The Great Master (山伏 Yamabushi, lit. Mountain Hermit) is a class that is introduced in Fire Emblem Fates. The Great Master has well balanced stats, making them suitable for both physical and magicial roles. It is one of the promoted forms of the Monk class, armed with Naginata and Rods as their equipment of choice.
The Great Master is treated as a Hoshidan class and is regarded as the male counterpart of the Priestess class. The Great Master is extremely similar to the War Monks who appear in Awakening.
In-Game
Combat
As stated above, Great Masters are almost identical to War Monks in a multitude of ways: They've balanced stats and make for great "tanks", they are the promoted forms of male-only healing units, and now wield a physical weapon as well as staves. Furthermore, they can both learn the skill Renewal, though at different levels. There are some differences, however, and one of which are that Great Masters use Lances instead of Axes. This means that while Great Masters will deal smaller amounts of damage than War Monks, their blows have a greater chance of hitting. Furthermore, they can learn a new skill called Countermagic, which returns any damage from magical attacks at any range. This and their high Resistance make Great Masters extremely effective mage-killers, and this is leaving out the fact that Lances and Naginata now have the advantage over magic weapons.
Since they are the Hoshidan counterparts to War Monks, they should be used like them: Bulky healers that can hold their own in combat as well as heal themselves, and mage-killers ifthe situation calls for it. Great Masters are a good choice for healers to deploy alongside glass-cannon units who need the survivability, and make excellent combat and support units simultaneously.
Base Stats
| HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov | Con | Wt | Wlv | Cha | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FE14 | 19 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | - | - |  E  E |
Maximum Stats
| HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov | Con | Wt | Wlv | Cha | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FE14 | 55 | 32 | 30 | 31 | 33 | 32 | 28 | 32 | 6 | - | - | B A |
Growth Rates
| HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov | Con | Wt | Wlv | Cha | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FE14 | 10% | 15% | 5% | 5% | 15% | 15% | 10% | 10% | - | - | - | - |
Class Skills
| Skill | Requirements | |
|---|---|---|
| FE14 |  Renewal Countermagic | Learnt at Level 5 and above. Learnt at Level 15 and above. |
Promotion
| Base Class | Promotion Method | Promoted Class | |
|---|---|---|---|
| FE14 |  Monk | Use a  Master Seal on a Level 10+ Monk. |  Great Master |
Notable Great Masters
Fates
- Possible promotion for Azama.
Etymology
Yamabushi (山伏) are Japanese priests who follow the Shugendo doctrine. They also practice martial arts to defend themselves from bandits.