Elden Ring Classes: Which One Should You Pick

One of the most interesting things about Elden Ring is that it offers a range of classes to choose from, each with its own unique playstyle. This can be overwhelming for new players, so here’s a breakdown of the different classes available in the game and what to consider when selecting one for your journey through The Lands Between. Keep in mind that different classes may suit different playstyles, and it’s worth experimenting to find the one that works best for you. While newbies are likely to be attracted to strength classes like Hero and Vagabond, experienced players who have played FromSoftware’s Dark Souls games will feel at home with Samurai or Astrologer classes. Having said that, it’s now time to take a deep dive into Elden Ring Classes and understand each one of them.

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The beauty of Elden Ring is that the RPG elements allow players to build the character how they want. However, instead of having players build a character from scratch, the classes help steer them on the right path. With each class specializing in one skill and offering different starting weapons, it can get overwhelming to pick a class. But with this article, we will ensure that players don’t feel overwhelmed with the choices. But before we learn about each Elden Ring class in-depth, let’s look at the key attributes or stats that define them.

Elden Ring Classes: What Does Each Attribute Do

In Elden Ring, stats are shared between Classes, with players having the ability to level up at each attribute whenever they feel like it through runes. Elden Ring offers a total of eight stats for players to improve and experiment with. These attributes determine how a player fares against enemies throughout the game. For example, if players want to wield heavy swords and deal incredibly high damage, naturally they will spend points on Strength and Endurance. Below, we go into detail about how attribute helps in tuning which characteristics of an Elden Ring class.

Class Attribute	Features
Vigor (red bar)	Increases the health points of a player per level. It also affects fire resistance and immunity stats
Mind (blue bar)	Increases the focus points of a player. It also improves the Focus stat, giving players better resistance toward madness and sleep
Endurance (green bar)	Increases the stamina points while ensuring how heavy of a weapon or armor players can use. Endurance also improves resistance to Hemorrhage and Frostbite
Strength	Improves the ability to wield heavy weapons and deal damage. It boosts the power of weapons falling under the Strength category and increases the physical defense of a character
Dexterity	Improves the ability to wield weapons, such as daggers, knives, and more. Per level, it helps reduces the casting time of spells, reduces fall damage, and more
Intelligence	Improves a player’s ability to perform sorceries, especially those that rely on this stat. Also, improves magic resistance per level
Faith	Improves a player’s ability to perform Incantations and scales the power of Incantations per level
Arcane	Improves item discovery from fallen enemies, defense against holy attacks, and improves vitality and specific sorcery

How Many Classes Are There in Elden Ring

Players in Elden Ring get to choose from ten different classes. Each class has some extra points focused on respective attributes, with the option for players to customize as they keep playing, and starts with various weapons and spells. Throughout the game, players can use runes dropped by enemies, picked up from the world as items, and change respective attributes to make the character behave and play how they want.

Classes in Elden Ring: All You Need to Know

Much like Dark Souls and Bloodborne, Elden Ring classes also specialize in specific playstyles and differ from each other. Of course, these classes are just like a clean slate at the start, and you have the opportunity to fine-tune them according to your playstyle as you progress in the game. That said, let’s look at what each class offers:

Hero

• Starting Level: 7
• Starting Weapons: Battle Axe and Large Leather Shield

The Hero class is a typical melee-focused character that can wield heavy weapons early on in Elden Ring, outshining other classes when it comes to brute strength. Most of its base stat point is allocated to Vigor and Strength, making it a go-to choice for people who enjoy large health pools and heavy weapons, including hammers (such as Ringed Finger hammer) and greatswords.

The Hero class, unfortunately, has few points allocated to mind, intelligence, and faith, making the players work double time if they want their character to perform sorceries and Incantations.

Bandit

• Starting Level: 5
• Starting Weapons: Great Knife, Short Bow, Buckler Shield, Bone Arrow (Fletched)

The Bandit is your typical dexterous character, known by players who have played past FromSoftware titles like Dark Souls. Agile, quick, and efficient at using a blade and bleed weapons, the Bandit class is for players who want to enjoy Elden Ring’s stealth experience, taking out enemies by crouching and silently walking behind them or using arrows to snipe enemies from a distance.

This class is also for players who want to use bleed-based weapons more frequently as the high point in Dexterity allows the user to attack faster. Bandits, however, are not great at physical prowess. While most of the points in Bandit have been equally allocated to Vigor, Mind, Endurance, and Dexterity, a substantial portion also went to Arcane, which allows the players to use certain incantations like Silent Step.

