Reclass

Flavia as a Knight, a class she can reach only by reclassing.

Reclassing (Japanese: 兵種変更 class altering) is a process by which a unit transforms from one class to a different class. First implemented in the Fire Emblem series in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, it is a counterpart to the traditional class change progression which, rather than having the unit become an advanced version of their current class, instead allows a unit to take advantage of the stats and skills of a completely different class.

In Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem

The reclassing menu of Shadow Dragon, selecting a new class for Norne.

Reclassing in the Nintendo DS duology is a quick and simple affair with no fanfare, and is a simple matter of entering the Reclass menu in preparations and choosing a new class for a unit. There are no restrictions at all on how many times units can be reclassed, although there is a limit on how many units can be in the same class family at the same time.

When reclassing, the unit's stat changes are equal to the difference between the base stats of their former class and their new class; for a chart of each of these stat change cases, refer to this chart on Serenes Forest. The unit's growth rates are also modified, as different classes have different base growth rates which are added to the unit's own growth rates. Reclassing leaves the unit's level and current amount of experience untouched, unlike Awakening, preventing the reclassing system from being used to repeatedly level-grind for maximum stats.

In both games, reclass options are universal and not restricted based on the individual. Female units can reclass between any female class, while male class options are divided into two groups, access to which depending on the unit's default class. Exclusively in New Mystery, once the game is cleared on Hard Mode or a higher difficulty, the two male class sets are merged into one, allowing all reclass compatible male units to reclass to any class available to normal male units.

Class sets

The class sets in Shadow Dragon are as follows:

The class sets in New Mystery of the Emblem are as follows:

In both games, Lords, Thieves, Manaketes, Freelancers, Ballisticians, and Dancers cannot reclass, nor can any other unit reclass to these classes.

Number limitations

There is a maximum number of units reclassed into the same class allowed at any given time. For each class family, this maximum is equal to (1 + [the number of characters one could have recruited at this point in the game in this class by default]).

For example: In Shadow Dragon, the player could potentially have four Cavaliers or Paladins (Jagen, Abel, Cain, and Frey) by the time that reclassing first becomes available, so the maximum number of units allowed to be in the Cavalier family at the same time at this point is five. By the end of the game, a maximum of 11 Cavaliers or Paladins are allowed to be in the army at any given time, so the maximum number of units allowed to be in the Cavalier family at this point is 12.

Kris is the only exception to this, with their starting class not affecting the number of classes for reclassing purposes.

The only recourse for overcoming this limit is to reclass other units presently in the desired class family into other classes to make room for other units to be reclassed into the class family.

Legend
Icon	Classes	Icon	Classes
	Peg. Knight, Dracoknight, Falcoknight		Fighter, Warrior
	Cavalier, Paladin		Hunter, Horseman
	Knight, General		Pirate, Berserker
	Archer, Sniper		Dark Mage, Sorcerer
	Mercenary, Hero		Mage, Sage
	Myrmidon, Swordmaster		Curate, Cleric, Bishop

In Fire Emblem Awakening

Sumia's reclass options.

The Awakening form of reclassing made several significant changes from the Nintendo DS-era form. The most distinct is that a unit's reclass options are now based on them as individuals, rather than the generic class-oriented approach taken by its predecessors; every unit has a pre-defined set of class families they can reclass between.

Reclassing in Awakening is also restricted in that, like normal class changing, it is entirely dependent on access to a special item: a unit must use a Second Seal every time they reclass. Although Second Seals are scarce early in the game, limiting the player's access to reclassing, by the game's midway point they are easily purchased from certain armories on the world map. Similarly, reclassing now acts like class changing in that it resets a unit's level to 1 and allows them to gain even more experience every time they reclass, potentially allowing for significant amounts of grinding to maximise their stats and collect as many skills as one chooses.

Otherwise, reclassing acts the same way with its changes to a unit's stats. When reclassing, the unit's stat changes are equal to the difference between the base stats of their former class and their new class; for an easy way to calculate exactly what these changes will be, refer to this class change stat calculator on Serenes Forest. The unit's growth rates are also modified, as different classes have different base growth rates which are added to the unit's own growth rates.

Class sets

All units in the game have a choice of pre-set class families they can reclass between; normal first-generation units will have three, normally totalling nine classes they can choose from, while Robin and their offspring will have access to all non-special classes available to their gender.

As part of the game's inheritance system, children characters share the class sets of their parents: in addition to having a default set of classes available dependent on their non-variable parent (their mother for everyone except Lucina and female Morgan), they will also inherit all the class sets of their variable parent (their father for everyone except Lucina and female Morgan), adjusted to take into account gender restrictions on class access. This chart depicts the class sets each child will always inherit from their non-variable parent.

In Fire Emblem Fates

The Fates system mostly retains the mechanics of the Awakening system, where each character has a set of personalized class options which they can reclass to. The biggest differences are that reclassing does not reset a unit's level, and that units are locked to reclassing into classes on the same class tier as their current class (for instance, Effie as a General would not be able to reclass to the base classes Knight and Troubadour, only their promoted forms); reclassing to or from a special class leaves a base class's level untouched, and for advanced classes, modifies the unit's current level into its special-class counterpart by adding or subtracting 20. These two changes prevent reclassing being abused to infinitely grind for maximum stats and all the skills available to a unit, as Awakening allowed.

The Heart Seal is now the item used to initiate reclassing. Two further items, the Partner Seal and the Friendship Seal, allow units with S or A+ supports to also access the classes of their romantic partner.

Otherwise, reclassing acts the same way with its changes to a unit's stats. When reclassing, the unit's stat changes are equal to the difference between the base stats of their former class and their new class. The unit's growth rates are also modified, as different classes have different base growth rates which are added to the unit's own growth rates.

Class sets

All units in the game have a choice of pre-set class families they can reclass between. Unlike in Awakening, most units only have two class sets, normally totalling six classes to choose from, but a few (primarily units who are already promoted when recruited) have three sets instead. Also unlike in Awakening, Corrin only has two class sets, with the secondary one outside their default class being determined during the avatar creation process by picking a "talent".

As part of the game's inheritance system, children characters share the class sets of their parents: in addition to having a default set of classes available dependent on their non-variable parent (their father for everyone except Shigure and male Kana), they will also inherit one of the class sets of their variable parent (their mother for everyone except Shigure and male Kana), adjusted to take into account gender restrictions on class access. This chart depicts the class sets each child will always inherit from their non-variable parent.

In Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Due to the overall redesign of the class change system in Three Houses, reclassing has also seen a significant overhaul. As class changes no longer reset the unit's level, and units can change into any class in the game at any time provided they meet the requirements, reclassing now instead refers to the ability for a unit to freely swap between any classes that they have previously qualified for. It is now performed at any time within the Garreg Mach Monastery or from the preparations menu at no cost, similarly to its Shadow Dragon incarnation.

The statistical changes associated with reclassing have also seen a shift. When reclassing, a unit's stats no longer change according to the difference in base stats between the original and target class. Instead, the newly introduced class stat modifiers of the original class are swapped out for the ones of the class being reclassed into, with the unit's base stats remaining unaltered. The class growth rate system has remained unchanged: The unit's growth rates are still modified, as different classes have different base growth rates which are added to the unit's own growth rates.

In Fire Emblem Engage

A character can reclass to any available class by using a Second Seal if they have proficiencies in every weapon type that class uses. For example, a unit needs sword proficiency to reclass to Sword Fighter, or staff and arts proficiencies to reclass to Martial Master. Sword Flier, Lance Flier, and Axe Flier are only available to female units.

References

Etymology and other languages

See also

• Class change
• Dismount