Tuesday, April 18, 2023

[Article] Magical Natural Philosophy - New World CLASS Mechanica X XI

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yRwM7QfIFAZkU2SZqSceO_sF7QCHFSPF/view?usp=share_link

 

Ahoy hoy, Ziggy here!

Though this will not be exhaustive, the effort here is to attempt to build a taxonomy for CLASSES (ie JOBS) to make sense of changes and so on. LET US BEGIN.

First we can define Job Classes in the New World based on how Maruyama himself notates them differently-

(Normal)

(Genius)

(Unnotated) sans addenda

Of these three we have notation or the lack thereof on a given Job Class. All (Genius) CLASSES are just minor departures from the Unnotated variation, in Maruyama's own words, so it's more of a special case than a true divergence. The only reason it is even noted is (Genius) CLASS holders can possess powers beyond their level or so forth. For that same reason LESSER may be considered to fall under the same broad category as (Genius) does and are not truly distinct JOB CLASSES but 'variant' JOB CLASSES.  

We've already discussed LESSER but for the sake of reference a 'LESSER' LEVEL:

LESSER LEVELS: 

These are LEVELS which are obtained missing so many prerequisites (like power) that it negatively affects the LEVEL itself. Typically this means the SKILLS of that LESSER LEVEL are weaker than they should be compared to other early acquired LEVELS.  

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Normally, it would be impossible to acquire the Valkyrie class without being able to satisfy the prerequisites conditions, but she was able to do so. However, she instead obtained a lesser version, which has the disadvantage that her overall ability, and her trump card [Einherjar], is slightly weaker than that of the Valkyrie class. It is possible for [New World] natives to learn professions without regard to certain prerequisites. For example, if one is able to collect information at the expense of many casualties, they may be able to acquire the Ninja class even though it should be impossible for them to obtain, like with the non-lesser Valkyrie class. However, it must be said that the latter is impossible in practice. This is because Valkyrie is a much more difficult class to acquire than Ninja, and it is impossible for even outliers to obtain the Lesser version of this class, making it difficult to gather experimental subjects.

[V16] 

Nurunuru cast a defense spell on himself, while Keno used the power of the ultimate Vampire, The One. After plundering all the research of “Corpus of the Abyss,” she had researched it and gained this power. However, it was a realm that was only supposed to be reachable by more powerful entities. Since she had attained it with a weak body, its potency was greatly reduced. In that case, she ought to be called a Lesser One.

[KBA]

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Now in truth, we have two distinct types of CLASSES then:

(Normal) eg PRINCE(NORMAL)

and

(Unnotated) eg FIGHTER

Of note (Normal) has been written as (General), (Average), (Civilian), or even (Ordinary). Substitute your preferred for this discussion.

These two are presumably distinct and disjoint - an Unnotated CLASS is not a (Normal) CLASS and vice versa. The core idea is (Normal) CLASSES tend to lack power and stat bonuses of Unnotated CLASSES, are typically New World exclusive, and tend to be for non-Combat related roles. 

Unnotated CLASSES are pretty much any combat related JOB CLASS, both original and from YGGDRASIL. Of note is how Fighter and the many variations all have Martial Arts subsystems built into them distinct from YGGDRASIL's own Fighters, however YGGDRASIL magic classes have mostly the same subsystems. Of note is how New World JOB CLASS mages can perform rituals and enchant however, so there are divergences between the two schema of CLASSES. 

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There a [type] of class called Normal, but holders are not endowed with combat ability [sentou ginou] at the drop of a hat, rather it’s a different type of class which a person potentially acquires during their daily living [seikatsuru]. Skilled craftsmen are talented well, because their Normal class is high. But Normal classes are weak classes. For example, just because someone has Emperor Level 8, that does not mean they possess the equivalent combat ability [sentou nouryoko] as a Level 8 Warrior. Is the combat ability 1/5 or 1/2 the standard [for Normal classes compared to Warrior classes]?

hey obtain those kind of abilities ([is that] too vague?), compared to an identical farmer a Farmer[class holder] technical skill they possess has a feeling of being higher. The combat ability of a Lv. 1 Farmer and a person possessing technical skill, the Farmer is somewhat stronger. Well it’s the difference between a Lv. 0 and a Lv. 1 (Lv. 1 Farmer). Although they only differ by a few percentage points. A super powerful farming soldier may turn out like Lv. 7 (Lv. 2 Fighter, Lv. 5 Farmer). They’re Lv. 7, but they are weaker in comparison to a Lv. 7 Fighter. Does that answer your question? Q: Although Ainz cannot equip Warrior Job weapons and the maids cannot cook so their game settings are shown [in not being able to do things they have no classes for]. Demiurge made a throne for Ainz though. Is that not okay unless he has crafting classes? A: Tasks can be done as usual for Jobs not in YGGDRASIL. For example, because YGGDRASIL had a class called Weaponsmith, Demiurge cannot make weapons. Armor is the same. Yet, there was no Furniture Craftsmen system Job, so he can make it like normal. Nevertheless, Demiurge has exceeded do-it-yourself carpentry, maa Ulbert is at fault.  

[BLOG]

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What is most interesting however are the nuanced rules for (Normal) JOB CLASSES. The first is one proven by the Vaiself siblings. 

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De Facto CLASS Acquisition Lemma: (Normal) CLASSES Are De Facto and not De Jure designations

A person can hold a a (Normal) JOB CLASS despite not having the title officially. That is a De Jure designation, nobiliary particles, nor legally binding exchanges are not required for (Normal) CLASSES. 

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PF: 

Consider Renner. 

Renner is the Princess of the Vaiself family but she lacks a Princess CLASS.

Likewise, consider Zanac. 

Zanac was never crowned King, yet he bears the King(Normal) CLASS. 

Likewise, Pe Riyuro was never named Emperor(Normal) by his people yet he bears the CLASS. 

Suppose the Lemma is false. CONTRADICTION. 

Of special note is how Keno Invern's country effectively ceased to exist yet she retained her Princess CLASS (more on that later). That only further supports the idea designations are de facto based not de jure based, so not beholden to legislation, litigation, sovereignty, and so forth. 

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Country Destruction Corollary:

Aristocracy (Normal) CLASSES are retained even after the destruction of one's country. 

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Here let us state the Level Order Acquisition hypothesis. See the notes section for a break down of how and why this originated.


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Level Order Acquisition Corollary:

CLASSES listed on character sheets are notated by order of acquisition (generally). 

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Now, many attempt to disprove this Corollary by citing how Zanac had KING written before PRINCE which logically makes no sense if Levels are notated in order of when you acquire them. However, this may actually fall under a special case based on Tuare's character sheet as well. Recall Tuare was a SLAVE BEFORE she was a MAID yet MAID appears before Slave on her character sheet.

Zanac:

CLASS LEVELS: King(Common) Lv. 1 Prince(Common) Lv. 4 Charisma(Common) Lv. 2 Fighter Lv. 1

Tuare:

CLASS LEVELS: Maid(Common) Lv. ? Slave(Common) Lv. ? 

 This is noteworthy because Maruyama alluded specifically to Tuare one time in a strangely redacted Tweet. 

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Q: I was rereading the previous volumes in anticipation of Volume 13, but I had a question. Although Tsuare possesses a Maid class, the Ordinary Maids are able to perform their duties without problem without any skills. Is there some reason for this? Please ignore if it is a spoiler. A: It’s lengthy to talk about however, if one were to speak of the reason (omitted in the middle) so it can be done. Connected to that the New World’s job [classes] (omitted in the middle) because for example the Job called Slave (omitted in the middle) . Connected to this is the case of Slave, there is [only] 1 Level then (omitted in the middle) so the girl could make a living.

