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Subclasses

Within one class, a character takes one of a short fixed list of branches at a set level or on completing set content, and the branch grants its own package of features at later levels of that class

Also known as: sub-class, class specializations, mastery classes, ascendancy classes

Definition

A subclass is a branch inside one class: at a set level, or on completing set content, the character takes one of a short fixed list of branches, which grants its own features at later levels of that class. The class itself, chosen at creation, belongs to variable player powers. Skill trees spread points across prerequisite nodes; a subclass is one exclusive pick fixing a package. Multiclassing combines class kits, and prestige classes taken as levels of another class sit on that boundary; class switching changes the active class.

How it works

In the canonical form (Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition and 2024 edition), each class lists its branches, such as divine domains. The player picks one at a stated level, 1st to 3rd in 2014 and 3rd in 2024. The branch’s features then arrive at fixed class levels, the fighter’s at 3rd, 7th, 10th, 15th and 18th. The 2024 rules grant them “for the rest of your career” and give no procedure for changing the pick, which is made once from a list printed in advance.

Variations

  • Elected status (Greyhawk): a lawful fighter of high charisma may be a paladin from the start; one branch rather than a list lowers agency.
  • Sub-class as a separate class (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook): classes filed under a parent and chosen at creation, merging into variable player powers.
  • Branch at a high level (Companion Set): at Name level alignment and an oath decide the branch, and its duties can cost the status, raising consequence weight.
  • Content-gated branch (Path of Exile; Last Epoch): completing the Labyrinth or a quest opens the branch and its passive tree; Last Epoch opens the first half of every mastery tree, softening exclusivity.
  • Bought advancements (Daggerheart): later features are level-up advancements competing with multiclassing in each tier, so their timing becomes a choice.
  • Active specialization (World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria): core abilities work only while the specialization is active, a mode rather than a fork, lowering consequence weight.

Design considerations

The parameters are the number of branches per class, the level or event of the pick, how many features a branch supplies and when, how much of the base class the branches share, and reversibility. An early pick commits a player who has barely used the class; a late pick leaves the early levels of every branch alike. Reversibility is the main dial: the tabletop rules let the pick stand, while Last Epoch from 2025 sells a change of mastery for gold and resets every passive point.

Analysis notes

Ownership follows because the branch is a named identity (Champion, Life Domain, Slayer) laid over the class and recorded on the character. Consequence weight follows from permanence: the pick fixes which features arrive at each later level of the class. Planning follows because each branch’s features are listed by level, so the whole path is read before choosing. Replayability follows because one class yields several distinct characters, as Path of Exile’s seven classes carry nineteen Ascendancy classes.

History and provenance

The word predates the form. Greyhawk (1975) lets fighters “opt to become paladins”, and the Players Handbook (1978) files separate classes, chosen at creation, as sub-classes. The earliest branch from a list inside a class at a set level cited is Lakofka’s entertainer in Dragon #69 (1983), who after 2nd level trains as a juggler, acrobat or troubadour; Gygax’s thief-acrobat, in the same issue, is a single specialisation. The Companion Set (1984) put it in the official rules: Name-level fighters become paladins, knights or avengers. Video games had the form by 2001, in Carrion Fields’ weapon styles for warriors and Dark Age of Camelot’s guilds at 5th level; Ragnarok Online, MapleStory and World of Warcraft followed. Paragon paths (2008) branched at 11th level, the 5th edition (2014) gave every class a branch at levels 1 to 3, and the 2024 edition names them subclasses, all at 3rd.

