Classes for Elden Ring are the combat archetypes available at Character Creation. Choosing a class determines the player's base Stats and the Equipment they start with. This page covers each class, their attribute point allocation, and equipment. In addition, this page also covers classes which were only available during the Network Test.

 

Elden Ring Classes Overview

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Who should I start with in Elden ring?

Well-rounded Classes are recommended for players starting out with Elden Ring. Beginners will have to decide what playstyle they have, how they want to approach the game, and then how they want to Build their character later on. Each Class also comes with a set of starting equipment that other classes can eventually find through regular gameplay, so the most important things to consider are each Classes' base stats and strengths, which will determine the overall flow of the early game. Consider which kinds of Weapons or Equipment you prefer and then create a build that best suits when you prefer Melee, Ranged or Magic Combat. Do not feel restricted by your choice, however; the equipment you pick up on your journey and the stat points you gain from leveling up can radically change your character's combat style.

Players have created their own recommended Builds suitable for beginners or players with an Attribute in mind. Try out-ready made Builds for beginners or for players who want to try something new, then make modifications and switch out different equipment pieces to better fit your style. Find the best Builds here.

  • Melee VagabondThe ideal starting class for melee fighters and beginners due to its well-rounded nature and highest Vigor, giving new players the highest health pool to begin the game. 
  • Hybrid Casting Confessor: This class focuses on faith with equal parts Dexterity and Strength, making you a hybrid caster. Good for Magic beginners.
  • Physical Hybrid Samurai: Samurai is a lot of people's favorite starting class because of its great starting Weapon and access to a Longbow, which gives you great options to approach many combat situations.
  • Magic Caster Astrologer: For those who want to focus on Magic and Sorcery
  • Aggressive Warrior: Getting twin Scimitars off the bat is a great base to practice and get used to the the double Curved Sword moveset, which has great potential due to how fast the combined swings are.

 

Elden Ring Classes Guide

 

 

Hero

hero class elden ring wiki guide 200px

Level 7
Vigor 14 Dexterity 9
Mind 9 Intelligence 7
Endurance 12 Faith 8
Strength 16 Arcane 11
battle axe melee armaments weapons elden ring wiki guide 75px leather shield elden ring wiki guide 75px

Bandit

bandit class elden ring wiki guide 200px

Level 5
Vigor 10 Dexterity 13
Mind 11 Intelligence 9
Endurance 10 Faith 8
Strength 9 Arcane 14
great knife elden ring wiki guide 75pxshortbow elden ring wiki guide 75pxbuckler shields elden ring wiki guide 75px bone arrows fletched ammunition elden ring wiki guide 75px

Astrologer

astrologer class elden ring wiki guide 200px

Level 6
Vigor 9 Dexterity 12
Mind 15 Intelligence 16
Endurance 9 Faith 7
Strength 8 Arcane 9
magic short sword elden ring wiki guide 200pxastrologers staff elden ring wiki guide 200pxscripture wooden shield elden ring wiki guide 200pxglintstone pebble spells elden ring wiki guide 200pxglintstone arc spells elden ring wiki guide 200px

Warrior

warrior class elden ring wiki guide 200px

Level 8
Vigor 11 Dexterity 16
Mind 12 Intelligence 10
Endurance 11 Faith 8
Strength 10 Arcane 9
scimitar weapons elden ring wiki guide 200px scimitar weapons elden ring wiki guide 75pxriveted wooden shield small shield elden ring wiki guide 200

 

 

Prisoner

prisoner class elden ring wiki guide 200px

Level 9
Vigor 11 Dexterity 14
Mind 12 Intelligence 14
Endurance 11 Faith 6
Strength 11 Arcane 9
glintstone staff elden ring wiki guide 75pxestoc thrusting sword weapons elden ring wiki guide 200rift shield elden ring wiki guide 200magic glintblade elden ring wiki guide 75px

Confessor

confessor class elden ring wiki guide 200px

Level 10
Vigor 10 Dexterity 12
Mind 13 Intelligence 9
Endurance 10 Faith 14
Strength 12 Arcane 9
broadsword elden ring wiki guide 75pxblue crest heater shield elden ring wiki guide 200finger seal armament elden ring wiki guide 200urgent heal spells elden ring wiki guide 75pxassassins approach elden ring wiki guide 75px

Wretch

wretch class elden ring wiki guide 200px

Level 1
Vigor 10 Dexterity 10
Mind 10 Intelligence 10
Endurance 10 Faith 10
Strength 10 Arcane 10
club weapons elden ring wiki guide 75px

Vagabond

vagabond class elden ring wiki guide 200px

Level 9
Vigor 15 Dexterity 13
Mind 10 Intelligence 9
Endurance 11 Faith 9
Strength 14 Arcane 7
longsword elden ring wiki guide 75pxhalberd weapon starting equipment vagabond elden ring wiki guide 75 pxheater sheild starting equipment vagabond elden ring wiki guide 75 px

 

 

Prophet

prophet class elden ring wiki guide 200px

Level 7
Vigor 10 Dexterity 10
Mind 14 Intelligence 7
Endurance 8 Faith 16
Strength 11 Arcane 10
short spear weapons elden ring wiki guide 200finger seal armament elden ring wiki guide 200rickety shield shields elden ring wiki guide 75pxheal spells elden ring wiki guide 75pxcatch flame elden ring wiki guide 75px

