Promotion is a feature of the leveling system in nearly all of the Tactical RPGs of the series, as well as Shining the Holy Ark. Its function is to change a character's class to a more advanced one. When doing this, the character's level number is officially reset to 1.
Promoting to a more advanced class is necessary because after level 20(or in the cases of Shining the Holy Ark and Shining Force II: Ancient Sealing, after level 40) the character's stats will no longer increase. Moreover, characters of unpromoted classes cannot equip the most powerful weapons in the games.
Even though a promoted character is always set to level 1 after promotion, they will keep 85% of their stats from before the promotion in Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention and Resurrection of the Dark Dragon, their stats are not immediately changed by promotion in Shining Force II and Shining Force CD, and their stats actually increase upon promotion in Shining Force III. Depending on the growth rate of a character between levels 10 and 20 it may or may not be worth it to train a character to level 20 before promotion.
How to Promote[]
Promoting can only be done through the services of a Priest. When you speak to a Priest, select the option "Promote" or "Class Change". The Priest will run down the list of party members and offer to promote any who are at level 10 or higher(or in the cases of Shining the Holy Ark and Shining Force II, level 20 or higher).