Progression Paths
The System offers several ways within which progression as an individual is possible, known as Progression Paths, and while broadly only one (two at most) of them is available to a given Corewalker, one of the biggest questions people run into is how to differentiate the paths. As such, this brief overview will cover all four options and explain them in brief detail, and also cover some other, related details.
The process of overcoming these limits is such that most people don't bother, and those that do often don't get far beyond the limits, which begs the question of why the System itself enforces these limits and has the majority of all people never exceed them. The answer to that question is... complicated, but boils down to a simple fact: the system is tailoring itself to reinforce reality, and the limits ensure that the majority of the population never reach the incredibly powerful heights of the higher levels, keeping the world generally at a lower power level while only the luckiest few reach the peak.
The exact details of each path's core limit is present in their articles, found below.
As a person is growing up and heading towards Core Awakening, the System tailors its suggestions of what path to take based on the experiences of that person, but it does not force its choice upon the recipient, so if someone wants to go down a different path to the System's suggestions, they can.
Classing is generally the system's preferred suggestion to most people, as its simplicity and basic nature is its strength: it's simple, offers a good spread of attributes and powers to use, and has no levelling hoops, just the Core Limit at Core Level 40.
Cultivation does not follow Core Levels at all, though it does have an equivalence to them (every Peak of a cultivation Stage is equivalent to 10 Core Levels), and instead it is tied to 10 Cultivation Stages, each with three Phases - Early, Mid and Peak. Passing from the Peak phase of one stage to the Early phase of another is an incredibly brutal challenge known as a Wall of Heaven, and serves as the Core Limit of cultivation - and there are ten, with the final one being to go from the Mid to Peak phase of the final stage.
Cultivation is extremely complicated and in-depth, but its extreme difficulties make it not very popular, and those that try it often find themselves soon retraining out of it to another form of progression; it certainly isn't for the feint of heart, and is often likened to bashing your head against a brick wall until something changes.
Professions are generally very popular as a primary progression path, and are even more popular as a secondary one, because combat interest is relatively low on a global scale, while the many things that professions can achieve are very valuable and have revolutionised many areas of the world.
The true power of skills is the versatility inherent to them - there is room for up to 10 active and 10 passive skills to be prepared for use, while a Corewalker whose primary path is skills can have up to 100 learned and able to be refined and slotted. In many ways, many of the most famous magic-users in Pearalos rely upon skills above all else, as multi-pathing into skills loses this element of the versatility, with only the ones in the slots available as opposed to having a large selection of skills learned.
This unlock is one of the most expensive things the system offers - second only to the Multi-Path Cultivation Unlock, which does what it says on the tin, unlocking cultivation (and every other path too) as a secondary path option - and unlocks the ability to select a secondary path that isn't cultivation. The two unlocks are mutually exclusive, meaning only two paths can ever be unlocked, the one that anyone begins with, and a secondary one here.
Regardless of the unlock variant chosen, the secondary path is restricted in a few ways; the total Core Level of the Corewalker cannot exceed 100, the secondary path must always have a Core Level that is - at most - half that of the primary path, and the Corewalker is subject to that secondary path's normal Core Limits. Beyond that, each of the four progression paths has several nuances to multi-path progression, and professions in particular are barred entirely from it (but have their own reasons for why).
Classes. Advanced Classes are completely locked away, and Ancestry Classes (aside from those of an ancestry that must take them) are unavailable until after the first non-ancestry Class has been levelled to 10.
Cultivation. There is a hard limit on Cultivation progression as a secondary-path of the Trunk stage (a max of Core Level 30), and Qi cannot be gained as a resource.
Professions. No profession can be selected that unlocks combat profession actions or perks (such as the Battle Maid profession).
Skills. It isn't possible to learn 100 skills; each skill slot must have a skill in it, and the skills in those slots are the limit of what can be learned.
The System offers a free, total reset of a Corewalker's progression every 20 Core Levels (or the equivalent set of 2 stages for Cultivation). If this is accepted, the Corewalker has their Core Level reset to 1, their Experience (both forms of it) wiped to 0, and all of their attributes, progression, perks and system exchange unlocks (aside from the multi-path unlocks) are completely reset; the only thing not reset is the Exchange Experience (and this includes experience spent on system exchange unlocks).
