Catherine Builds and Best IVs

This is a ranking page for the hero Catherine - Thunder Knight from the game Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH). Read on to learn the best IVs (Individual Values), best builds (Inherit Skill), weapon refinement, stats at Lv 40, and more for Catherine.

Remix - Legendary Hero Remix: Lucina & Eirika Featured Heroes
Legendary Eirika [8.0/10]	Catherine [8.5/10]	Legendary Lucina [9.0/10]	Duo Ephraim [9.0/10]
Legendary Lyn [8.5/10]	Shamir [9.0/10]	Legendary Robin (F) [8.5/10]	Leila [9.0/10]

Catherine Rating and Basic Information

Overall Rating	8.5/10
Reroll Ranking (excluding Inherit Skill)	A (▶Reroll Ranking)
Ranking (including Inherit Skill)	S (▶FEH Tier List)

Catherine - Thunder Knight: Basic Information

Color / Weapon Type / Move Type	Red / Sword / Infantry
Rarity	5 Star
What Kind of Character Are They?	・Weapon provides a built-in Desperation with an easier trigger condition ・Weapon also neutralizes effects that prevent Catherine's follow-up attacks ・Multiple buffs to Atk/Spd

Catherine Skills at 5★

Thunderbrand Might: 16　 Range: 1 Grants Spd+3. At start of combat, if foe's HP ≥ 50%, grants Atk/Spd+5 during combat, neutralizes effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat and also, if unit initiates combat, unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.

Draconic Aura Cooldown Count = 3 Boosts Atk by 30%.

Swift Sparrow 3 If unit initiates combat, grants Atk+6, Spd+7 during combat.

Lull Spd/Def 3 Inflicts Spd/Def-3 on foe and neutralizes foe's bonuses to Spd/Def (from skills like Fortify, Rally, etc.) during combat.

Catherine Best IVs

Recommended IVs

Stat	Superboon/Superbane	IV Recommendation
HP (19)		★★★☆☆
Atk (25)		★★★★★
Spd (14)		★★★★☆
Def (8)		★★★☆☆
Res (6)		★★☆☆☆

◯ = Stat gains +4 with a superboon, ✕= Stat goes down by -4 with a superbane, - = No assets or flaws

See the IV Checker for All Units

Trait Fruits—How to Change IVs

When using an Ascendant Floret, we recommend getting the next superboon if it fits the hero. If not, consider what stat your hero needs most.

+Atk/-Res

The best IVs for Catherine are +Atk and -Res. Catherine's Spd reaches ridiculous levels if she triggers all her skills so it would be a waste to push it even further with IVs. You maximize her damage by taking a +Atk IV so it is a no brainer to take said IV. Additionally, her Atk is a superboon so you should take advantage of it as much as possible. Her Res is of less importance so it is safe to take as a bane.

Not no mention, Lull Spd/Def 3 creates even a bigger Spd gap!

+Atk for a +10 Merge

We recommend a +Atk IV when merging Catherine to 10. This is for the same reasons as above. At this point, Catherine can take out a wide range of enemy units with a follow-up attack.

Catherine Best Builds

Galeforce Attacker Catherine

HOT
： Thunderbrand ： Reposition ： Galeforce ： -	： Swift Sparrow 3 ： Lull Spd/Def 3 ： Time's Pulse 3 ： Heavy Blade 3 ： -

How to Use, Explanation

This is a premium build for Catherine utilizing Galeforce. Time's Pulse and Heavy Blade serve to accelerate her Special, enabling her to trigger it faster so she can take on multiple enemy units in one turn.

Budget Catherine

： Thunderbrand ： Reposition ： Draconic Aura ： -

： Swift Sparrow 3 ： Lull Spd/Def 3 ： Atk Smoke 3 ： Swift Sparrow 2 ： -

How to Use, Explanation

This is a budget build for Catherine. Double Swift Sparrow boosts her stats, while Atk Smoke 3 lowers the enemy units' Atk so she doesn't have to worry too much with taking a lot of damage as well.