Samurai

samurai class elden ring wiki guide 200px

Level 9
Vigor 12 Dexterity 15
Mind 11 Intelligence 9
Endurance 13 Faith 8
Strength 12 Arcane 8
uchigatana elden ring wiki guide 75pxlongbow weapons elden ring wiki guide 200red thorn roundshield shields elden ring wiki guide 75px bone arrows fletched ammunition elden ring wiki guide 75px fire arrow arrow elden ring wiki guide 200px

 

 

Elden Ring Classes Comparison

This table is useful tool for identifying the relative strengths and weaknesses of Elden Ring's starting classes:

Class LVL VIG MND END STR DEX INT FTH ARC Total

Hero

7 14 9 12 16 9 7 8 11 86

Bandit

5 10 11 10 9 13 9 8 14 84

Astrologer

6 9 15 9 8 12 16 7 9 85

Warrior

8 11 12 11 10 16 10 8 9 87

Prisoner

9 11 12 11 11 14 14 6 9 88

Confessor

10 10 13 10 12 12 9 14 9 89

Wretch

1 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 80

Vagabond

9 15 10 11 14 13 9 9 7 88

Prophet

7 10 14 8 11 10 7 16 10 86

Samurai

9 12 11 13 12 15 9 8 8 88

 Although some classes may have higher or lower total points than other classes, their levels are also varied. By 10th level, every class will have 89 points.

 

Elden Ring Classes Starting Equipment

 

Stats Identifier

These are the Stats symbols for the game, representing the many attributes the player will spend Runes to level up and improve performance.

 

Network Test Classes

These were the Elden Ring Classes available on the Closed Network Test

 

Warrior

warrior class network test elden ring wiki guide 270

Level 5 Dexterity 15
Vigor 12 Intelligence 9
Mind 10 Faith 7
Endurance 15 Arcane 10
Strength 11  

Enchanted Knight

enchanted knight class network test elden ring wiki guide 270

Level 5 Dexterity 12
Vigor 10 Intelligence 16
Mind 13 Faith 5
Endurance 11 Arcane 5
Strength 15  

Prophet

prophet class network test elden ring wiki guide 270

Level 5 Dexterity 9
Vigor 9 Intelligence 8
Mind 16 Faith 16
Endurance 10 Arcane 7
Strength 12  

 

Champion

champion class network test elden ring wiki guide 270
Level 5 Dexterity 8
Vigor 13 Intelligence 5
Mind 9 Faith 15
Endurance 12 Arcane 11
Strength 14  

Bloody Wolf

bloody wolf class network test elden ring wiki guide 270
Level 5 Dexterity 12
Vigor 14 Intelligence 7
Mind 11 Faith 9
Endurance 12 Arcane 6
Strength 16  

 




Tired of anon posting? Register!
    • Anonymous

      Vagabond: everything physical build that doesn't want arcane, faith builds that invest past 14/13 Str/Dex, most Int/Fai builds even

      Hero: Pure Strength Builds, Str/Arc, even Dex/Arc

      Prisoner: int builds that are using melee weapons and not levelling faith for something like SoNAF. Astrologer is only good if you're not planning on using the many, many strong int scaling weapons like wing of Astel or dark moon GS

      Samurai: Honestly worse than Vagabond in 95% of cases, only the best for dex if you're not going past base dex.

      Prophet: Pure Faith casters and Fai/Arc dragon communion build.

      The others are always outclassed. I guess you could do bandit if you're only using daggers.






      • Anonymous

        (If your not using arcane vagabond is almost always the best option)
        (If your running a twink wretch is often best for it versatility in talisman swaps)
        (Astrologer for a pure caster)
        (Everything else is only good for very specific niches)
        I really wish they optimized stats better. Obviously the class that's highest stats are vigor and endurance is best most often because everyone uses those stats so your not wasting much of anything -_-

        • Anonymous

          (If your not using arcane vagabond is almost always the best option)
          (If your running a twink wretch is often best for it versatility in talisman swaps)
          (Astrologer for a pure caster)
          (Everything else is only good for very specific niches)
          I really wish they optimized stats better. Obviously the class that's highest stats are vigor and endurance is best most often because everyone uses those stats so your not wasting much of anything -_-

          • Anonymous

            my ranking for optimization

            1. Vagabond (no explanation needed really, if you're build doesn't want arcane this is almost always the best choice)
            2. Prisoner (best for Int characters, crazy low starting faith means you out optimize even vagabond on Str/Int unless you're using Rellana's TB or something)
            3. Hero (best arcane starting class, 16 Str is useful on almost any build but if you run the numbers this is better for Dex/Arc than bandit at meta level)
            4. Prophet (Better than Vagabond for faith builds if you are investing into arcane or not planning on going above 14/13 Str/Dex)
            5. Samurai (usually worse than Vagabond but some pure dex or dex/arc builds that want minimal Str appreciate it)
            6. Astrologer (usually worse than Prisoner unless you're doing sorcery only or the very uncommon Int/Arc hybrid)
            7. Wretch (usually the second best choice on hybrid casters like Int/Arc or Int/Fai. Not great but 10 in Int/Fai can be useful for talisman swaps I guess)
            8. Bandit (worse than hero and samurai on arcane builds, no good dump stats for optimization)
            9. Confessor (at least you start with the best drip)
            10. Warrior (outclassed in everyday by Vagabond and Samurai)

            • Anonymous

              I started a new run after lots of hours and need to say samurai is so stacked. It's the only class I feel comfortable keeping the same setup for the whole game. Rn at stormveil with the trusty uchi to deal with close combat and the longbow to snipe. I added the whip to deal with miners and birds. It's very balanced and can use lots of good early weapons like the hookclaws. Samurai op

              • Anonymous

                Before what vitality breakpoint is it better to just use the vagabond's extra point to level endurance and wear heavier gloves than to be a confessor when it comes to resisting deathblight? Assuming the vagabond will always have exactly 7 arcane and the confessor exactly 9. Because extra deathblight resistance from extra arcane has diminishing returns the higher your armors vitality.

