Classes
Possession of an Awakened Atronach Core allows access to the System's full range of offerings, and among those is the progression paths system. Classes are one of the four primary forms of progression within the system itself, granting increases to several attributes that relate to the abilities of a chosen classes, while also giving access to special Class-specific powers known as Abilities; two up front, and - typically - two more throughout progression.
Upon gaining a Core Level (see the Experience & Levelling section), a Corewalker specialized into classing may choose to allocate that level into one of their current Classes, - to a maximum of 10 levels in that Class - choose a brand new Class to put a level into, from those they have access to, or allocate that level into one of their Ancestry Classes, also to a maximum of 10 levels per Ancestry Class. If the Corewalker chooses an existing Class or Ancestry Class within which they already have existing levels, they can potentially unlock the ability empower their existing Abilities, and at specific level thresholds (typically 5th and 10th level), they also gain brand new Abilities.
Additional Classes - chosen from Standard Classes (which are made available when discovered) and Advanced Classes (which require specific conditions be met) - are discovered throughout a Corewalker's life, while the Basic Classes always remain an option. For example, a Corewalker that works with magic often and deals with magic-related effects will find that their occupation has an appropriate Class with their own distinct progression paths (these are generally referred to as a Magic Class), while one who has never worked in such fields will never even be aware such classes exist. There are many types of Class, and they tend to determine the kind of Abilities those types have.
Ability Capacity (AC). Governs how many Abilities can be learned at any one time. When an Ability would be learned while the Corewalker is at this number of Abilities already, it cannot be learned and must instead be skipped or an existing Ability must be unlearned to learn it.
Essence Capacity (EC). Governs how many Essences can be learned at any one time. When the Corewalker has this number of Essences already, more cannot be purchased from the System Exchange. Each point of EC is worth 5 Essences, but they must share an overarching identity (Fire, Detection, Air, and so on).
Notably, accepting a reallocation offer from the System does not prevent it from offering such a deal again when the Corewalker next reaches a reallocation level - even the same one. This in theory does mean that it's possible for a Corewalker to keep trying different Class combinations.
Creatures like Vampires and the Undead tend to have multiple Ancestry Classes - as they possess the ability to take the Ancestry Class for their prior forms. This applies to most creatures that are transformations of other races, and it can also apply to imperial dragons that linger in draconic shapeshifting too long, though in their case they do lose access to all but their Hatchling Ancestry Class.
Certain ancestries - like the imperial dragons - have to take their Ancestry Classes at every possible Core Level, but compensate for that by having even stronger Ancestry Classes and many different versions; imperial dragons for example, have a Ancestry Class for each of their life stages, giving them 60 Core Levels of progression from those alone. In those cases, there are usually special restrictions applied that can be found in their respective articles.
For classes, there exists two distinct ways to overcome this limitation; the first is to accept the System's reset offer at Core Level 40 and revert to Core Level 1, losing all attributes, perks and whatnot that were gained and retaining only one Class - though it is a Class of the Corewalker's choice that they have access to.
Another method, however, for those who don't want to reset their Core Level and start over again, is to undertake a complicated Quest allocated by the System. This Quest is designed to push the Corewalker to the limit and ensure they have what it takes to handle the higher level power inherent to classes - and a full reset to Core Level 1 already shows this determination, which is why this is an alternative method.
Regardless of which method is chosen, upon the completion of either the Core Limit for Classes is lifted for the Corewalker, and they won't run into it again, but only for Classes (if they did a complete reset to go into Skills for example they could run into that Core Limit still).
Classes
Upon gaining a Core Level (see the Experience & Levelling section), a Corewalker specialized into classing may choose to allocate that level into one of their current Classes, - to a maximum of 10 levels in that Class - choose a brand new Class to put a level into, from those they have access to, or allocate that level into one of their Ancestry Classes, also to a maximum of 10 levels per Ancestry Class. If the Corewalker chooses an existing Class or Ancestry Class within which they already have existing levels, they can potentially unlock the ability empower their existing Abilities, and at specific level thresholds (typically 5th and 10th level), they also gain brand new Abilities.
