I was looking for some information regarding class level system. As I was browsing through some guides and manuals, I found few mentions about certain subclasses including swing, thrust, club, parry (fighter), identify, heal, influence, defend (priest), steal, fight, throw, shoot (ninja) and fire, air, earth, water (wizard), but I never found anything more specific about them.
Anyone is aware of some documents explaining this matter? How does it work? Does it change/improve as character gains levels and if, how? What does it influence during gameplay?
Another matter I was always curious about, is how do the shields work. When I equip a shield, does it give any bonus to defense (passive blocking maybe?) or do I need to block actively by using the shield? Anyone of you guys uses shields? As for me, I always dual wield two weapons and go offensive

Thank you in advance for your replies..