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I think I've got an idea of how to work it in. Let's just say that not everyone in the Alliance will be happy with Acheron peddling his BS in the streets of Derdriu... And if Claude's going back to the capital, this might be the perfect chance for the Almyrans to make peace with the Alliance, since Nader and his crew would be traveling back with Claude and the Golden Deer to help them quell the infighting. Maybe they could even make a big dramatic entrance with the ships like on CF. It would be pretty damn cool to see the Almyran fleet show up, and they're on our side this time. Ah, now I see what you're getting at with the Est archetype idea. My only real experience with an Est has been Mozu, and I recall her taking a fair bit of time to start pulling her weight (now granted I sucked at Fates), which I didn't imagine would be ideal for Fleche seeing as she'd be joining so late. But having her make the jump quickly like you've described should work out really well. I also love the selection of combat arts you've given her, being a huge fan of Swift Strikes, Vengeance and Point-Blank Volley. One tweak I'd make however is her spell list. I gave her something more along the lines of Ingrid's, which has a few more favorable spells imo. I just don't find Cutting Gale, Excalibur or Fortify all that useful most of the time. Ah, good catch on her faith boon! I didn't have it as a boon originally, so I think I forgot to give her a higher rank. I can definitely drop one of her rallies if four's too much, though technically Annette does have access to four thanks to her personal so it may not be too big of an issue. I hadn't thought about bases yet, but they'd definitely be on the higher side of things to help her catch up with the others quickly. Yes, my ideal CF would still have only 18 chapters. I know CF's length is a common complaint people have with the route, but I feel that it serves a thematic purpose that I won't go into here for sake of avoiding the whole Edelgard minefield. It also makes the endgame more challenging, imo, because there's less time to overlevel your units (flashbacks to AM Ch.22 getting thoroughly Dimitri'd). I do see your point about having enough time to complete those supports though... maybe I could have Jeritza's C happen before Ch.15 and just story-lock the B. Caspar's shouldn't be an issue though, I don't think. It's only B+ and A that are story-locked, and afterwards there's still two chapters of dining and auxiliaries left to unlock them.

I could definitely do something like this, since taking out the second Garreg Mach defense map means I've basically got a free chapter to work with. It might be a bit awkward to put the Derdriu mission in between Fort Merceus and Enbarr though... I'll have to do some rearranging probably. I was thinking at first that they'd be AI, since I completely forgot about paralogue Seteth lol But having I kinda like the idea of having them be controllable units now. Either way though, a mid-map convo is always a welcome addition. This looks really well thought out! Very much along the lines of what had in mind. Here's my Sniper pre-promote idea for comparison: A bit farther along in the ranks, I'll admit. But I was a concerned about her late join time so I decided to give her the Jeritza treatment just to be safe. Damn, your ideas are almost exactly like what I came up with! Instead of Edelgard, I actually gave her a support chain (C, B, A) with Hubert. I'm not entirely sure why tbh, but I just get the feeling that something between the two of them would click. A little (C, B) chain with Petra I think would be nice too, seeing as Petra's had a strained relationship with the Empire (outside of the Black Eagles) for so long due to her kidnapping and mistreatment at the hands of Aegir and his cronies. I'm sure she'd be happy to see through a young noblewoman like Fleche that the Empire's steadily moving past the corruption she hated so much and towards a brighter future. Building on that Caspar support, I'd split their B-support into a B and a B+, with the latter unlocking after Randolph's death in Ch.15. B+ and A would see them mourning and reflecting on the loss of Randolph and thinking about the future of the Bergliez family. I had pretty much the same exact idea for a (C, B) support with Lysithea. In mine, the two of them would bond instantly over what it's like being shorter than everyone else. Basically just a funny lighthearted support to offset the more somber tone of the war phase chapters a bit. My idea for a Jeritza support (C, B, A) would have C-support unlock after Ch.15. Jeritza would talk to Fleche about whether or not she plans to seek revenge on her brother's killer. Fleche would then explain to him why, unlike on AM, she doesn't feel the need to go to such lengths. I was also thinking of giving her supports with Ashe (C, B, A) and Yuri (C, B, A), but I haven't decided on any of the details yet. Her paired endings would be: Byleth of either gender (platonic), Hubert, Caspar (family), Ashe, Jeritza and Yuri