[TWTR]

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 The loop hole here is things flavor text can augment (like for the homunculus maids) seem to have CLASSES in the New World. And because these things are more fluid (not requiring game CLASSES), there seems to be some reason as to why they are distinct and thus can manifest as something NPCs need only flavor text to acquire. This is why Ainz can improve in his acting as well. The logic is fuzzy however, but it's vaguely non-game SKILLS that are affected. Coincidentally most (Normal) CLASSES also are built around such SKILLS and mechanics outside YGGDRASIL.

We can however hypothesize:

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(Normal) CLASS Evolution Theorem:

Theoretically if a person performs the work of a similar (Normal) CLASS, their (Normal) CLASS can evolve into a new one. This 'new' CLASS is not truly new but a repackaging of an 'old' CLASS and it's SKILLS. Thus it Evolution CLASSES are written above the CLASS they evolve from. 

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Consider Zanac and Tuare. King is pretty clearly an evolution of Prince (with more legal powers and so forth). Meanwhile, Maids can be thought of servants like Slaves, just with more rigorous education on practices (utensil placement, uniform maintenance, etc) and etiquette. Many tasks would be the same such as cooking, cleaning, and following orders.

CLASS Evolution would thus be an exception to Level Order Acquisition, showing it's not CLASS ORDER ACQUISITION but more SKILL ORDER (CLASSES being like bundles of SKILLS) Acquisition. Generally CLASS ORDER is SKILL ORDER, but Evolution complicates the discussion. 

Related to the De Facto designation is actually epithets. Epithets (sobriquet) tend to just be secondary names for characters some more descriptive or creative than others. However, Zanac's presents a very strange case - although uncrowned his epithet is the Last King of the Vaiself Family. And so his King(Normal) CLASS substantiates this. Or rather, he performed the role of King while he incarcerated his father and so acquired the CLASS and epithet (which came first is a mystery). This leads us to the case of:

 

Epithets Are De Facto Designations:

Epithets are independent of legal and national designations. It is unknown if they are CLASS Dependent, Independent, or Interdependent.

 

 Epithets however can be argued are Independent of CLASSES. Renner for example is known as the Golden Princess but lacks a Princess(Normal) CLASS normally. Decem as well can be argued to possibly be lacking a King(Normal) CLASS likely for the same reason Renner does: as Zanac described it one has to truly care for their nation and people to be royalty ( and possibly acquire these CLASSES). Renner and Decem both are notoriously selfish and abandon their nations and people easily. Decem however did have a strange sense of regal behavior and bossed people around though it is debatable if one considers if he had the King(Normal) CLASS. 

Likewise, Cure Elim considers himself a Dragon Lord (despite his character sheet confirming he is no longer a Dragon Lord). His capacity to continue using Wild Magic also reinforces his self designation at least as far as Slaine is concerned about what defines a Dragon Lord. This case shows that even mechanics are somewhat fluid compared to epithets. However Cure Elim does have an undead Draconic Racial class so in theory he can be considered both still.

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She had the title of Dragon Lord, but her combat power was only that of a regular person. While the Theocracy classified her as a True Dragon Lord, that was simply due to her inborn talents, and so some people used the very rare title of True False Dragon Lord to describe her. That was because the quality which determined her truth or falsehood was whether or not she could use Wild Magic.

[V9] 

“Onii-sama, between us, there is no need to lie. Onii-sama, without Marquis Raeven’s soldiers, has enough manpower to place our father under surveillance. The Ministers of the Interior and Military Affairs must have already joined Oniisama’s side… What does father plan to do?” “He still wants to talk it out with the Sorcerer Kingdom.” Because of that, Zanac had to step in as the King’s regent and take care of everything else the best he could. Since he had locked his father up, he had to take all of these matters into his own hands. If he still requested help from his father given these circumstances, he would truly be the most pathetic man ever.

[V14]

“That’s correct. We had thought that they had not been moving at all and that the declaration of war was just an empty threat. While our naive father was attempting to negotiate with them, things have already developed to this stage. Cities were destroyed and our people were massacred en masse.” Zanac gnashed his teeth and made an audible sound. “…Such barbarity. Absolutely unforgivable.” Those who could tolerate this kind of treatment were not fit to be called royalty.

[V14]

Renner:

CLASS LEVELS: Actress(Common) Lv. 4 Genius Lv. 5 { personal character } Someone who trampled over the happiness of the vast majority of the Kingdom’s people to better achieve her own dreams. She is the happiest woman in the world. She holds no ill will for the people of the Kingdom; rather, she feels a sort of gratitude towards them. That said, her sentiment is no different than one’s appreciation of the existence of food. Genius is a special class wherein its levels are interchangeable with all basic and common classes. That said, it can only replace on class at a time (currently(. Renner mostly used this class to substitude for Princess levels. It is important to note that Genius is an extremely rare class; in fact, it is possible to count the number of people who possess this class on two hands.

[V14]

“The king? Is it fine for you to be here? Aren’t the humans attacking? Why won’t you immediately go over there and save your people” “[Mana Essence]...I see.” Even Decem’s mana was quite high for this world’s denizens. It was about the same as Shalltear’s. HP and MP. Taking Elven culture into account, he most likely had the same class as Mare, a druid. A backline druid, to be specific. “Why should I do something like that? Seems like you are misunderstanding what being a king means. A king is someone who should be venerated as a supreme existence by his people, not someone who works for them. Mercy is the only thing the superiors give to those inferior. Understood? And mercy can only be pleaded for, not demanded. They should be satisfied even if they don’t receive it.” What the hell was this guy saying? Ainz was stunned. If Decem was really being serious, then there’s something wrong with his brain. Ainz even found the Elves pitiful for having such a king. “So you don’t feel like saving them? But, well — I can agree with a part of what you said.”

“What? Supreme Beings? Did Dark Elves have such oral traditions?” Decem pondered a bit and slightly shook his head. “Well, whatever. I can just hear about it in detail later.” “Do you really have the time for it? Like I said before, isn’t the human country knocking on your doors right now?” Ainz was flustered at the time he had wasted, so he immediately cast the next spell. “[False Data Life].”

Right at that moment, a rumbling came from under them, shaking the floor. It looked like the Theocracy finally brought out the siege engines. The twins and Decem turned to look at the floor and closed their mouths. Ainz continued to cast magic. “[False Data Mana].” “ — Tch. Humans are really troublesome. I could go over and wipe them out myself but...it’s bothersome. Let’s go.” “...Where are you telling us to go?” “[Penetrate Up].” “I haven’t thought about it but, well, nowhere should be a problem with my strength.”

[V16]

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 Now we can extend these rules possibly to Unnotated CLASSES, Neia's Squire(Servant) CLASS appears to behave similar to a CLASS Evolution.

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As an aside, her Servant levels can be converted into other CLASS levels if the proper conditions are met. 

[V12]

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We lack character sheets for most people during their growth so we do not know if similar CLASSES exist for every YGGDRASIL Job path. In theory however every CLASS could have one since it seems Paladin has one. It's inconclusive but we do know someone like Zanac only had the one level in Fighter with little to no training to speak of. Likewise Cure Elim taught himself Tier magic and got a Sorcerer level alone. If there was a CLASS before these popped up is the mystery since its difficult to prove they didn't exist. 

So let's talk about what doesn't EVOLVE based on circumstances. The most obvious are the occupational CLASSES: Mercenary, Knight, Academic Wizard and likely the Holy Knights and Imperial Knights as well. The point here is someone like Gazef is no longer a Mercenary yet his CLASS didn't change or evolve. The same applies to Gagarin and her Knight and Mercenary CLASS. As an Adventurer it's strange neither changed. In theory CLASSES like Alchemist also fall under this definition, but the classification is meant to illustrate a point - we can confirm that occupational CLASSES do NOT Evolve.