Astrologer

• Starting Level: 6
• Starting Weapons: Short Sword, Astrologer’s Staff, Scripture Wooden Shield, Glinstone Pebble (Sorcery), Glinstone Arc (Sorcery)

The Astrologer class focuses strictly on magic-based attacks and builds, with the ability to utilize various sorceries available in Elden Ring. Endowed with high Mind and Intelligence stats, Astrologer players can efficiently utilize almost all the magic and sorceries available in the game. Furthermore, thanks to Dexterity, Astrologer players can also use certain dexterity-based weapons and level the stats consecutively. The Astrologer is recommended for players who want to try out the many new magic options at hand.

Unfortunately, while Astrologer class excels in magic and sorcery, health and stamina are where it lacks, meaning players need to stay at a distance and utilize the magic to their advantage. On top of this, it completely ignores the Faith stat, making it almost impossible to try out incantations.

Warrior

• Starting Level: 8
• Starting Weapons: Scimitar x 2, Riveted Wooden Shield

The Warrior behaves like the Bandit when it comes to fighting head-on with foes, falling under the dexterity-focused class. However, usage and leveling-wise, they are a far cry to Bandit. Because of high Dexterity, this class can use blade weapons without any hassle and deal bleed damage faster on the enemies.

Thanks to the equal distribution of points in nearly every skill, the Warrior becomes one of the most versatile classes in Elden Ring, giving players many choices for fine-tuning it. Users can mix strength or intelligence with Dexterity and make a character adept at handling both. However, because of the low points allocated in Arcane and Mind, Warrior can have a tough time improving these stats and using Incantations.

Prisoner

• Starting Level: 9
• Starting Weapons: Glinstone Staff, Estoc, Glint Shield, Magic Glint Blade

Another Dexterity-focused character, the Prisoner mixes fast attacks and magic, allowing users to create a character that can utilize sorcery and fast weapons to deal damage. Thanks to its point distribution among most stats, the Prisoner can wear armor to protect themselves better from oncoming attacks, compared to other dexterity-focused classes like Bandit or Astrologer.

Unfortunately, much like Warrior, the Prisoner has low points in arcane and faith, making it difficult for players to level up if they wish to use incantations.

Confessor

• Starting Level: 10
• Starting Weapons: Broadsword, Blue Crest Heater Shield, Finger Seal Armament, Urgent Heal (Incantation), Assassin’s Approach (Incantation)

The Confessor class mixes hard-hitting melee attacks with magic, thanks to the faith attribute, which enables the players to perform incantations. With an equal distribution of points across all the stats, the Confessor class in Elden Ring can handle offense and defense and bring some incantation support in the play.

Furthermore, thanks to the stat distribution, players get a wide variety of options to make their Confessor either a specialized character or a jack-of-all-trades.

Wretch

• Starting Level: 1
• Starting Weapons: Club

A fan-favorite return from the Soulsborne series, the Wretch, is the classic club-wielding maniac players have come across at least once in a PvP environment. This character enables players to customize it the way they find fit, with 10 points allocated across every stat and starting with a level 1. However, leveling up a Wretch is difficult since the character does not have specializations like the other classes.

Vagabond

• Starting Level: 9
• Starting Weapons: Longsword, Halberd, Heater Shield

Vagabond is a well-rounded class in Elden Ring, bringing in a good health pool and good point distribution, to allow the usage of heavy swords and armor during a fight. Because the points are evenly distributed between Strength and Dexterity, the Vagabond can switch between weapons during the battle and still manage to put out damage.

Vagabonds might struggle with incantations and sorcery because of a low point distribution in faith and intelligence. One thing to note is that while Warrior and Vagabond are similar in usage, they have subtle differences in what weapons they can use and how they are used.

Prophet

• Starting Level: 7
• Starting Weapons: Short Spear, Finger Seal, Rickety Shield, Heal (Incantation), Catch Flame (Incantation)

Prophets are the incantation-focused classes in Elden Ring, with higher Faith and Arcane stats for the players to perform magic. While this class has low Vigor and Endurance, thanks to their defensive and offensive incantation options, prophets can stand their ground, switching to melee if needed.

But if players pick the prophet class, they should focus on incantation usage since this class specializes in them. Furthermore, players also have room to add either Strength or Dexterity later in the game to the build, thanks to the point distribution.

Samurai

• Starting Level: 9
• Starting Weapons: Uchigatana, Longbow, Red Thorn, Bone Arrows (Fletched), Firebone Arrow (Fletched)

A newcomer to the Soulsborne genre, the Samurai employs its high Endurance and Dexterity to use its Katana and longbows in battle, stringing combos during a fight. This character can also deal bleed damage efficiently, thanks to the starting weapon Uchigatana, a brilliant Dexterity-based weapon (and also one of the best weapons in the game).

