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Reclass

| “ | Someone with enough experience could use this to start a new life. It's like running off to join a circus troupe! ...But more classy-like. | ” | — A villager on the Plegian border |
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Reclassing (Japanese:兵種変更class altering) is a process by which a unit transforms from oneclass to a different class. First implemented in theFire Emblem series inFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, it is a counterpart to the traditionalclass 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.
InFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon andNew Mystery of the Emblem

Reclassing in theNintendo DS duology is a quick and simple affair with no fanfare, and is a simple matter of entering the Reclass menu inpreparations 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 tothis 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'slevel and current amount ofexperience untouched, unlikeAwakening, 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 inNew Mystery, once the game is cleared onHard 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 inShadow Dragon are as follows:
| Male A | Base | Cavalier •Archer •Myrmidon •Mage •Curate |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced | Paladin •Dracoknight •Sniper •Swordmaster •Sage •Bishop | |
| Male B | Base | Knight •Mercenary •Fighter •Hunter •Pirate •Dark Mage |
| Advanced | General •Hero •Warrior •Horseman •Berserker •Sorcerer | |
| Female | Base | Pegasus Knight •Archer •Myrmidon •Mage •Cleric |
| Advanced | Dracoknight/Falcoknight* •Paladin •Sniper •Swordmaster •Sage •Bishop |
The class sets inNew Mystery of the Emblem are as follows:
| Male A | Base | Cavalier •Archer •Myrmidon •Mage •Curate |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced | Paladin •Dracoknight •Sniper •Swordmaster •Sage •Bishop | |
| Male B | Base | Knight •Mercenary •Fighter •Hunter •Pirate •Dark Mage |
| Advanced | General •Hero •Warrior •Horseman •Berserker •Sorcerer | |
| Female | Base | Pegasus Knight •Cavalier •Archer •Myrmidon •Mage •Cleric |
| Advanced | Dracoknight/Falcoknight* •Paladin •General •Sniper •Swordmaster •Sage •Bishop |
In both games,Lords,Thieves,Manaketes,Freelancers,Ballisticians, andDancers 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: InShadow Dragon, the player could potentially have fourCavaliers orPaladins (Jagen,Abel,Cain, andFrey) 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.
InFire Emblem Awakening

TheAwakening 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 inAwakening is also restricted in that, like normal class changing, it is entirely dependent on access to a special item: a unit must use aSecond 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 theworld 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 tothis 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, whileRobin and their offspring will have access to all non-special classes available to their gender.
As part of the game'sinheritance 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 exceptLucina and femaleMorgan), they will also inherit all the class sets of their variable parent (their father for everyone exceptLucina and femaleMorgan), 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.
InFire Emblem Fates
TheFates system mostly retains the mechanics of theAwakening 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 aGeneral would not be able to reclass to the base classesKnight orTroubadour, only their promoted forms); reclassing to or from aspecial 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, asAwakening allowed.
TheHeart Seal is now the item used to initiate reclassing. Two further items, thePartner Seal and theFriendship Seal, allow units with S or A+supports, respectively, to access the classes of their support partner. When using a Partner Seal or Friendship Seal, a unit will change to the first class available to them from:
- their partner's base class.
- their partner's Heart Seal option (option 1 in § Class sets).
- their partner's base class'sparallel class.
- their partner's Heart Seal option's parallel class.
If none of those four options are available to a unit, they cannot use the Partner or Friendship Seal.
What a unit can or cannot reclass to via Partner or Friendship Seal is limited by a number of rules:
- A unit cannot reclass to their base class.
- A unit cannot reclass toNohr Prince,Nohr Princess,Songstress,Kitsune,Wolfskin, orVillager.
- Male characters that would reclass toShrine Maiden,Priestess, orMaid instead reclass toMonk,Great Master, orButler, respectively; and vice versa for female characters.
If a unit reclasses into a promoted class, they will learn the skills of every base class available to them that promotes into their new class—e.g. if a Hero with access toDark Mage reclasses intoSorcerer, they will learn Dark Mage and Sorcerer skills as they level up; if they instead have access toKnight andCavalier and reclass into aGreat Knight, they will learn Knight, Cavalier, and Great Knight skills. Classes available via Partner or Friendship Seals are considered accessible, and though no non-child unit has access to base classes with overlapping promotion options via Heart Seal, child units' inherited Heart Seal options are also included.
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 inAwakening, 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. Unlike Robin inAwakening,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"; however, they only require an A support to reclass via aFriendship Seal.
As part of the game'sinheritance 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 exceptShigure and maleKana), they will also inherit one of the class sets of their variable parent (their mother for everyone exceptShigure and maleKana), 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.
InFire Emblem: Three Houses
Due to the overall redesign of the class change system inThree 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 theGarreg Mach Monastery or from the preparations menu at no cost, similarly to itsShadow 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.
InFire Emblem Engage
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A character can reclass to any available class by using aSecond Seal if they haveproficiencies in every weapon type that class uses. For example, a unit needs sword proficiency to reclass toSword Fighter, or staff and arts proficiencies to reclass toMartial Master.Sword Flier,Lance Flier, andAxe Flier are only available to female units.
Units in base or advanced classes at level 20 or special classes at level 40 can reclass into the class they are already in, resetting their level to 1 (or 21 for special classes), but retaining any skills they have unlocked. Skills are not retained if a unit reclasses to a different class, then reclasses back to the class where they had unlocked a skill.
| Second Seal functionality by level | ||
|---|---|---|
| Unit status | Available class pool | |
| Base class, levels 1–19 Special class, levels 1–20 | Any base or special class choice for the unit not currently in use | |
| Base class, level 20 | Any base class choice available to the unit | |
| Advanced class, levels 1–19 Special class, levels 21–39 | Any class choice for the unit not currently in use | |
| Advanced class, level 20 Special class, level 40 | Any class choice available to the unit Special classes reclassing into themself will have their level reset to 21 When reclassing to the same class, class skills are not lost | |
References
Etymology and other languages
| Names, etymology, and in other regions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Language | Name | Definition, etymology, and notes |
| English | Reclass | -- |
| Japanese | 兵種変更 | Class altering |
| French | Réaffecter | Reassign |














