train her in reason and have her temporarily as a paladin to learn Aegis, then change her to Valkyrie to learn Uncanny Blow. This would help her have a better defense, thanks to the fact that, to some extent, it would affect her growth in speed and defense. However, Bernadetta’s most significant potential always comes back to using spears.

One of Bernadetta’s main strengths is that she learns to use one of the best combat arts in the game relatively early. One of the combat arts that almost no other character has access to is Vengeance. She learns it by getting a C+ in learning with spears, and Bernadetta becomes a killing machine once it is learned. Strong enough to eliminate most enemies in the game.

In general, we could consider Bernadetta a wild card that, if used well, can put the scales in your favor. Thanks to her personal skills, her crest, and her combat art, she has compensation for those growths that may not be so good. In the right scenarios, she can be your best option.

In regards to her affinity options these are:

• Byleth (S-Support with male Byleth)
• Edelgard
• Hubert
• Ferdinand
• Linhardt
• Caspar
• Dorothea
• Petra
• Felix
• Sylvain
• Ingrid
• Raphael
• Leonie
• Seteth
• Alois
• Jeritza

I recommend listening at least to the one with Edelgard, Jeritza, and Dorothea. These are the most interesting.

How to Transform Bernadetta into an incredible Bow Knight?

The reality is that you first have to bring her spear rank to C+ so that she learns Vengeance as a combat art. After that, you have to raise her bow skill so that he can learn close counter. This is accomplished by getting her to C. After that, he has to have at least twelve sessions of horseback tutoring so that she can learn the pass ability.

After that, you just have to play with her and bring lance and bow to S+ and S+ respectively. This is for her to learn lancefaire and bowfaire. If you have time and manage to get her cavalry unit to S+ she will learn Calvary Effect Null which is the main thing to do when promoting her.

The Abilities of Bernadetta’s Bow Knight

She starts with:

• Persecution complex: +5 Attack when her HP is less than 100%.
• Lance Prowess LVL 1: Grants Hit +6, Avo +6, and Crit Avo +5 when using a lance.
• Bow Prowess LVL 1: Grants Hit +6, Avo +6, and Crit Avo +5 when using a bow

Once she becomes a dark knight, she gets:

• Clouse Counter: Enables unit to counterattack adjacent enemies.
• Bow Critical +10: Grants Critical +10 when using a Bow.
• Bowfaire: Might +5 when a bow is equipped.
• Lancefaire: Might +5 when a lance is equipped.
• Cavalry Effect Null: Nullifies super-effective bonus damage against cavalry units.
• Lance Critical +10: Grants Critical +10 when using a lance.
• Pass: User can pass through tiles occupied by enemy units.

How to Play Bernadetta bow Knight?

The final build for Bernadetta will look something like this:

• Health: 70
• Strength: 51
• Magic: 40
• Dexterity: 75
• Speed: 69
• Luck: 41
• Defense: 41
• Resistance: 39
• Charm: 49
• Movement: 10
• Special abilities:
  • Clouse Counter: Enables unit to counterattack adjacent enemies.
  • Bow Critical +10: Grants Critical +10 when using a Bow.
  • Bowfaire: Might +5 when a bow is equipped.
  • Lancefaire: Might +5 when a lance is equipped.
  • Cavalry Effect Null: Nullifies super-effective bonus damage against cavalry units.
  • Lance Critical +10: Grants Critical +10 when using a lance.
  • Pass: User can pass through tiles occupied by enemy units.
  • Persecution complex: +5 Attack when her HP is less than 100
• Combat Arts:
  • Vengeance
  • Deadeye
  • Encloser
• Crest: Indech
• Weapon: E-sword, S-lance, E-Axe, S-bow, E-Gauntlets, E- Reason , E-Tomes, E-Authority, E-Armored unit, S-Horseback unit, E-Flying unit
• Equipped items: long bow, brave bow, Javaline, and vulnerary.
• Class: bow knight

As you can see. Her build still centered around bows. However, when she is promoted to bow knight, she gains the ability to defend herself from close attacks.

The best part of the build is Clouse Counter because it helps her cover one of her main weak points: the attacks from closer units.

What Happens if I don’t recruit Bernadetta for My Team?

Bernadetta is recruited during the black eagle’s route (Crimson Flower). In the rest of the routes, two things can happen:

• Silver Snow:She becomes part of the resistance army and fights against the empire. After Enbarr is taken, she retreats to live in seclusion.
• Azure Moon/ Verdant wind:During Chapter 17, she will appear as a boss you must defeat in the 3-way battle.