Apart from that, the Samurai class excels in mounted combat, thanks to its high Dexterity, which decreases the chances of getting knocked out of the horse by enemies.

Elden Ring Classes: Detailed Stats Comparison

Elden Ring Class	Vigor	Mind	Endurance	Strength	Dexterity	Intelligence	Faith	Arcane
Hero (Starts at Lv 7)	14	9	12	16	9	7	8	11
Bandit (Starts at Lv 5)	10	11	10	9	13	9	8	14
Astrologer (Starts at Lv 6)	9	15	9	8	12	16	7	9
Warrior (Starts at Lv 8)	11	12	11	10	16	10	8	9
Prisoner (Starts at Lv 9)	11	12	11	11	14	14	6	9
Confessor (Starts at Lv 10)	10	13	10	12	12	9	14	9
Wretch (Starts at Lv 1)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Vagabond (Starts at Lv 9)	15	10	11	14	13	9	9	7
Prophet (Starts at Lv 7)	10	14	8	11	10	7	16	10
Samurai (Starts at Lv 9)	12	11	13	12	15	9	8	8

Which Class Should You Pick in Elden Ring?

With ten different classes available in Elden Ring, the decision to pick one to start the game can become a daunting task. Hence, here are a few examples based on which you can decide on a class. Do keep in mind that classes only help in the starting hours of the game, and how they play and behave is up to the player and what stat they sought out for.

Elden Ring Classes a Beginner Should Choose

Elden Ring expands upon the ideas introduced throughout past FromSoftware titles like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Demon Souls. As such, the classes are heavily inspired by the aforementioned games. While a series regular can always acclimatize themselves to the harsh gameplay, newcomers might find it off-putting, especially if they pick up the wrong class.

Fortunately, Vagabond is there to fix that problem. Vagabond comes forth as a quality build character, which is perfect for newcomers to the Soulsborne genre. High strength and decent dexterity will ensure that players can act formidable against tough enemies throughout the title, dealing appropriate damage. On top of this, Vagabond also leaves room for players who want to experiment with the attributes, so they can always steer towards a mix of melee and magic down the line.

Classes to Experience Pure Strength Builds

If a player wants nothing but to be an unstoppable force on the battlefield, utilizing huge swords and weapons, then Hero and Vagabond are the classes to seek out. While Vagabond allows players to use a myriad of strength-based weapons, with hammers and longswords becoming available mid-late game, the Warrior can utilize most heavy weapons quicker, thanks to its Strenght and Endurance points, making it easy to level up faster.

Apart from the above, both the characters have great vigor points, giving them a large health pool to start with and creating a solid strength-based build.

Classes to Choose for Fast Attacks and Agile Playstyle

If a player enjoys using smaller weapons like knives or faster swords and wants to damage an enemy in swift succession, then the Bandit class is the best pick. Not only is a Bandit quick on the battlefield, but it can also counter nearly every attack in the game. Furthermore, Bandit can take out enemies silently, thanks to being agile. However, it is worth noting that this class is not meant for a beginner. An experienced Soulsborne player will fare well with Bandit class since they will have the know-how to fine-tune weapons and bows to deal damage.

Elden Ring Classes that Balance Agility and Strength

Vagabond is the ideal class to consider if one wants to enjoy an equal amount of strength-based weapons and Dexterity. Not only does it have similar points allocated to strength for a player to use nearly most strength-based weapons in the game, but it also has an equal amount of dexterity points for players to deflect attacks using a shield and try out faster weapons.

Vagabond allows players to experience quality builds – builds that allow spec for both Strength and Dexterity-based builds. This lets users try out weapons that scale with Strength and Dexterity, giving them an added edge throughout the game. Furthermore, thanks to great vigor and Endurance, this class can take damage and not falter on a battlefield.

Classes for Players Who Enjoy Magic-Based Builds

If a player wants to enjoy the many magic and sorcery options in Elden Ring, Astrologer and Prophet are the best starting classes to seek out. Astrologer excels in the Intelligence stat, allowing users to pursue a pure sorcery-based build. The Prophet has a high level of points given to the faith, allowing one to try out the many Incantations in the game.

Remember that Sorcery in Elden Ring is extremely powerful and allows a user to create a pure magic build, whereas Incantations work well when used alongside another weapon.

In this article, we explored the various classes available in FromSoftware’s Elden Ring and the factors to consider while selecting a class in your playthrough. Personally, I chose the Vagabond class and followed a quality build, which helped me successfully overcome the game’s many challenges. Now, it is always interesting to see what starting class other players choose, so let us know which class did you select for your Elden Ring experience in the comments below. Did you go with a powerful magic build using the Astrologer class or a pure strength-focused build with Vagabond? Share your experiences with us.