Bow Knight is a horse-mounted combat physical class that recurrently appears across the Fire Emblem Series, beginning from Fire Emblem Gaiden.
Depending on the title that the Bow Knight class appears in, it acts as a first, second or third-tier class. Primarily armed with Bows as its weapon of choice, the Bow Knight class is, in later installments, given the additional ability to wield Swords, Lances, or Axes as its secondary weapon.
History in the Series[]
In Gaiden and its remake Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, the Bow Knight class is the third-tier promotion of the Archer class family, possessing an attack range of 1~5. They are renowned for being especially useful for attacking most enemies without retaliation or when a unit requires protection due to their ability to hit enemy units from a considerable distance. In the DLC for Echoes, the Bow Knight can further promote into their Overclass, the Oliphantier.
In the Jugdral Series, the Bow Knight class is the promoted form of the Arch Knight class. There are no recruitable pre-promoted units of this class in either title.
In TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga, the Bow Knight class is known as the Bow Rider, translated Ranger in the fan translation) and is an enemy-exclusive mounted class which can equip bows only.
In the Tellius Series, Bow Knights are a first-tier class that promotes into either Paladins in Path of Radiance or Bow Paladins in Radiant Dawn. In Radiant Dawn, the Bow Knight class can further promote into the Silver Knight class after promoting into the Bow Paladin class.
In Awakening, the Bow Knight class is one of the possible promoted forms of both the Archer and Mercenary classes. This incarnation of the class is able to wield Swords alongside Bows, drawing inspiration from the Nomadic Trooper from The Binding Blade and The Blazing Blade, alongside the Ranger class from The Sacred Stones.
In Fates, the Bow Knight class is treated as a Nohrian class, acting as one of the promoted forms of both the Mercenary and Outlaw classes.
In Three Houses, the Bow Knight is a class included in the Master Class curriculum, with the Bow Knight Certification exam requiring a unit to be Level 30 and to possess a C in Lances, and As in both Riding and Bows to pass. As such, it can be considered once more the promoted form of Snipers. Bow Knights have a +3 Skill Experience class bonus to a unit's Bows, Lances and Riding subjects.
In Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, the Bow Knight is the final class in the Fighter class trees's Archer line, and is available to any unit that has mastered the Bow Knight's predecessor, the Sniper class. Ingrid, Mercedes, and Yuri can learn their Innate Skill Sharpshooter when they master Bow Knight.
In Vestaria Saga I, the Bow Knight is known as the Tarkhan and is the promotion of the Ranger. The class wields Swords and Bows. Promotion into this class causes the Ranger to lose it's ability to traverse cliffs.
Overview[]
Combat[]
Awakening[]
In Awakening, the Bow Knight class's mounted status improves their Movement for almost all skirmishes. Their increased Speed is handy for double attacking enemies and Rally Skill is a fairly good skill for increasing the activation chance of their allies' skills. Their added ability to wield Swords also affords them an advantage when engaging in close-ranged combat. Bowbreaker, conversely, is good for dealing with bow-wielding units such as Snipers, as they often carry the omnipresent threat of being armed with Killer Bows during Wi-Fi battles. Bow Knights also have decent Skill, allowing them to perform critical attacks more frequently than many other classes.
Fates[]
The Bow Knight class's stats in Fates are slightly altered as compared to the ones in Awakening; they have a slightly higher Resistance than Defense, effectively making them decent magic killers. Rather than having Bowbreaker (which is now learned by Sorcerers), Bow Knights learn Shurikenbreaker instead, allowing them to both hit and dodge shuriken/dagger wielders with ease.
Three Houses[]
In Three Houses, the Bow Knight has the unique distinction of having Bowrange +2 over the Bowrange +1 of other bow-using classes, allowing Bow Knights to attack at 4-range when wielding a bow. Combined with their high mobility (and Canto) when mounted, they can prove to be threatening zoning units, especially against mounted flier units. In principle, this makes them extremely valuable over the Sniper class which Bow Knights generally would promote from.
However, the advantages of the Bow Knight are met with some drawbacks when compared to the Sniper. Chiefly among them, the Bow Knight cannot use the Hunter's Volley combat art that is locked to Sniper, meaning that to strike twice consecutively they must use a brave weapon such as the Brave Bow, or learn a combat art allowing it (i.e. Point-Blank Volley). Secondly, utilising its ability to attack at 4-range is risky, since it incurs a penalty of -20 hit over attacking at 3-range (and -40/-50 hit over attacking at 2-range), which without hit-boosting abilities or battalions makes such attacks more likely to miss. Thirdly, the growth rates of the Bow Knight are extremely poor compared to Sniper or almost any other class, making long-term growth in the class less viable. Thus, the Bow Knight is often viewed as map-dependent.