With the right setup, that idea could work out really well! I can totally see him joining as a green ally for a few chapters to further his own selfish ends, and then defecting to the Empire the second things start looking unfavorable for him. Because you're right in that he's only truly loyal to himself, and will support whichever side he thinks will benefit him more. The question is when the best time for him to join would be, and the best time for him to betray Claude. For the latter, I'm thinking maybe Fort Merceus. A few turns in, he'd try and slip away amidst the chaos to sell out the Alliance, so he'd have to be chased down and killed before he escapes. Of course! I could definitely include them both in the final chapter. It would be cool to see their brother/sister dynamic play out on the battlefield since I imagine it'd be quite similar to what we see with Seteth and Flayn. It'd also be nice for them to have at least one happy ending where they both survive. And don't worry, I've already got ideas for recruitable Fleche on CF! If by Est archetype, you mean similar to Mozu or Cyril, that might be a bit tricky seeing as she'd be joining pretty late on the shortest route. My thinking was more along the lines of a strong pre-promote, but with a few different options. She'd join as a Lv.30 Sniper and have strong bow CAs, meaning she wouldn't have to reclass at all if you didn't want her to. But she'd also have a decent spell list/magic growth (a la Ingrid), a budding talent in swords and a good selection of rallies too for some different build options. Oh yeah, he'd definitely get a badass parting line like that! This would be Dedue's moment to go out in a blaze of glory, taking as many Imperials down with him as possible. I totally get the thematic reasoning behind the stone only disappearing on CF. That's actually one of the many reasons why it's my favorite route, Byleth choosing to walk her own path and not letting Rhea's scheming dictate who she becomes. I was more curious if there was an established in-story reason for the stone not disappearing on VW, which there doesn't seem to be seeing as everyone's got their own unique interpretation. Closest thing I can find is from before the final battle on CF: Which suggests that something in fact may be tied to Rhea's death, but then again this is just Edelgard's own speculation. So I guess I should go with what makes the most sense thematically, which would be to keep the stone on VW.

This sounds like an interesting idea! I dunno how I feel about everyone being at the monastery already before Byleth gets there, though. Kinda weirds out the whole "reunion" feeling since technically everyone's already reunited and Byleth's just late to the party thanks to her five-year disco nap. As annoying as it makes the chapter battle, I think having Byleth and her students reunite in the midst of the fray is more thematically fitting, as it shows them all rallying together, one by one (or two by two I guess lol), in their darkest hour to fight side by side once more. I could see him doing it to endear himself to the Empire (since he's firmly on the pro-Empire side of things) or just to prove that he's better than Count Gloucester. Considering his entire character shtick is "opportunistic bastard but never thinks any of it through", I think both could be plausible. Personally, I kinda like the idea of him surviving on VW, if only because it makes Fleche's appearance in the final chapter more believable. I don't think she'd be as eager to support the Alliance if they're the ones responsible for her brother's death. I suppose you could say that having Claude witness Dimitri's death firsthand could serve as further motivation for him to end the war before more lives like Dimitri's are unfairly taken, which lines right up with Claude's desire to create a just and peaceful society. I'll admit though that I mostly included the scene because I hated the fact that Dimitri got offscreen'd like some cheap extra on the original route. They should've at least let us witness his final moments, even if it's with cutscene stills and not a full-blown cutscene. There's just something about the Death Knight of all people choosing to run away from a fight that seems oddly out-of-character for him. I do like the idea of everyone escaping the blast on the wyverns, though. I agree that Nader could use a little bit more to do in this chapter besides just "show up and fight", and this seems like the perfect way to make that happen. Yeah, I was mostly just trying to give Dedue a more climactic send-off than the one he got. Having him die in a heroic "hold the line" moment seemed like better closure for his character than him just sulking off in self-exile for the rest of his life. It would also be a nice moment of growth for him, where he puts the greater good ahead of his own thirst for revenge and gives Claude's army the chance they need to end the war once and for all. Thanks! The ending's really one of the biggest issues I had with the original route. I'm glad you like my idea, even though the berserk Rhea thing isn't your cup of tea. It just never felt right to me that the route that talks the most about peace and acceptance basically ends with all three nations completely subjugated under the Church and Claude disappearing to Almyra again. The Almyrans don't even show up to fight Nemesis on the original route! They had the perfect chance to bring Fódlan and Almyra together to fight side by side and they blew it. How I see this going down: http://imgur.com/a/zuhnhOZ @Dark Holy Elf If you don't mind me asking though, why doesn't the crest stone disappear when Rhea dies on VW? Is it because Byleth herself isn't the one who kills her? Or that Byleth and Rhea are still on "friendly terms", so to speak, unlike on CF? Is there a story detail I missed that explains it?

