ESO Subclassing unlocks class skill lines from other classes after a character on your account reaches level 50. It starts with A Study in Discipline, a short quest from Bahtra at-Hunding that teaches you how to swap a line into your current build.
The quest can get stuck if you equip a mastered line instead of starting an unmastered one. You also have to keep one of your original class lines equipped, so here’s the route from the first conversation through the completed swap.
Where to find Bahtra at-Hunding and unlock subclassing
Bahtra stands near the wayshrines in Riften in The Rift, Evermore in Bangkorai and Dune in Reaper’s March. You can also start A Study in Discipline from the Crown Store’s Quest Starters category or the Skills menu’s Subclassing area. At least one character on your account must reach level 50. Once you speak to Bahtra, follow her questions and choose ‘I’m ready to get started’, then ‘Choose Disciplines: Free’. Don’t close her dialogue before the menu opens, or you may need to start the conversation again.
How to choose your first subclass skill line
Open the Subclassing section below the normal class skill lines. Pick an unmastered line from another class. On PC/Mac, choose the ribbon to begin training an unmastered line. The gold plus is used to equip lines you already mastered or are currently training. On console, follow the Subclassing menu’s select and confirm prompts. Swap the chosen line into one of your character’s three class-line positions, then confirm the point changes. ESO Subclassing does not let you borrow only one skill from a class; you equip the whole skill line, including its passives and available abilities.
Finish A Study in Discipline
The quest asks you to ‘Subclass a Skill Line’ and equip the first skill from that new line. Do both, then speak to Bahtra again. If the step won’t complete, confirm that you chose a line your account has not already mastered; pressing Equip on a mastered line doesn’t count as beginning subclass training. Finishing the quest awards a free Skill Respecification Scroll. The Subclassing menu then remains available, and Update 49 also lets you reset skill and attribute points through their normal menus without paying gold. ESO Subclassing stays available after the quest finishes.
Which combinations are allowed?
You must keep at least one of your character’s three native class lines. The other two can come from two different outside classes, but not two from the same outside class. For example, a Dragonknight can replace one line with Sorcerer and another with Templar. It cannot replace all three native lines or take two Sorcerer lines at once. You remain your original character class. ESO Subclassing is a way to alter class-line selections, not a permanent character-class change.
How the three account-wide training slots work
New subclass lines start their own rank progression and take one of three account-wide training slots. You can’t free the slot simply by unequipping an unfinished line; it remains committed until you reach rank 50 with that line. Training progress for a particular subclass line is shared across characters. Subclassed morphs and passives also cost more Skill Points than their native counterparts. Choose which three lines to train carefully, because starting a new one commits a slot until that line reaches rank 50.
Mastered lines are different
Once a line reaches rank 50, it becomes mastered. Mastery can come from levelling a native class line or finishing its subclass training. That line unlocks a collectible for the account and can be equipped by other eligible characters without taking an unfinished-training slot. Look in Collections for the mastery entry. If the interface shows Equip rather than Subclass, it may already be mastered. Mastered lines can be reused without consuming one of the three training slots, though the class-combination restrictions still apply.
How to swap back and reset points
Open Skills → Subclassing again, choose the line you want active and select which of the three class lines to replace. Confirm your changes. You can respec allocated points from the Skills menu at no gold cost, subject to the usual cooldown and combat restrictions, or load a previously saved Armory build. Watch the Armory loadout’s other settings: it can change gear, Champion Points, attributes and vampire/werewolf status at once. Changing your active build doesn’t remove an unfinished training commitment from the account.
Class Mastery versus subclass builds
Class Mastery from Update 50 needs all three original class lines at rank 50 and none replaced. Equipping an outside line switches off the Class Mastery tree and refunds its two mastery points. Both approaches are valid: the pure-class tree gives unique passives, while subclassing offers skills that weren’t part of your original class. Pick a setup for the content you’re actually doing rather than assuming mixing lines is always stronger.
Related Guides
Official source: ESO Support skill-system guide.