Occupational CLASSES:

These are Job CLASSES that seemed to earn by being either employed or trained to perform a specific role. Unlike CLASSES like Wizard, Priest, Fighter, etc these are more specific variations on such CLASSES. These are distinct CLASSES that do not EVOLVE with changes in occupation. Likewise they appear to be earned AFTER 'foundational' CLASSES.

In theory it seems all CLASSES are normally Occupational CLASSES. So Evolving CLASSES might be the exception. For our purposes let us consider Occupational CLASSES to be only the CLASSES that are not 'foundational' CLASSES as well (eg Fighter, Priest, Wizard, Paladin, etc). 

Foundational CLASSES:

The foundational CLASSES of a Job Class series. Maruyama defined these as:

"As for specific definitions for now, a Foundational Class is something like Fighter or Wizard, and basically all classes you begin with. You can't begin without it. "

 Hopefully that clears up some ambiguity. You can think of Occupational CLASSES as super low tier prestige CLASSES for the Foundational CLASSES. How strong Occupational CLASSES are isn't well known but they should at least be comparable to CLASSES from YGGDRASIL in stats and so forth. 

It's unknown why (Normal) or Civilian CLASSES can evolve but neither Foundational nor Occupational CLASSES appear to change based on circumstances. It is possible that because they are not the same type of CLASS (given Maruyama notates them differently) they possess the capacity to EVOLVE outside the normal rules for CLASSES. 

For the sake of completeness, we can further define CLASSES as Maruyama defined them for YGGDRASIL:

[基本級職]Foundational ranked job classes Classes you need to be a certain Class archetype. You can't start without these in some capacity.

[降中級職] Intermediate ranked job classes (Classes you needed to be Level 25 and up to acquire in YGGDRASIL)

[降上級職]Advanced ranked Job Classes (Classes you needed to be Level 50 and up to acquire in YGGDRASIL)

[降最上級職]Highest-grade Jobs (that is to say Classes you learn Level 75 and up in YGGDRASIL)

This is using YGGDRASIL logic to define the CLASSES but hopefully you see the utility in how Ainz compares CLASSES to this rubric. 

Next up is another New World CLASS sub-type or category: EXCLUSIVE CLASSES. Instead of Racial Substitution Levels, these are CLASSES that are EXCLUSIVE to a given race. Our best example of these are Wild Magic CLASSES. If CLASSES always existed or not is a debated subject. However, Maruyama himself defined these thus so can we!

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By the way, Tsa in addition to his Racial Levels he has acquired many special/unique [tokushana] (very excellent [yuushana]) dragon exclusive-use [doragon sen’you] classes. Wherein there is a connection to Wild [Wairudo] Magic

[V11AT]

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[特殊な(非常に優秀な)] Special(Extremely Oustanding)  CLASSES: A designation for CLASSES from Maruyama. He defined these for Wild Magic Job Classes. Why is not stated but much like how he evaluates some Talents as EX rank outside the F to S model suggest it might be similar to that rationality.

Of these of special note are Draconic Necromancer and Overed Dragon. These are special because Cure Elim ceased to be a Dragon Lord upon becoming undead yet these CLASS names did not change. In fact he even acquired an undead dragon RACIAL level but is referred to as no longer a Dragon Lord. 

 Thus we can say Special CLASSES like Occupational CLASSES also fall outside the Evolution circumstances. Still his undead racial level still mentions he's a Dragon so the logic here is fuzzy.

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Dragon Lords cannot cast tier magic, but since Cure Elim transformed itself from a Dragon Lord into an undead being, it could cast tier spells of the necromantic school.

[KBA]

95 TOTAL LEVELS [RACIAL LEVELS] + [CLASS LEVELS] 51 RACIAL LEVELS + 44 CLASS LEVELS Dragonling Lv. 10 Young Lv. 10 Adult Lv. 10 Old Lv. 10 Elder Lv. 5 Ancient Lv. 5 True Vampiric Dragon Lv. 1 Primitive Caster Lv. 10 Draconic Necromancer Lv. 7 World connector Lv. 9 Overed Dragon Lv. 10 Soul Blasphemer Lv. 7 Sorcerer Lv. 1  

[KBA]

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Theoretically a CLASS like WORLD CHAMPION might be considered a Special(Extremely Outstanding) CLASS. That is because it was considered an official cheat in YGGDRASIL. 


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 World Champion:

A class that one needs to clear special conditions to use. The strongest warrior class in Yggdrasil, an official cheat. This class has extremely high fighting ability, against the upper high players they can take on three, the upper middle players, four, upper low, five….And so on. However it is unclear who would win if they are up against someone with a trump card or a World Item.By the way, the special condition (TL: may be the only one or one of the many; unclear.) was to win in an official tournament.

[WN]

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Ironically Humanoids were said to have many SPECIAL CLASSES, and one penalty for Heteromorphs was they lost access to many of these. In exchange heteromorphs however gained their own SPECIAL CLASSES as well. We can classify both of these cases as EXCLUSIVE CLASSES. A caveat of these Humanoid CLASSES were they had stricter acquisition requirements but also stronger ability score growth so they might be categorized as the Wild Magic CLASSES are.

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However Heteromorphs have penalties.

They cannot have certain classes, cannot enter certain cities, is fine to PK, penalties depending on race, and cannot equip certain equipment. Even if they take only one level, the penalty activates. Jobs that have difficult requirements would have a higher rate of skill point increase. And there is the case of only humans being able to have that class.

[WN]

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The next type of CLASS isn't special but rather about the SKILLS within a CLASS. Effectively these are CLASSES that have SKILLS which cannot be obtained without 'Character Data' or LEVELS. Things like higher tiers of magic would fall under this definition as well. 

Data Driven CLASSES:

CLASSES with abilities that rely on 'character data'[キャラクターデータ] to perform their functions.  The feats of these CLASSES cannot be replicated without these LEVELS no matter how much effort is used. Typically related to magic or mana. Foundational CLASSES can be Data Driven CLASSES (Wizards acquiring magic casting, Fighters acquiring Martial Arts, Paladin's acquiring smiting) in theory.

A good way to re-contextualize these are Data Driven CLASSES have SKILLS that not even Players can attempt without the CLASS. So acting might fall under a non-Data Driven SKILL. Effectively one needs a fixed amount of 'unfathomable magic' from CLASSES and Leveling Up to access power. It's similar to how Levels have passive bonuses as well to killing intent and damage reduction.

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 Ah, one can also train[tanren] their body[nikutai] in addition to this. This may seem like a game explanation yet, there is foundational physical strength [su no kinryoku] (which can be trained) + Level Up Physical Strength (evolution [shinka]) + and various corrections from classes etc (power that comes from unfathomable magical power [maryoku tekina fukashigi no ryoku]) should be the plan.

[V5+6AT] 

. In contrast, as a member of the Dragon Race and with powerful job classes, Cure Elim-kun is actually more powerful than his 95 levels imply. Of course, thanks to level-based damage adjustment, his odds of victory are lower

[KBA]

In Overlord, Level is an absolute stat. Even should your ability be high, that does not compensate against the absolutes of Level such as the number of skills one can use, the damage dampening effects from level differentials, and the Tier of magic one can use

[10th Anniversary]

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Furthermore, LESSER LEVELS can be seen as exceptions to Data Driven CLASSES. In this case, there is just enough 'character data' to manifest the LESSER LEVEL despite there not being enough to fully materialize it. Supposing that is true, that would mean the key to LESSER LEVELS is character data, ie a threshold must be met to even acquire them in the first place in addition to prerequisites. 

