Classes

Every unit in Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave fights in a class, and that class decides what the unit is good for. Nintendo's dedicated presentation put it directly: a unit's abilities change dramatically with its class, and the weapons it can wield and its range of movement vary too. The examples given on camera were Shido, who are skilled with swords, Bardingers, who fight on horseback, and Bishops, who use White Magic. Units move between classes by passing a certification exam rather than by hitting a promotion level.

Class Tiers

Three tiers were named on camera: Beginner, Specialty and Advanced. Japanese materials use 初級職, 中級職 and 上級職 for the same three, so the middle tier reads as Intermediate in Japanese and Specialty in English. Beginner classes are described as the foundation, Specialty classes as having more specific abilities, and Advanced classes as masters of their skills.

Commoner and Noble sit outside those three. They are the classes the cast starts in rather than classes anyone certifies into, and one circulating class listing files them under a fourth heading called Unique. That fourth tier is not confirmed by anything shown for this game. The label traces back to a comparison with an earlier series entry, so it is treated here as unconfirmed and the two classes are described below simply as starting classes.

Beginner Classes

There are five Beginner classes in all. Gladiators excel in handling weapons, Diviners can wield magic, and Ornius Riders cover more ground than the rest of the tier. Movement values and proficiency lists below come from footage of the class menus, so read the blanks as not yet published rather than as zero.

Specialty Classes

Specialty classes have more specific abilities, and there are over ten to attain. Armored Knights boast ironclad defense with heavy armor, Wing Soldiers leap obstacles and cover long distances, and Charioteers strike multiple enemies in a straight line. Eleven are listed below; a twelfth entry using Gauntlets sits on the same tier screen without having been identified, which is consistent with the "over 10" figure.

Advanced Classes

Advanced classes are masters of their skills. Cataphracts have the mobility of horses with the defense of heavily-armored units, Guardians are skilled with both spears and White Magic, and Elephant Riders are described as overwhelmingly powerful, fighting astride giant beasts. Three of the classes below, Bardinger, Dreadnought and Ovate, have full data blocks and their own pages here; the rest are documented only from footage.

Previews reading the certification screens report a common gate on this tier: a Renown level of at least 8 and a recommended character level of 35, on top of the individual weapon-rank letters. That figure comes from a single reading of the menu, so treat it as provisional until the game is out.

Classes With No Confirmed Tier

Seven further class names are attested for this game without a tier attached to them. Five of the seven appear as the classes of bosses fought in the prologue, which is where most of them have been seen at all.

Starting Classes

Commoner and Noble are the classes the playable cast begins in. Both are Infantry with 4 Movement and no proficiency bonus, and Commoners can wield every weapon type. Noble is described as the class of those who inherit a great house and name, and who lead the people as kings or lords. A handful of units start in a class further up the ladder instead, which is how Eshmel opens the game already in the Advanced Guardian class.

Proficiencies

Class entries list two different things side by side: the weapon and mount types a unit can equip, and the proficiencies the class is actually good at. The proficiency names seen so far are Sword, Lance, Axe, Bow, Gauntlet, Reason, Faith, Riding, Flying and Infantry, with Authority appearing in one reading of the menu. Proficiencies a unit cannot use in its current class are greyed out.

The vocabulary is not settled across the material in circulation. Exam screens have been read as listing Spear and Heavy Armor where class summaries write Lance and Armor, and the presentation's own narration says Guardians are skilled with spears. Both sets of words point at the same weapon types. On the magic side, Reason and Faith are the proficiency names, while weapon listings sort magic into black, dark and white; no source reconciles the two schemes, so both are recorded here as they were given.

Proficiency is trained rather than only earned in battle. The arena plaza in Dagsion offers additional training once per week during between-match preparation, and as skills improve a unit learns new moves and can wield stronger weapons. One preview describes training working on groups rather than single proficiencies, with Infantry training raising Sword, Bow and Infantry together.

Class Skills

Classes carry their own skills, separate from personal abilities and from Combat Arts. Two are innate and active from the moment a unit certifies into the class; the third is tied to class mastery. Eight are named so far, all of them on the three Advanced classes with published data.

Two further sets have been read off the class screens without a published data block behind them: Shido with Combat Arts +2 and Sword Crit +5 and a mastery ability called Zanshin, and Bishop with White-Magic Seeker and Magic Recovery +10 and a mastery ability called Forcefield. Both are single readings and are listed here as reported rather than confirmed.

Class Mastery

Mastering a class unlocks its third skill. Each of the three documented Advanced classes lists its mastery skill with a class experience cost attached, but the number itself is left blank in every published entry, so how long mastery takes is not yet known.

Changing Class

Class changes run through an Exam Proctor in Dagsion. The chance of passing depends on who is taking the test and which class they are aiming for, so units need the relevant skills before they apply. The same screen also offers a reclass option for classes a unit already qualifies for, and hands-on accounts say it shows how a unit's growth would change before the change is committed. Full detail is on Certification Exams.

Class Stats

No class base stats, growth rates or stat modifiers have been published for this game. Every stat template in circulation is empty apart from a handful of movement values, so this page carries movement and proficiencies only. Any class stat number quoted anywhere before launch is guesswork, and none is listed here.