ESO Subclassing Guide
Subclassing lets your character replace up to two class skill lines with complete skill lines from other classes. You must keep at least one skill line from your original class.
Quick Overview
Subclassing unlocks account-wide when you earn the Level 50 Hero achievement. Each character still has to complete A Study in Discipline before being able to access the Subclassing menu.
You can replace up to two class skill lines, but at least one from your original class must stay equipped. If you replace two, they must come from different classes.
Your account can train up to three unmastered subclass skill lines at once. Subclassed skill line and morph progress is shared across every character, but progress in that same skill line on its native class is tracked separately. Abilities and passives from subclassed or mastered lines cost two Skill Points each.
At rank 50, a subclass skill line is mastered. It stops using a training slot and can be equipped by any character that has unlocked Subclassing.
Replacing any native class skill line with one from another class hides Class Mastery and refunds its points. The skill line appears again after you re-equip all three native class skill lines.
Unlocking Subclassing
Subclassing unlocks account-wide after one character earns the Level 50 Hero achievement. New characters can then unlock it before reaching Level 50 themselves.
Each character must complete A Study in Discipline before it can use the Subclassing menu. You can start the quest through the Crown Store, by talking to Bahtra at-Hunding or directly from the Subclassing section of the Skills menu.
Update 50 added the option to finish the quest without immediately choosing a subclass. If you complete it normally, confirm your skill line change and talk to Bahtra again to finish the quest.
Tamriel
Reaper's March
Bangkorai
The Rift
Reaper's March
Dune
Dune
Bahtra at-Hunding
Bangkorai
Evermore
Evermore
Bahtra at-Hunding
The Rift
Riften
Riften
Bahtra at-Hunding
How Subclassing Works
Subclassing lets your character replace up to two class skill lines with complete skill lines from other classes. You must keep at least one skill line from your original class.
You get the line's Ultimate, all active abilities and all passives. Abilities and passives from subclassed or mastered lines cost two Skill Points each.
If you replace two, they must come from two different classes.
Subclassing does not change your original class. It still determines your Class Flourish effect and which Infinite Archive class sets you can equip.
You must own Necromancer or Arcanist to use their skill lines. Warden has been included with the base game since Update 49.
Assignment Examples
Your base class is Templar in these examples.
Allowed
Two Templar lines + one Arcanist line
Allowed
Three lines from different classes
Not allowed
Templar base class + two Arcanist lines is not allowed. You would need an Arcanist base class to use two Arcanist lines.
Leveling and Mastering Skill Lines
Subclass skill lines start at Rank 1 and require about twice as much XP as native class skill lines. The native and subclass versions of a line have separate progress. Leveling a skill line, its abilities or its morphs on the original class does nothing to the subclass version. Subclass rank, ability and morph progress is shared across your account. Multiple characters can contribute XP to the same subclass line, while each character spends its own Skill Points and can choose its own morphs.
Keep abilities from the line slotted while earning XP. More abilities from the same line level the line faster. Since Update 49, abilities on both bars receive XP, although Oakensoul disables XP on the back bar. Slotting the same ability on both bars does not level that ability twice as fast. The Discipline Artisan star in the green Champion Point tree increases XP gained by slotted abilities and their skill lines by up to 15%. It does not need to be slotted.
You can train up to three unmastered subclass skill lines across your account at once. Each line keeps its training slot until it reaches Rank 50, even while it is not equipped. At 3/3 training slots, you cannot start training another subclass line, but you can still swap to subclass lines you have already unlocked and your native class lines. At Rank 50, the subclass line is mastered, frees its training slot and can be equipped by any character that has unlocked Subclassing. A low-level character can equip an account-wide Rank 50 subclass line, but its later abilities stay locked until that character reaches the level shown on each ability.
Class Mastery
Class Mastery was added in Update 50 to reduce the gap between pure-class and subclassed builds, so Subclassing would not feel mandatory. It unlocks on a character after all three of that character’s native class skill lines reach Rank 50 and only remains available while all three are equipped.
Each class has five Class Mastery passives, but you receive two Class Mastery Points and can use only two at once. These points are granted immediately and do not use normal Skill Points. Replacing even one native line hides Class Mastery and refunds its points; re-equip all three native lines to make it appear again.
Leveling a native class line to Rank 50 unlocks its Mastered collectible in Collections account-wide. In ZOS’s Subclassing support article, “Mastered” refers to this collectible state. It lets the subclassed version of the line be assigned without using one of your three account-wide training slots. It does not copy the native line’s rank, abilities or morphs: its subclassed version still starts at Rank 1.
Class Mastery is also separate from the Scribing script now called Class Flourish.
Changing Skill Lines
Subclass skill lines can be changed for free through the respec option in the Skills menu. You cannot respec in combat, in Vengeance or in leaderboard content other than Infinite Archive, and there is a short cooldown between respecs.
Unequipping a line refunds every skill point spent in that line, but keeps its rank and progress.
An unmastered line stays in one of your three account-wide training slots until it reaches Rank 50. The 3/3 counter refers to these training slots, not the number of subclass lines equipped on your character.
Armory Builds save your equipped class lines and Skill Point allocation along with the rest of the build.
FAQ
No. Subclassing is a base-game feature, and skill and attribute respecs cost 0 gold as of Update 49. You must still own Necromancer or Arcanist to use their skill lines. Warden has been included with the base game since Update 49.
You can train up to three unmastered subclass skill lines across your account at once. The 3/3 counter shows these account-wide training slots, not the number of subclass lines equipped on your character. Each line occupies its slot until it reaches Rank 50. Your character must also unlock the Subclassing menu, and the equipped combination must follow the normal subclassing restrictions.
Yes. Respeccing is free through the Skills menu. Unequipping a line refunds its Skill Points and keeps its progress, but an unmastered line still occupies its account-wide training slot until Rank 50. You cannot respec in combat, in Vengeance or in leaderboard content other than Infinite Archive.
The initial Level 50 unlock is account-wide. Rank, ability and morph progress in subclass versions of skill lines is shared too. Progress in the same line on its native class remains character-specific. Each character unlocks its own Subclassing menu, chooses its equipped lines separately and can select different morphs.
No. Your original class still determines which two native skill lines you can use together, your Class Flourish effect and which Infinite Archive class sets you can equip.
No. Leveling a native class line to Rank 50 unlocks its Mastered collectible account-wide. That lets its subclassed version be assigned without using one of the three training slots, but the subclassed line still starts at Rank 1 with separate ability and morph progress.
Subclass abilities are locked by both skill line rank and character level. A low-level character can receive an account-wide Rank 50 subclass line but still has to reach the required character level before using its later abilities.
No. Subclassing is optional. A character using all three native class lines can use Class Mastery, while replacing any native line hides Class Mastery until all three are restored.