One possibility is that Base Ten Wall Theory is built on this notion of 'character data' as well. The mystery then is why it's every Ten Levels not some other number. Martial Art CLASSES also seem to operate in half steps of Ten. Martial Arts prove that LEVELS do grant more power in steps of 5 or 10 in terms of how much power one can harness at once or expel - mainly in regards to Focus Capacity. As that is a New World only power, we might conclude all CLASSES have similar power and Base Ten is the normal method which that power is expelled instead of Martial Arts users increasing their Focus and Focus Capacity. 

It would be like every ten levels one can acquire a single permanent Martial Art-like power, an enhancement, SKILL, or so forth related to their pre-existing CLASSES.  That nuance however is overly biased to how the New World powers work - passive stacking and synergies for example like Talents.

In theory at least. The numbers could just be a coincidence as well. Excuse the digression.

Our last topic is Amalgamated LEVELS. 

Amalgamated LEVELS: 

Much like Racial Substitution LEVELS these are CLASS LEVELS which have aspects of two or more other CLASSES in one LEVEL. Examples include Noble Fighter, Holy Queen, Sacred Archer, Vampire Princess and possibly even Academic Wizard(Sage+Wizard). Bishop would be an example of an Amalgamated LEVEL from YGGDRASIL.

How Amalgamated LEVELS come into existence isn't clear. Racial Substitution LEVELS at least are inherent qualities of a specific Race that allow it to double as a Race version of a JOB CLASS.  Not just anyone can acquire an Amalgamated LEVEL either, neither does every combination create a new one. They often can combine their two aspects into one (Neia can smite using Archer combat). 

Neia's case is best shown by the idea having affinity for being a Paladin and Archer is rare thanks in part due to her heritage. Given Caspond and Calca were both Clerics likely Holy King and Holy Queen manifested as an Amalgamated LEVEL naturally over the generations as the two Aptitudes mixed. 

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She might have inherited her father’s keen senses, but sadly, she had not received anything from her mother. Neia’s mother had been a famous paladin in her time, and she had excellent sword skills. However, as her daughter, Neia had no talent for the sword, no matter how much she practiced. Strictly speaking, the bow techniques passed down from her father meant that she could use bows skillfully even without any training. No, the fact was, Neia was fortunate just to inherit that half of her heritage. However, the skills used by the paladins which Neia so admired could only be used with melee weapons. For Neia, who wanted to become a paladin, being talented with ranged weapons was a waste.

[V12]

The reason why she had ended up like this, why she could do something that was previously impossible for her was because after that battle, she was not just capable of archery, but of harnessing what they called divine power. However, the strange thing was that it was slightly different from the abilities that paladins were said to possess. This was because normally, paladins could only channel their powers through melee weapons, while she could imbue ranged weapons with her powers. 

[V13]

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 One line of reasoning is one needs to fuse an Occupational LEVEL to another CLASS or have influence from a RACIAL LEVEL to achieve an Amalgamated LEVEL. So Noble Fighter would be a Noble who is a Fighter and Neia is an Archer in the Paladin Order to get away with an Amalgamated LEVEL existing. Holy Queen is another example where the person is a divine caster but also serves as a ruler. So this would be why Bishop is distinct from Amalgamated LEVELS - it's not formed from a fusion of the two types of CLASS LEVELS(OCCUPATIONAL and YGGDRASIL or FOUNDATIONAL), as it is a vestige of YGGDRASIL. 

With this line of reasoning Amalgamated LEVELS are Foundational and Occupational Level fusions.  This would also explain why Vampire Princess is a JOB CLASS not a Racial Level. It's a Princess who is also a Vampire basically - instead of a Vampire who fills a Princess role in the Vampiric race (Vampiric Princess as in Cure Elim's True Vampiric Dragon). That might be too pedantic for an argument however. What do you think? At least it's an argument that addresses the Princess vs Lord argument. 

Basically VAMPIRIC is an adjective that in terms of linguistics modifies DRAGON, meanwhile VAMPIRE PRINCESS VAMPIRE can be seen as a adjective or noun. Notice the distinction - one has fluidity or rational flexibility in how it can be used in language. Keno is a Vampire OR a Princess. Cure Elim however cannot be a Dragon OR a Vampire - he is permanently an undead now. Keno however can still chose not to use her Princess upbringing or Vampire abilities - in that case the difference here is how CLASS LEVELS tend to be arrays or bundles of SKILLS or feats one can chose to apply in the struggles of life. RACIAL LEVELS in contrast force certain RACIAL SKILLS to be active (though not all) like penalties and bonuses. Therein lies one possible distinction for why the two are notated differently linguistically but what do you think?

The point here is coming from the same volume we can attempt to explain why one Vampire LEVEL is a RACIAL LEVEL and one is a CLASS LEVEL.

 If we hone in on the semantics however, consider why Remedios and Gustav, HOLY KNIGHTS of the HOLY KINGDOM (as written on the Japanese cover) have a different name than Neia's SACRED ARCHER where SACRED KINGDOM was the name of the Volume in English. Many attributed this to poor translation and localization. However, we can also see this equivalent translation for the same concept as a distinction between the justice of the Old Order (Calca's regime) and Neia's new justice centered on Ainz. 

It is quite semantic however: 

Holy = religion is valued between people or places

Sacred = religion is valued for non-people(places, things, events)

Put another way you can argue the semantics here were intentionally chosen by Maruyama to reflect the divergence in justice. Neia as a Sacred Archer shows how the Holy Kingdom venerate a shared communal fuzzy sense of justice but a more static figure of justice ( a God Head ie Ainz and rigid dogma of WEAKNES = SIN). This contrasts with the Calca regime which demonized demihumans (mainly for politics and not as a central tenet of the faith) but had a idyllic bent embraced by some of the Paladin order if not the entire nobility. 

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 Remedios:

CLASS LEVELS: Paladin(Genius) Lv. ? Holy Knight Lv. ? Evil Slayer Lv. ? Others  

Calca:

CLASS LEVELS: Cleric Lv. ? High Priestess Lv. ? Holy Queen Lv. ? Others 

Gustav:

CLASS LEVELS: Paladin Lv. ? Holy Knight Lv. ? Charisma(Common) Lv. ? Others

Neia:

CLASS LEVELS: Paladin Lv. 2 Sacred Archer Lv. 3 Evangelist Lv. 2 Founder Lv. 4

========================================================================

Curious how you can re-contextualize Neia's CLASS that way - the New World's class name assignment clearly distinguishing between her SACRED and Remedios and her HOLY. Calca being the HOLY QUEEN also reflects this. The crux here is SACRED AND HOLY are valid but slightly nuanced divergences on the same core ideal or idea. You could also attribute the core distinction being HOLY is for Goodness while SACRED comes about from Godhead worship. The Holy Kingdom worships the Gods but you don't see them defer to Godly decrees or revelations or dogma when they have conflicts about justice. Neia in contrast constantly ruminates on revelations or statements from Ainz first when interpreting Justice. 

If you want to go even further notice how Kelart and Caspond both lack HOLY and SACRED CLASS names. You might contextualize that anyone with generic Divine caster CLASS names falls inbetween or has their own sense of morality distinct from the these two. Could just be we do not see the classes however. It's curious though how Kelart is described as using underhanded means and Caspond as well and both have this commonality (Caspond doesn't have a Holy Noble CLASS and Kelart's Hierophant isn't a HOLY HIEROPHANT). It could be this distinction only works for Amalgamated CLASSES? Or is it all just a coincidence? Dun Dun Duuuuuuun

This may be also why Slaine had issues with Roble in cooperation - it's a divergence in HOLY vs SACRED. Slaine is a Theocracy to an extent but they follow the teaching and model left by their Gods, so in some sense they might have SACRED KNIGHTS if this theory holds weight. This might also inform the divergence in the Six Great Gods and Four Great God faiths(6=Revealed Religion, 4=Rationalized Religion). To see angels as divine messengers of a sort could be another divergence - SACRED theologists assign greater value to their religious magic than HOLY theologists. That's how Gazef described the split between the Four and Six Great Gods at least. 