                • Anonymous

                  Top Fashion:
                  1. Confessor
                  2. Vagabond
                  3. Astrologer
                  4. Samurai
                  5. Warrior
                  4. Samurai

                  Top Garbage:
                  1. Wretch
                  2. Prophet
                  3. Prisoner
                  4. Hero
                  5. Bandit

                  • Anonymous

                    I know for a fact the confessor beats the vagabond for a lordsworn knight cosplay because it gives increased deathblight resistance for the low armor cosplay and doesn't waste any stats on dex. This is very valuable given how dripping the leyndell knight set is.

                    • Anonymous

                      To make an efficient build, have a stat lower than the corresponding base stat of the other class for each other class. In other words, a build is defined by what stat(s) you want to minimize or limit, and how.
                      This may lead you to believe vagabond is best for like 90% of builds and that confessor is useless, even where the vagabond would waste some points in other stats, but arcane actually gives you death blight resistance and item discovery, so it's better to waste points in arcane than in any other stat, at least as far as starting stats are concerned.
                      For example, samurai, vagabond, and prophet are better than confessor for faith dex builds; samurai if you want 12-13 str, 8 arc, and some intelligence, prophet if you don't want any intelligence, and vagabond if you want intelligence, 14 or more str, and either 7 arc or 10 mnd with 7-9 arc.
                      You pretty much have to plan your build really closely if you want to be efficient.
                      Tbh, your hunch on what class is right for you based on their names and descriptions in- game is probably correct, but here's some descriptions I made myself that I think suits the classes and their efficient stat developments well:
                      Warrior: semenarial guy who uses dex arms, pretty much kushan stuff from berserk if you get that reference
                      Confessor: semenarial guy who uses German mercenary arms
                      Samurai: a average samurai, but outshined by the vagabond, hero, prophet, or prisoner for stuff like great katanas and the naginata
                      Prisoner: sociopath wizard
                      Wretch: crusader wizard
                      Astrologer: domestic wizard who uses side arms or german mercenary arms
                      Hero: Conan the barbarian
                      Bandit: thief who uses small arms
                      Prophet: faith sigma

                      • In future games I'd like to see these matter more than not at all. Unless you're min/maxing you quickly get to the point where this is all meaningless

                        • Anonymous

                          I'd legitimately argue that wretch is the best class for players that are decently familiar with this sort of game, but new to Elden Ring in particular. Very open-ended, really makes you care about finding random armor sets and weapons. Not to say it's objectively the best overall, there's real value in having a natural affinity for the particular stats you want, but the blank-slate nature of the class is something I find favorable.

                          • Anonymous

                            I think its interesting how some weapons have unmissable requirements, like staves requiring 6 or 8 strength, there's no way to fail those without cheats or something yet the devs still bothered to write them in and the game still bothers to show them

                            • Anonymous

                              Wretch is objectively the best pick. You start at level 1 so there are zero wasted skill points no matter what build you choose to go. On top of that you can squire all the starting equipment in the game that other classes have just by playing through.

                              • Anonymous

                                If you care about min / maxing

                                Full caster faith = prophet
                                Full caster int = astrologer
                                Small weapon full arcane = bandit

                                Everything else = samurai or vagabond

                                You want INT, FTH and ARC to be your lowest base stats or if you are doing magic you want 2 of those stats to be low and one of them to be very high.

                                Full caster will always level end, vig and mind regardless and dex is still useful for cast speed.

                                • Quality - Vagabond
                                  Strength/Int - Prisoner
                                  Strength/Faith - Confessor
                                  Dex/Faith - Confessor
                                  Dex/Int - Prisoner
                                  Int/Faith - Confessor
                                  Strength/Arcane - Hero
                                  Dex/Arcane - Bandit
                                  Int/Arcane - Astrologer
                                  Faith/Arcane - Prophet
                                  Pure Strength - Hero
                                  Pure Dex - Warrior
                                  Pure Int - Astrologer
                                  Pure Faith - Prophet
                                  Pure Arcane - Bandit

                                  • Anonymous

                                    pick samurai if you want the game to be easy

                                    pick wretch if you want the game to be hard

                                    pick anything else if you dont care

                                    • Anonymous

                                      Looked through the weapons each class gets: each one seems to be farmable or have a farmable equivalent/superior weapon with same moveset except Samurai and Confessor. Samurai gives you an extra Uchigatana, giving 3 customisable katanas (2 Uchigatana, 1 optional Kagakiba; and Confessor gives you an extra Broadsword, giving you 3 customisable straight swords with the Broadsword moveset (2 Broadsword, 1 unmissable Cane Sword). Personally, the Uchi is much more interesting given how the extra length helps you catch enemies better. But also there's several non-customisable Katanas (e.g. magic Katana = Moonveil). And I don't know if the Broadsword moveset is actually enjoyed more over the other straight sword movesets by anyone. The Battle Axe has the Hand Axe moveset, it might only have inferior farmable weapons. But there's your 2-3 classes that give you an extra weapon that have limited availability.

