📜 Classes

Classes are how the System categorizes individuals who have formed a core. But unlike most systems, this one doesn't hand you a menu and ask you to pick. The System watches. Then it tells you what you are.

Paths vs. Classes

Paths are offered at Level 10 to everyone. No core required. The System has watched ten levels of behavior, combined with your pre-induction analysis, and names the direction for you. A Path is directional, not definitive. It has mechanical weight but locks nothing out.

Classes require Level 10, a formed core, and middle stage mastery of that core. A class is the System formalizing what you are into a designation with real mechanical weight: automatic stat distribution per level, ability category access, and specialization bonuses. The first Class offering fires at the character's first core sub-stage transition (e.g., Crude Early to Crude Middle) after reaching Level 10. All subsequent Class offerings are driven strictly by cultivation sub-stage and tier changes.

A character who hits Level 10 without a core receives their Path, but no Class will be offered until a core is formed and at least Crude (Middle) stage has been reached. The Path tells them where they're heading. The absent Class tells them they haven't built the foundation to get there yet.

The Level 10 Path notification includes: "Class designation will be determined by Core Refinement advancement."

Organic Role Discovery

There is no class selection screen at induction. No dropdown. No "choose your path." The System observes behavior, analyzes pre-induction data, and offers a Path based on how you actually respond to real situations.

• Shield others when things get dangerous? Tank Path options surface.
• Analyze patterns and exploit weaknesses? Caster Path or strategist options surface.
• Charge in first, ask questions never? Melee DPS Path options surface.
• Tend to the wounded before thinking about yourself? Healer Path options surface.
• Hang back and pick targets from a distance? Ranged Path options surface.
• No combat interest but support the group through building and making? Artisan Path options surface.

The classes offered 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.

Note on Artisans: Characters whose primary role is crafting, building, or creating receive Artisan Paths and eventually Artisan Classes. They require the same three prerequisites as any combat cultivator. Those who form an Artisan-aligned core will be dramatically better at their craft than those without - core formation is the difference between capability and mastery.

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, physical ranged, or magical ranged. 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 (self enhancement), or both. Your core processes it; your class shapes how.

Class Tiering

Classes have rarity tiers matching the broader item system:

Higher-tier classes are not offered at the initial class selection. Everyone starts at either Common or Uncommon. Higher tiers are earned through class evolution tied to core refinement.

Class Evolution: Refinement Stage Transitions

Class offerings are tied strictly to core refinement - not levels. Every sub-stage transition within a tier (Early to Middle, Middle to Late) triggers a new evaluation. The System reassesses everything since the last offering: kills, crafts, breakthroughs, stat distribution, ability usage, cultivation progress, and individual choices.

Sub-stage offerings are refinements: lateral moves, specializations, or upgrades within the current rarity tier. The System is adjusting its read of you as your cultivation deepens.

Class Evolution: Tier Transitions

Advancing to the next cultivation tier (e.g., Crude to Tempered, Tempered to Faceted) triggers a class evolution. This is not a refinement. It is a transformation. The System evaluates the totality of your journey through the entire previous tier and offers evolution options that can jump rarity.

The rarity of the evolution reflects how exceptional your path has been. A Common [Warrior] who refined normally through Crude might evolve into an Uncommon [Blade Sentinel] at Tempered. 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.

Tier transitions are the inflection points. Sub-stage transitions are the fine-tuning.

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. Class stats begin applying at the level the Class is first assigned - prior to that, you receive free stats only.

• 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
• Profession-oriented classes split across various stats based on the given profession

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.)

The Coreless

Characters who reach Level 10 without a core still receive a Path. The System names what direction they are walking based on behavior alone. But they receive no Class. No class stats. No automatic stat bonuses. The Path is a promise without a framework to deliver on it.

Once a core is formed - even long after Level 10 - the first Class offering fires at their first sub-stage transition. The System was always watching. It was waiting for the foundation to catch up to the promise.

Core formation is not just a power upgrade. It is the gateway to the class system. The gap between someone with a class and someone without one is not just stats. It is identity, growth trajectory, and compounding advantages that widen every single level.

Professions, however, are not gated behind core formation. Anyone can learn a profession and earn profession-specific skills through consistent work. Those who form an Artisan-aligned core are cultivators the same as any combat cultivator, and their craft benefits from everything cultivation provides.

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. At Level 10, it tells everyone what direction they're walking. When your core advances to its next stage, the System names what you are.

Nothing is locked forever. Class evolution at each refinement stage 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. Every stat allocation matters, because your attribute spread at each stage transition shapes what the System offers.

The System adapts to what you become.