 ========================================================================

Angels. Angels were monsters summoned from another world, and many people — particularly, the citizens of the Slaine Theocracy — believed them to be messengers of the gods. However, the priests of the Kingdom ruled that these so-called angels were merely summoned monsters. While these religious disputes were part of the reason why the countries were set against each other, Gazef felt that their status as divine messengers was secondary to their strength as monsters.

[V1] 

 ========================================================================

We also know however no one uses their names in the surrounding countries only people of Slaine refer to their deities by concrete names which supports how the Four Great God faith is more 'mechanistic' and Aniconistic (distancing the historical aspects of the Gods in favor of broader but vague symbolism). To Slaine however, these figures were real people, who left relics and history behind, and thus why they uphold ideas like angels being sacred constructs if not just normal summons based on rationality. 

Your mileage might vary with that conclusion however. Of note however is how 'service' and Neia's Squire (SERVANT) CLASS might be connected in the nuance between SACRED and HOLY. Holy has nuances of devotion and dedication, however SACRED implies a more tangible and servile (ie direct Servitude to something divine or of sacred importance). Because Neia directly served as Ainz's Squire(SERVANT), this might be why she got SACRED instead of HOLY - it's the exact reverse of what happened to the Six to Four Great God schism. History can repeat itself ironically. Hur hur.  

Here's an artillery barrage of definitions of HOLY and SACRED if you want to embrace the autism of semantics with Ziggy! 

 

Holy: dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose

Worthy of absolute devotion

To be treated with utmost veneration or respect (Sacred) 

having a divine quality

Devoted to a deity or the work of a deity

 

Sacred:

connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration.

Set apart for the service or worship of a deity

Devoted exclusively to one use or service

Worthy of veneration or reverence

Of or relating to religion

 

Hopefully this digression illustrates why we have to be pedantic and semantic with CLASS names in Overlord. Maybe this will matter for the last two volumes... or maybe not!

Based on Keno and Neia we can draw one rule for Amalgamated CLASSES - one needs the Foundational CLASS to trigger the Evolution of the Normal CLASS. So Keno likely had Princess(Normal) and then acquired her Vampire Racial Level. VAMPIRE PRINCESS then likely came about as she did research using Corpus of Abyss notes and her Princess(Normal) feats began to also tap into her Vampire SKILLS, resulting in her being able to charm undead (if you reread the other Magical Natural Philosophy sections you might see this is a reoccurring motif and theme of the New World's mechanics to create synergy and symbiosis amongst it's mechanics like power up buff stacking for Martial Arts), likely training the ability by bantering with Satoru a stronger undead being and winning. 

Neia's ARCHER and PALADIN and SACRED ARCHER CLASSES may have also experienced similar divergences. The tricky part here is SERVANT behaves more like an Evolution CLASS or Occupational CLASS while PALADIN we know is a YGGDRASIL, Data Driven CLASS(unlocking new magical SKILLS), or Foundational CLASS. The Amalgamated CLASS rules seem to still work however as ARCHER and PALADIN can both fit the Foundational CLASS mold. The issue here is by Level Order Acquisition, why is PALADIN on top of Neia's sheet if SACRED ARCHER is the Occupational CLASS?

One possibility is SERVANT can be Evolved multiple times - if Neia had 2+ SERVANT LEVELS, one could be used to make PALADIN and one or more for SACRED ARCHER. 

In this case, SERVANT was a catalyst for both an Amalgamated AND Foundational CLASS. 

In this case at least some Evolution CLASSES are distinct from Foundational CLASSES and Occupational CLASSES, able to become both. So what could we call them? Progenitor CLASSES? Antecedent CLASSES? 

 

Antecedent CLASSES:

CLASSES that can Evolve into other Normal, Foundational, or even Amalgamated CLASSES on a case-by-case basis. eg Neia's SERVANT might have become a PALADIN and a SACRED ARCHER CLASS.  Prince(Normal) might be able to be become both King(Normal) and a non (Normal) CLASS like Holy KING. Or it might be able to become Holy Prince. 

 

Maybe now a few of you at least understand why Ziggy wanted to talk about this topic! This shit is complicated! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Say we have a Level 1 Prince

And then he gets PRINCE Level 5. But decides to study Divine magic and gets CLERIC. But whoops- he also started evolving his PRINCE into  KING. But now he's also influenced by his CLERIC level and so his KING levels begin changing into HOLY KING levels. 

Whoops.

See how this is hard to talk about without some vernacular and a system of logic? 

We can explain why PRINCE changes into KING and KING into HOLY KING. But also why CLERIC doesn't change. It's because there are nuanced divergences in the CLASS system here that really do require technical schema to make sense of. 

Theoretically PRINCE could become KING or HOLY KING so it might count as a Antecedent or Precursor CLASS. This complicates matters of course but hopefully it makes sense how the definition can expand a tiny bit and have different implications. 

If nothing else, we can explain why SAGE, a YGGDRASIL Foundational CLASS, doesn't have many culturally distinct names in the New World. While nobility can vary slightly or greatly. Yet both Jircniv and Pe Riyuro have the same Emperor CLASS. Perhaps all Foundational and Normal CLASSES tend to resist cultural distinction and only Amalgamated and Occupational CLASSES are weak to cultural nuance? 

But then how do LESSER CLASSES fit in? 

Foundational CLASSES with more power like a Genius are just called FOUNDATIONAL CLASS (Genius). LESSER CLASS NAME CLASSES however have a prefix. Why the notation differs is likely significant. (Genius) are marginally better versions of a CLASS, meanwhile LESSER CLASSES are clearly inferior to the original. And it appears LESSER indicates a significant LEVEL CAP or prerequisite skipping where the SKILL or abilities of the LESSER CLASS  are affected negatively. 

That does give us a hint - CLASS NAMES require a certain degree of mechanical departure to get a new CLASS NAME. Whatever power (Genius) gives is not enough to change the CLASS NAME, only give a modifier. In contrast LESSER is enough to actually affect the CLASS NAME. This might be why not all Races have unique Racial variants of every CLASS as well based on their culture. This might be why Satoru was very clear how Keno's VAMPIRE PRINCESS SKILL Dominate Undead was so rare and abnormal to Satoru and YGGDRASIL's logic. Amalgamated CLASSES by definition have divergences so extreme they became distinct CLASSES. 

In a sense Amalgamated CLASSES exemplify what we have seen in theory in Magical Natural Philosophy like with Decem's Summoning Bonus Stacking (OVER Summoning) or Cure Elim's theoretical Dyad casting; the people of the New World can synergize disparate elements into new ones via stacking or combining. 

========================================================================

…Fine, I get it. I’ll go read some of the research notes we swiped. If I have to do any experiments, you have to help me, okay?” “But of course.” The research notes they had recovered from the members of “Corpus of the Abyss” were all along the lines of enhancing their skills to dominate more powerful undead, learning how to cast spells of higher tiers, enhancing the attributes of the undead and so on. Therefore, Keno had thrown herself into the role of backing up Suzuki Satoru, in the hope that completing one of those topics might end up strengthening Suzuki Satoru. Sadly, none of their attempts had succeeded. However, that was in Suzuki Satoru’s case. Keno herself had benefited from them. It seemed like she had gotten a little stronger. In fact, she — who originally lacked the ability to dominate the undead — now possessed such an ability. From the perspective of Yggdrasil’s racial and job class systems, that should have been impossible

[KBA]

========================================================================

 

Maruyama's logic can be weird but this can explain why Azuth didn't get a POWERED SUIT MASTER CLASS as well (at least as far as we know). Whatever he is doing to specialize in POWERED SUIT use isn't enough to diverge from what another CLASS offers.  This is also why races like Beebeezee's don't have lots of racial distinctions in CLASS. Things like ACADEMIC WIZARD require substantial divergences in a preexisting CLASS to qualify. What counts as 'substantial' is up to the person however - we only vaguely know that a divergence of some magnitude is needed, what that divergence is not clear. 