Notable examples

Notable examples, in chronological order. Notes describe how the mechanic manifests in each; the latest reference is a widely played game from 2020 or later.
GameYearMediumHow the mechanic manifests
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk
Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz (TSR)		1975Tabletop RPGAn antecedent. Fighting men include paladins; a lawful fighter with charisma of 17 or more may elect paladin status from the commencement of play, gaining lay on hands and, from 8th level, dispel evil, and any chaotic act revokes the status for ever.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook
Gary Gygax (TSR)		1978Tabletop RPGAn antecedent. Druids, paladins, rangers, illusionists and assassins are called sub-classes of the cleric, fighter, magic-user and thief, but each is a class with its own entry requirements, selected when the character is made.
Dragon #69: The Thief-Acrobat
Gary Gygax (TSR)		1983Tabletop RPGAn antecedent. On reaching 6th level a thief may train as a thief-acrobat, a single "split class" whose tumbling, jumping and tightrope skills rise by level to 23rd while most thief skills stop at 5th.
Dragon #69: The Entertainer Classes
Len Lakofka (TSR)		1983Tabletop RPGA stagehand who becomes a performer at 2nd level trains as a juggler, acrobat or troubadour, each with its own level titles, weapons and abilities that rise per level above 2nd; at 9th level a second sub-class may follow, and all three make an Entertainer.
Dungeons & Dragons, Companion Set
Frank Mentzer (TSR)		1984Tabletop RPGAt Name level a wandering fighter becomes a paladin, knight or avenger according to alignment and an oath to a church or ruler, the paladin casting cleric spells as a cleric of one-third the fighter's level; a neutral cleric of 9th level or more may become a druid.
Langrisser
NCS (Masaya)		1991VideoAn antecedent on the boundary with promotion. At level 10 a commander changes class, choosing from a menu when more than one is open, so Ledin's fighter becomes a knight or a lord; the new class replaces the old, decides which spells can be cast, and has its own cap of level 10.
Carrion Fields
Carrion Fields, LLC		1994VideoBy May 2001 the MUD's warriors gain further abilities once they specialize in a weapon type; its 2002 help files give eight styles, among them sword, mace, axe and dagger, offered at the rank of Knight, each teaching five or six skills of its own, and a second style from the rank of Master of Copper.
Dark Age of Camelot
Mythic Entertainment		2001VideoAlbion characters start in a basic class and at 5th level join a guild that fixes their advanced class; a fighter becomes a paladin, armsman or mercenary by joining the Church of Albion, the Defenders of Albion or the Guild of Shadows.
Ragnarok Online
Gravity		2002VideoA novice changes to one of six first jobs at job level 10. At the 2002 launch each first job has a single second job from job level 40, the swordsman becoming a knight; in mid-2003 Gravity added a 2-2 job for each, tested from June and on the main servers by August, so a swordsman of job level 40 may take the knight's test or the crusader's, each in Prontera.
MapleStory
Wizet (Nexon)		c. 2004VideoA beginner takes one of four jobs around level 10, and at level 30 one of two or three advanced jobs derived from it, the warrior becoming a fighter, page or spearman and the bowman a hunter or crossbowman; the advanced job adds stronger skills to those of the basic job.
Dungeons & Dragons, 4th Edition
Wizards of the Coast		2008Tabletop RPGAt 11th level each character chooses a paragon path, four per class in the Player's Handbook, which adds features and powers at 11th, 12th, 16th and 20th level on top of the class; a multiclass feat opens another class's paths.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Blizzard Entertainment		2010VideoAt level 10 a character chooses one of its class's three talent trees as its specialization, gaining that tree's own active ability and passives, and the other trees stay closed until 31 points are spent in it; re-talenting and dual specialization remain.
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
Blizzard Entertainment		2012VideoAt level 10 a character selects a specialization and unlocks an iconic ability, then learns that specialization's abilities automatically at set levels, while talents come from a class-wide row every 15 levels; with the 5.0 talent system each specialization shows core abilities usable only while it is active.
Path of Exile
Grinding Gear Games		2013VideoFrom the Ascendancy expansion (2016), completing the Lord's Labyrinth lets a character pick one of the three Ascendancy classes of its class, each with its own skill tree; later Labyrinth completions on each difficulty grant two Ascendancy points for that tree.
Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition
Wizards of the Coast		2014Tabletop RPGEvery class takes a branch between 1st and 3rd level, such as a divine domain at 1st, an arcane tradition at 2nd or a martial archetype at 3rd; the fighter's archetype grants features at 3rd, 7th, 10th, 15th and 18th level.
Last Epoch Latest
Eleventh Hour Games		2024VideoEach of five classes has three mastery classes, chosen on completing the campaign's mastery quest; points may go into the first half of every mastery tree, but the second half and the mastery's skills open only for the one chosen. From 2025 a mastery can be changed for gold, resetting every passive point.
Dungeons & Dragons, 2024 edition
Wizards of the Coast		2024Tabletop RPGAll twelve classes gain a subclass at level 3, defined as a specialization that grants features at certain class levels, and for the rest of the character's career it gains each subclass feature of its class level or lower.
Daggerheart
Spenser Starke and Rowan Hall (Darrington Press)		2025Tabletop RPGEach class has two subclasses; the player picks one at creation and takes its foundation card, then takes its specialization and mastery as level-up advancements, an upgrade that shuts out multiclassing in that tier.