                                      • Anonymous

                                        The only truly bad starting class for minmaxxing RL125/150 is Bandit, because Hero does every arcane build slightly more efficiently unless you're specifically only using the two bubble sorceries. And even then it's probably still a tie or close.

                                        • Anonymous

                                          Confessor class all the way! Interesting lore, dual wield broadsword very early, and the drippiest of drip!!

                                          • Anonymous

                                            Strength: Easy Mode
                                            Dexterity: Disgraceful
                                            Faith: Easy Mode
                                            Intelligence: Easy Mode
                                            Arcane: Easy Mode + Disgraceful

                                            "If you play the game you are using op builds.
                                            play like a man, don't play at all"

                                            • Anonymous

                                              One thing fromsoft has never done in these games for a DLC is add a new class. It would be cool just to see for the new gear and weapons they start with. Not stats.

                                              • Anonymous

                                                Wretch class for me. Allows me to be any build I want. I use up larval tears like it’s nobodies business. I just now finally got my dream build

                                                • Anonymous

                                                  How to make an efficient build:
                                                  Have at least one stat tied with or lower than a base stat of the other class' for each other class (preferably lower imo).
                                                  It's called minmaxing

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    Free build guide for newbies: pick Bandit, go to Murkwater Cave, and get carried by Yura to beat up the NPC invader Nerijus. Might need to sneak in a few backstabs when they're focused on each other. Now you have Reduvia and can spam the weapon art to win 98% of the game. Just dump stat points in Vigor until it's 40 and then you can level up Mind to 20 if you don't like drinking Blue Flasks as much. After that you can level up Endurance as needed for whatever Armor set you want to wear without hitting Heavy Load, and you can level Faith up too if you want to use *Golden Vow and/or Black Flame's Protection for the extra damage and defense. They both stack so they're very effective defense tools together

                                                    You can leave Mind at 15 and leave Faith at 20/30 for *GV or BFP if you plan to use Godrick's Great Rune, and you can reduce those Faith by another 5 if you're fine with swapping to the Two-Fingers Heirloom every time you want to buff, such as if you mainly use em before boss fights. You can reduce em by another 10 with the Flask of Wondrous Physick. You can redistribute points later in the game, so it's fine to "waste" some points now and shuffle them around later. You'll mainly want things that increase survivability or skill damage / bleed synergy (such as a certain headgear and talisman that both increase your damage big time when any Bleed effect takes place). Of particular note is the Warrior Jar Shard, which you can get in the 1st zone of the game if you kill a certain NPC. It gives a 10% increase, whereas if you finish the character's questline you can get a better version with a 15% increase... in the last zone of the game, when the final boss(es) are immune to bleed anyways. The character dies either way, so it's up to you if you want to have a weaker buff for 99% of the game or the stronger buff for maybe 5%. You can get the stronger version in New Game +, so it's not locked out forever.

                                                    After all of those baselines are met, then just level up Arcane. 60 is a fine stopping point, but 80's still a decent increase. This is your main damaging stat since it makes Reduvia proc bleed faster, but it's strong enough with base stats that you really don't need to worry about it until everything else is taken care of. There are only a few bosses in the game immune to bleed, but by the time you reach any of them, you'll be late enough in the game it won't be hard finding other weapons to swap to. It's such an easy build that you can start on at the beginning that most people consider it almost cheating, but if you want a casual playthrough without needing to rely on summons, it's perfect.

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      For any newbies looking at this page and wondering what the heck to do, stop wondering. None of these starting stats really matter that much unless you're really intending a very, very specific final level and setup for minmaxing. Your first playthrough can be whatever you like. If you pick a caster starting class and then want to bonk stuff, just level STR or DEX later.

                                                      Pick something that looks like it might be good to you and start playing. You're not going to find out you made a horrible mistake in 6 hours and have to restart as long as you focus on leveling your health and main damage stat. Minor spoilers, too: in an area designed for level 50ish, there's a way to change your stats.

                                                      Don't stress and start playing.

                                                      • Anonymous

                                                        I picked Confessor and i dont know what im doing lmao, my souls vets bro alrd warned me to not, but i beat the game yaaay!, and see u friends in DLC(i bought it)

                                                        • Anonymous

                                                          I feel like samurai and vagabond are objectively the best classes, but wretch and prisoner are significantly funnier.

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            So, IDK why these comments and Youtube comments as well are so focused on trying to justify the Wretch class. Let's take their argument that minmaxing isn't that important and most new players won't care about it (which is obviously false but ok).
                                                            That would still make the wretch class godawful. You literally start with no armor, one weapon and no spells. Unless you've already played ER or are just godlike at picking up games (I struggled as a Souls vet), you're gonna have a terrible start to the game doing no damage and taking a ton. And let's say you use everyone's favorite weapon Rivers of Blood later in the playthrough; you'll have wasted stats in faith and intelligence. Or if you're a strength build you'll have wasted stats in dex, arcane, faith and intelligence. People should understand that, unless you're going to level 200+, the wretch is easily the worst class but it's a master of nothing and doesn't allow for optimization of stats.