In-Game[]
Base Stats[]
HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov | Con | Wt | Wlv | Cha | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FE2 | 40 | 16 | - | 8 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 8 | - | - | Bow | - |
FE4 | 40 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 9 | - | - | A | - |
FE5 (Mounted) | 24/20 | 5/4 | 1 | 6 | 6/7 | 0 | 5 | - | 9 | 7/5 | - | D | - |
FE5 (Dismounted) | 24/20 | 4/3 | 1 | 5 | 4/5 | 0 | 4 | - | 6 | 7/5 | - | D | - |
TS | 22 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | - | 7 | - | - | 2 | - |
FE9 | 20/18 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 5/6 | 0 | 6/5 | 0/1 | 8 | 10/7 | 33/29 | D | - |
FE10 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 33 | D | - |
FE13 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 8 | - | - | E E | - |
FE14 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 8 | - | - | E E | - |
FE15 | 40 | 16 | - | 8 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 8 | - | - | - | |
FE16 | 32 | 17 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 8 | - | - | C A A | 0 |
FE17 | 22 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | - | ? ? ? ? | - |
Maximum Stats[]
HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov | Con | Wt | Wlv | Cha | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FE2 | 52 | 40 | - | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 8 | - | - | Bow | - |
FE4 | 80 | 25 | 15 | 23 | 23 | 30 | 23 | 18 | 9 | - | - | A | - |
FE5 | 80 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | - | 20 | 20 | - | A | - |
TS | 60 | 20 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 30 | 17 | - | 12 | - | - | 17 | - |
FE9 | 40 | 20 | 15 | 20 | 20 | 40 | 20 | 20 | 8 | 10/7 | 33/29 | A | - |
FE10 | 40 | 20 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 30 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 33 | A | - |
FE13 | 80 | 40 | 30 | 43 | 41 | 45 | 35 | 30 | 8 | - | - | A A | - |
FE14 | 55 | 29 | 25 | 32 | 33 | 30 | 27 | 32 | 8 | - | - | B A | - |
FE17 | 68 | 38 | 23 | 45 | 37 | 30 | 23 | 29 | 8 | 14 | - | C^ C^ C^ A | - |
Growth Rates[]
HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov | Con | Wt | Wlv | Cha | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FE9 | 70/65% | 45/35% | 15/20% | 40/40% | 50/55% | 30/30% | 45/45% | 40/50% | - | - | - | - | - |
FE10 | 75% | 50% | 15% | 40% | 45% | 25% | 40% | 30% | - | - | - | - | - |
FE13 | 50% | 20% | 0% | 25% | 20% | 0% | 5% | 5% | - | - | - | - | - |
FE14 | 10% | 10% | 0% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 0% | 10% | - | - | - | - | - |
FE15 | 120% | 50% | - | 50% | 30% | 0% | 30% | 0% | - | - | - | - | - |
FE16 | 10/40% | 0/15% | 0% | 0/10% | -5% | 0% | 0/25% | 0/5% | - | - | - | +3 +3 +3 | 5% |
FE17 | 10% | 10% | 0% | 20% | 20% | 15% | 0% | 15% | - | 0% | - | - | - |
FEW3H | 20% | 20% | 0% | 35% | 0% | 0% | 10% | 0% | - | - | - | - | 10% |
Class Modifiers[]
HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov | Con | Wt | Wlv | Cha | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FE16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1/3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4/2 | - | - | - | 0 |
FEW3H | 300 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2/5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7/0 | - | - | - | 2 |
Class Skills[]
Skill | Requirements | |
---|---|---|
FE4 | Re-Move | Hidden innate skill of all mounted and flying units. |
FE10 | Canto | Base skill of all mounted and flying units. |
FE13 | Rally Skill Bowbreaker | Learnt at Level 5. Learnt at Level 15. |
FE14 | Rally Skill Shurikenbreaker | Learnt at Level 5 and above. Learnt at Level 15 and above. |
FE15 | Bowrange +2 | Class skill of the Bow Knight and Sniper classes. |
FE16 | Bowrange +2 Bowfaire Canto Defiant Speed | Class ability of the Bow Knight class. Class ability of the Bow Knight class. Class ability of all mounted and flying units. Mastery ability of Bow Knights. |