Doesn't Cyril have a faith bane though? I know he isn't from Fódlan, but aside from Catherine he's as pro-church as they come. And Hilda must have some degree of loyalty to the Church considering she's the only "regular" student (i.e. not one of the other two lords or Dedue) who can't be recruited to fight against them on CF. So it wouldn't be completely unreasonable for Judith to support the Church and just happen to suck at using their magic. I can definitely swap it out for a reason bane though if you guys think that makes more sense. Doesn't really make a difference either way.

Well damn, clearly I need to start paying better attention to boons. I was way off the mark on that one lol In that case then, I guess it wouldn't be an issue to throw in an axe boon and maybe a fifth one (could do bow) for good measure. True, but in all fairness lots of characters have banes in things you'd never train them in either way. Hubert's got banes in axe and flying, but I doubt anyone would be making him a Wyvern Lord even if he didn't. And I don't think Linhardt would fare so well as a War Master even without those axe and brawling banes. A faith or reason bane on Judith would mostly just be there for flavor to underscore the fact that she's just not good at magic, just like Linhardt isn't good at punching people.

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I really did try to stick as close to the original route as possible, just fixing what I felt needed to be fixed. I didn’t want to stray too far in an entirely different direction and risk losing/rushing the core 3H plot, which I feel is still an important aspect of Claude's story. I do see what you're saying about the difference between the AM and VW versions of the chapter. I think however it's framed in-story though, the bottom line is that if Byleth and Claude/Dimitri are gonna use Garreg Mach as their base, the bandits have gotta go. AM makes it a point that the "rats" are people too, imo, not simply because Byleth and Dimitri are killing them, but because Dimitri is referring to them as "rats that need to be slaughtered". For Claude though, the question of their humanity isn't brought up because nobody's dehumanizing them in the first place. Claude basically says "Hey can you help me take the monastery back from these guys?" and Byleth nods along with it. They're essentially doing the same thing as Dimitri, but the difference in how they view the bandits as people is why the issue doesn't come up on VW. After all, they're still bandits. Can't have random criminals hanging around your military base, it's bad for business! Whoops, you're right! Didn’t realize that the generic list had Recover too. I'll go back and fix that. Oof, yeah I didn't think about how far those archers can reach, that may make the map a wee bit too hellish now that you mention it. I think upping the fog vision to 4 spaces like you said though would fix this. Ah, I didn't realize that there was an in-story reason for it happening on CF but not VW. From Edelgard's dialogue before the final map on CF, I assumed the crest stone was magically linked to Rhea somehow and that it just disappeared no matter what when she died. Also, I guess I just kinda find the "immortal Byleth" ending a bit depressing too, especially if she marries someone who isn't Seteth. She's doomed to watch all her closest friends and possibly her spouse die of old age while she lives on for thousands of years. I can definitely change up the ending a bit though if there's a reason for the stone not disappearing on VW. Byleth x Claude's overrated anyway, it's all about the Lettuce Family on VW lol Honestly... I feel like Cindered Shadows covers it pretty well enough at the end. I get that this means that Byleth's origins are essentially paywalled, but I mean, they've already paywalled an entire side route, four classes, two relics, the game's only effective Bolting mage and flying magic battalion, Yuri's ass and Sitri's name. So I wouldn't really see this as any more of an issue than it already is. I mean, I get what you're saying. Perhaps "story overhaul" was a poor choice of words on my part. My aim was more to rewrite the storyline they'd already established and "fix" what I felt was wrong with it than to write a completely new route. From the discussions we've had before about VW though, I think you and I just have slightly differing opinions on where the route falls short. A lot of my issues with VW are specifically about the way the last two chapters and the ending are written, which is why my most dramatic changes are made to that part of the story. Aside from that, I also addressed points like Judith not being recruitable, the lack of focus on Alliance politics and Dimitri's anticlimactic death, which were all problems I had with the original route. I disagree with saying it's not at all about Claude, though. I feel like Claude has way more of a voice as a character in this version, even if it's mainly because the finale and the ending actually reflect his goals for Fódlan and bring them to fruition instead of working actively against them to push the whole "God-Emperor Byleth" ending. Ah, my mistake. I didn't realize that combat arts were always tied to weapon skill proficiencies. Since having four boons seems pretty excessive even for a pre-promote, I'll just get rid of the axe arts. They were pretty much just filler anyway. I felt a magic bane of some sort would be appropriate for Judith since she's purely a physical fighter. I basically just chose Faith on a coin flip, but I don't think it really matters either way. Like you said, Hilda's got a Faith bane for no apparent reason (heh) other than I guess not being very good at it. Unfortunately it's kinda Nemesis's theme song, so it wouldn’t really work the same without him. Thank you everyone for your feedback! You've given me lots of interesting things to think about. I'll be sure to keep you all posted on any changes I make. Until then, I'd love to hear any other ideas or suggestions you may have.

