ELDEN RING Class Overview

Perhaps, like me, when you entered the character creation menu you were staggered by the number of classes with weird-sounding attributes that didn't really help your decision making. Maybe you're the cautious sort that likes making as few mistakes as possible on their first run. Or, maybe you are just a new player and want to understand what all of the classes are, what builds they work for, and which is the best for a new player to select. 

For clarification, I'd like to mention that I am going to be listing their starting attributes (which, if you're a newcomer, you might want to read the article about), their starting inventory, what builds they work best with, and whether the class is better for newcomers than others. The "Level" of the class is stated because each time you level up you need more runes to level up more. The higher the level, the less customisable the class is in the long run.

Lastly, for the segments in which I talk about damage, I have done the calculation by fighting everything in my way to the first Site of Grace in which you can level up — since you would be stuck with base stats up until that point regardless — to get a good feel for each of the classes. For brevity, I decided to skip how I performed. I fought:

• Grafted Scion (tutorial boss)
• Tree Sentinel (first available boss)
• A pack of bats
• Beastman of Farum Azula (first catacombs boss)
• Undead soldiers

Vagabond

The Vagabond starts with the following equipment:

• Right Hand:
• Longsword
• Halberd
• Left Hand:
• Heater Shield
• Head: Vagabond Knight Helm
• Chest: Vagabond Knight Armor
• Arms: Vagabond Knight Gauntlets
• Legs: Vagabond Knight Greaves

The following attributes:

• Level: 9
• Vigor: 15
• Mind: 10
• Endurance: 11
• Strength: 14
• Dexterity: 13
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 9
• Arcane: 7

And finally, the following stats:

• HP: 522
• FP: 68
• Stamina: 94

The Vagabond's high starting Vigor, Strength, and Dexterity offer a balanced start to ensure that you can wield some weapons from the very beginning whilst also having tankiness at the ready. If you're unsure whether to go for a Strength build (heavy two-handed armaments), a Tank build (heavy armour with sword and shield), or a Dexterity build (fast attacking dual-wielding), the Vagabond is a great choice. That said, their low starting Intelligence and Faith makes building a Vagabond into a sorcery- or incantation-based build rather difficult.

The Vagabond starting with two armaments allows you to try out both the Halberd and Longsword playstyles, but please bear in mind that they start with a Heavy Load, which means that your rolls are significantly slower and you cannot use the invulnerability frames to dodge attacks nearly as efficiently. Removing either the Halberd or both the Longsword and the Heater Shield should remove this burden.

The Vagabond is a great starting class once you've removed either of the two weapons that increase your Equip Load. The high Vigor, Strength, and Dexterity allocations help the class to wield any of the weapons early and choose which path to follow later on in the game. That said, if you want to try a mage build, the low Intelligence and Faith makes the Vagabond a bit less favourable; however, I don't recommend playing your first run as a mage.

Warrior

The Warrior starts with the following equipment:

• Right Hand:
• Scimitar
• Left Hand:
• Scimitar
• Riveted Wooden Shield
• Head: Blue Cloth Cowl
• Chest: Blue Cloth Vest
• Arms: Warrior Gauntlets
• Legs: Warrior Greaves

The following attributes:

• Level: 8
• Vigor: 11
• Mind: 12
• Endurance: 11
• Strength: 10
• Dexterity: 16
• Intelligence: 10
• Faith: 8
• Arcane: 9

And finally, the following stats:

• HP: 434
• FP: 74
• Stamina: 94

The Warrior's very high starting Dexterity offers itself to be a perfect high-damage, glass cannon build for players. Starting with dual scimitars, you are expected to use the Warrior's stats to wield Dexterity-based weapons. That said, the incredibly low Vigor makes the Warrior class squishy in the early game.

The Warrior is a very high-damage class but struggles a lot due to its low life and cannot stagger enemies with ease. As the Warrior's main stat is high Dexterity, it isn't advised to start this class unless you are sure that you want to build in that direction. That said, I do not personally recommend a Dexterity-based build for beginners, as those are often glass cannon builds with very little staggering potential, and thus will likely struggle when fighting some bosses.

Hero

The Hero starts with the following equipment:

• Right Hand:
• Battle Axe
• Left Hand:
• Large Leather Shield
• Head: Champion Headband
• Chest: Champion Pauldron
• Arms: Champion Bracers
• Legs: Champion Gaiters

The following attributes:

• Level: 7
• Vigor: 14
• Mind: 9
• Endurance: 12
• Strength: 16
• Dexterity: 9
• Intelligence: 7
• Faith: 8
• Arcane: 11

And finally, the following stats:

• HP: 499
• FP: 65
• Stamina: 95

The Hero's high Strength and Vigor open up the possibility to take this into a tanky Strength-based build with heavy weapons. Although the Hero doesn't start with a 100 physical damage shield, Strength builds often benefit from these to compensate for the long animations per attack. The armour that the Hero starts with makes them a bit more squishy than the Vagabond, but the focused points on both Vigor and Strength make running a Hero worth it if you want a Strength-based build.

