In Class of Heroes, players progress by navigating dungeons as hordes of enemies appear and attack in turn-based combat. Players begin the game by selecting characters for their party, choosing each individual's race, gender, stats, alignment, and major. Both race and gender are permanent, but a character's alignment and major can be changed when visiting a school. There are ten playable races in the game: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Erdgeist, Halfling, Sprite, Felpier, Drake, Diablon, and Celestian. Each race has different attitudes towards the others requiring a balance of compatibility to be struck. Each race is imbued with different strengths; e.g. Halflings are clever thieves and Drakes are able warriors. The party starts at Particus Academy which serves as a home base where players can regenerate Magic points, purchase equipment, start quests in the labyrinths, and practice alchemy on items obtained in mazes. Once a dungeon quest is started, enemies may be encountered randomly as players navigate the maze of corridors. The turn-based combat system during battles uses a row-based character line-up, where characters in the back rows with short-range weapons are unable to attack distant enemies. As players progress through the dungeon, a tension gauge accumulates after each battle allowing the party to use gambits during future engagements.
Within each dungeon is a magic lock which when opened allows future trips to the dungeon to be bypassed. Players are able to save their game at anytime outside of combat and are also able to easily escape a dungeon when needed. Traps exist within the mazes, and an entire party can be taken out if accidentally sprung. When a party falls while journeying in a dungeon, players are revived back at their school. When a student falls the revival process can fail, and after two consecutive failures the student is deleted from the party.
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