Welcome everyone to my complete chapter-by-chapter rewrite of the Golden Deer route! As I've discussed many times in the past with fellow members of the Serenes Forest community, most notably in this thread... ...Verdant Wind is a hot mess of a route that's in dire need of a good cleanup. And while there's undoubtedly many reasons as to why this route suffers from such widespread story and characterization problems, there remains one cause that stands out above the rest, and that's Silver Snow. Verdant Wind was half-assed, no way around it. Instead of investing the proper amount of time and attention needed to give Claude and the Golden Deer a unique, compelling story on par with what Crimson Flower and Azure Moon gave Edelgard and Dimitri, the devs simply cloned the plot of what's by far their all-around weakest route, resulting in the narrative disaster that is Verdant Wind. And the reason why I believe this route was half-assed so badly is Silver Snow. Silver Snow was the very first draft they wrote of the game's story, and it shows. But instead of letting it stay that way and focusing their efforts solely on the three lords' stories, they tried to develop their rough draft into an entire fourth route, and unfortunately it failed. And the story that paid the price for this unnecessary drain on the devs' time and resources was Claude's. So, moving forward into this rewrite we're gonna completely disregard Silver Snow and treat the game as though there are only three routes, with the effort they put into Silver Snow instead going towards fixing Verdant Wind. In other words: Three Houses, three lords, three routes. Now before we get started, I'd like to go over a few notes about this write-up as well as some non-chapter specific changes made to Verdant Wind. Right, that's all for notes. Now let's dive into the good stuff! Chapter 13 - Reunion at Dawn Chapter 14 - Valley of Torment Chapter 15 - The Rose-Colored River Chapter 16 - Blood of the Eagle and Lion Chapter 17 - The Impregnable Fortress Chapter 18 - The Aquatic Capital Chapter 19 - The Chaos of War Chapter 20 - Conclusion of the Crossing Roads Chapter 21 - The City Without Light Chapter 22 - Fódlan's New Dawn Ending Changes to other routes Phew, that was a lot to cover! To everyone who made it this far, thank you so much for taking the time to read my rewrite and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback! 🙂

Sorry I haven't been as active recently, hectic couple of weeks lol Love how the story's coming along! I wonder what ???'s planning to do once everyone meets at Ordelia... there's clearly some bad blood between him and Edelgard, I'm guessing he's (if they're even a "he" under that mask) someone we know from TWSITD. I'm a little curious about what happened to Jeritza though. Edelgard mentioned back in Ch.1 that they haven't heard from him in a while, but the fake Death Knight is using his scythe. I hope ??? hasn't done anything to him... o.o I've gotta say, you did an excellent job with Marianne and Lorenz's dialogue! You really nailed down their personalities, I could almost hear each line in their voices. Marianne getting pissed was especially satisfying to watch. She's finally got confidence, friends, an adoring husband and Goddess help anyone who tries to take that from her (badass Marianne crit yell intensifies).