Source Heroes for All Skills

Catherine Stats

Stat Rankings

Neutral Stats at Lv. 40 (5★)
176
HP	43	Rank: 164/1088
Atk	39	Rank: 272/1088
Spd	41	Rank: 138/1088
Def	30	Rank: 403/1088
Res	23	Rank: 687/1088

Stat Values

Lv 40+10 Stats (5★)

	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
+10 Merges W/ Skill Bonuses	48	60	49	34	27	218
Lv.40 +10	48	44	46	34	27	199

Stats at Lv 40

	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
5★- Adjusted for Skills	43	55	44	30	23	195
5★ Lv.40	43	39	41	30	23	176

Initial Stats (with Skills)

	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
5★ Lv.1	19	25	14	8	6	72

Stat Comparison of Similar Heroes

Hero	HP	Atk	Spd	Def	Res	Total
Brave Robin (M)	40	46	45	35	27	193
Emblem Marth	41	45	47	33	27	193
Severa	42	43	47	37	24	193
Inigo	40	44	45	34	30	193
Kagetsu	42	43	47	35	25	192
Lapis	41	41	45	29	32	188
Felix	40	46	46	31	25	188
Summer Fjorm	43	43	46	28	28	188
Fallen Byleth (F)	40	44	47	32	25	188
Alear (M)	40	44	45	33	25	187
Ascended Fir	42	44	46	34	21	187
Lucia	40	41	45	29	32	187
Alear (F)	40	43	46	32	26	187
Lumera	43	43	43	33	25	187
Malice	40	39	43	32	28	182
Galzus	40	43	41	36	22	182
Ascended Mareeta	40	40	43	34	25	182
Priam	40	41	40	35	26	182
Yen'fay	43	37	42	32	28	182
Brave Marth	41	41	43	32	25	182
Kamui	44	38	41	36	22	181
Flavia	41	40	41	36	23	181
Duo Eirika	40	36	43	30	28	177
Ninja Zihark	43	37	42	30	24	176
Catherine	43	39	41	30	23	176
Larcei	41	36	40	30	25	172
Say'ri	40	35	40	23	34	172
Kris (M)	40	37	40	30	25	172
Young Marth	41	36	37	32	26	172
Mareeta	41	35	42	31	23	172
Fallen Mareeta	42	33	41	29	23	168
Byleth (F)	40	34	40	33	21	168

Note: Stats bonuses from skills are not taken into account.

Catherine Roles, Strengths, and Weaknesses

Catherine Roles

Catherine - Thunder Knight Roles
Close-Physical	Ranged-Physical	Close-Magic	Ranged-Magic
Physical Wall	Magic Wall	Effective Weapon	Movement Assist
Exclusive Skill	All-Range Counter	Recovery	Refresher
Legendary	Mythic	Duo / Harmonized	Resplendent

Catherine is a close physical attacker (range = 1). Therefore, when not accounting for the Weapon Triangle, the amount of damage she deals will be equivalent to her Atk minus the foe's Def stat.

Catherine Strengths

Thunderbrand has a built-in Desperation effect

If Catherine initiates combat, and the foe is at least at 50% HP or above, Thunderbrand allows her to land a follow-up attack before the counterattack. This synergizes well with the Spd bonuses she gets through her kit. Take note that this is not a guaranteed follow-up attack and Catherine still needs to win the Spd check.

Massive Atk/Spd boost through base skills

• Swift Sparrow grants +6 Atk+7 Spd in combat if Catherine initiates combat.
• Thunderbrand grants +5 Atk/Spd in combat if foe is at least 50% HP or above.
• Lull Spd/Def inflicts -3 Spd/Def to foe and neutralizes foe's bonuses to Spd/Def. This further creates the gap in Spd allowing Catherine to nail follow-up attacks.

This grants Catherine huge damage bonuses and a large window of opportunity to nail follow-up attacks on her foes. You can say she is a high-powered physical attacler because of these, but be wary that Swift Sparrow 3 only works in the player phase.