This is an extremely potent benefit that allows for experimentation and avoids feeling like a person is stuck with what they selected earlier in life, but it is, of course, an extremely blunt solution, completely resetting progression and forcing the Corewalker to start all over again, potentially with a significant detriment to progression due to advanced age (since levelling is never fast in any way). For a price, however, the System offers another option.
It's possible to purchase a Progression Path Reset from the System Exchange, and it costs 250,000 Exchange Experience, making it a quite affordable option relative to most things in the Exchange, and it's a far more nuanced and gradual approach. The reset allows for a precise reallocation of Core Levels into another progression path, be that a brand new one or to rebalance between a primary and secondary paths if they have a Multi-Path Unlock (noted above).
Of course, it's not lossless, with about 15% (rounded down) of Core Levels being reclaimed by the System as part of this process, but it allows far more granular retraining. It does, however, naturally also reset and force the reallocation of everything tied to those levels; attributes are shifted based on the new levels, powers are changed, perks are refunded and must be changed, and so on.
Indeed, the only things that can't be changed are swapping the selected primary and secondary paths if Multi-Pathing, that is hard-set when chosen, and - like the hard reset - Exchange Experience, which remains as it was and is not refunded or deducted in any way from a reset.
Progression Limits
Before discussing the paths themselves, however, it would be wise to first discuss the limitations that the System places upon progression, and why it does so. Each of the paths has some kind of limitation on it for how far it can progress, known as the Core Limit, after which it is completely prevented from further progression until the limit is overcome, typically through a complicated path-specific method that puts the Corewalker to the test. For the most part, it's easy to take the generalization that the Core Limit is Core Level 40, as this is true for three of the four paths.The process of overcoming these limits is such that most people don't bother, and those that do often don't get far beyond the limits, which begs the question of why the System itself enforces these limits and has the majority of all people never exceed them. The answer to that question is... complicated, but boils down to a simple fact: the system is tailoring itself to reinforce reality, and the limits ensure that the majority of the population never reach the incredibly powerful heights of the higher levels, keeping the world generally at a lower power level while only the luckiest few reach the peak.
The exact details of each path's core limit is present in their articles, found below.
The Paths of Progression
As stated, there are four total progression paths that a Corewalker can explore; Classes, Cultivation, Professions, and Skills. Each path has strengths and weaknesses, and their own nuances to them, and below we will cover each one in broad strokes.As a person is growing up and heading towards Core Awakening, the System tailors its suggestions of what path to take based on the experiences of that person, but it does not force its choice upon the recipient, so if someone wants to go down a different path to the System's suggestions, they can.
Classes
The most basic and 'safest' path of progression, classes are simple: you select one - be it a Basic Class, Standard Class, Advanced Class, or Ancestry Class - and level it, up to a maximum of 10, learning 4 (5 if an Ancestry Class) class Abilities along the way, and having certain attributes increased each time a class is levelled. When a class reaches level 10, it is at maximum level, and thus a new Class - often a more specific progression of that class chain, but just as often a new class to broaden a build - must be selected, starting the process anew.Classing is generally the system's preferred suggestion to most people, as its simplicity and basic nature is its strength: it's simple, offers a good spread of attributes and powers to use, and has no levelling hoops, just the Core Limit at Core Level 40.
Cultivation
The most famous (and infamous) of the progression paths, cultivation is full of dangers and risk, but also brilliantly captivating rewards. Beyond increasing attributes the most of any path, it offers nothing else initially, not even any abilities, but if its progression blockers can be overcome, it rapidly becomes one of the most powerful forms of progression available in the System.Cultivation does not follow Core Levels at all, though it does have an equivalence to them (every Peak of a cultivation Stage is equivalent to 10 Core Levels), and instead it is tied to 10 Cultivation Stages, each with three Phases - Early, Mid and Peak. Passing from the Peak phase of one stage to the Early phase of another is an incredibly brutal challenge known as a Wall of Heaven, and serves as the Core Limit of cultivation - and there are ten, with the final one being to go from the Mid to Peak phase of the final stage.
Cultivation is extremely complicated and in-depth, but its extreme difficulties make it not very popular, and those that try it often find themselves soon retraining out of it to another form of progression; it certainly isn't for the feint of heart, and is often likened to bashing your head against a brick wall until something changes.