Additional Classes - chosen from Standard Classes (which are made available when discovered) and Advanced Classes (which require specific conditions be met) - are discovered throughout a Corewalker's life, while the Basic Classes always remain an option. For example, a Corewalker that works with magic often and deals with magic-related effects will find that their occupation has an appropriate Class with their own distinct progression paths (these are generally referred to as a Magic Class), while one who has never worked in such fields will never even be aware such classes exist. There are many types of Class, and they tend to determine the kind of Abilities those types have.
Class-specific Attributes
Investing into Classes as a progression path - be it the primary or secondary one of a Corewalker - offers a pair of very important new secondary attributes that they gradually improve over time. These can be found below, and are absolutely vital to how Classes function over all.Changing Classes
As denoted in the main progression path article, every 20 Core Levels, the System permits a Corewalker to fully revert their levels that they invested into their path, resetting them to Core Level 1 and allowing them to start over. For classes, this lets a Corewalker pick a new class they have available, while also allowing them to change their Essences and Perks at the same time, just due to how intertwined it all is - the System finds it easier to allow everything to be done at once. Most Corewalkers only reach level 40 due to the Core Limit (detailed below and in the progression paths article), and this - as a result - offers them two opportunities to make new decisions, and should they use the one at Core Level 40, also offers another way past the limit.Notably, accepting a reallocation offer from the System does not prevent it from offering such a deal again when the Corewalker next reaches a reallocation level - even the same one. This in theory does mean that it's possible for a Corewalker to keep trying different Class combinations.
Ancestry Classes
Ancestry Classes are a special type of Class that are tied to individual ancestries specifically, such as Vampire, Foxian, Human, and so on. They are functionally identical to regular Classes, but tend to offer slightly superior attribute distribution and an extra Ability right away. Everyone has access to their ancestry's Class, but not everyone takes any levels in them - though most people do max it out.Creatures like Vampires and the Undead tend to have multiple Ancestry Classes - as they possess the ability to take the Ancestry Class for their prior forms. This applies to most creatures that are transformations of other races, and it can also apply to imperial dragons that linger in draconic shapeshifting too long, though in their case they do lose access to all but their Hatchling Ancestry Class.
Certain ancestries - like the imperial dragons - have to take their Ancestry Classes at every possible Core Level, but compensate for that by having even stronger Ancestry Classes and many different versions; imperial dragons for example, have a Ancestry Class for each of their life stages, giving them 60 Core Levels of progression from those alone. In those cases, there are usually special restrictions applied that can be found in their respective articles.
The Class Core Limit
Each progression method has a progression limit built into it - something that completely blocks further progression until it is overcome - which is discussed in broad terms in the progression paths article. For classes, the Core Limit is Core Level 40, and it acts as a hard limit on further progression, completely blocking Experience gain beyond that point.For classes, there exists two distinct ways to overcome this limitation; the first is to accept the System's reset offer at Core Level 40 and revert to Core Level 1, losing all attributes, perks and whatnot that were gained and retaining only one Class - though it is a Class of the Corewalker's choice that they have access to.
Another method, however, for those who don't want to reset their Core Level and start over again, is to undertake a complicated Quest allocated by the System. This Quest is designed to push the Corewalker to the limit and ensure they have what it takes to handle the higher level power inherent to classes - and a full reset to Core Level 1 already shows this determination, which is why this is an alternative method.
Regardless of which method is chosen, upon the completion of either the Core Limit for Classes is lifted for the Corewalker, and they won't run into it again, but only for Classes (if they did a complete reset to go into Skills for example they could run into that Core Limit still).
Class-specific Progression
For further reading, I encourage you to look at the two major types of power that class-based builds tend to focus on; Abilities and Essences. You can find these below.
Alternatively, you can view the various classes below, which define everything about classing. You can either refer to the category link itself, or the list of classes by type.
Classes
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