I didn't go in with a ton of info, but I knew enough of the story from what I read online to know I wanted to do CF first. I immediately liked Edelgard, Dorothea, Petra and Bernadetta, thought Hubert was such a dick that I made a whole topic about it (he's one of my favorite Black Eagles now lol) and didn't care about Linhardt, Caspar or Ferdinand (I enjoy Lin and Caspar a bit more now as comic relief, Ferdie still feels like a more boring version of Lorenz to me). I did a lot of recruiting. Overall though I think the Golden Deer has the most students I like. Claude, Lysithea, Leonie, Lorenz, Marianne... basically everyone except Ignatz and Raphael who are just sorta there imo. Blue Lions has some of my absolute favorites (Dimitri, Ingrid, Sylvain, Ashe), but also my least favorite (Felix) and the rest who I'm just kinda neutral to. Almost makes you wonder if they promoted Edelgard and the Black Eagles so much because they hoped everyone would latch onto them, miss the CF requirements and then get railroaded onto their "masterpiece" lol

I suppose you're right, I hadn't noticed that she's in all the loading screens (too busy staring at the progress bar to make it go faster lol) but I can definitely see how all these things might influence a new player to pick the Black Eagles. I'll admit I pretty much went in already knowing which route I wanted to do (CF), so all the Black Eagles promoting mustn't have seemed as obvious to me. They probably did it though to try and get people to play Silver Snow, considering that route seems to be their favorite for whatever reason.

I agree that there's no real "intended" starting route. The game proper (i.e. not promotional materials) doesn't really push the player towards any given house and every route has its own upsides and downsides to playing it first. That said, I do usually recommend that new players start with either CF or AM, and that whichever of the two they don't play first, do second. This is mostly because the main story revolves around the conflict between Edelgard and Dimitri, which makes their routes the most plot-relevant imo. VW/SS by comparison feels like a side story you play last for some of the background lore after getting the bulk of the main story from CF and AM. As for TWSITD, I don't think they were ever intended to be fought on CF. They're dealt with in the epilogue like an afterthought because that's exactly what they are at that point: an afterthought, a collection of pathetic joke villains that Edelgard wipes out with her thumb once the real threat (Rhea) is taken care of. They're all just raving away in their dubstep rathole waiting for Jeritza to show up dressed as the pizza guy and paint the place red.

Definitely. That's one of the most facepalm-inducing Edelgard criticisms out there, imo. I'm glad to see some dialogue that clears the issue up a bit better. My one complaint is actually with Jeritza's dialogue. You make him sound actively evil and antagonistic towards Flayn, like the Death Knight, when supposedly in part 2 Jeritza's got a slightly better handle on his split personality (he can go into battle without the Death Knight completely taking over). Technically, he shouldn't even remember keeping Flayn hostage since he was in full Death Knight mode when that happened.

My vote's going to Leonie. She's incredibly loyal to Byleth, and after Jeralt's death (in their A-support, I think) she promised to always stay by his side no matter what. Even after the war, I could see her joining the Ordelia castle guard or even becoming Byleth's personal vassal (a la Dedue) just to keep her promise to him. Ignatz and Raphael could definitely appear too, but personally I find them kinda boring. Ingrid, though she's one of my absolute favorite characters in 3H, is also one of the most loyal Blue Lions, meaning it's unlikely she'd ever canonically side against Dimitri. That said, she's a required kill on CF if she isn't recruited, which pretty much negates her chances of appearing here. Felix is just a massive douche, and another required kill on CF. Ashe and Annette could possibly appear, since they're not as loyal to the Kingdom as Ingrid, nor are they required kills on CF. Their whereabouts after Rhea's death are pretty much left up in the air, meaning you could do whatever you'd like with them in the story.

Agreed. Silver Snow simply serves no purpose whatsoever in the final game other than filler. It reads like a first draft, it plays like a first draft and aside from A Funeral of Flowers, it brings absolutely nothing of value to 3H's characters and story. The route was a complete waste of the devs' time, money and resources, which could've gone towards making Verdant Wind a much stronger narrative with its own unique identity, just like Crimson Flower and Azure Moon. But because of Silver Snow, this is the half-assed Golden Deer route we got. Claude deserved better.

