Prisoner is a starting Class in Elden Ring. The Prisoner has high Intelligence and Dexterity, and medium physical stats. It starts the game level 9, with an estoc, a staff and shield. The Classes only determine the starting Stats and Equipment of the player, but as the game progresses, players can freely change their build to their preferred playstyle. There are 10 Classes in Elden Ring that the player can begin the game with.

 

A prisoner bound in an iron mask. Studied in glintstone sorcery, having lived among the elite prior to sentencing.

 

Prisoner Starting Equipment for Elden Ring

This class starts with the following equipment:

Armor:

 

Starting items for Prisoner  in Elden Ring

This class starts with the following items:

 

Prisoner Builds in Elden Ring 

 

 

 

 

 

Elden Ring Prisoner Notes & Tips

  • This class' stats are optimized for:
    • Strength/Intelligence hybrid builds where Dexterity does not need raising any higher. If more Dexterity is required, it becomes tied Samurai.
    • Dexterity/Intelligence hybrid builds where required Strength is between 10 and 12. Any lower, Astrologer becomes optimal. Any higher, it ties with Samurai.
  • The design seems influenced by Griffith/Femto from the Berserk manga and anime series.
  • Has the lowest Faith of all the starting classes.
  • The best pick for Dexterity/Intelligence hybrid builds demanding 11 or more Strength. Astrologer outperforms at 10 strength or less.
  • Though a more advanced playstyle, it's hard to argue that this Class has an exceptional loadout and stat spread. Not recommended for new players, but will shine in the hands of a Souls veteran.
  • A good start for Dex + Int builds.

 

 

Elden Ring Classes
Astrologer  ♦  Bandit  ♦  Confessor  ♦  Hero  ♦  Prophet  ♦  Samurai  ♦  Vagabond  ♦  Warrior  ♦  Wretch



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    • Anonymous

      My Tarnished was just a lady that was an aspiring swordswoman and well educated enough to dabble into sorceries available in her family's library... Alas, her family was killed or imprisoned by inquisitors, for heretical beliefs that she herself had no knowledge of or part in. She got tormented for months in that wretched mask, losing all faith in anything she knew as she learned of atrocities her relatives had been accused of (and misplaced blame for taking part in), and coming to be wary of priests, and even skeptical of deities as her prayers for freedom were unanswered, before only release of cold death granted her freedom after countless days.... buried in filthy clothes, a heavy mask, and alongside her staff, sword, and her father's riftshield symbolizing something dark.... as she raised from the dead, she is skeptical of this life as if it was a continuation of her torment, but pondering made her realize that perhaps she was truly free, and realizing no bindings held her, mustered up resolve for a new life where she could fend off anything resembling the monsters that once held her a mere 'Prisoner'... even with no faith due to bitter memories nor trust for clergy, she has one thing, Hope for a better life. So onwards she goes to the Lands Between, discarding her accursed rotten attire for new clothes, fixing her life, and setting out to fulfill her role in the great chess game that is the game of the gods, if only as a thanks to the one entity that gifted her Grace and gave her this chance... but not hesitating a moment to put down those aloof sorts or powermad deities that she felt let others suffer while feuding over power. Her way of saying thanks to whomever showed her mercy after an unfulfilling end the last time.

      • Anonymous

        Started with this class for my first SotE run and built for RL200 STR/INT. Absolutely loving it. Rush for Claymore at the start.

        • Anonymous

          I like to think this was influenced by Griffith and other examples with iron mask. No idea why some people dislike it so intensely when someone points out a Berserk reference.

          • Anonymous

            "The design seems influenced by Griffith/Femto from the Berserk manga and anime series."

            Yeah, only no. It's clearly the Man in the Iron Mask.

            • Anonymous

              Regretting starting from this for my recent DLC playthrough after 30 hours. After a 2 year break from the game I forgot that a little faith goes a long way for some quality of life against certain bosses and swamps. Cool Griffith helmet though.

              • Anonymous

                My favourite class to kill the Tree Sentinel early with; the Estoc's Impaling Thrust is great for staggering the boss, and a charged Magic Glintblade comes out after it stops using it's spell parry skill.

                • Anonymous

                  made my prisoner into a frenzy build, want to respec and lean into dex/int as intended (lvl 190 on ng+ about to do a test run on 3 for dlc), what's a good dex/int weapon to compliment it? also don't say moonveil or i'll snitch on you to the irs

                  • Anonymous

                    I like that if you take off the helmet and unequip the shield, you can get light load at the start of the game without being naked.

