Children

Learn how to recruit children in Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright! Discover how they inherit stats, classes, and skills from their parents and how to maximize their potential.

So, you've been playing Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright and noticed there are even MORE characters to recruit? That's right! After your units reach S Rank support (that's marriage, folks!), they can have children who can then join your army. These kids are pretty special because their growth rates are directly tied to their mother's stats. It's a neat system that lets you really customize your army, but it can be a bit confusing at first.

Here's the lowdown: Children inherit their hair color, one of their classes, some growth rate modifiers, and one skill from their mother. They also get a class and a skill from their father. The cool part is you can actually influence their growth rates. To figure out a child's base growth rates (besides their class), you take the stat you're interested in, add the child's base growth rate to the mother's, and then divide by two. This gives you the average, so you can see how pairing certain characters can boost or hinder your child's stats.

Just a heads-up, skills aren't passed down the moment your characters get married. You'll inherit them when you start the child's Paralogue and recruit them. To make sure you get the skill you want, move it to the very bottom of the 'Equip Skill' list before you start the Paralogue. This gives you control over which skill gets passed down.

There are a few special cases for who can have children. Your Avatar (the character you create) will always be linked to Kana, no matter your Avatar's gender. Azura is always linked to Shigure, meaning she might end up having two children: her own and one with the male character she pairs with. If you're playing as a Male Avatar, you can only have two children if you pair him with Azura. A Female Avatar usually has two children too, unless she pairs with someone like Shura, who doesn't have a child linked to him.

When it comes to pairing up characters for children, think strategically! If a father and his child are more physically focused, pairing them with a magically inclined mother might not boost their Strength as much as you'd hope, and could even hurt it. The opposite is true for magic. However, when it comes to defenses and Speed, you can often patch up weaknesses. Speed is super important in Fire Emblem, so try to boost it if you can!

Your Avatar is a fantastic partner for anyone, gameplay-wise. Just remember that the Boon and Bane you chose for your Avatar will affect how Kana and any other children turn out, so keep that in mind when planning your pairings.

Don't stress too much about the children, though. They're not essential to the main story. You could totally finish the game without ever marrying or recruiting any children, and it wouldn't change a thing. This is especially true if you're playing Conquest, where time is tight for building supports. If you miss a kid or two, it's really not the end of the world. They're a great bonus, but not a requirement.

One last tip: if your army is already promoted and at a high level when you get to a child's Paralogue, they'll come with an 'Offspring Seal'. Use this seal right after recruiting them and completing the Paralogue. It'll level them up to match your army's current level, saving you a ton of babysitting. Be careful though – if you use any other seal *before* the Offspring Seal, you won't be able to use that free one!