This. @Shadow Mir Whether you choose to believe us or not, a weapon's displayed accuracy alone isn't what determines whether it's usable or not. Dex, Prowess skills, linked attacks, Hit +20, Uncanny Blow and Accuracy Rings all have the ability to improve your final accuracy rate. All your units should be utilizing at least three of these things already, so I really don't see why you have such an issue with 60-70 accuracy weapons.

Yeap, I didn't wanna be the first one to come out and say it, but Shanty Pete's 1st Mate's assessment is pretty much spot-on. You can try your hardest to save both routes, but in the end it's an impossible feat without doing a complete rewrite. VW and SS are just an unsalvageable mess through and through. Solid gameplay, but I seriously wonder just how much they were drinking when they came up with the story. Only saving grace as far as I'm concerned is playing as Claude on VW (flying meme lord's the only reason I'm even considering a VW run) and fighting Rhea on SS. Hell, if they'd just cut SS from the game completely (it was just a rough draft anyway, from what I've read) and used it's final map for VW instead, they would've at least had a halfway decent Golden Deer route. Zombie Nemesis and SS's half-assed writing though just ruined it all.

The requirements really aren't that bad. No worse than any other master class, anyway. And Annette has an axe boon, which helps her get Wyvern even faster. Axefaire is a skill that pretty much every axe unit wants. Avo +10 is great to have on anyone to increase survivability, even if they're not dodge tanking. And Canto's... well, Canto. Why exactly do you consider these bad skills? While there is a shortage of flying magic battalions, Nuvelle Fliers is really all she needs as a Wyvern Lord. She's got an authority boon, so she should be able to reach B fairly quickly. Also, Kingdom Pegasus is a magic-neutral C battalion and a good temporary alternative until she can switch to Nuvelle. That's true of all flying classes though. Just don't get her targeted by archers, they're pretty easy to bait with someone like Dimitri. Gets 8 mov, Canto and flight instead. I'd say that's a pretty fair trade-off.

It definitely looks like a tough map, that's for sure. Reminds me almost of Conquest Ch.10 (defend point map where the enemies attack from three directions, lots of pegasus knights), the way the enemies come in wave after wave and you have to hold out until more allies arrive. I can't wait to try it out myself. I'm so happy Lorenz and Marianne are part of the story! I love how you kept Lorenz's signature mixed magic build by giving him a normal lance and a magic lance. The NPC villagers are an amazing idea too, their dialogue is perfect!

Well, to be fair, Dimitri "kill every last one of them" Blaiddyd is gonna be way better at that than Ingrid or Petra. Just set him up with B.Vantage/B.Wrath, get him targeted by as many enemies as possible and grab some popcorn. Ashe may not have much else going for him, but he's got an amazing dex growth and he learns Deadeye, both of which serve him best as a Sniper. With a build focused on crit stacking (something like Bow Prowess, Death Blow, Hit +20, Dexterity +4, Killer Bow+, Critical Ring, Fraldarius Soldiers), he shouldn't have any trouble holding his own late game. He'll still be outclassed as a Sniper by Shamir or other recruits like Leonie, but he should be able to reliably secure crits from a long distance. Which can come in handy on some of the later Blue Lions maps like Derdriu or Enbarr where enemy archers are protected by walls. Fielding him as a gambit bot might be viable if you plan to use a lot of strategies that rely on gambits (warp/stride map skips, dancer battalion shenanigans, etc.) but otherwise going that route with him may be a bit underwhelming. Overall though, it looks like you've got a really strong team setup there.