Provenance

Earliest documented use: Dragon #69: The Entertainer Classes (1983), tabletop rpg. Confidence: medium. Provenance is scoped to a branch taken inside one class at a set level from a short list. The earliest documented use cited is Len Lakofka's entertainer class in Dragon #69 (January 1983): a stagehand who becomes a performer at 2nd level trains as a juggler, acrobat or troubadour, each with its own titles, weapons and abilities by level, though from 9th level a second and third may be added. The first official rules with the form cited are the Companion Set (1984), where fighters of Name level become paladins, knights or avengers; the Expert sets of 1981 and 1983 give name level a stronghold and a title only. Greyhawk (1975) lets a fighter elect paladin status at the start of play, a single optional status rather than a list, and the Players Handbook (1978) uses the word "sub-class" for separate classes chosen at creation. James M. Ward's eight areas of study for magic-users (The Dragon #17, 1978) are chosen with the character and replace the class's whole spell list, an alternative to the magic-user rather than a branch of it. Gygax's thief-acrobat, in the same issue as the entertainer, is taken at 6th level with its own features, but it is one specialisation rather than a list. All four are antecedents. Dragon's class articles to the end of 1984 offer no earlier branch from a list, The Complete Warlock (1978) fixes its types at creation, and contemporary reviews describe DragonQuest (1980) as having no classes and Rolemaster's professions as chosen at creation. The Chivalry & Sorcery rulebook (1977) and other games of the period remain unsurveyed, so confidence is medium.

Established form: Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition (2014), tabletop rpg. 31 years after the earliest documented use. Confidence: low. The fifth edition rules give every class one branch, taken at 1st to 3rd level with features at fixed later levels, and the 2024 edition keeps the form under the name subclass, moving every pick to level 3. Mearls's 2013 design column describes the subclass as the range of characters inside a class whose shared features are its core identity. Baldur's Gate 3 (2023) states that it follows the fifth-edition rules, with 46 subclasses across 12 classes, but video games had branches taken at a level from 2001 on (Carrion Fields, Dark Age of Camelot), so the lineage cited runs inside one game line and its licensed adaptation.