Strength builds can be good to start with, as the staggering from the heavy weapons can often help when dealing with flimsier foes, whilst also causing a lot of posture damage, which is a great way to get critical hits when playing aggressively.

Bandit

The Bandit starts with the following equipment:

• Right Hand:
• Great Knife
• Bone Arrow (Fletched) (x30)
• Left Hand:
• Buckler
• Shortbow
• Head: Bandit Mask
• Chest: Bandit Garb
• Arms: Bandit Manchettes
• Legs: Bandit Boots

The following attributes:

• Level: 5
• Vigor: 10
• Mind: 11
• Endurance: 10
• Strength: 9
• Dexterity: 13
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 8
• Arcane: 14

And finally, the following stats:

• HP: 414
• FP: 71
• Stamina: 92

The starting equipment for the Bandit isn't the greatest, as the poor damage and range of the Great Knife paired with the low Vigor make this an incredibly squishy and weak class. Although the Great Knife is capable of inflicting bleed damage — often proccing (activating) after six consecutive hits — it wasn't substantial enough to justify recommending the class. Especially considering that the Samurai starts with substantially better stats and a bleed weapon (Uchigatana) as well.

That said, the Bandit's high Dexterity and Arcane means that you can aim for a Dexterity build that acquires items at a quick pace (since Arcane is used for item discovery). However, all points used on Arcane feel essentially wasted, as they could have gone to a better stat that the Bandit might need, such as Vigor. I cannot recommend this class for a beginner.

Astrologer

The Astrologer starts with the following equipment:

• Right Hand:
• Astrologer's Staff
• Glintstone Pebble
• Glintstone Arc
• Short Sword

• Left Hand:
• Scripture Wooden Shield
• Shortbow

• Head: Astrologer Mask
• Chest: Astrologer Garb
• Arms: Astrologer Manchettes
• Legs: Astrologer Boots

The following attributes:

• Level: 6
• Vigor: 9
• Mind: 15
• Endurance: 9
• Strength: 8
• Dexterity: 12
• Intelligence: 16
• Faith: 7
• Arcane: 9

And finally, the following stats:

• HP: 396
• FP: 84
• Stamina: 91

It is needless to say that the Astrologer starts with by far the lowest HP in the game, but makes up for it with a high FP and Intelligence, as this is supposed to be used as the sorcery-based build. With it, you start with enough spells and flasks to get you through intended battles, although you can bid farewell to defeating the Grafted Scion and the Tree Sentinel early, as you won't have enough FP to kill them.

The Astrologer is a very high-damage class, and sorcery-based builds are incredibly fun, but they are not newcomer friendly, as they are oftentimes quite squishy and you will need to know how to dodge all of the bosses' gap-closing abilities.

Prophet

The Prophet starts with the following equipment:

• Right Hand:
• Short Staff
• Left Hand:
• Finger Seal
• Heal
• Catch Flame
• Rickety Shield
• Head: Prophet Blindfold
• Chest: Prophet Robe
• Arms: N/A
• Legs: Prophet Trousers

The following attributes:

• Level: 7
• Vigor: 10
• Mind: 14
• Endurance: 9
• Strength: 11
• Dexterity: 10
• Intelligence: 7
• Faith: 16
• Arcane: 10

And finally, the following stats:

• HP: 414
• FP: 81
• Stamina: 90

The Prophet is the incantation-based build as it sports 16 Faith. Although it doesn't have a lot of Vigor, the Prophet deals surprisingly high amounts of damage — much like the Astrologer. With the Heal, the Prophet has the capability to sacrifice more of the Crimson Tears flasks (HP) for Cerulean Tears (FP), as Heal can work as a replacement for the former.

Although the squishiness of the Prophet can be a bit jarring at first, with high damage output and the capability to heal and learn future incantations (both defensive and offensive), it isn't unfeasible to start with this class, although I still stand by my argument that sorcery- and incantation-based classes should be left for a future run when you know more about the game and its bosses.

