Elden Ring has finally come out officially and maybe some of you are asking yourself a fundamental question now that you finally have the title in front of you, especially if you are new to the souls, that is: which starting class to choose? And with what criteria? Let’s take a look at how to make this difficult choice and what are the elements to consider when starting the game.
Elden Ring: which starting class to choose
Let’s dive right into this in-depth analysis with an important premise: the choice of class is not as important as you might think, as it does not constrain the progression path of your character in any way. Nobody forbids you, for example to choose the prophet and then level intelligence to use the sorceries, or to choose the warrior and then opt for a faith build. In this sense, the initial class is nothing more than an origin for your character and, as such, does not exclude the possibility of taking other paths.
So, on balance, what is the use of choosing the class? Basically two things. The first of these relates directly to the build you intend to create. It is clear that if you want to create a cleric, then you should choose a class that starts with statistics that are already somewhat leaning towards the use of spells.
The second reason interfaces directly with the first, since if you want to create a certain type of character you are very likely to want to start using it as soon as possible in the way you have imagined it.
Still following the example of the cleric, if you want to create one you will probably want to start using miracles and spells as soon as possible, which by choosing a class suitable for the purpose will be much easier. Haven’t you decided what kind of character to do yet? Do not worry, there are also classes for those who do not have clear ideas.
The statistics
That said, before we get into the individual classes, let’s take a look at the stats we can raise in Elden Ring and what parameters they affect. First we have the forcewhich increases maximum health and resistance to poison and fire, a very important base trait for any build.
Along with vigor goes hand in hand resistence, which increases the amount of maximum stamina of the character, which is essential for attacking, running, rolling and so on, as well as other statistics of vital importance for each character. Resistance also increases physical defense and transportable weight, which translates into the ability to wear heavier armor without being slowed down.
We find the Mind, which increases the amount of maximum FP, which is the blue bar between health and stamina. This energy is much more central than in Dark Souls three, since it not only serves to cast spells and use weapon art, but also to use the many summonable spirits that we will find during our journey in the interregnum. If you don’t have enough mana, some of these won’t be able to be summoned at all, so keep that in mind even if you’re making a totally physical build.
But be careful, because investing points in the Mind stat will not increase the number of harmonization slots, as it did in the old from games, and the latter will have to be unlocked in other ways. To stay in the mental domain we have the faithwhich increases the effectiveness of spells and weapons based on this attribute, and Intelligencewhich does the same thing for sorcery, and also increases the defense against magic.
Turning instead to the physical attributes, we find forcewhich increases the power of the weapons that scale on this attribute and allows us to wield them effectively and dexteritythe equivalent for weapons based on the latter trait and which in addition reduces fall damage, makes it harder to be thrown off the horse, and increases the speed of casting spells.
Finally, there is arcane, which increases the drop rate of items and resistance to instant death and other types of spells. A stat that you will probably not exploit in a first game, as traditionally it is used by very specific and complex builds to build.
The classes
The Hedge Knight
Having made this long introduction, we can begin to talk about the individual classes, starting from Hedge Knight: The Elden Ring starter class for all those approaching a FromSoftware game for the first time.
In terms of mere statistics, in fact, this class starts with excellent numbers in force, strength and dexterity, a factor that could be decisive in your initial choice if what you want to do is a build qualitythat is, a character capable of using both dexterity-based and strength-based weapons.
As if that weren’t enough, this class starts with a arsenal really impressive: from his we find a long sword, a halberd and a shield more than excellent for the first phases of the game, which make him an extremely effective fighter right from the start, especially if we consider that he also has medium-heavy armor on to rely on to reduce the damage suffered and take advantage of a minimum of balance.
The only slight flaw with the tramp is that he leaves at the level 9, che is a bit high and might bother you at high levels if you want to keep yourself in a useful range for PvP, but otherwise I would say that it is the best class for anyone who wants to level dexterity and strength at the same time and have access to a large selection of physical weapons.
The hero
Moving on we find the heroan initial class of Elden Ring conceptually similar to the vagabond but this time based only on the attribute strength leaving out the dexterity and that part of the level 7.
The hero also has a good level of forcewhich makes it very suitable for purely strength-based builds, although it starts with a very basic set up consisting of light armor, an ax and a relatively good shield.
And there isn’t much more to say about him actually, if your goal is to make one build forza pure pick it, otherwise the tramp is probably a better choice in every respect.
In fact, consider that this class is ideal for building a warrior devoted to the use of very heavy weapons, and if you want something more balanced it could disappoint you, since you will have to invest a lot in other statistics to make it work even from that point of view. view.
The warrior
Moving to the other side of the physical attribute-based classes we find those that wink at the dexterity builds, which they are The Warrior, the Samurai and the Outlaweven if the latter is a bit particular and I don’t feel like recommending it, as I will explain later in the section dedicated to it.
Let’s start right from Warriorwhich is also the class with the highest basic dexterity of all the others at the expense of all the other statistics which are instead average with a starting level of 8.
This class is the only one that starts the game with a set of dual weapons, the scimitars; so, if you want to make use of the power stance from the beginning, or the unique moveset that is unlocked by equipping two weapons of the same category, this should be your choice.
The downside of this focus on attack and dps it is the fact that you will only have a small shield as a means of defense, which obviously is not optimal if you want to parry attacks to carry out the counterattack in defense, as it will inflict a modest amount of chip damage on you. Either way it’s a solid choice, starting with good basic equipment and above average dexterity, so for builds focused on this attribute it’s definitely a great class.
The Samurai
But let’s take a look at the Samurai, conceptually very similar to the warrior. This fantastic oriental swordsman starts at level 9 and he has stats very similar to those of the Warrior we just saw, with the main difference being that he has one point less in dexterity and two more points in stamina.
Here too so we have a very solid basic set up, which is further enhanced by the basic equipment of the Samurai. First of all this class has an aesthetically fantastic armor and also quite useful for mitigating the damage taken.
Then we have a shield, even if it does not protect much, and a katana, which has always been a very performing type of weapon for a dexterity build. To crown it all there is the long bow and some special arrows, an element that guarantees a great variety of approaches to the gameplay and that immediately unlocks the option to attack enemies from a distance, which can be extremely useful in a game like Elden Ring, especially if we are faced with groups of numerous enemies.
In short, if you want to build a dexterity build I can only recommend one of these two classes depending on the approach to gameplay you prefer: with the samurai you will have a warrior with many options to play with, while with the warrior you can use the power stance fin. immediately, mechanics not to be underestimated in any case.
The Outlaw
But instead the outlaw? Here this class starts the game at level 5 and has only 13 in dexterity while focusing its characteristic focus instead arcane, in which he has 14 points. The problem is that this feature is very complex to manage in early game and if you want to create a build focused on it you will need to know exactly what you are doing, eventuality …