Sources

  1. Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz. (1975). Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk. TSR. Rulebook Character classes: Fighting Men; Determination of Abilities: Charisma; The Strategic Review advertisement, p. 66. Accessed 2026-10-27. Paladins as an elected status within the fighting men, their powers by level and loss on a chaotic act, and The Strategic Review's illusionist billed as a new sub-class.
  2. Gary Gygax. (1983). Dragon #69: A 'split class' for nimble characters: the Thief-Acrobat. TSR (Dragon Publishing). Article From the Sorceror's Scroll, p. 20. Accessed 2026-10-27. A thief of strength 15 and dexterity 16 may specialise as a thief-acrobat on reaching 6th level, after six weeks' training by a thief-acrobat of 10th level, gaining tightrope walking, pole vaulting, jumping and tumbling by level to 23rd while most thief skills stop at 5th; Gygax calls the split class a first.
  3. Len Lakofka. (1983). Dragon #69: Leomund's Tiny Hut: The entertainer classes. TSR (Dragon Publishing). Article Leomund's Tiny Hut, pp. 54-60. Accessed 2026-10-27. An entertainer class of three sub-classifications, juggler, acrobat and troubadour, available once a stagehand becomes a performer at 2nd level, each with its own titles, weapons and abilities by level above 2nd, and a showman and entertainer path combining them from 9th level.
  4. James M. Ward. (1978). The Dragon #17: A Wizard With A Difference. TSR. Article A Wizard With A Difference, p. 10. Accessed 2026-10-27. Magic-users who take one of eight areas of study instead of being the normal magic-user, each with its own spell list by level, advancing as the D&D wizard does.
  5. Frank Mentzer. (1983). Dungeons & Dragons Expert Rules. TSR. Rulebook Fighters, Clerics: Name level; Strongholds. Accessed 2026-10-27. Name level bringing eligibility as a baron or the right to build a castle, a stronghold and title rather than a branch.
  6. Gary Gygax. (1978). Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook. TSR. Rulebook Character Classes: The Paladin; The Ranger; The Druid; The Illusionist; The Assassin. Accessed 2026-10-27. Druid, paladin, ranger, illusionist and assassin described as sub-classes of the four main classes, each with its own requirements and chosen at creation.
  7. Frank Mentzer. (1984). Dungeons & Dragons, Companion Set: Players Companion, Book One. TSR. Rulebook Players Companion: Fighters, Travelling; Clerics, Druid. Accessed 2026-10-27. Name-level fighters becoming paladins, knights or avengers by alignment and oath, their powers, and neutral clerics of 9th level becoming druids.
  8. NCS (Masaya). (1991). Langrisser instruction manual (Mega Drive). Rulebook ユニットの能力とパラメータ, pp. 23-24; クラスチェンジ, p. 27; 指揮官クラスチェンジ系統図, p. 41. Accessed 2026-10-27. The Japanese manual; class change open to a commander at level 10, a menu to choose when several classes are open, the class deciding which spells can be used, a unit in the highest class capped at level 10, and a chart of each commander's branching classes.
  9. NCS Corporation. (1991). Warsong instruction manual (Genesis). Treco. Rulebook Parameters Which Only Commanders Have, p. 25; Rank Upgrade, p. 28; Moving Formation, p. 42. Accessed 2026-10-27. The English release of Langrisser; a rank upgrade when a commander reaches level 10, a menu when more than one class is open, magic varying by class, and a chart of each commander's two branches.
  10. Carrion Fields, LLC. (2001). Carrion Fields: Help, Classes, Warrior (Wayback capture). Website Accessed 2026-10-27. Warriors gaining numerous additional abilities once they specialize in a specific weapon type, with the warrior's common skills by level.
  11. Carrion Fields, LLC. (2002). Carrion Fields: Help, Specialize; Weapon Specialization (Wayback captures). Website HELP SPECIALIZE; HELP WEAPON SPECIALIZATION. Accessed 2026-10-27. Eight weapon styles with five or six skills each; the companion SPECIALIZE entry (captured 13 July 2002) offers the choice at the rank of Knight and another style at Master of Copper.
  12. Mythic Entertainment. (2001). Dark Age of Camelot: Classes of the Realm of Albion (Wayback capture). Website Starting Classes; Advanced Classes. Accessed 2026-10-27. Basic classes that choose a guild at 5th level, each guild fixing an advanced class with its own skills, two or three per basic class.
  13. Gravity Interactive. (2004). Ragnarok - Game Guide - Characters: Knight; Crusader (Wayback captures). Website Job Change Information. Accessed 2026-10-27. Knight and crusader job changes in Prontera, each by its own test from job level 40; companion pages give six first jobs from the novice at job level 10.
  14. Gravity Corp. (2002). Ragnarok Online: Character Information, Swordsman and Knight (Korean official site, Wayback capture). Website Character menu; 전직 (job change). Accessed 2026-10-27. In Korean. The menu pairs each first job with one second job, swordsman with knight, archer with hunter and so on, and the knight's job change needs job level 40.
  15. Gravity Corp. (2003). Ragnarok Online: Game Guide, 2-2 Jobs, Crusader (Korean official site, Wayback capture). Website 2-2차직업 > 크루세이더; 전직안내. Accessed 2026-10-27. In Korean. The crusader listed as a 2-2 job, its job change in Prontera open from job level 40.
  16. Gravity Corp. (2003). Ragnarok Online: Notice 490, Sakray server reset on 3 June (Korean official site, Wayback capture). Website 업데이트 내용 (update contents), 27 May 2003. Accessed 2026-10-27. In Korean. The fourth Sakray test server opening on 3 June 2003 with the 2-2 characters crusader and sage, their move to the main servers to follow testing.
