First, before a character may change to a new class, the character must have a certain minimum set of ability attributes. (You can view these minimum values for each class by hitting the 'Edit Stats' button for any character; the minimum values are in the red box to the right.) These minimum requirements have to be met with the character's base attribute values -- that is, you can't wear, for example, Gloves of Strength, to boost your strength high enough to qualify for a new class.

If your character qualifies for any new class, a 'Change Class' button will become available in that character's 'View Character' screen when in town. (This button will never be available in the labyrinth.) To retrain your character, all you need to do is hit this 'Change Class' button, then select the class you want to retrain the character as. The successful completion of this process requires that you not be wearing any equipment that characters of the new class are disallowed from wearing, so you may be asked to unequip some objects first.

Once you've retrained your character for a new class, the following changes will occur:

• The character's level will be reduced to 0 and will have 0 experience points.

• All ability attributes will revert to the initial values for a character of that race and gender. (Including the 'points left' setting; you'll be able to distribute these points after the class change, just as if you were creating a new character from scratch.)

• The character's fighting ability will become that of characters of the new class.

• When changing from a rogue to something else, the rogue's unique chest-disarming abilities are lost. If you're changing to a rogue, the character gains these chest-disarming abilities.

• Resistance values, hit points, and spell points will remain unchanged. (Although the number of hit points will not change or ever decrease, over time this value will tend to adjust to the hit point count generally reflected in a character of the new class. A similar thing happens with the number of spell points, the exception being when a spellcasting character is changed to a non-spellcasting class. Although a knight, for example, doesn't otherwise ever gain any spell points, a knight that was once a spellcaster and consequently knows some spells will gain one or two spell points for each new level.)

• Any WC or AC gained not from equipment but from the special classes that can gain it every few levels (druids gain AC every once in a while; assassins can gain both) is kept.

• The character will not forget any spells already learned but will only learn new spells based on what the new character class is.

Although resetting the character's attributes, level, and experience seems wholly undesirable, note that the character is still amongst powerful companions; you should be able to get the character's level and attributes back up fairly quickly by taking the party deep in the dungeon right off the bat, where the monsters are worth more experience. Also, since the resistance values do not revert, these values will rise higher all the more quickly. By changing class, you will be able to have druids and assassins, which are very powerful classes and have special abilities none of the other classes have. In addition, you can create powerful combinations of abilities, such as spellcasting knights and rogues.