                                                            • Anonymous

                                                              Dark souls I start deprived, Elden ring I start wretch, 10 in all stats, level 1, a club to bonk enemies with, find all your items and nothing given to you. Best class to start with.

                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                If you're not starting out as a naked club, I have to question whether you're really playing the game. ;^J

                                                                • Here's an explanation of the upsides and downsides of choosing a specialized Class vs choosing Wretch:

                                                                  In the short term, it obviously can let you start off in a better position to choose a non-Wretch class, although Wretch is perfectly viable too. If you want to cast spells, though, starting as a wretch will delay that since you have to get a staff and/or seal before you can (and your incantation selection especially is pretty limited at first). For staves, your options in Limgrave are the basic glintstone staff (this is dropped randomly by wandering noble mages but there's one guaranteed to drop it under some rubble a little south west of Sorceress Sellen) and the Demi-Human Queen's staff, which you can get in the Weeping Peninsula. For Incantations the only seals I know of that's strictly in Limgrave is the Dragon Communion Seal from Fringefolk Hero's grave, which can be a tough dungeon if you're new and requires 2 stonesword keys, and the Godslayer Seal from Stormveil Castle. You could also get the Clawmark seal from Gurranq. Other than that you could probably rush to buy a Finger Seal from the Roundtable hold or the Astrologer's Staff from a Nomadic Merchant in Southern Liurnia.

                                                                  In the long term, the main concern is what you can respec to. You can never respec your stats below your Class baseline. This means that depending on your build, your class may let you be effectively several levels higher than a Wretch at the same rune level because it took points from your dump stats to add to ones you wanted. However, if you end up wanting a build that doesn't use the stats that start higher than 10 for your class and you want to use the ones that were lower than ten, you'll be worse off by several levels than a Wretch. In essence, this means that if a Warrior and Wretch both do the same build that doesn't use Faith or Arcane but uses at least 11 Vigor, 12 Mind, 11 Endurance, and 16 Dex, the Warrior's important stats will be 3 levels ahead of the Wretch because Faith and Arcane (which you don't care about anyways) will use a total of 3 fewer points, meaning they can go to more important stats since the sum of all of a characters stats is always equal to 79 + RL. But if those same characters respec to use Dragon Communion Incantations, and ignore Dex entirely, suddenly the Warrior will have 6 more dead points stuck in Dex than the Wretch, meaning the Wretch will be effectively 6 levels ahead. If they decide they want a build that uses exactly 12 dex, the Wretch would only be 4 points ahead because only 4 of those Dex points are unwanted, and if they decide they want a build with more than 11 Vigor, 12 Mind, 11 Endurance, 16 Dex, 10 Faith and 10 Arcane, then there will end up being no difference. These level differences can be more extreme in classes with stats further below 10. This means that if you know exactly what build you want to do for the character, choosing a class that aligns with that build will make your character stronger than a class that doesn't align with that build. Even if you end up wanting points in the stats that start low somewhere down the line, as long as you still want the stats that are higher than 10 in class, you'll be no weaker than a Wretch at the same level (though you could be weaker than a different class at that same level with the same build). On the other hand, if you don't want those stats that are higher than 10, you would have ended up being better off as a Wretch. The maximum benefit of a specialized class (compared to the same build on a Wretch) is 7 points as a Hero build that makes good use of Vig, End, Str, and Arcane but does not want more than 9 Mind, 9 Dex, 7 INt, or 8 Faith, and the maximum detriment from a mismatch between class and build (when compared to the same build on a Wretch) is 13 points as either Hero, Astrologer, Vagabond, Prisoner, or Samurai, if you somehow made a viable build that doesn't want more than 10 in any of the stats they start with extra in. Realistically, the detriment would likely be much less because many builds benefit from at least a few points in stats that aren't their primary, and all builds can make use of Vigor especially (and to a lesser extent Mind and Endurance, since every playstyle has a way to utilize FP (unless you refuse to use weapon skills, I suppose), stamina, and equip load). When all is said and done, the difference these stats make may be noticeable but can be made up for by practicing. That said, if you know what for sure what you want to do and there's a class designed to do it, there's no reason not to take that class. If you aren't as confident in what you want long term, Wretch is a safe choice.

                                                                  TL;DR the difference can end up being minor depending on how extreme your build is, but if you are strongly committed to taking certain stats and ignoring others, take the class that already does that. If you want to be able to completely what your build is later on, Wretch is safer. Essentially, Wretch can do anything at an average level, and the other classes will be better at some things than Wretch (best case is 7 levels better as a Hero if you never go above 9 mind, 9 dex, 7 int, or 8 faith and make full use of your other starting stats) and worse than Wretch at others (theoretical worst case is 13 levels worse but it would generally require a very weird build to get that bad). This difference can be pretty big early on, but the higher level you are the less difference each new level makes. If you've never played a FromSoft game before, I recommend choosing a class that does something you think sounds fun and sticking to that playstyle until you're used to the game mechanics. It'll make the early game easier, and if you want to change later on in the run the difference in stats matters less due to your higher overall level and you'll hopefully have the skill to cover for it. Worst case for PvE you can grind runes for a bit. Not sure how it'd work out for PvP since I don't really play PvP.