FE17 | Careful Aim Seal Strength | Class Skill of Bow Knights. Maddening mode skill. |
FEW3H | Bowfaire Gauntlet Buster Lv 4 Gauntletbreaker Waning Shot Ward Arrow Bow Prowess Deadeye Precision Volley Battle Instincts Defiant Spd Dexterity Catalyst Sharpshooter | Class ability. Class ability. 1-star Class Mastery for Bernadetta, Ashe, Ignatz and Shamir. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 2-star Class Mastery for all units. 2-star Class Mastery for certain units. 2-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. Innate Ability for certain units. |
Promotions[]
Base Class | Promotion Method | Promoted Class | |
---|---|---|---|
FE2 | Sniper | Visit Shrine after reaching Level 10. | Bow Knight |
FE4 | Arch Knight | Choose the "Class Change" option in the Home Castle when the relevant unit reaches Level 20. | Bow Knight |
FE5 | Arch Knight | Use a Knight Proof on a Level 10+ Arch Knight. | Bow Knight |
FE9 | Bow Knight | Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Bow Knight. | Paladin |
FE10 | Bow Knight | Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Bow Knight or train a Bow Knight to Level 21. | Bow Paladin |
FE13 | Mercenary | Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Mercenary. | Bow Knight |
FE13 | Archer | Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Archer. | Bow Knight |
FE14 | Mercenary | Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Mercenary. | Bow Knight |
FE14 | Outlaw | Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Outlaw. | Bow Knight |
FE15 | Sniper | Visit Shrine after reaching Level 10. | Bow Knight |
FE15 | Bow Knight | Visit the Altar of the Marksman when the relevant unit reaches Level 20. | Oliphantier |
FE16 | Any class | Use a Master Seal on a Level 30+ unit and pass the Bow Knight Certification Exam. | Bow Knight |
FE17 | Archer | Use a Master Seal on Level 10+ Archer with Sword, Lance, or Axe Proficiency. | Bow Knight |
FEW3H | Sniper | Use a Master Seal on a unit that has mastered the Sniper class. | Bow Knight |
Notable Bow Knights[]
Gaiden[]
- Gazelle- Boss of Chapter 3 in Alm's route.
- Mueller- Boss of Chapter 4 in Alm's route.
- Aurum- A member of the Duma Faithful.
- Argentum- A member of thte Duma Faithful.
- Possible promotion for: Python, Leon, Kliff*, Tobin*, Gray*, Atlas*, Saber**, Kamui**, Jesse** and Deen**.
* - If one of the villagers can promote into the Archer class in Fire Emblem Gaiden.
** - If one of the Mercenaries/Myrmidons can promote into the Dread Fighter class can promote back to Villager if able to promote into the Archer class.
Genealogy of the Holy War[]
- Andorey - The Duke of Jungby in the first generation, he killed his father to usurp the position.
- Promotion for: Midayle, Lester and Deimne.
Thracia 776[]
Path of Radiance[]
- Astrid - Member of Begnion's noble House Damiel and later member of the Crimean Royal Knights.
Awakening[]
- Ezra - A kidnapper and slave trader who attempts to abduct Noire.
- Bovis - One of the twelve Deadlords.
- Possible promotion for: Virion, Gregor, Inigo, Severa and Noire.
Fates[]
Three Houses[]
- Riegan: One of the Ten Elites, original bearer of the Crest of Riegan, and founder of House Riegan.
Engage[]
- Possible promotion for: Etie.
Three Hopes[]
- Captain Berling: Leader of Berling's Mercenaries from Leicester who was slain by the Ashen Demon.
- Promotion for: Shamir.
Vestaria Saga I[]
- Gyskahl - The brother of Solis's late khar. Seeks to put his nephew, Cyltan, on the throne.
- Promotion for: Cyltan.
- Possible promotion for: Hoelun.
Vestaria Saga: The Holy Sword of Silvanister[]
- Amlute - A knight in the service of Count Lorec and Raffine's fiance. Has a past he doesn't want to discuss.
Trivia[]
- In the opening cutscene in Fates, Bow Knights can be seen but only as unmounted units while in-game they are mounted units.
- Although Nomadic Troopers became Rangers from The Blazing Blade to The Sacred Stones, losing their Sacaen/Nomadic looks, Myrmidons and Swordmasters, who were also Sacaen, stayed the exact same.