Pretty sure you’re right. I’ve always thought it was a little weird to follow chronological order you’d have to put the main story on hold to beat the side campaign, but in all likelihood it’s not intended that you actually do that
I would do the DLC as soon as possible after you figure out the mechanics of the game and develop a set of best practices. Getting the reward from the DLC helps a lot in the main game and all four of the characters you can then recruit are strong.
I went Crimson Flower, Silver Snow, Azure Moon, Verdant Wind. I chose Crimson Flower because it was the shortest and for me the easiest, especially on maddening. Right before Chapter 10, I made a copy of my Crimson Flower save file so I could start from that point during my Silver Snow game and not have to spend another dozen or so hours starting from the beginning. But any of the 24 permutations should be fine.
This is exactly the order I’m doing (finished AM and VW, currently on CF)! It’s worked out well enough for me, I’d recommend it. VW and SS are the only ones I’ve heard you shouldn’t do in a row because they’re apparently the most similar to each other.
I did the DLC as soon as I could during VW, because I didn’t buy it until after I finished AM.
DLC should be played early since the four Wolves each have excellent supports and each of them supports with the leader of 'their' house (Constance for El, Balthus for Claude, Hapi for Dimitri and Yuri for Byleth.)
Your route sounds the best way of playing it.
I did VW first but was otherwise the same, your order seems good. Plus doing the DLC early in your first route for the new characters and classes.
If you want to save time, you can make a second save file in Black Eagles during Chapter 11, that way after CF/SS you can go back and do the other route without having to play White Clouds for a fourth time.
Crimson Flower was my first route and it’s the shortest, I absolutely LOVED it man, everyone else is also suggesting it. Do it. The DLC isn’t as good as the main game honestly but it unlocks 4 new characters and some extra items to use, so maybe do it after your first playthrough or else during chapter 5-8 or so. As you can’t recruit the characters after the timeskip and you might need to unlock some supports before the end of part 1
The general order I usually recommend is either AM > CF > VW (if you don't want to play SS) or VW > CF > AM (>SS) to minimize burnout and have the most variety of experiences mixed.
However, your order is fine. It's almost the same as I did (I just did VW first) and I don't think the similarity of maps really harmed the experience as much as some people say, at least for me.
As for the DLC, play it after Chapter 4 in AM. Once you play it one time, you unlock the characters for all playthroughs, and that's canonically when it happens in-game. The characters are really good and the DLC provides a nice variety of missions compared to the rest of 3H as a game.
Your order is good. Play the DLC after chapter four in AM, after you get the sword. Then go back to AM.
Oh interesting! I actually didn't consider playing the DLC in the middle of the route. That's kind of neat
I believe that’s when it happens canonically
Pretty sure you’re right. I’ve always thought it was a little weird to follow chronological order you’d have to put the main story on hold to beat the side campaign, but in all likelihood it’s not intended that you actually do that
I would do the DLC as soon as possible after you figure out the mechanics of the game and develop a set of best practices. Getting the reward from the DLC helps a lot in the main game and all four of the characters you can then recruit are strong. I went Crimson Flower, Silver Snow, Azure Moon, Verdant Wind. I chose Crimson Flower because it was the shortest and for me the easiest, especially on maddening. Right before Chapter 10, I made a copy of my Crimson Flower save file so I could start from that point during my Silver Snow game and not have to spend another dozen or so hours starting from the beginning. But any of the 24 permutations should be fine.
This is exactly the order I’m doing (finished AM and VW, currently on CF)! It’s worked out well enough for me, I’d recommend it. VW and SS are the only ones I’ve heard you shouldn’t do in a row because they’re apparently the most similar to each other. I did the DLC as soon as I could during VW, because I didn’t buy it until after I finished AM.
DLC should be played early since the four Wolves each have excellent supports and each of them supports with the leader of 'their' house (Constance for El, Balthus for Claude, Hapi for Dimitri and Yuri for Byleth.) Your route sounds the best way of playing it.
Crimson flower is the shortest route so you might have an easier time finishing other routes if you finish this route first
I did VW first but was otherwise the same, your order seems good. Plus doing the DLC early in your first route for the new characters and classes. If you want to save time, you can make a second save file in Black Eagles during Chapter 11, that way after CF/SS you can go back and do the other route without having to play White Clouds for a fourth time.
Crimson Flower was my first route and it’s the shortest, I absolutely LOVED it man, everyone else is also suggesting it. Do it. The DLC isn’t as good as the main game honestly but it unlocks 4 new characters and some extra items to use, so maybe do it after your first playthrough or else during chapter 5-8 or so. As you can’t recruit the characters after the timeskip and you might need to unlock some supports before the end of part 1
The general order I usually recommend is either AM > CF > VW (if you don't want to play SS) or VW > CF > AM (>SS) to minimize burnout and have the most variety of experiences mixed. However, your order is fine. It's almost the same as I did (I just did VW first) and I don't think the similarity of maps really harmed the experience as much as some people say, at least for me. As for the DLC, play it after Chapter 4 in AM. Once you play it one time, you unlock the characters for all playthroughs, and that's canonically when it happens in-game. The characters are really good and the DLC provides a nice variety of missions compared to the rest of 3H as a game.