Professions
A distinct form of progression indeed, professions are unique for not being particularly combat focused, generally possessing little combat potential, but as a result they are extremely good at various non-combat roles. Professions are typically for outlooks such as crafting, farming, maid and service work, and so on - and they are related intrinsically to classes, featuring all of the same base mechanics (10 levels per profession, pick a new one once complete, and so on).Professions are generally very popular as a primary progression path, and are even more popular as a secondary one, because combat interest is relatively low on a global scale, while the many things that professions can achieve are very valuable and have revolutionised many areas of the world.
Skills
If classes are a neat, packaged whole of attributes and powers, skills give less on the attributes front for a far more interesting suite of possibilities on the powers front. They have attributes tied to them, but the bonuses aren't as good as classes, putting the focus on the skills themselves, which are nuanced abilities focused on a single thing, beginning weak but being improvable through refinement until they can do some truly dizzying and incredible things.The true power of skills is the versatility inherent to them - there is room for up to 10 active and 10 passive skills to be prepared for use, while a Corewalker whose primary path is skills can have up to 100 learned and able to be refined and slotted. In many ways, many of the most famous magic-users in Pearalos rely upon skills above all else, as multi-pathing into skills loses this element of the versatility, with only the ones in the slots available as opposed to having a large selection of skills learned.
Multi-Path Progression
The System allows - but does not encourage - multi-path progression, which is defined as the act of progressing in another progression path from the main one of a Corewalker. This process has many nuances and facets to how it functions, however, and before a Corewalker can even begin to progress a secondary path, they require a Multi-Path Unlock from the System Exchange first, which is what unlocks the ability to Multi-Path to start with.This unlock is one of the most expensive things the system offers - second only to the Multi-Path Cultivation Unlock, which does what it says on the tin, unlocking cultivation (and every other path too) as a secondary path option - and unlocks the ability to select a secondary path that isn't cultivation. The two unlocks are mutually exclusive, meaning only two paths can ever be unlocked, the one that anyone begins with, and a secondary one here.
Regardless of the unlock variant chosen, the secondary path is restricted in a few ways; the total Core Level of the Corewalker cannot exceed 100, the secondary path must always have a Core Level that is - at most - half that of the primary path, and the Corewalker is subject to that secondary path's normal Core Limits. Beyond that, each of the four progression paths has several nuances to multi-path progression, and professions in particular are barred entirely from it (but have their own reasons for why).
Progression Resetting
The System is, generally, quite reasonable and flexible when it comes to changing the path of progression that is being taken by a Corewalker; it seems to understand that, at times, a decision made early in the life/career of a Corewalker can grow to be against their current wishes, problematic, or something else entirely, and as such several methods of progression resetting are present in the rules by default.The System offers a free, total reset of a Corewalker's progression every 20 Core Levels (or the equivalent set of 2 stages for Cultivation). If this is accepted, the Corewalker has their Core Level reset to 1, their Experience (both forms of it) wiped to 0, and all of their attributes, progression, perks and system exchange unlocks (aside from the multi-path unlocks) are completely reset; the only thing not reset is the Exchange Experience (and this includes experience spent on system exchange unlocks).
This is an extremely potent benefit that allows for experimentation and avoids feeling like a person is stuck with what they selected earlier in life, but it is, of course, an extremely blunt solution, completely resetting progression and forcing the Corewalker to start all over again, potentially with a significant detriment to progression due to advanced age (since levelling is never fast in any way). For a price, however, the System offers another option.
It's possible to purchase a Progression Path Reset from the System Exchange, and it costs 250,000 Exchange Experience, making it a quite affordable option relative to most things in the Exchange, and it's a far more nuanced and gradual approach. The reset allows for a precise reallocation of Core Levels into another progression path, be that a brand new one or to rebalance between a primary and secondary paths if they have a Multi-Path Unlock (noted above).
Of course, it's not lossless, with about 15% (rounded down) of Core Levels being reclaimed by the System as part of this process, but it allows far more granular retraining. It does, however, naturally also reset and force the reallocation of everything tied to those levels; attributes are shifted based on the new levels, powers are changed, perks are refunded and must be changed, and so on.
Indeed, the only things that can't be changed are swapping the selected primary and secondary paths if Multi-Pathing, that is hard-set when chosen, and - like the hard reset - Exchange Experience, which remains as it was and is not refunded or deducted in any way from a reset.
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