New player · classes
How your class is chosen
Why the game asks for an essence before it asks for a class, and how to end up with the class you actually want.
Updated ·patch v2.0.5
The short answer
Every member, your founder included, starts Unclassed. A class (the game calls it an archetype: Striker, Guardian, Caster and so on) is picked on the member’s own screen once they have two essences equipped. The two essences decide which classes you are offered.
That is why character creation asks for an essence and never for a class: the essence you pick at Attune Your Essence is the first half of your founder’s class. A Sword leans Striker, a Staff leans Caster, Water leans Healer. You finish the choice later, after you identify and equip a second essence.
Do this: equip a second essence on your founder, then pick from the three classes the picker offers. While the member is still Unbound you can swap essences for free, and the first class pick costs nothing.
Step by step, in the game’s words
The same flow runs for your founder, your two starting companions, and every recruit after them.
- 1
Open the member
Roster, tap the member, then the Combat tab. It has two sections: Essence Slots and Archetype. A new member's Archetype section reads "Equip 2 essences to unlock (0/2)". Your founder shows (1/2), because the wizard already put your starter essence in slot 1.
- 2
Equip the first essence
Tap an empty slot and bind an essence from your inventory. On a member with no class, the game toasts "Equip a second essence to unlock your combat archetype!" and the counter moves to (1/2).
- 3
Equip the second essence
The moment the second slot fills, the Choose Archetype picker opens on its own. (Mercenaries are the exception: they never take essences or a class.)
- 4
Read the picker
It shows three classes, each with a percentage: that class's share of the combined pull of your two essences. The first card is the resolved default, the class the game would pick for you, and wears a Resolved badge. The line under the header says why, for example "Resolved default: Caster (Staff: Caster 0.8). Pick another to override." Locked classes appear below, greyed out, with what unlocks them.
- 5
Pick, or choose Decide Later
Tap a class and confirm. The confirm box says "This costs 500 gold to change later." The first pick itself is free. If you are not sure, tap Decide Later: the member stays Unclassed and a gold Choose Archetype button waits in the Archetype section until you come back.
- 6
The HQ reminds you
Any member with both essences and no class shows an "Assign Archetype" alert on the HQ screen, because rank advancement stays blocked until they have one. Sage Alaric also nudges you about Unclassed members once they reach sub-level 5.
How your essences pick the classes
What this means for you: put the essence whose class you want in slot 1. If it is a strong one, slot 2 does not change the default.
Every essence pulls toward one class, with a strength between 0 and 1. It also carries a smaller pull toward every other class. The game resolves the default class like this:
- If the slot 1 essence has strength 0.4 or more, its class is the resolved default, full stop.
- Otherwise the game adds up both essences’ pulls for every class and the highest total wins. Ties go to whichever class slot 1 pulls hardest toward.
The three cards are the three highest totals among classes you have unlocked, with the resolved default moved to the front. Each percentage is that card’s share of the three totals, rounded down.
Staff in slot 1, Sword in slot 2
Staff pulls Caster at 0.8, over the line, so Caster is the resolved default. The cards read Caster 36%, Striker 40%, Assassin 22%. Striker has the bigger combined pull, but slot 1 decides. Swap the two essences between slots and Striker becomes the default instead.
Stone in slot 1, Staff in slot 2
Stone pulls Guardian at only 0.35, under the line, so the pulls are added. Caster totals 0.45 against Guardian’s 0.40, and Caster wins. The cards read Caster 39%, Guardian 34%, Controller 26%. A weak slot 1 essence lets slot 2 steer.
You are never forced into the default. Any of the three cards can be picked. The default only decides things when the game picks for you (see autonomy auto-fill).
The five Recommended starters
The Attune Your Essence step badges five essences as Recommended. Four of them decide your founder’s default class on their own. Turtle does not: pair it with another Guardian essence (Shield, Iron, Stone) if Guardian is what you want.