How to Defeat Bernadetta as a Boss

You will face Bernadetta on three occasions. The first two are school skirmishes that really have no practical purpose. With that in mind, the reality is that it is not very important to pay attention to them. The crucial battle with her comes during Chapter 17: Blood of the Eagle and the Lion. And she appears as the boss in both versions of the chapter.

In both versions of the battle, she is a sniper on a crossbow mounted in the center of the battlefield, having as her main characteristic that she is a sniper. As far as stats are concerned, she is not that difficult to defeat. The real problem arises when, being in the center of the battlefield and a sniper, she can eliminate many troops placed lightly in that area.

The ideal is to make your way to it from the flanks, avoiding direct combat with the third house (i.e., the blue lions or the golden deers), as they can be used as bait. When you are near the center, you can try eliminating it using a bow, preferably by eliminating it with a direct contact weapon such as an axe or a sword.

The most important thing is to ensure that Bernadetta is eliminated as soon as possible to prevent her from damaging the infantry. Don’t try to take her on with mages, as she has Magic Bind, which eliminates the option of using magic.

Bernadetta built for that battle is:

• Health: 70
• Strength: 51
• Magic: 40
• Dexterity: 75
• Speed: 69
• Luck: 41
• Defense: 41
• Resistance: 39
• Charm: 49
• Movement: 10
• Special abilities:
  • Clouse Counter: Enables unit to counterattack adjacent enemies.
  • Stealth: Unit is less likely to be targeted by enemies.
  • Bowfaire: Might +5 when a bow is equipped.
  • Bowrrange +1: Maximum Bow range +1
  • Bow Prowess Lv3: When wielding a Bow, Hit Rate +13, Evade +7, Critical Avoid +7
  • Vantage: If foe initiates combat, and if HP is ≤ 50%, unit still attacks first
  • Magic Bind: If unit lands a hit, targeted foe is unable to use magic for 1 turn.
  • Persecution complex: +5 Attack when her HP is less than 100
• Combat Arts: None
• Crest: Indech
• Weapon: E-sword, E-lance, E-Axe, A-bow, E-Gauntlets, E- Reason , E-Tomes, B-Authority
• Equipped items: Brave bow, concoction.
• Class: Snipper

Gift List, Share a Meal, and Lost Item

The gift list for Bernadetta is:

• Watering Can: Favorite (Two stars).
• Dapper Handkerchief: Favorite (Two stars).
• Armored Bear Stuffy: Favorite (Three Stars).
• Book of Sheet Music: Favorite (Three stars).
• Owl Feather: Favorite (Three Stars).
• Pitcher Plant: Favorite (Three Stars).
• Hunting Dagger: Dislikes (Two stars)
• Training Weight: Dislike (Three stars).
• Ceremonial Sword: Dislike (Four stars).

The share a meal list for her is:

• Saghert and Cream: Favorite
• Vegetable Pasta Salad: Favorite
• Sweet Bun Trio: Favorite
• Fruit and Herring Tart: Favorite
• Cheesy Verona Stew: Favorite: Favorite
• Peach Sorbet: Favorite
• Two-Fish Sauté: Favorite
• Vegetable Stir-Fry: Favorite
• Bourgeois Pike: Favorite
• Derdriu-Style Fried Pheasant: Favorite
• Beast Meat Teppanyaki: Dislike
• Sautéed Jerky: Dislike
• Spicy Fish and Turnip Stew: Dislike
• Sweet and Salty Whitefish Sauté: Dislike.
• Fish Sandwich: Dislike
• Pickled Rabbit Skewers: Dislike
• Super-Spicy Fish Dango: Dislike
• Gronder Meat Skewers: Dislike
• Sautéed Pheasant and Eggs: Dislike

And her lost items are:

• Needle and Thread
• Still-Life Picture
• Hedgehog Case

The Best Way to Level up Bernadetta

The best way to level up her is by tutoring her on her strengths. Also, play with her in skirmishes. In a normal Playthrough, you just need to play with her and nothing more.

However, suppose you want to change her stats or specialties. In that case, the best thing to do is to tutor her, especially if you want her to specialize in, say, swords or axes instead of lances.

FAQs

Final Thoughts on Bernadetta

Bernadetta is a complex character. This has to be apparent from the beginning of the game. She is not a bad character; she may need some rebalancing at a general level. But the reality is that you can play her without many problems, especially if you like to attack from far distances. Besides that, her sad origin story is one of the most touching in the game.

She’s one of my favorite characters, and I consider her one of the best girls in the game overall. Without a doubt, I can say that Bernadetta is one of the best characters in the entire franchise overall and, in three houses, a solid choice when it comes to archers in the game.

For more interesting readings about Fire Emblem check out:

• L’arachel Fire Emblem Guide
• Corrin Fire Emblem Guide
• Quan Fire Emblem Guide
• Felix Fire Emblem Guide