That begs the question, is DRACONIC NECROMANCER like what Cure Elim has a sign of this evolution as well Wild Magic began to tap into Amalgamated CLASSES like Keno's VAMPIRE PRINCESS?  That might explain why DRACONIC NECROMANCER and SOUL BLASPHEMER are lower level than his other JOB CLASSES. Wild Magic might be based on a synthesis of the Normal or Occupational CLASSES and something else too - which was then displaced by YGGDRASIL Foundational CLASSES. That's why Wild Magic has a unique Foundational CLASS and weird prefixes on a CLASS like NECROMANCER. Not everyone agrees if CLASSES existed before Players came. So it's food for thought if the differences in CLASS types fits into the mystery or not. 

With our new notation here hopefully you can begin asking yourself new questions about all the character sheets and the mysteries within! Ziggy hopes the scope of what you discover and debate expands even just a little with this!! 



-END MAGICAL NATURAL PHILOSOPHY: New World CLASS MECHANICA-


========================================================================

Attached after will be all the information about the Six Great God vs Four Great God schism ,Level Order Acquisition Hypothesis and Racial Substitution Levels if you wanted more documentation(as well as to bundle it to the rest of this dumpster truck of a PDF). These are older articles so excuse any inconsistencies.

=========================================================================

 

Q: Lore question here for you. Is there any indication to the event which led to the religious schism and the refusal of most of the NW's continent to worship the gods of death and light?

There is no direct answer. We do know the Six Great Gods and Four Great Gods are not worshipped outside this region for the most part. The humanity the Six Great gods saved was not in a very good state so a lot of time went into just establishing the basics, morality, and infrastructure of human culture grounded in Japanese culture.

The only direct aspect of the schism is we know the Four Great Gods only see angels as monsters they can summon and nothing more. The people of the Six Great Gods however see them as divine emissaries. The confusion likely stems from the fact the Six Great Gods probably talked about angels coming from the same "place" ie YGGDRASIL, as them and so they were assigned divine agency and mandate because of that.

I personally believe the ideological schism is grounded in that distinction between what was "revealed " to them by the extra dimensoinal beings the humans called Gods, and what humanity came to understand over time as they became more educated. As people began to undertstand what summoning was, the idea of it's "sanctity" wore off. It's much how water is seen as holy in so many cultures becuase that idea of "purity" is a primitive understanding of hygene. Much how burial practices (ie burning or into the ground) were ways to dispose of the dead to prevent the spread of pathogens and disease and carrion by products etc. These practices had the result of improving the health of the communities and were passed as ritual as a result.

Over time we came to understand there were things like bacteria, viruses, and so on and thus these practices "lose" their religious connotation in favor of the rational and scientific explanation. It's an evolution of ideas (or a devolution of faith).

The rejection of Surshana is pretty obvious given his undead visage and reputation as a god to be feared out of appeasement. In modern faiths and cultures, such ideas of tribute and fear are not very successful in maintaining faiths across generations - you might convince the doomers and end of the world enthusiasts however such Gods held sway in older cultures based on their understandings of the world around them and the brutality and violence of every day life. Gods reflect the people who venerate them, so in an uncaring and more hostile world, people paint their gods like their devils to reflect this.

In more enlightened (advanced) societies however, such ideas begin to lose their luster in favor of more palatable and abstract notions - hence why religions undergo either ascetic or glorification to appeal more broadly to their constituents and to gain new adherentss in new cultures. The foundation may be the same but there is a clear transition in the dogma to appeal to others. Western examples are like the Old to New testament, compared to how Indian Buddhism mutated into Mahayana or Zen Buddhism as it spread.

It's a common human behavior to put their own spin and flavor on the narratives they read or write. Plays and playwrights recognized this behavior so the more successful plays often have room for interpretation and design and actions up to the actors using said script. It's a collaboratiive process rather than rote repetition. Faith inspires adherence to rituals and practices, but schisms often result when some practices or rituals are found wanting or lacking in their own culture or with how things change with time.

============================================================================= 

Racial Substitution Levels 

 

Ahoy hoy. 


Ziggy wants to talk about something in Overlord that’s been present since the first volume but never really gets discussed directly. 


For instance, because the racial job levels substitute for the basic monk job,

there is no need to learn it.

This accumulation of knowledge and optimization has not happened, because

their civilization has not progressed.

[V11AT]


What does Maru mean “there is no need to learn it”? Or by optimization?


Let Papa Ziggy explain!


There are certain classes only certain races can learn. We know of a few in fact. There are Racial variants of Job classes, but Maruyama has decided to make these Racial Classes instead. Originally, these classes, called Racial Substitution Classes were special variants of classes. 


For example, there is a class called Dwarven Fighter. It counts as Fighter but   can only learn it as a Dwarf. Likewise, it was typically thought of how your race would fight based on their characteristics or tropes. So Dwarven Fighters got bonuses for using axes and abilities related to fighting despite their stubby little legs. 


This was how one game treated these. But that isn’t the only game with Racial Substitution classes. Maruyama in fact seems to have taken the rules from the game above and mixed them with how Racial Substitution classes worked in another game, that is being an actual Racial Class. 

Skeleton Mage, Insect Warrior, Insect Druid, Goblin Rider/Warrior/Mage/Archer/Cleric/Mage, and War Troll are all slight variations on this exact same idea of a Quagoa class counts as a  Monk class. 


For instance, Ainz is able to use Tier 10 magic. However, he does not have nearly as many Job classes as he would need to have this feat. The answer, as many of you intuitively know is that his Racial classes give Magical Tiers just like Job classes. 


But what does Maru mean by optimization and there is no need to learn Monk or the substituted for class? 


This is a delicate discussion, but first, let us call these Racial classes which count as Job classes Racial Substitution Classes. Let’s call the Job class they substitute for the Base Class. The rule is in the game they come from that Racial Substitution classes count as an SUBSTITUTE  to a specific Base Class. If you wonder why Ziggy Caps Locked that, keep in mind what substitute actually means. One thing works in place of another.

Let’s compare Seas to Pe Riyuro to explain what I mean. 


Sebas has 10 Monk levels and then further Monk like classes. For the sake of this discussion, I will assume all of Sebas’s Job classes are Monk-type classes. 


Monk Level 10

Martial King Level 10

Striker Level 5

Inner Ki Master Level 15

Outer Ki Master 5

Total Known Monk Levels = 45


Pe Riyuro

Quagoa Level 10

Quagoa Lord Level 10

Monk Level 6

Ki Master Level 4

Total Known Monk Levels = 30


Assuming that Quagoa Lord is a special Monk class like Quagoa. 


So what is the difference between this Total Known Level and Racial Substitution Classes?


This is very important. A Racial Substitution class counts as a SUBSTITUTION for a regular Job class, the Base Class. What this means is it is basically a variant of that class. So let’s take Quagoa and Monk. 


Made up Example to Illustrate a Point

At Monk Level 1, let’s say you learn Blunt Unarmed Damage +1 or something.

At Quagoa Level 1 you would learn Natural Slashing Unarmed Damage +1. 


They are incredibly similar bonuses but not identical. 


But the real confusion with Racial Substitution classes comes from the next fact. 


Suppose Pe Riyuro learned Quagoa Level 1 first. Thus he learned our made up Natural Slashing Unarmed Damage +1. What happens when he learns Monk Level 1? Does he learn Blunt Unarmed Damage +1?


