The fundamental building block of a Class. 

Classes grant three Skills, which start at tier one. 

Each skill can be progressed up to four times, up to tier five. 

In the absence of catalysts, Skills, by and large, tend to be simple, straight forward, easy to use, and one dimensional.

Each Skill can hold catalysts equal to the tier. (Up to a maximum of five catalysts per Skill for a total of fifteen, though only Wayfinders regularly use all fifteen slots.) 

'Catalysts take Skills from generic to iconic.' (see catalyst entry)

The thing to remember, first and foremost, is that Skills are deeply intuitive. 

Skills are active, used at the sole discretion of the user. 

The effect of a Skill can be known by the owner simply by considering it. 

There are innumerable Skill variants, but an individual Skill (say, Tempest strike) may appear in more than one Class.

Things like range, how often a Skill can be comfortably used, cost(s), are all easily estimated by the user, in the way that you know how hard you can punch, or how fast you can run. 

Practice and experience deepen and refine this knowledge. 

In GENERAL, as one Levels up, the cost and cooldown of one's Skills tend to go down.

 (Thus, a lv 1 wayfinder may find it cumbersome to tempest strike more than once in quick succession. Where at lv 40, that same Wayfinder might launch veritable barrages, of much higher strength, without overexerting.) 

A Class is an archetypical role which can be accepted upon entering adulthood, chosen from among three options offered by the architect (or more often offered by the Architect's representative, the Voice.) 

These Classes tend to fall within three broad categories: production, crafting, or Wayfinding. 

Production Classes deal with things such as farming, mining, fishing, logging, hunting and the like. 

Crafting Classes deal with the making of things: smithing, construction, jewelery making, tailoring, shipwrighting, weaving,  etc. 

Wayfinder Classes (also considered Military Classes in some parts of the world) are geared toward combat. You will, dear reader, have seen many examples of these in the book, but they fall largely into the holy trinity of Tank, Healer, and damage. Though, of course, many exceptions and hybrids exist, including our leading lady Eir. 

Classes provide a unique combination of three Skills, to aid the user in fulfilling their chosen role. 

The Class also plays a significant role in the complex alchemy of Class, Skill, and Catalyst that expand upon and add too one's base Skillset. 

For instance, a Tank Class's Skill will only rarely produce a purely damaging, or purely healing feature no matter what catalyst is used upon it. It is unbelievably unlikely to gain a fishing-enhancing effect. 

Though, again, many exceptions exist.  

Instead, the Class will naturally tend to 'complete' or 'exemplify' it's role, rather than reinvent. 

Everyone with a Class starts at Level 1, as you might have intuited! New Levels are acquired through use of your Class! If you have a smithing Class, forging things from metal will gradually increase your Level. The easier the project, the slower the progress. Likewise, for Wayfinders, fighting monsters (or people) is your source of Leveling. For warlike Classes, true peril is a large factor for progression, making it a relatively rare choice. You can Level by training and sparring. But it would be extremely slow compared to being in real mortal combat with monsters. 

Leveling is easier and faster at low levels than it is at high ones.

At each Level, all of your attributes rise by one. You also receive two additional attribute points that can be freely allocated into your attributes at each Level. (For example: At level two, your stats will be Body:2, Mind: 2, And Spirit: 2. And you will have four attribute points to allocate. Perhaps you put them all into body raising it to 6. Later, at Level 3, you would have six points to allocate. You might leave them in body. You might also move all six into Spirit. 

Thus, a Class is extremely customizable.

Finally, each Level starting at Lv 2 grants you a Skill point, which lets you progress one of your Skills, unlocking more features and raising it's effectiveness. The cost of the upgrade is always points equal to current Level. Thus, it takes one point to move a Skill from (1) to (2). It takes four points to move it from (4) to (5). Max is (5) and once all Skills are maxed, at Lv 31, you no longer get Skill points.

This Level 31, is when a Class is generally considered completed, and serves as a minimum for many professional Wayfinding guilds. 

The maximum Level is 80!

A Catalyst is an orb, naturally occuring as a rare form of monster loot. 

Each Catalyst contains the vast potential of a single concept, which it can impart upon a single Skill, adding either a passive or active feature to that Skill. 

The precise effect is extraordinarily difficult to predict, and is the result of three major influences - the Skill it is used on, the Class that the Skill belongs to, and of course the Catalyst itself. 

For example: a person with an archery Class such as a Wildeye Ranger. They have a Skill called [Reckless arrow] which makes their arrows do more damage if they close their eyes to shoot. They use a common fire catalyst on this Skill. 

It may simply add a burning effect to the shot, further increasing damage and adding a damage over time effect. 

It may instead add an option to fire an explosive arrow. 

Or a passive that makes all arrows glow and fly faster and further. 

Or it may add an active fire-step that makes the wildeye ranger run with swift burning steps towards foes hit by the Skill [reckless arrow]. 

Or it may grant the Ranger temporary heat vision.

Or it may- 

You see the idea. 

Now add five Catalysts each, onto three Skills. 

Wayfinders get more unique the longer their careers go, if they are successful. 

Important note: if you do not like the results of a catalyst, you may relinquish the effect and remove it from your Class, without penalty. However, the catalyst question is lost. 

Some extremely wealthy people, families, and kingdoms Have been known to min-max this process, at great expense, using and relinquishing catalysts until a desired result is attained. These artisanal Classes are wildly expensive, and the actual results are rarely a good fit for the individual in question, but have been created consistently nonetheless.