                    • 6 faith means that unlike astrologer you CANT switch to two fingers heirloom and cast say Flame Cleanse me or Bestial vitality in a pinch. Good for purists, but for utility the astrologer is better. Or just screw minmaxing because COOL HAT

                      • Anonymous

                        Astrologer is actually more optimal for the Dark Moon Greatsword requirements, while the Prisoner is the optimal class for moonveil.

                        • Anonymous

                          It's subtle, but I think the "Notes & Tips" section is recommending this starting class for Dex/Int builds.

                          • Anonymous

                            I am lost.... what the heck could cause this fellows imprisonment?

                            That low faith could mean anything from a roleplay standpoint, but it must involve being into either freaky cult things among nobility, or just condemned by some crazy faith-heavy nutter deeming them a heretic for no good reason and embittering them into hating most faiths.... or perhaps they are merely a narcissist who sung praises too only themselves while getting frisky with the duke's wife and needed imprisonment to humble their narcissism?

                            • Anonymous

                              For anyone that thinks this class is a reference to the man in the iron mask, it isn't. Black Guard Boggarts mask and outfit is. Look at Blackguards Iron Mask and outfit, then look at the various film representations of the man in the iron mask, or read the story by Dumas. Its almost an exact copy.

                              The prisoners helm and its distinct round smooth shape is much closer in design to Griffiths mask from Berserk from when he was imprisoned. Its also worth noting that the descriptions for all the Prisoners Set clothing mention he was "convicted for an appalling crime" which the man in the iron mask was not, he was essentially a political prisoner from birth. Griffith on the other hand, was convicted of an appalling crime.

                              • Anonymous

                                This class is by far the coolest to roleplay as. Followed by the Bandit and the Confessor. — The Fist of Fury

                                • Anonymous

                                  it's funny how many people say "this is not Griffith influenced! it's the man in the iron mask!" while they just googled first time of their life for Griffiths and know **** about Berserk! clearly the white falcon <3

                                  • Anonymous

                                    It's noteworthy that 6 points in Faith is the lowest starting rank of an attribute of all classes. All other classes do not start below 7 in any attribute. So it's a very poor start for incantation builds.

                                    • Anonymous

                                      magic glintblade is better than anything Astrologer starts with. And yes you can get to the sorcery teacher in five minutes if you know what you're doing, but there's no way a first time blind player would find her aside from pure luck since it has zero signposting.

                                      • Anonymous

                                        deep lore comment inbound: given the inspiration from griffith and the man in the iron mask, the use of the rift shield, saying they lived among the elite and use of a "prototype of the old carian family sorceries", i've come to the conclusion that this classes origin is that they're a relative of rennala who was imprisoned by her or the academy (man in the mask was theorized to be a relative of king louie that was locked up for political reasons) for trying to make contact with the primeval current which is where the rift shield comes into play (and griffith was able to talk with demons through a "rift" during his imprisonment).

                                        thanks for coming to my mid lore analyzing

                                        also this class is alright

                                        • Anonymous

                                          This build starts out with some cool stuff, but astrologer is better in the long run unless you know for sure you'll be leveling dex and end without leveling fth for bestiary vitality/flame cleanse me if min maxing is your goal

                                          • Anonymous

                                            If the 6 in faith discourages you due to not being able to use Flame, Cleanse Me, don't. Two Fingers Heirloom + Commoner's Simple Garb = 12 faith for Prisoner.

                                            • Anonymous

                                              "The design seems influenced by Griffith/Femto from the Berserk manga and anime series"

                                              No? Literally not even a little? xD

                                              • Anonymous

                                                I'm doing my first playthrough and I picked this class, just because of the way it looked haha. love the combo of magic and bladework. I've been doing pretty much a spellblade playthrough and I'm loving it.

                                                • Anonymous

                                                  Simple yet efficient. First of all, Prisoner's set is incredibly drippy despite making you canonically disgusting. The estoc has a straightforward and effective move set, excelling in its long thrusting attacks and wide, sweeping heavy attacks. The Magic Glintblade spell is strong and the unique effect of delaying the attack can be used to destroy shielded enemies — any enemy for that matter.