                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                    the game is so hard, i almost die on starting class selection menu, so hard to pick between Samurai and Vagabond

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      With how much discussion there is about best/worst classes and stats layouts I feel fromsoft should make an option to choose your own starting stats, you choose your stats (5 being the lowest you can go in a single stat maybe?) and your starting loadout, and the classes above can just be suggestions on possible paths you can take

                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                        I've been doing a bit of stat math this morning since I have nothing better to do today, and because I've been seeing some people in these comments say that there are "other classes" (vague) better for respeccing than Wretch. This is not true. The only stats that every class will want in abundance is Vigor and Endurance, every other stat being interchangeable depending on the build. If you disregard Mind, Wretch has the lowest spread between all other stats at 50 (Hero is a close second at 51, but has 1 less Mind which is still universally useful). I made a few test builds in a calculator to find the level difference between Wretch and the optimal class for each build and Wretch never seems to go more than 5 levels above the minmax. The higher level you go, the less this is going to matter. Obviously there is no right or wrong choice for what class you want to play, but unless you really care about squeezing the absolute most amount of damage out of your build (I'm talking about maybe 10-20 AR), the 5 level difference between Wretch and minmaxxing won't matter. And besides, if you find yourself in a situation you really need those 5 stat points, there are talismans for exactly that! I'm seeing a lot of Wretch hate but for me I'm going to want to try experimenting with different builds and the ability to change it up if I get bored without having to play through a whole new character just to get a few extra points of damage.

                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                          I posted this in a comment down below but I didn't think anyone would get to see because the original thread was so far down so I'll post it here again. If you read this comment page you would think arcane is there to mislead you into wasting money, however, even on characters that are not arcane focused I still like to have a little arcane. The reason is discovery, which determines how often enemies will drop items. One tip that even pro players seem to forget is that farming is not just a way to get items, it is also a way to get levels. As you kill enemies you get money. As they drop items, you get things to sell for more money. Of course, don’t sell anything that you don’t have multiple copies of, but if you do have multipules then you can sell them to get more money to level up with. More arcane facilitates more drops which means more money. This is especially useful early on because if you find ten swords that sell for 100 runes each that is a free level. Keep finding swords and sometimes it can fill that tiny gap you have left between runes that you have and runes that you need to level up.

                                                                          — The Fist of Fury

                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                            If you don’t use arcane: pick vagabond 100%
                                                                            If you use arcane either warrior (str) prophet (fai/dex) prisoner (int)
                                                                            Confessor has good drip and starts with a broadsword, they probably thought it out as a GO class with enough str and dex to wield sonaf, but unless you want to dabble in dragon communion/blood incantations, vagabond is much better even there.
                                                                            Wretch is for people that don’t want to do multiple playthroughs, and the price to pay is horrible stat spread.
                                                                            Warrior is literally trash, only useful to showcase powerstancing early on
                                                                            Bandit suffers from low faith, which screws it over since faith and arcane have exceptional synergy, making prophet overall better, or even prisoner, if, for some reason you want to use the bubble attack
                                                                            Samurai isn’t inherently bad, but you can get the nagakiba right at the start, which out lassed the uchigatana hard, and low arc/faith is a problem, not as much that this class is trash like warrior, but still, if you don’t want arcane on your “samurai” just pick vagabond, even moonveil, will enjoy having to spend one less point for golden vow
                                                                            Astrologer is horrible, completely outclassed by prisoner, has 1 more faith just because, the starting equipment and stats forces it to only rely on range, when prisoner can rush in saving Sellen in order to have both melee and ranged option, alongside 6 faith.

                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                              I've restarted so many runs cuz classes can get some attributes below 10 and I wanted to minmax for a possible build. Also larval tears are lame, they couldn't just give free respec could they? You already lose smithing stones by changing your build mid-game. My point is this game doesn't allow you to experiment much. You find a cool weapon but its the opposite of your build so you respec and then end up not liking it and so on and so forth, now you lost a shitload of stones and larval tears, not to mention starting as say a hero then changing to a dex or int is so wasteful

                                                                              This is why I've been researching all the info I can find bout this game cuz I just want a stable run with a build that I settled on

                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                do an all cerulean flask prophet build sometime, its so fun. You have soooo much fp this way and u can still heal, albeit a bit risky

                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                  Why is confessors level considered a negative?

                                                                                  Sure, the higher your level, the higher the cost, but starting at a higher level means you get the previous levels for free.

                                                                                  Compared to the wretch who has to spend a couple thousand runes just to match.

                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                    Vagabond is better than wretch for people who don't know what build they want to do.

                                                                                    If you end up trying to do a magic build early game, then with either class you're not going to be able to use pure magic. So Vagabonds better equipment and melee/general stats help compensate for when magic won't cut it.

                                                                                    Also consider that when Vagabond spends an extra level to get to 10 int/fth, wretch still needs to spend an extra 5 levels just to match Vagabonds vig. Even for an arcane build that's still 2 extra levels in Vagabonds favor.

                                                                                    And once you get to mid game, the difference won't matter anymore.