Neutralizes skills that disable Catherine's follow-up attacks

Thunderbrand also disables skills that prevent Catherine from landing follow-up attacks. This protects her integrity as a Desperation knock-out artist. Just make sure to win the outspeed and land that follow-up attack when using Catherine!

Catherine Weaknesses

Low Res

Catherine's Res only sits at 23 at Lv.40. This makes it easy for magic users to take her out. Be mindful of Catherine's positioning in relation to magical units that can easily take herout.

Should you Unlock Potential?

Should You Unlock Potential for this Hero?	Cannot Unlock Potential

Catherine - Thunder Knight Only Appears as a 5 Star Hero!

Catherine - Thunder Knight only appears as a 5 Star Hero. We will include whether or not you should Unlock Potential for Catherine - Thunder Knight if a 4 Star version is released!

Unlock Potential Tier List

Catherine - List of Skills

Weapons

Skill Name	Might	Range	Effect	Learned At
Iron Sword	6	1	No Effect	5★
Steel Sword	8	1	No Effect	5★
Silver Sword	11	1	No Effect	5★
Thunderbrand	16	1	Grants Spd+3. At start of combat, if foe's HP ≥ 50%, grants Atk/Spd+5 during combat, neutralizes effects that prevent unit's follow-up attacks during combat and also, if unit initiates combat, unit can make a follow-up attack before foe can counterattack.	5★

Assists

This Hero has no Assist skills that can be learned.

Specials

Skill Name	Effect	Learned At
Dragon Gaze	(Cooldown Count = 4) Boosts Atk by 30%.	5★
Draconic Aura	(Cooldown Count = 3) Boosts Atk by 30%.	5★

Passives

Skill Name	Effect	Learned At
Death Blow 1	If unit initiates combat, grants Atk +2 during combat.	5★
Swift Sparrow 1	If unit initiates combat, grants Atk/Spd +2 during combat.	5★
Swift Sparrow 2	If unit initiates combat, grants Atk/Spd +4 during combat.	5★
Swift Sparrow 3	If unit initiates combat, grants Atk+6, Spd+7 during combat.	5★
Lull Spd/Def 1	Inflicts Spd/Def-1 on foe and neutralizes foe's bonuses to Spd/Def (from skills like Fortify, Rally, etc.) during combat.	5★
Lull Spd/Def 2	Inflicts Spd/Def-2 on foe and neutralizes foe's bonuses to Spd/Def (from skills like Fortify, Rally, etc.) during combat.	5★
Lull Spd/Def 3	Inflicts Spd/Def-3 on foe and neutralizes foe's bonuses to Spd/Def (from skills like Fortify, Rally, etc.) during combat.	5★

Catherine as a Source Hero

Value of Skills	★★★★★

Inheriting Swift Sparrow 3 or Lull Spd/Def 3

Catherine can be used to inherit Swift Sparrow 3 or Lull Spd/Def 3. However, Catherine is a very powerful offensive unit. She is also very easy to use. We recommend training and investing in her instead!

• List of Source Heroes
• The Best Fodder Units

How to Get Catherine / Illustrations / Voice Actor / Quotes

How to Get Catherine

Obtain Through Regular Summon

Catherine is a Hero who can be pulled from any summon.

Note: Not currently a featured hero in any Summon events.

Current Focuses and Which You Should Pull From

Voice Actor and Illustrator Information

Voice Actor (English)	Laura Post
Illustrator	PenekoR (п猫R)
Appears In	Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Illustration

FEH: Related Guides

Heroes from Remix - Legendary Hero Remix: Lucina & Eirika
Legendary Eirika [8.0/10]	Catherine [8.5/10]	Legendary Lucina [9.0/10]	Duo Ephraim [9.0/10]
Legendary Lyn [8.5/10]	Shamir [9.0/10]	Legendary Robin (F) [8.5/10]	Leila [9.0/10]

See All Red Heroes

▶︎Return to the Red Heroes Page

All Types of Red Weapons

Close-Range	Ranged
Sword	Red Tome
Red Breath	Red Dagger
Red Beast	Red Bow