With the right build, a dancer Ingrid isn't gonna miss out on combat as much as you think. While you do give up her player phase for dancing, on the enemy phase she's more or less still the same old Ingrid. By avoid stacking with Sword Prowess, Sword Avo +20, Axebreaker, Evasion Ring and a high avoid battalion like Brigid Hunters, she'll be able to dodge tank pretty much anything that approaches her (unlike a magic-based dancer, which I typically advise against since they end up sitting ducks on the enemy phase). Throw in a Wo Dao+ or Cursed Ashiya Sword+ if you feel like picking that up and she'll have a pretty good crit rate too. Falcon Knight's no doubt better for combat, but Ingrid's still Ingrid, even as a dancer. Also, anyone with a crest can use Lúin without a penalty, it's not restricted to just Ingrid. You can give it to someone like Byleth or Bernadetta and they can use it just fine. The problem with magic-based dancers is that, for the most part, combat mages like Annette are purely player phase units. And where dancers really want to be dancing every player phase, Annette's magic isn't gonna be seeing that much use. She's also, like you said, not a very good dodge tank or enemy phase unit. So you have to play it extra safe with a dancer Annette, as opposed to a dancer Ingrid who can be left pretty much anywhere and be near-guaranteed to survive. This doesn't really seem worth it, tbh. Not only are you passing up a dancer, which is a huge loss, but Sword Avoid on a regular combat unit isn't that useful. A Falcon Knight Ingrid is always gonna prefer lances to swords, and Felix, like other sword-based units, is better off just ditching the sword classes entirely and going the Grappler/War Master route instead. While on the other hand a dancer can basically double the effectiveness of one of your strongest units every turn, which is a much better deal imo.

Personally, I don't feel like the Blue Lions have that great a selection of dancers, and more times than not I just end up recruiting Marianne instead. But out of the two you're deciding between, I'd definitely recommend Ingrid for her sword and riding boons as well as her 60% speed growth. She'll make excellent use of the standard Marianne dancer build (Sword Prowess, Sword Avo+20, Axebreaker, Movement+1, Special Dance, Wo Dao+, Evasion Ring) and you'll have her for Ch.13, which looks to be your primary focus here. She also appears with Sylvain, who's easily gonna be one of your strongest non-Dimitri units on HBD. Ashe by comparison just doesn't offer as much in the dancer department. No riding or sword boons and Physic, while nice, is better suited for a dedicated healer like Mercedes. He also shows up with Gilbert of all people... probably not the best unit to be dancing for, at least compared to Sylvain. His dex growth could be good for securing crits on the enemy phase, but it would ultimately serve him much better as a Sniper, combining the class's high dex growth with a Killer Bow+ and a Critical Ring for a long-range player phase crit machine. The one issue with choosing Ingrid though, is that you'll be sacrificing her combat potential as a Falcon Knight. However, this is mostly alleviated by the fact that even as a dancer, she'll still be an incredibly valuable combat unit, functioning as your dancer on the player phase and a fast, reliable dodge tank on the enemy phase. Ashe, on the other hand, misses out on being a Sniper, which is a much greater loss for him since he just doesn't perform that well in any other roles. It's Sniper or nothing for Ashe, while Ingrid's far more versatile in what she can excel at.

Lorenz and Marianne could absolutely show up as a couple. There aren't really any canon pairings in 3H, so there's no need to worry about that. That said, Lorenz and Marianne have a really sweet ending together, easily one of my favorite Marianne pairings along with Hilda. And having them as a couple means they'd both have a reason to join in chapter 2, since their marriage would bring Edmund and Gloucester territories together as a single county. Gameplay-wise, Marianne would also provide the group with a dancer unit. Yeah, unfortunately they're from the DLC.

I think there's a few out-of-house students who could fit in pretty well if you're interested in bringing in some more 3H characters. Lorenz canonically sides with the Empire on the non-Deer routes, and Gloucester territory also shares a border with Ordelia, so Lorenz showing up to support Lysithea would make perfect sense story-wise. I like to headcanon that Marianne supports the Empire too, given how horribly the crest system impacted her life. And since you've got a chapter taking place in Edmund territory, she could theoretically work in-story. There's also Constance and Hapi from the Ashen Wolves. Constance in particular could possibly join alongside the other Black Eagles in the final chapter, since she ties in so closely with them in 3H. Hapi probably wouldn't fit in as well, since she's not too keen on fighting. Though she may choose to get involved if it means getting revenge on TWSITD for the experiments they did on her as a child. Nemesis'd Claude? o.o

What do you mean? How could Alois say no to Swordfaire, Locktouch and Stealth?! It's all too good to pass up! crickets ...no? Okay, I'll grab my coat.