  17. Gravity Corp. (2003). Ragnarok Online: Notice 543, 12 August maintenance (Korean official site, Wayback capture). Website 본 서버 패치내용 (main server patch), 11 August 2003. Accessed 2026-10-27. In Korean. A main-server fix to the crusader's two-handed spear graphic, so the 2-2 jobs were live before 12 August 2003.
  18. Nexon Japan. (2005). MapleStory Playing Guide. Nexon Japan. Rulebook 次のステップを目指そう: 二次職業を目指そう (12th page). Accessed 2026-10-27. In Japanese; the official guide from Nexon Japan's site, captured October 2005. At level 30 a character takes an advanced job derived from its basic job, two or three per job, adding stronger skills to the basic job's.
  19. Monte Cook. (2000). Dragon #274: Class Acts. Wizards of the Coast. Article Class Acts, p. 45. Accessed 2026-10-27. Preview of the third-edition Dungeon Master's Guide; prestige classes cannot be chosen for beginning characters, and a character who meets a class's requirements, usually around 5th or 6th level, takes it as a multiclass while advancing.
  20. Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, and James Wyatt (Wizards of the Coast). (2008). Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, Player's Handbook. Rulebook Chapter 2: Character Advancement table, p. 29; Chapter 4: Paragon Paths, p. 53. Accessed 2026-10-27. A paragon path chosen at 11th level as a specialisation within the class's role, its features and powers at 11th, 12th, 16th and 20th level added to the class, class prerequisites met by the class or a multiclass feat, and paragon multiclassing as the alternative.
  21. Robin Torres (WoW Insider). (2010). Cataclysm class and mastery systems explained. Website The Rise of Specialization; To Recap. Accessed 2026-10-27. A Blizzard developer post reproduced before release; specialization chosen at level 10, each tree with its own active ability and passives, other trees closed until 31 points.
  22. Lylirra (Blizzard Entertainment). (2011). World of Warcraft Class Talent System. Blizzard Entertainment. Website Class Talents vs. Specialization Abilities. Accessed 2026-10-27. The BlizzCon 2011 announcement for Mists of Pandaria; a specialization still selected at level 10 with an iconic ability, specialization abilities learned automatically at set intervals, and talents from sets awarded every 15 levels.
  23. Mike Mearls. (2013). So What Is a Subclass? (Wayback capture). Wizards of the Coast. Article Legends & Lore, 29 April 2013. Accessed 2026-10-27. The D&D Next playtest giving every class a subclass choice, deity for the cleric and tradition for the wizard, with the shared class features as the class's core identity.
  24. Wizards of the Coast. (2016). System Reference Document 5.1. Rulebook Classes: Cleric, Divine Domain; Fighter, Martial Archetype; Wizard, Arcane Tradition. Accessed 2026-10-27. A branch for every class taken at 1st to 3rd level, with the fighter's archetype features at 3rd, 7th, 10th, 15th and 18th level.
  25. Wizards of the Coast. (2025). System Reference Document 5.2.1. Rulebook Classes: Barbarian, Level 3: Barbarian Subclass. Accessed 2026-10-27. A subclass for every class at level 3, defined as a specialization granting features at certain class levels for the rest of the character's career.
  26. Blizzard Entertainment. (2012). World of Warcraft: Patch 5.0, Mists of Pandaria Pre-Patch notes (Wayback capture). Website Patch Features: New Talent System. Accessed 2026-10-27. Specializations showing the core abilities of each class spec, usable only while that spec is active.
  27. Grinding Gear Games. (2016). Path of Exile: Ascendancy Classes (Wayback capture). Website Accessed 2026-10-27. Nineteen Ascendancy classes, one of the three for the character's class picked on completing the Lord's Labyrinth, and two Ascendancy points per difficulty.
  28. Eleventh Hour Games. Last Epoch on Steam. Website Accessed 2026-10-27. Five classes and fifteen mastery classes that unlock more specialized abilities and build options.
  29. Maxroll. Last Epoch: Passives and Skills. Website Passive Trees. Accessed 2026-10-27. A base tree and three mastery trees per class, unlocked by the campaign's mastery quest, with the second half of a mastery tree open only to the mastery chosen.
  30. Eleventh Hour Games. (2025). Quality of Life, Dungeon & Other Improvements: Coming to Last Epoch April 17th. Website Mastery Respecialization. Accessed 2026-10-27. Respecialising the class mastery for gold from Season 2, with every passive point reset.
  31. Larian Studios. Baldur's Gate 3 on Steam. Website About This Game. Accessed 2026-10-27. Twelve classes from the D&D Player's Handbook on the 5e ruleset, and 46 subclasses branching out of the 12 classes.
  32. Darrington Press. (2025). Daggerheart System Reference Document 1.0. Darrington Press. Rulebook Character Creation: Choose a Subclass, p. 4; Classes: Subclasses, p. 8; Leveling Up: Advancements, p. 43. Accessed 2026-10-27. Two subclasses per class, one chosen at creation with its foundation feature, and specialization and mastery taken as upgraded-subclass advancements on level up, exclusive with multiclassing in a tier.

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West, James, Jr. (2026). "Subclasses." Game Mechanic Compendium, updated 2026-10-27. http://localhost:4321/mechanics/subclasses

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