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    This class's starting set looks fairly dashing (in a swashbuckling rogue kind of way) without the helmet (heresy though it may be to remove such an iconic helmet). Currently having fun with a build that tries to take the very nice moveset but poor damage output of the Straight Sword (Longsword or Lordsworn's) and fixes the damage output by using Scholar's Armament. This class suits that approach very well and makes you a pretty fun little semi glass cannon very quickly, and the Rift Shield is a really classy looking parrying tool while the Magic Glintblade spell is pretty interesting to use (especially if you charge it up so it fires very slowly and use it to hit a shield enemy in the back, or to stealth-attack one enemy at the same time as you assassinate another enemy). All around a pretty fun class if you choose it intentionally. Estoc's cool too but it's not what I'm using this time.

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      I chose this class but in the start i don't understund all things about the class and i enjoy doing a hybrid of one tipe of samurai/mage

                                                      • Anonymous

                                                        i chose this class having never played a souls game before bc i thought they looked funny but honestly i enjoy doing a melee/mage build even if im bad at the game lol

                                                        • Anonymous

                                                          Slightly more stat efficient than astrologer depending on your choice of weapons because of one less wasted point in faith.

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            This class has an ideal stat spread for a build focused on the Fallingstar Beast Jaw. As the longest colossal weapon in the game with ranged poise damage and modest fp consumption, it's worth building a character around.

                                                            • Anonymous

                                                              I happened to pick this class. I have been focusing on building intel. and some strength ( of course the top 3 as well, V, M, & S) but should I focus more on dex? or strength or what as a melee/mage build?? BTW I do already have the moonveil... I had NO idea that I would obtain that from that cave lizard!!

                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                I have finished this game like 3 times and I just realized that this class is supposed to be a melee magic build. But through out my first play through I only put 3 points in intel lmao.

                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                  Kinda funny how his background lore denotes that he may have been royalty/nobility. While the other mage class, the Astrologer, has a well made work of art for a staff, the Prisoner has one that looks like it would give you splinters lol.

                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                    Get the flail as soon as you can with this class. It’s a great compliment with the estoc as it does bleed, strike damage and high poise damage as well as being non-parryable and scaling with dex. Plus it fits the vibe of this class to a T.

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      My favorite starting class in the game. Really nice distribution between intelligence and dexterity, and an amazing starting spell that will be a staple of your toolkit until the very endgame. The Estoc has a top-tier moveset, so it's a great starting class even for pure dexterity builds by just getting the Lands Between Rune and immediately buying another Estoc to dual-wield them.

                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                        Why is everybody saying griffith? hes quite literally the man in the iron mask. He hardly looks like griffith and has none of the same armor or weaponry.

                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                          This is better for spellsword than pure caster because of the spread between str and dex compared to astrologist. If you want to use weapons along with spells then this is for you. If you want pure casting with minimum investment in the melee stats then go for astrologist.

                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                            Advanced Class, they say.
                                                                            It was the class I started playing with no prior Souls experience and I am doing great with it.

                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                              I personally found Prisoner to be superior to Astrologer:

                                                                              Better stat spread for sorcery builds that use any kind of decent weapon
                                                                              Doesn't need to level anything to use weapons/shields right at the start
                                                                              Magic Glintblade is way better for bosses than Glintstone Pebble as bosses like to dodge Glintstone
                                                                              Estoc > Short Sword

                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                If you want to go incantations then go confessor. I have 1 confessor and 1 mage character. Built a Paladin type of confessor and it's fun to play.

                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                  10/10 Griffith cosplay and amazing attribute spread for hybrid Dex/Int, Str/Int and Dex/Str/Int builds! Great starting class, perfect for a Magic Knight!

                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                    A prisoner in an iron mask, who used to live in elite society, and starts out with a French estoc? I mean why not just call him 'The Man in the Iron Mask' at this point. Haha.

                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                      I have seen quite a few sources say Prisoners level and strength stat were reduced by 3 (level 6 start, 8 strength). This could potentially make warrior a more viable pick if you are interested in leveling strength as well. Can't confirm if this is true but will share sources.
                                                                                      Sources:
                                                                                      https://www.pcgamer.com/all-elden-ring-classes-origins/
                                                                                      https://www.wepc.com/gaming/elden-ring/classes-prisoner/

                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                        "The Prisoner is the most stat-efficient choice for the vast majority build that intends to invest in Intelligence because they have the lowest starting Faith in the game, and the lowest total between Faith and Arcane. They are an ideal pick for pure-intelligence casters and any Intelligence hybrid, including an Intelligence + Arcane build."

                                                                                        This sillyness was on the astrologer and it's here too and it's such wrong info. You want astrologer for pure int. Better int, lower starting level, and more mind.

                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                          I guess this is as close to Enchanted Knight from network test as it gets? I was digging the sorceries/dex build. But EK had the best shield in the game :/

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