                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                      Here's some info to help pick a class based on starting stats:
                                                                                      A value of 10 in a stat is average
                                                                                      Vigor is proportional to heat resistance
                                                                                      Mind is proportional to madness and sleep resistance
                                                                                      Endurance is proportional to cold resistance
                                                                                      Strength is proportional to grip strength
                                                                                      Dexterity is proportional to joint flexibility
                                                                                      I don't know what intelligence is
                                                                                      Faith is proportional to conviction
                                                                                      Arcane, I think, is willpower. It grants resistance to "living in death" (deathblight) and to holy attacks

                                                                                      • If you come here from demon souls,pick confessor.
                                                                                        If you come from ds1 pick hero.
                                                                                        If you come from ds2 pick warrior.
                                                                                        If you come from ds3 pick vagabond.
                                                                                        If you come from BB pick bandit.
                                                                                        If you come from sekiro pick samurai.
                                                                                        For anything else pick the one that rings a bell.
                                                                                        I'm not forcing this, Just do anything to feel like lands between is your own home. Don't even care about meta. Just do whatever you want and enjoy it. Be it reviving your other souls game experiences.
                                                                                        You've got enough time to grow, so rest here for now, and share a toast with us, Long may the sun shine! [T]/

                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                          "Although some classes may have higher or lower total points than other classes, their levels are also varied. By 10th level, every class will have 89 points."

                                                                                          —What the Christ does this actually mean?

                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                            Hero best class for strength pvp since you gain extra 5 stats, if you only level vigor, strength and endurance.

                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                              Questionnaire/flowchart to help pick the right class for you:

                                                                                              - Are you doing a RL1 run OR just don't know what you want to do yet and want max flexibility to respec later?
                                                                                              Yes: Wretch
                                                                                              No: Next question

                                                                                              - Do you care about min/maxing and not going above PvP meta?
                                                                                              No: Pick whichever one you want
                                                                                              Yes: Next question

                                                                                              - Are you planning on using sorcery OR planning on being a INT/FTH hybrid?
                                                                                              Yes: Astrologer (slightly better than Prophet for hybrid due to lower arcane)
                                                                                              No: Next question

                                                                                              - Are you a faith focus OR a melee focus that plans on using at least a little bit of faith for buffs?
                                                                                              Yes: Prophet
                                                                                              No: Next question

                                                                                              - Do you plan on being a bleed/status effect focus with high arcane?
                                                                                              Yes: Bandit if Dex co-focus, Hero if Strength co-focus
                                                                                              No: Next question

                                                                                              - Are you a pure Strength, Dex or Quality focus?
                                                                                              Strength: Hero
                                                                                              Dex: Warrior
                                                                                              Quality: Vagabond

                                                                                              The rest still work fine if you like their starting equipment and just want to have fun, the classes above are just for min/maxing for a chosen focus. Otherwise starting class matters less and less over the long run, while some classes are objectively "better" than others depending on your focus it's rarely by much so bottom line just do some experimenting and pick what you feel is right for you.

                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                Doing a strength build? Hero
                                                                                                Doing a strength build but you want access to more than like 5 weapons and definitely don't care about bleed at all? Vagabond
                                                                                                I hope this helps.

                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                  My stupid brain won't let me have stats at anything but multiples of 5 so as far as I'm concerned anything but wretch is pointless.

                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                    level 351 on samurai allows all play styles 50 vigor 50 mind 50 endurance 60 strength 50 dexterity 70 intelligence 50 faith 50 arcane

                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                      For most builds, it is the Arcane that is the most useless characteristic. Look at Arcane level and you will understand who is really worth starting the game with. The choice is literally between a Vaganond (the highest physical stats) and an Astrologer (the lowest physical stats).

                                                                                                      The levels are priceless, especially in the later stages, so think about whether you really need 9 Arcane or are the knight's stats (Vig, End, Str) actually more useful?

                                                                                                      The commentators who think that the Wretch is the best class laugh the most.

                                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                                        i messed up so bad by picking prisoner and then choosing to do a faith build after i unlocked respeccing. the end-game was brutal af because i was utilizing my levels so poorly but it felt too weird to respec back into int after using incantations for so long so i ended up just suffering through it lol. i have no idea why i even chose that class to begin with, i was never planning on doing an int build i must've been high or something.

                                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                                          my favourite class is wretch because you can take the teleporter behind the physick church get radagons soreseal, grab the uchi and gold pickle to get 100k souls to put into whatever you want

                                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                                            Wretch because I constantly change my builds to bring myself refreshness, easier for me to reallocate the points. Also that's why wretch's been my first choice for soul series except for DS1 where almost everyone would start with thief.

                                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                                              Wretch because I constantly change my builds to bring myself refreshness, easier for me to reallocate the points. Also that's why wretch's been my first choice for soul series except for DS1 where almost everyone would start with thief.

                                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                                95% of builds can be effectively min/maxed at RL125 by choosing either Prophet or Astrologer. Given this only matters if you care about wasting as few points as possible, at not much higher levels than meta your starting class becomes basically irrelevant so in that case pick what's fun for you.

                                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                                  I overthink and second guess everything, but I have never regretted picking deprived/waste/wretch. With any other class I'll agonize over base stats and builds for literal days, but there's something about wretch that just feels right. It puts some part of my neurotic chimp brain at peace, and I can move on. Thank you wretch.

                                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                                    S-Tier - Hero, Vagabond, Samurai.
                                                                                                                    A-Tier - Astrologer, Bandit.
                                                                                                                    B-Tier - Prisioner, Prophet.
                                                                                                                    C-Tier - Confessor, Warrior, Wretch.

