📜 Classes
Classes are how the System categorizes what you do. But unlike most systems, this one doesn't hand you a menu at character creation and ask you to pick. The System watches. Then it tells you what you are.
Organic Role Discovery
There is no class selection screen at induction. No dropdown. No "choose your path." The System observes behavior under pressure during the tutorial and offers classes based on how you actually respond to real situations.
- Shield others when things get dangerous? Tank options surface.
- Analyze patterns and exploit weaknesses? Caster or strategist options surface.
- Charge in first, ask questions never? Melee DPS options surface.
- Tend to the wounded before thinking about yourself? Healer options surface.
- Hang back and pick targets from a distance? Ranged options surface.
- Grab a chunk of ore and instinctively feel what it wants to become? Artisan options surface.
The classes offered at the end of the tutorial feel right because they reflect who you already are, filtered through your soul resonance. Someone with Norse resonance who shields others might see [Shieldbearer of the Storm]. The same defensive behavior filtered through Egyptian resonance might yield [Warden of the Threshold].
Your actions determine the role. Your resonance determines the flavor.
The Trinity (And Beyond)
Classes follow the core RPG trinity with room for hybrid and specialized roles:
Primary Roles
- Tank - Absorbs damage, controls positioning, protects allies. The line that doesn't break.
- Healer - Restores health, cleanses debuffs, sustains the group. The reason everyone stays standing.
- DPS - Deals damage: melee, ranged, or magical. The reason the enemy stops standing.
Hybrids
The System doesn't enforce hard role boundaries. A tank who channels some healing through their resilience is viable. A DPS class that offers support buffs exists. Hybrid classes appear when someone's tutorial behavior doesn't fit a single clean box... because most people don't.
The universal mana system supports this: mana can be channeled outward (casting), inward (physical enhancement), or both. Your core processes it; your class shapes how.
Class Tiering
Classes have rarity tiers matching the broader item system:
| Rarity | Color |
|---|---|
| Common | White |
| Uncommon | Green |
| Rare | Blue |
| Epic | Purple |
| Legendary | Yellow |
| Mythic | Red |
| Divine | Gold |
Higher-tier classes are not offered at induction. Everyone starts Common or, rarely, Uncommon. Higher tiers are earned through class evolution at milestone levels.
Class Evolution
At specific level milestones, the System evaluates everything you've done since your last class selection: kills, breakthroughs, achievements, cultivation progress, choices under pressure, and how you've used your skills. Based on that, it offers evolution options.
The rarity of the evolution reflects how exceptional your path has been. A Common [Warrior] who leveled normally might evolve into an Uncommon [Blade Sentinel]. The same warrior who soloed an enemy three tiers above them, protected civilians, and hit a comprehension breakthrough mid-combat? They're looking at Rare or higher.
Class evolution opportunities are earned, not given. The System is watching. Always.
Class Stats
Your class determines part of your stat growth at each level. Alongside the free stat points you allocate, your class pushes a fixed number of points into stats that match its archetype:
- A tank class distributes class stats into VIT, STR, and STA
- A caster class distributes into INT, WIS, and PER
- A healer class distributes into WIS, CHA, and VIT
- Hybrid classes split across more stats with smaller individual amounts
You don't control where class stats go. They're automatic. Your class has permanent, compounding effects on your stat growth. The number of class stats per level scales with class rarity; a Mythic class grants nearly triple the class stats per level compared to Common. (See Stats & Attributes for the full table.)
What This Means In Practice
Nobody walks into the tutorial and says, "I want to be a fire mage." You walk in as a person. The System watches what you do when things get bad. Then it tells you what you already are, in language the System can work with.
Nothing is locked forever. Class evolution opens doors that weren't available before. A healer who keeps stepping into the front line might evolve into something that blurs the boundary between support and tank. A DPS who develops a crafting affinity might be offered an evolution with Artisan hybrid traits.
The System adapts to what you become.