Is this game beatable without reclassing?

[RNG Princess]

^^' I want one of my runs to be done with no re-classing. Would it be too difficult without it?

[cheetah7071]

You might bump into the 20/20 limit with a few characters, but it should definitely be doable on normal mode with no problems. Maybe hard mode too, I skipped straight to lunatic.

That said, there's no reward for sticking with a promoted class past level 15, when it learns its second skill.

[arvilino]

It probably wouldn't be too difficult to beat without reclassing. You probably shouldn't promote them at level 10 unpromoted though.

Edited May 18, 2012 by arvilino

[Othin]

At LV20, you can use a Change Seal to return to LV1 in the same class. If you aren't considering this to be reclassing, you should be fine.

Also, the easiest reclassing to do can be within the same class branch, which isn't nearly as extreme, and you might find that to be more okay.

[NinjaMonkey]

At LV20, you can use a Change Seal to return to LV1 in the same class. If you aren't considering this to be reclassing, you should be fine.

You keep all your stats, right?

[Othin]

You keep all your stats, right?

Correct. Stats only change in according with the changes to the base stats of the new class compared to the old, and with no change in class, there's no change in base stats, either.

The exception is if you go through a cap, in which case the stat is stored, but is limited to the cap while you remain in the class with the lower cap. When I reclassed my 5th-tier Demon Fighter Sol to Myrmidon, he lost a ton of stats due to the caps, but when he promoted back to Swordmaster, his promotion gains included recovering the stats that had been blocked by the caps: most of his promotion gains were in the double digits.

So no, it's not a concern that the level gets reset to 1, like always. The thing to keep in mind is that when you use a Change Seal, the game adds half of your current class levels as internal levels - treating promoted classes as level+20, like in past games. (When you promote, your level before promotion is ignored, like in other games.) These internal levels mean that a LV20 Sorcerer returning to being a LV1 Sorcerer is treated as a LV41 character, not a LV21 character. Sorcerer is a class that makes particular choice to stay in even on ordinary runs, being the best class in the game due to its exclusive access to dark magic and therefore being unique for most characters, with its core abilities impossible to carry over unless the character has Dark Blessing.

From what I hear, the game only keeps track of those internal levels up to a certain point: 20 for Normal, 30 for Hard, and 50 for Lunatic. So depending on the mode, it can be that much easier to grind: in Normal, no matter how much you level up a character, when they return to LV1 promoted, they'll be treated as LV41 at most, and work from there as they level up through the class. On Lunatic, on the other hand, they can be treated as LV71 at most, which I'd imagine is somewhat more challenging to work with. But by that point you've gained up to 100 levels already. Better use them well.

This makes the Exp system rather biased in favor of the single-tier classes. You can return Valhart to LV1 Overlord and he'll be treated as LV21 at most on Normal, while having the stats and caps of a promoted unit. Any male character can do this with the Demon Fighter class, and the females should become able to do it with the counterpart when it gets released. Taguels and Manakete should work similarly, also being able to function as promoted classes with unpromoted Exp gain, but Villagers and Dancers have obvious issues with that.

Edited May 19, 2012 by Othin

[Saethori]

The exception is if you go through a cap, in which case the stat is stored, but is limited to the cap while you remain in the class with the lower cap.

I've kind of wondered about this part, actually.

If the character 'remembers' their old stats even while their current class's caps restrict them... what happens during level-ups? Do the stats get wasted, or added to this 'memory'?

Say, Sol caps his Speed as Demon Fighter at 41 (class's cap, but Sol doesn't modify this.), and the level this occurs, he gets Change-Sealed to Myrmidon 1. While leveling to Myrmidon 10, and then reclassing to Swordmaster (Speed cap 46), would any level-ups gained during this time increase what his Speed becomes as Swordmaster? (Due to class differences, the difference between Demon Fighter and Swordmaster would make his speed 45 anyways, but the real question is if it would have hit 46 during the time he was Myrmidon.)

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining this well, it's kind of a difficult idea for me to articulate.

[arvilino]

I've kind of wondered about this part, actually.

If the character 'remembers' their old stats even while their current class's caps restrict them... what happens during level-ups? Do the stats get wasted, or added to this 'memory'?

Say, Sol caps his Speed as Demon Fighter at 41 (class's cap, but Sol doesn't modify this.), and the level this occurs, he gets Change-Sealed to Myrmidon 1. While leveling to Myrmidon 10, and then reclassing to Swordmaster (Speed cap 46), would any level-ups gained during this time increase what his Speed becomes as Swordmaster? (Due to class differences, the difference between Demon Fighter and Swordmaster would make his speed 45 anyways, but the real question is if it would have hit 46 during the time he was Myrmidon.)

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining this well, it's kind of a difficult idea for me to articulate.

Stats definitely don't increase if they are limited by the current classes cap. Like in FE12 and FE11.

[Othin]

I've kind of wondered about this part, actually.

If the character 'remembers' their old stats even while their current class's caps restrict them... what happens during level-ups? Do the stats get wasted, or added to this 'memory'?

Say, Sol caps his Speed as Demon Fighter at 41 (class's cap, but Sol doesn't modify this.), and the level this occurs, he gets Change-Sealed to Myrmidon 1. While leveling to Myrmidon 10, and then reclassing to Swordmaster (Speed cap 46), would any level-ups gained during this time increase what his Speed becomes as Swordmaster? (Due to class differences, the difference between Demon Fighter and Swordmaster would make his speed 45 anyways, but the real question is if it would have hit 46 during the time he was Myrmidon.)

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining this well, it's kind of a difficult idea for me to articulate.

My Sol went through this precise scenario, spending about 20 levels with his Spd capped. When he returned to the Swordmaster class, his Spd was just 45, not 46. So I'd say no, characters cannot increase their stored stats during this time.

[ReedTien]

On normal mode, this should be no problem. You'd need a lot of luck if you were to try it on hard or lunatic though.