Water
Healer 0.60
Decides alone
Sword
Striker 0.90
Decides alone
Bow
Ranger 0.80
Decides alone
Staff
Caster 0.80
Decides alone
Turtle
Guardian 0.35
Slot 2 can steer
Every starter essence and its class
All 48 essences the wizard can offer (Common to Rare, released), grouped by the class they pull toward. Strengths in teal are 0.4 or more and decide the default from slot 1. Epic, Legendary and Virtue essences show their pull on their own essence page.
| Pulls toward | Essence | Rarity | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Striker | SwordRecommended | common | 0.90 |
| Striker | Axe | common | 0.80 |
| Striker | Hammer | common | 0.80 |
| Striker | Spear | common | 0.80 |
| Striker | Horse | common | 0.30 |
| Striker | Zeal | rare | 0.30 |
| Guardian | Shield | common | 0.90 |
| Guardian | Iron | common | 0.35 |
| Guardian | Stone | common | 0.35 |
| Guardian | TurtleRecommended | common | 0.35 |
| Guardian | Earth | common | 0.30 |
| Caster | StaffRecommended | common | 0.80 |
| Caster | Fire | common | 0.60 |
| Caster | Ice | uncommon | 0.50 |
| Caster | Crystal | rare | 0.35 |
| Caster | Sun | rare | 0.35 |
| Caster | Lightning | uncommon | 0.30 |
| Caster | Star | rare | 0.30 |
| Caster | Voidspark | common | 0.30 |
| Assassin | Shark | common | 0.50 |
| Assassin | Venom | uncommon | 0.35 |
| Assassin | Hunger | rare | 0.30 |
| Healer | Life | uncommon | 0.70 |
| Healer | Light | uncommon | 0.60 |
| Healer | WaterRecommended | common | 0.60 |
| Healer | Growth | uncommon | 0.30 |
| Controller | Spider | common | 0.35 |
| Controller | Deep | rare | 0.30 |
| Summoner | Wolf | common | 0.50 |
| Summoner | Bone | uncommon | 0.35 |
| Shapeshifter(Spring) | Bear | common | 0.60 |
| Shapeshifter(Spring) | Cat | common | 0.50 |
| Shapeshifter(Spring) | Snake | common | 0.50 |
| Shapeshifter(Spring) | Fox | common | 0.35 |
| Shapeshifter(Spring) | Dance | uncommon | 0.30 |
| Shapeshifter(Spring) | Moon | rare | 0.30 |
| Ranger | BowRecommended | common | 0.80 |
| Ranger | Air | common | 0.30 |
| Ranger | Wind | common | 0.30 |
| Enchanter(Autumn) | Song | uncommon | 0.60 |
| Enchanter(Autumn) | Echo | rare | 0.30 |
| Phantom(Winter) | Dark | uncommon | 0.50 |
| Corrupted(earned) | Scythe | common | 0.80 |
| Corrupted(earned) | Phylactery | common | 0.70 |
| Corrupted(earned) | Bat | common | 0.50 |
| Corrupted(earned) | Blight | uncommon | 0.50 |
| Corrupted(earned) | Blood | uncommon | 0.30 |
| Corrupted(earned) | Death | uncommon | 0.30 |
If an essence pulls toward a class you have not unlocked (a seasonal class out of season, or the Corrupted before you earn them), the picker leaves that class out and offers the best unlocked classes instead. Pull data: the game’s shared class pull table, client 2.0.7.
Want a different class?
Do this: before you pick, change the essences. It costs nothing while the member is Unbound.
Before picking: swap essences (free)
While a member is Unbound (essence rank 0, where everyone starts), each equipped essence shows an X. Tap it to unequip; the essence returns to your inventory. Bind a different one, as often as you like. This includes your founder’s starter essence. If you tapped Decide Later, the Choose Archetype button offers classes based on whatever pair is equipped when you press it.
After picking: Change Archetype (500 gold)
The Combat tab shows “Change Archetype (500 gold)”. This picker lists every class you have unlocked, not just three, so it is also the way to take a class your essences do not pull toward. It refunds the whole archetype skill tree and clears ability slots. An Archetype Reroll Scroll (Seasonal Shop) pays instead of gold, but the button still checks that you have 500 gold on hand before it opens.
After the pick: what essences still do
What this means for you: once a member has a class, swapping essences never changes it. Pick essences for what they add in combat.
- Stats. Each equipped essence adds its stat bonuses.
