Dark Flier

Dark Flier
Generic class portrait of a Dark Flier from Awakening.
First Seen	Fire Emblem Awakening
Promotes From	Pegasus Knight (FE13 only)
Promotes To	-
Usable Weapon Types	Lance Tome
Class Skills	Rally Movement (FE13-14) Galeforce (FE13-14) Relief (FE14 only) Speed +2 (FE14 only)
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The Dark Flier (ダークペガサス Dāku pegasasu, lit. Dark Pegasus in the Japanese version of Awakening) is a Pegasus-mounted combat physical and magical class introduced in Fire Emblem Awakening. One of the promoted forms of the Pegasus Knight class in Awakening and a DLC-exclusive class in Fates and Three Houses, the Dark Flier class wields Tomes and Lances as its weapons of choice.

History in the Series

In its original inception in Awakening, the Dark Flier class is introduced as the alternate promoted form of the Pegasus Knight class. This class is credited as being the pioneer flying class that is able to wield offensive magic for combat purposes.

In Fates, the Dark Flier class is renamed to Dark Falcon (ダークファルコン Dāku farukon). In this title, the class is unisex and treated as Nohrian, requiring the use of DLC-exclusive Ebon Wings in order for characters to gain access to it.

The Dark Flier class makes a return in Three Houses as a DLC-exclusive class once again. Although not much is known about it, currently, but it is most likely may be proficient in lances, Reason magic, and Flying, just like in the previous games.

Overview

Combat

Dark Fliers are a little different from Pegasus Knights and Falcon Knights, as they are more offensively diverse. They have the ability to utilize both physical Lances and magical Tomes, allowing them to exploit both Defense and Resistance weaknesses. While the Magic of Dark Fliers will often take time to build up if physical characters are reclassed into the class, it will be well worth the effort eventually when they gain the ability to arm more powerful Tomes. This makes them extremely good for taking down high-Defense units like Generals and counterattacking Snipers, dispelling the need to worry about weapon range while being limited to Javelins, Short Spears and Spears. Offsetting the combat prowess of Dark Fliers is the fact that they retain their weakness to Wind tomes and Bows.

Awakening

The two skills that Dark Fliers learn are Rally Movement and Galeforce. Rally Movement is a good Rally skill, but should ideally be used at the beginning of each Player Phase. Galeforce, on the other hand, is arguably one of the best skills in the game, as it allows the user to either take out two units in one turn or retreat to safety when low on HP from a particularly strong unit. Unfortunately, because Dark Fliers are female-only, it cannot be accessed by most male characters; of the male roster, only Inigo, Owain, Morgan and Brady can access Galeforce through inheritance.

Fates

The Dark Flier class has been adjusted to become a special non-promotable base class. The Dark Flier is massively overpowered compared to unpromoted units, possessing superior movement, stats, and weapon choices regardless of whether the unit excels in physical or magical weapons. Once other classes hit the point of Promotion, however, the Dark Flier is actually a bit weaker relative to its competitors than it was in Awakening.

Like most magic units in Fates, Dark Fliers possess a poor skill stat, a significant loss from their performance in Awakening. Though they were always physically frail, their physically frailty is more pronounced in Fates, due to the overall lower average HP growth rates as well as the Dark Flier's significantly lowered maximum HP. Though Wind magic is virtually absent in Fates, the addition of Shuriken makes their magical attacks less viable overall, and the slower rate of weapon EXP growth makes it extremely difficult for Dark Fliers to attack both physically and magically. Galeforce and Rally Movement have both been weakened, and are typically obtained much later into the game due to the change to the EXP formula.

Nevertheless, they are still powerful 1-2 attackers with high Resistance, and their Speed stat has improved relative to the rest of the cast. In fact, after applying the bonuses of Speed +2, Dark Fliers are tied for being the fastest unit in the game.

In-Game

Base Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE13	19	5	6	8	10	0	5	9	8	-	-	E E
FE14	17	4	7	5	9	4	3	9	8	-	-	E E

Maximum Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE13	80	36	42	41	42	45	32	41	8	-	-	A A
FE14	45	27	32	28	33	32	26	34	8	-	-	B A

Growth Rates

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE13	40%	10%	15%	20%	20%	0%	5%	10%	-	-	-	-
FE14	0%	10%	15%	5%	15%	15%	0%	20%	-	-	-	-

Class Skills

	Skill	Requirements
FE13	Rally Movement Galeforce	Learnt at Level 5. Learnt at Level 15.
FE14	Speed +2 Relief Rally Movement Galeforce	Learnt at Level 1 and above. Learnt at Level 10 and above. Learnt at Level 25 and above. Learnt at Level 35 and above.

Promotions

	Base Class	Promotion Method	Promoted Class
FE13	Pegasus Knight	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Pegasus Knight.	Dark Flier
FE14	(Any class)	Use an Ebon Wing.	Dark Falcon

Notable Dark Fliers

Awakening

• Aversa - A scheming femme fatale who serves as Gangrel's subordinate.
• Catria (DLC)
• Possible promotion for: Sumia, Cordelia, Cynthia and Morgan (Female)

Trivia

• Dark Fliers are amongst the rarest classes encountered as enemies, appearing only in Paralogue 6, Chapter 25, Paralogue 20 and Endgame, aside from SpotPass teams and the completely random Risen fights.
• In Fates, if the capturable boss Daniela is promoted to a Dark Flier, her model will be glitched, using her Strategist's horse model instead of the usual alicorn. This results in her riding a flying horse with a flickering shadow beneath her.

Gallery

Concept artwork of the Dark Flier class.

Concept artwork of the Dark Flier mount.

Concept art of a female Dark Flier in Fates

Battle model of Aversa, a Dark Flier from Awakening.

Battle model of Leo as a Dark Falcon in Fates.

Battle model of Leo as a dismounted Dark Falcon in Fates.

Map sprite of the Dark Flier class from Awakening.

Map sprite of the Dark Falcon class from Fates.