The answer will probably surprise you. The power of a Racial Substitution Class is that it allows you to get a Racial Class with the advantages of that Race (this is a factor Racial Substitution Classes have in a different game and appears to be how Maruyama uses them). So for Ainz, he can get the Racial Immunities of the undead while also double dipping and getting Magical casting Tiers with Skeleton Mage!


But did you ever wonder if that benefit came at a price? 


The truth is there is in fact a downside, but an incredibly minor one beyond the racial weaknesses that come with those bonuses. 


That is, if you have a Racial Substitution Class, if you take the original Base Class it substitutes for, you don’t get any of the perks!


Dun Dun Duuuuuuun. 


This isn’t to say it does absolutely nothing. But rather it allows you to pump up your total class level, but it’s pretty much a waste because you could have taken any other class of that type instead of the Base class, gotten the same benefit AND learned new skills. 


So let’s go back to Pe Riyuro . 


In our hypothetical example, he had Quagoa Level 1 first. Then he learned Monk. Level 1. 


In this example, little baby Pe Riyuro had a total Monk Level of 2. If he was a magic caster this double dipping would eventually give him new Tiers to use, so in terms of acquiring new Monk classes or abilities, having the Racial Substitution Class and Base Class it Substitutes for does still do stuff. 


But the reason Maru says there is no reason to learn them and there is a lack of optimization in his race is the following.


Pe Riyuro will never learn Blunt Unarmed Damage +1 even if he learns Monk Level 1!


This is the downside of Racial Substitution Classes. You will never learn certain fundamental abilities of the class you had a Racial Substitution Class for. There is no way to learn them either. So let’s assume that every level of Quagoa counts as Monk levels.


If Pe Riyuro learned all hs Quagoa levels first, then his 6 Monk levels, what that means is he has 6 wasted levels which do increase his overall Monk abilities, but he didn’t learn any additional Monk special skills or the like. 


Let’s do a thought exercise to make this crystal clear. 


Let’s say Pe Riyuro knows Iron Skin. 


And let’s assume Iron Skin gets buffed by each level of Monk classes. For this example, let’s limit Pe Riyuro to Monk and Quagoa levels. 


Pe Riyuro - Monk Level 6 Quagoa Level 10.


Iron Skin = Number of Monk Levels * 1.1 = Damage dealt/ strength of skill


As Monk and Quagoa are Monk classes, Pe Riyuro’s Iron Skin will still act as if he had 16 total Monk levels to enhance the ability. 


However, rather than Monk he could have learned any other Monk type class instead and gotten the exact same payoff AND learning new Monk skills.


This, my sheeple is the what Maruyama meant by there is no need to learn the Base class. 


This is why Cocytus doesn’t need Fighter or Ainz doesn’t need Mage or Wizard. They took the Racial Substitution class instead of the Base class.


Like it comes up though, Racial Substitution classes do have drawbacks even beyond the normal racial weaknesses. The biggest drawback is you are locked out of other certain classes because of them. 


However Heteromorphs have penalties.

They cannot have certain classes, cannot enter certain cities, is fine to

PK, penalties depending on race, and cannot equip certain equipment.

Even if they take only one level, the penalty activates. Jobs that have

difficult requirements would have a higher rate of skill point increase.

And there is the case of only humans being able to have that class.

[WN]


So let’s go back to the Chinpokeymanz article. Ziggy brought up how Centaur, Zoastia, and Orthorus all pretty much counted as a racial variant of Rider. Those are Racial Substitution classes!


They came with a price which is more evident than with all these other Racial Substitution classes. That is, they cannot wear normal equipment on their lower bodies, they most likely have poor stealth abilities due to their much larger size, and are pretty much barred from ever learning proper Rider classes. That Racial Substitution class also came with benefits though if you recall, such as increased attack options, the ability to naturally use cavalry weapons as normal equipment, and even ways to meta game the Charge like properties normal Riders have for other purposes like Rogue or long range projectile users. 


Ziggy was inspired by Maruyama sensei, so he wanted to try foreshadowing. Kek.


It’s important to note those Rider Racial Substitution Classes are a bit different from a normal Racial Substitution Class as they actually are prohibited from the Base Class due to their special circumstances (you can’t really ride a horse if you have a giant horse like lower body….) They could potentially learn rarer Rider classes like being able to Ride a Dragon but those are the weirder exceptions since the Mount is so large. 

 

Well hopefully you have a better understanding why Ainz or Cocytus have so many Racial classes and what Maruyama meant by not having to learn certain classes due to Racial classes.  



=========================================================================

Level Order Acquisition Hypothesis 

 

A more meta article. 


Basically, a while back the Japanese boys were having their little very polite spats. Basically, “Why did Cure Elim’s original name not get auto translated?”


Now, keep in mind many of the normal guys were not involved since they didn’t get the book. So keep in mind fewer people were informed enough to take part. 


Well anyway, a few others and Ziggy are in the camp “Cure Elim’s name was sung related” and that’s why Satoru Suzuki couldn’t hear it. The main evidence for this is how despite all the foreign terms we know, foreign to this world, we have never seen a person unable to even hear that term. They may mispronounce them, but they do not lack the ability to even hear it. 


Perhaps Freivartz had gotten the message, but he nodded slightly. That implied

that he knew the right time and place for this sort of thing.

And then, he sang. No, this was less of a song than a collection of bizarre

sounds. This was because there were some parts he could hear, but not understand.

It stopped after several seconds, although the strange music


[V10]


Suzuki Satoru and Keno listened to the bard’s tales.

While they had no idea why, foreign spoken languages in this world were automatically translated into a recognizable form. Specific nouns retained their

original pronunciation, but other meaningful vocabulary was translated. The

question of who had done this and how they had done it was a riddle that remained

unsolved. The logic behind the translation of song lyrics was murkier;

an unskilled singer’s words would sound like meaningless, broken nonsense.

The performer’s skill was not the only criteria either; the audience also needed

a certain degree of culture and understanding. According to Keno, being able

to accurately understand a song was a mark of social status in the upper crust,

and there were actually specialized classes for such things.

In any case, a philistine like Suzuki Satoru who not only had no taste but was

uncultured to boot would only be able to think “What the hell is this guy

Singing” no matter how skilled the singer was. Of course, he would be able

to understand the words if they were not automatically translated; which is

to say, if someone sang them in Japanese. However, in all his years of running

around outdoors, he had never heard anyone speaking Japanese.


[V14]


For reference this is the interaction that raised eyebrows. 


“I see. While it feels foolish to name myself to an undead creature of your

insignificant stature – I am Cure-Elim, the XX Dragon Lord.”

“What?”

“Ah, yes …indeed! I am – the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord!!”


[V14]


It should be pretty obvious that you don’t see pure gibberish in Overlord. You have people not understand things but not be able to hear the sound itself. 




See them black squares? Yup. Not even Engrish. 


“But Ziggy had can black squares mean it’s song related? Didn’t XXX of Momonga also have black squares or gibberish? Or DDDL’s Twenty? Doesn’t that just mean it’s a spoiler?”


Well yes, Maruyama has used these squares or etc to hide things, but never in story. But something Nigel and we didn’t notice but the Japs did notice was, there actually is a hint in Cure Elim’s sheet. 


オーバードドラゴン


You may know this as “Overed Dragon”. An odd thing, it was also translated as Overlord Dragon too. But, Overed isn’t the only way to translate this. 


IT can also be translated as Aubade. 


https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/オーバード


Check wikipedia if you don’t believe me. Basically it’s related to poetry and song. 


Dun dun dun.


The exact details are unknown because we don’t see Cure Elim use any song abilities but it could be related to song itself, like one of those classes hinted earlier in Volume 14. A song understanding class or so forth. A class like Vampire Princess than a proper combat based class. 