- Combat triggers. The essence in slot 1 fires its primary effects; the one in slot 2 fires its own separately written secondary effects. Every essence page lists both.
- Skill tree branches. Each equipped essence adds one 5-node branch (14 skill points) to the member’s class skill tree. Which branch depends on the essence’s family and the class, so branches only appear once a class is chosen.
Do not leave members Unclassed. An Unclassed member fights with a plain attack based on a single stat and has no skill tree. They also cannot rank up: Advance Rank needs both essence slots filled and a class chosen.
Classes you cannot pick yet
The picker shows these greyed out, with a badge saying what unlocks them. Every other class is open from the start.
| Class | How it unlocks |
|---|---|
| Shapeshifter | Seasonal: Spring. Locked until it is granted free during Spring (March to May, UTC), or earlier through the Season Pass. Once unlocked it stays unlocked. |
| Warden | Seasonal: Summer. Locked until it is granted free during Summer (June to August, UTC), or earlier through the Season Pass. Once unlocked it stays unlocked. |
| Enchanter | Seasonal: Autumn. Locked until it is granted free during Autumn (September to November, UTC), or earlier through the Season Pass. Once unlocked it stays unlocked. |
| Phantom | Seasonal: Winter. Locked until it is granted free during Winter (December to February, UTC), or earlier through the Season Pass. Once unlocked it stays unlocked. |
| Corrupted | Earned: Soul Descent floor 15. Earned by reaching floor 15 of the Soul Descent, which opens in Chapter 3. Once unlocked it stays unlocked. |
| Brawler | Earned: Proving Grounds stage 100. Not live yet: the picker shows it as Coming Soon. When it goes live it is earned by clearing Proving Grounds stage 100. |
| Marshal | Earned: Proving Grounds stage 250. Not live yet: the picker shows it as Coming Soon. When it goes live it is earned by clearing Proving Grounds stage 250. |
- Seasons here follow the real-world calendar (UTC), not the in-game weekly season rotation.
- Mercenaries can never equip essences or take a class.
- Autonomy auto-fill. If you turn on a member’s essence auto-fill (off by default) and it fills both slots, the game assigns the resolved default class without opening the picker. You can change it later for the normal 500 gold. If that class is locked, nothing is assigned and the Choose Archetype button is the route.
What you can undo
Almost everything in the first hour is reversible. The two things that are not free are changing a class after picking it, and swapping essences after the member’s first rank-up.
| What | How | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Which essences a member wears | Tap the X on an equipped essence while that member is Unbound (rank 0). The copy goes back to your inventory. Locks at that member's first rank-up and stays locked for the cycle; a soul refine (from Low Gold) unlocks it again. | Free while Unbound |
| First class pick | Choose Archetype picker, from the three classes offered. | Free |
| Changing a class later | Combat tab, Change Archetype. Lists every class you have unlocked, not just three. Refunds the whole archetype skill tree and clears ability slots. Unlimited. | 500 gold, or an Archetype Reroll Scroll (you still need 500 gold on hand to open it) |
| Skill points only | Skill tree respec, class unchanged. | 500 gold |
| Stat points | Growth tab reset. Every member, including new recruits, gets one free reset. | First free, then 500 gold |
| Founder traits, profession, backstory | Identity tab, Founding Choices. Backstory only until its quest chain has progressed. Founder only. | Free, as often as you like |
| Name | Three free renames per member. | Free x3, then a scroll |
| Portrait | Portrait Change Token. You get one at the start. | One token |
| Race and sex | Cannot be changed. | Never |
A soul refine (from Low Gold) resets a member to Unbound 1 but keeps their class and profession; it clears their skill tree and skill points.
Where to go next
Your first session
The wizard, the tutorial and Sage Alaric's walkthrough, in order.
Build recommendations
Which class and essence pairings work well together.
Archetypes
Every class, its three paths and its full skill tree.
Essences
Every essence, its slot 1 and slot 2 effects, and the class it pulls toward.
Essence ranks
Unbound to Monarch, what Advance Rank costs, and when essences lock.
Recruiting
New recruits arrive Unclassed with empty slots, so they go through this same picker.
Numbers on this page are the shipped 2.0.7 defaults. Class gates and costs are remote-config tunable, so a live build can differ.