Samurai

The Samurai starts with the following equipment:

• Right Hand:
• Uchigatana
• Left Hand:
• Longbow
• Arrow (x20)
• Fire Arrow (x10)
• Red Thorn Round Shield
• Bolt
• Head: Land of Reeds Helm
• Chest: Land of Reeds Armor (Altered)
• Arms: Land of Reeds Gauntlets
• Legs: Land of Reeds Greaves

The following attributes:

• Level: 9
• Vigor: 12
• Mind: 11
• Endurance: 13
• Strength: 12
• Dexterity: 15
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 8
• Arcane: 8

And finally, the following stats:

• HP: 455
• FP: 71
• Stamina: 97

The class that I personally found to be the best Dexterity starter, the Samurai offers the opportunity to start with a bleed weapon (which is great against shielded foes) and a bow. The high investment in Vigor along with Endurance means that the Samurai is good and tanky from the get-go.

That said, I don't believe the Samurai is the perfect class for newcomers, as bleed-damage builds often rely a lot on dishing out constant damage in order to build up the bleed until it procs. The lack of heavy weapons means that foes won't get staggered, so you'll need to be comfortable with dodging the attacks consistently or getting a 100 physical damage shield to block.

Prisoner

The Prisoner starts with the following equipment:

• Right Hand:
• Estoc
• Left Hand:
• Glintstone Staff
• Magic Glintblade
• Rift Shield
• Head: Prisoner Iron Mask
• Chest: Prisoner Clothing
• Arms: N/A
• Legs: Prisoner Trousers

The following attributes:

• Level: 9
• Vigor: 11
• Mind: 12
• Endurance: 11
• Strength: 11
• Dexterity: 14
• Intelligence: 14
• Faith: 6
• Arcane: 9

And finally, the following stats:

• HP: 434
• FP: 74
• Stamina: 94

Similarly to the Vagabond, one of the Prisoner's strengths is that it can build many different ways due to the even distribution of stats. Although preferably you'll play a battlemage-like build by focusing on Intelligence and either Dexterity or Strength, this class can also develop into a fully intelligence-based build. The Estoc that the Prisoner starts with is a great weapon as well, as it deals piercing damage, has a very long range, and overall does decent damage.

Among the sorcery-based starters, the Prisoner is by far one of the best ones, as it does not neglect Vigor nor Endurance, both of which increase tankiness. If you want to try a starter mage build, going Intelligence and Vigor as your main stats is a great option, and since the Prisoner has a good distribution of Strength and Dexterity, it should let you wield most weapons that don’t have high requirements in either of those stats.

Confessor

The Confessor starts with the following equipment:

• Right Hand:
• Broadsword
• Left Hand:
• Blue Crest Heater Shield
• Finger Seal
• Urgent Heal
• Assassin's Approach
• Head: Confessor Hood
• Chest: Confessor Armor
• Arms: Confessor Gloves
• Legs: Confessor Boots

The following attributes:

• Level: 10
• Vigor: 10
• Mind: 13
• Endurance: 10
• Strength: 12
• Dexterity: 12
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 14
• Arcane: 9

And finally, the following stats:

• HP: 414
• FP: 77
• Stamina: 92

The Confessor's high Faith, Strength, and Dexterity allow it to build into a more tanky Faith build, using both a sword and a shield instead of purely incantations as damage. Although the Shortsword that the Confessor starts with is rather short, its special ability deals a lot of damage and makes some fights very easy. If you want to go down a Faith- and incantation-based build, going Confessor and putting some points in Vigor is the best way to go.

That said, I still stand by my argument that incantation- and sorcery-based builds should be left for later runs, but if you must try a Faith-based build on your first run, Confessor is a better option due to its tankiness and attribute distribution in contrast to the Prophet.

Wretch

The Wretch starts with the following equipment:

• Right Hand:
• Club
• Left Hand:
• N/A
• Head: N/A
• Chest: N/A
• Arms: N/A
• Legs: N/A

The following attributes:

• Level: 1
• Vigor: 10
• Mind: 10
• Endurance: 10
• Strength: 10
• Dexterity: 10
• Intelligence: 10
• Faith: 10
• Arcane: 10

And finally, the following stats:

• HP: 414
• FP: 68
• Stamina: 92

For the giggles, I decided to try to go through the Wretch, despite the fact that this class should not be selected by newcomers. That said, this is by far the most customisable class, as all of the allocations are equally placed at 10, and the Wretch starts at level 1, meaning you will have to pay significantly fewer runes per level up.

Although I sincerely don't advise playing the Wretch for your first playthrough, a run as this class is great purely based on the fact that you'll be forced to adapt to the armour and armaments you get. The start might be a bit difficult, but definitely being able to allocate your levels accordingly is a great bonus.

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That's it for our "Class Overview" article! Which one will you go for? I personally started with the Hero but changed about 40 hours in for a Samurai, and I have loved it so far. Good luck, Tarnished.