“But Ziggy, it has to be written in Engrish not some other language”


The main problem here is that there are classes that aren’t in Engrish. Namely Monk and Spiritual caster ones. So the precedent of classes having foreign words already exists. Evileye even uses the Fa Jin term. There’s an article on this, go read that. 


Anyway, this is actually a tangent to what Ziggy really wants to talk about. 


In this course of these debates, people started talking about a facet of Character Sheets: they somewhat tell a person’s lifestory. 



Farmer Lv. 1

Sergeant Lv. 1

Commander Lv. 2

General Lv. 2 

A girl who recently became the chieftain of the Carne Village. Thanks to

her healthy lifestyle of eating well and working hard, her upper arm

muscles started becoming larger and she developed abdominal muscles

as well. Estimated to be among the top-five strongest (among humans)

in Carne Village. These are her levels at the end of Volume 8, she only

had Farmer Lv. 1 and Sergeant Lv. 1 in the beginning.


[V8]


Class Level:

Squire Lv. ?

Archer Lv. ?

As a girl with a criminal’s eyes, she tends to leave a bad first impression

on others, hence she has had very few friends since childhood (almost

none). For that reason, she’d bad at building good interpersonal

relationships, which has led to her developing a personality that favors

doing everything by herself. Her bow skills lend themselves very well to

being a Ranger who is one with nature, so it is something of a mystery

why she aims to be a Paladin. Perhaps it is a mistake on her part. As an

aside, if the right conditions are met, her Squire levels can be converted

into other class levels.


[V12]


Class Levels:

Paladin Lv. 2

Sacred Arche Lv. 3

Evangelist Lv. 2

Founder Lv. 4

Since her character has changed radically, she will be re-introduced. She

lost levels from dying, but at the same time she gained levels from

surviving the war. Her levels as squire were replaced and her character

build ended up quite wasteful, but that was the result of her experiences,

was it not? Neia does not realize that she is using a special technique to

influence others’ thoughts (on the level of brainwashing). When Neia

uses her power on traumatized people, her words can save them.


[V13]


Racial Levels (51 total)

- Dragonling 10

- Young 10

- Adult 10

- Old 10

- Elder 5

- Ancient 5

- True Vampire Dragon 1

Job Levels (44 total)

- Primitive 10

- Dragon Necromancer 7

- World Connector 9

- Overed Dragon 10

- Soul Blasphemer 7

- Sorcerer 1


[V14]


Racial Levels:

Dragonling Lv. 10

Young Lv. 10

Adult Lv. 10

Elder Lv. 5

Ancient Lv. 1

Etc


[V11]


So basically, the sequence of classes (for those shown at least) go in order of acquisition. Now Old the dragon class wasn’t listed on White Dragon Lord’s sheet but all the other listed classes appear to follow Cure Elim’s own sequence. Enri’s own sheet also hints at the existence of this acquistion order. So you can’t tell if racial or job classes happened first, but you can figure out that a person had this job class before this job class. 


Racial Levels (51 total)

- Dragonling 10

- Young 10

- Adult 10

- Old 10

- Elder 5

- Ancient 5

- True Vampire Dragon 1

Job Levels (44 total)

- Primitive Caster 10

- Dragon Necromancer 7

- World Connector 9

- Aubade Dragon 10

- Soul Blasphemer 7

- Sorcerer 1


[V14]


So the main reason this came up was if you look at Cure Elm’s sheet you can see he had all his dragon racials first then his True Draogn Level. This makes sense. But look at his job classes. Sorcerer is at the very end, as is Soul Blasphemer. So you can start to see a different picture of him. If you don’t know what an Aubade is, it’s actually can be pretty depressing depending on what context Maruyama is using it. Like you can laugh that he was some flirty poet, but the Aubade could also refer to him lamenting the ‘coming of dawn’ as in the dawn of tier magic or the metaphorical morning following the End of the Age of Dragons or his Night. Think along the lines of “Tomorrow Always Comes”. 


Assuming this theory is true, this didn’t happen until AFTER he was a Wild Magic caster at least. Now we don’t know the exact details of Aubade Dragon, but it could also be reflective of Dragons actually studying non combat things once they got to a certain point in their lives. Could be related to Wild Magic, could just be a song based class. But the narrative of it being related to mourning is an interesting twist on it all. 


Now it’s important to note that just because one class comes later doesn’t mean the other’s didnt’ gain more levels after the fact. IE say increasing levels in the classes before it on the character sheet. 


Racial Levels (11 total)

- True Vampire 7

- Lesser One 4

Job Levels (23 total)

- Vampire Princess 3

- Sorcerer 8

- Sage 5

- High Sage 7


[V14]


In Keno’s case we know she was human before a vampire. So keep in mind it’s job and racial class specific. But we do know Keno was a True Vampire before a Lesser One. Likewise, Keno had Princess and Sorcerer before Sage since she was already at the point of reaching Tier 2 before she dedicated herself to her studies to get Sage classes. 


Zaryusu’s Sage classes being listed on the bottom of his also reflect the same idea as it coming after he already walked the path of a warrior. 


It’s only when we get to Zenberu that you see the value in this theory. That is in particular how he has his Fighter Level before his Monk classes, suggesting he tried to be a Warrior first, saw it wasn’t for him and found his proper calling as a Monk. Or something like that. 


Then in Renner’s case you have Princess then Actress come up. Which is in line with how understand her life, where she started acting normal some point after her early life when she met Climb. 


Comparing Evileye against Keno’s sheet, you see they both have Vampire Princess and Sorcerer in the same order, but then Elementalist after that. 


Arche likewise had Wizard classes then Acaemic Wizard before getting High Wizard which does reflect the point she attended the Magic Academy to some extent. 


Nfirea shows that usualy people need the starter magic class first, before one can pursue other magic paths. IE he couldn’t just study Alchemy first. 


Baziwood shows us how he was a Fighter first then he got his experience as a Imperial Knight.  Or how Gondo had to get Armor, Item, and Weapon smith before Runesmith like in Ainz’s own theory on why it’s rare. 


Calca shows us she had Divine caster classes before Holy Queen, which matches the story we were told she was a Tier 4 caster before she became Holy Queen. 


But ti’s Neia’s second sheet which tells us the importance of this order. We know she awakened as a Sacred Archer after her death, but her Evangelism and then Founder classes came later, which makes sense since it seems she got Founder for creating a new religion, at least in theory. So it’s natural Evangelism comes before Founder. 


In Caspond’s case we see that he tried to study Divine magic first, but then tried to acquire knowledge as a Sage before getting his Noble classes. So this shed’s light that the Holy Kingdom’s royal family tried to teach Divine magic first or as a priority over just normal noble etiquette. We know Caspond chose to study as a Sage since it seemed he realized he couldn’t compare to Calca. 



There are other little tidbits of course in other sheets like Leinas but I’ll stop there. 


You can’t get the whole picture unless you have all the classes in order, but you get the idea. You get a relative idea of their life. Not a very mind blowing idea, but I thought it was interesting to consider because it gives you some things to learn from not just classes but their order too. 

But then we have Tsuare (Tuare sic?)...


For some reason her character sheet has Maid BEFORE Slave??????????


I don’t know…I don’t have a witty answer to that one. Only thing I can figure is that someone else put the sheet together, like Maru gave them the notes and they ordered it by level number rather than the order he gave? Someoen would probably need to ask him to clarify. It doesn’t make sensse given everyone else’s sheet and it wasn’t from a main volume so…. 


You can see it as a counter example or a mistake. Sheets have mistakes, like Ivileye not Evileye. Or changes like Brain’s class being Warrior/Genius and later the notation being Class Name (Genius). 


I think it’s important to bring up since there is no nice answer for it. 


Well anyway this was a fun tangent for an article. Feel free to ignore it. 


(O_O)7

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