                                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                                      Assuming you want a weapon/scaling that needs or has a requirement for strength and dex for a faith fighter build, Vagabond is actually better then the confessor or prophet (min-max of course) since the total of his arcane and int (the two you don't use) are lower meaning less wasted points.

                                                                                                                      Neat

                                                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                                                        For my comment below I forgot that The Man in the Iron Mask has many renditions, but the 1998 version with Leonardo Dicaprio is the most talked about.

                                                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                                                          The prisoner class seems inspired by the movie "The Man in the Iron Mask" due to the mask, cloth, prisoner concept, and thrusting sword. In the movie, The Man in the Iron Mask is royalty. The prisoner class is also very similar to the royalty class in Demon's Souls, the armor of said class (wizard set) is in the prison area, so inspiration for this could have been back when Demons Souls (2009) came out (11 yrs after the movie, which was 1998).

                                                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                                                            All the classes have the same net sum of stats, and I heard most weapons don't get as much benefit from quality build. Therefore, pick the class with the lowest some of points you don't need; wether its in stats you wont use, or in stats you don't need to level up beyond Stat requirements for items.

                                                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                                                              Samurai is very quickly OPed. In 5 min, you run to deathtouched catacombs and get a 2nd uchigatana which will take you all the way to the final boss.

                                                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                The best advice I could give to any newcomer is to pick a class with high vigor and endurance, for you are going to use that when you reborn to whatever you want

                                                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                  Just gonna say, prisoner is a more diverse starting class, able to go to an Int. or Dex. build, since it has around 14 in both of those stats

                                                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                    Just use a class calculator with the stats you need for your build if you need to optimize your character perfectly, anyone reading these sprawling paragraphs of advice are gonna say "I'm still not sure" anyway. Get the exact math and get back into the game, I promise it's less tedious than agonizing over your starting class.

                                                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                      Stop telling others how to min-max their classes oh my gosh, what benefit do you get from others being min-max ?? Also half of you don’t even give good advice anyway..

                                                                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                        For lv125 that doesn't use soreseal
                                                                                                                                        For pure str, str/dex, pure dex or dex/faith: because good weapons in this category usually need 16+str, therefore hero(if str of weapon more than16, 9 mind is enough for pvp,or14mind pve,while the same time you only need 12dex) or vagabond(other situations, you may also choose samurai, just 1more mind which may be useful for some ash of war)
                                                                                                                                        For arc(including arc/faith):hero(unless you need16faith14mind, if so you can also choose prophet),bandit wastes point in int.Also cross naginata needs 16str so hero's 16is not wasted
                                                                                                                                        For pure int:depends on weapon you use,prisoner(str more than11, while the same time dex more than14) or astrologer(others)
                                                                                                                                        For pure faith: depends on if you need14 mind, and the str/dex of weapon you use:hero,vagabond or prophet(if you only use very low str/dex weapons like coded sword as melee in pvp, need at least 14mind, want to use blasphemous blade in pve with soreseal or godricks rune ).
                                                                                                                                        For int/faith:depends on if you need high mind: astrologer or wretch(better than astrologer if you only need very low mind)
                                                                                                                                        For jack of all trade: really?you don't have a plan for your build?Then clearly a little waste in points wouldn't hurt you.Choose Wretch or whatever class you like.
                                                                                                                                        If you use soreseal or if you forcus on low(er) level pvp, or you focus on pve co-op rather than invasion/duel, the best choice might be different. For example:wretch waste more points than others in almost every builds:but all 10 means you can meet many weapons'/spells' requirements with the help of two soreseals, and other equipments that boost your attributes. So it's a very good class(may be best) for invaders of very low level.
                                                                                                                                        For lv150 or more, don't bother a liitle waste in points.

                                                                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                          Best starting class: Wretch
                                                                                                                                          You godda lern to club a seal before you can kill god
                                                                                                                                          The stats are 10/10
                                                                                                                                          Nr 1
                                                                                                                                          Chadclass

                                                                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                            Wish rebirth allowed you to respec stats lower than what you class starts with. Full 9 points in intelligence wasted on my build

                                                                                                                                            • For pure builds:
                                                                                                                                              Str: Hero
                                                                                                                                              Dex: Samurai
                                                                                                                                              Int: Astrologer
                                                                                                                                              Fth: Prophet
                                                                                                                                              Arc: Bandit

                                                                                                                                              For hybrid builds:
                                                                                                                                              Str/Dex: Vagabond or Samurai
                                                                                                                                              Str/Int: Astrologer
                                                                                                                                              Str/Fth: Prophet for 11 dex or less, Vagabond for 12 or more
                                                                                                                                              Str/Arc: Hero

                                                                                                                                              Dex/Int: Astrologer for 10 str or less, Prisoner for 11 str or more
                                                                                                                                              Dex/Fth: Prophet
                                                                                                                                              Dex/Arc: Bandit for 10 str or less, Samurai for 11 or more.

                                                                                                                                              Int/Fth: Astrologer or Confessor for 12/12 str/dex, Vagabond for anything higher.
                                                                                                                                              Int/Arc: Don't try Int/Arc you have minimal options and they all suck.

                                                                                                                                              Fth/Arc: Prophet

                                                                                                                                              Try not to focus three or more stats unless you're very high level or you'll spread yourself too thin and be weak. Get the minimum stats to wield your weapons than then focus one or two.

                                                                                                                                            Load more
                                                                                                                                            ⇈ ⇈