Elden Ring characters guide: All classes explained

As you dive into the vast world of The Lands Between and its brutal DLC, you’ll need to make one key call early on: which class and build are you rolling with in Elden Ring?

Elden Ring doesn’t hold back when it comes to class variety. Whether you’re slinging spells from afar, slicing through enemies with a blade, or wielding heavy armor as a knight, there’s a starting class to match every playstyle – even if you fancy creeping through the shadows like a deadly assassin.

The best part is that you don’t have to pick just one, as you can be a mixture of various classic Souls builds. Want to be a battle mage or a heavily armored holy cleric? You can!

No matter if you’re kicking off your first run or gearing up for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, here’s a breakdown of every starting class in Elden Ring.

All character classes in Elden Ring

There are 10 different character types available in the Elden Ring. Here’s an explanation of each:

Vagabond

FromSoftware

• Equipment: Longsword / Halberd / Heater Shield
• Armor: Vagabond Knight Helm, Armor, Gauntlets, and Greaves
• Items: Memory of Grace / Player choice of Keepsake

This is a class for seasoned Souls players or those who enjoy playing as a heavily armored tank or a powerful knight. The Vagabond resembles the Strength-based builds of Dark Souls, equipped with heavy armor and large swords.

The build makes use of strength, vigor, stamina, and little else, ignoring magic, faith, and dexterity in favor of pure physical dominance with a large health pool. While the starting class has been made with veteran Souls players in mind, new players who enjoy tank builds in RPGs will find a lot to like here.

However, it’s possible to build a templar-style build by creating a Vagabond knight who also uses incantations to buff themselves and allies.

Hero

FROMSOFTWARE

• Equipment: Battle Axe / Large Leather Shield
• Armor: Champion Headband, Pauldron, Bracers, and Gaiters
• Items: Memory of Grace / Player choice of Keepsake

The Hero is equipped with light armor and a large axe; they are berserker-like warriors who hit hard up close but also use magic to blast enemies from a distance. In some ways, the Hero borrows elements from all the other classes, allowing the player to tailor them as they see fit.

They aren’t suited to heavy armor as they value maneuverability, but they make up for it with a large health pool and raw strength. The class risks becoming a Jack of all trades and a master of none in the wrong hands, but players who find their groove with the Hero are likely to create an effective build in PvE and PvP.

The class has a lot in common with the Vagabond in that it can be strength-based primarily, but there’s more room to tweak and customize a Hero. They’re well-suited for blended builds.

Warrior

FromSoftware

• Equipment: x2 Scimitar / Riveted Wooden Shield
• Armor: Blue Cloth Cowl and Vest, Warrior Gauntlets and Greaves
• Items: Memory of Grace / Player choice of Keepsake

The Warrior is a classic Dexterity class in Elden Ring. In previous Souls games, such as Demon’s Souls and the Dark Souls trilogy, the Warrior class was associated with strength and vitality. The sort of class that would swing a two-handed axe with Barbarian-themed armor – like the Hero class above.

However, in Elden Ring, the Warrior class is now more associated with roguelike qualities such as curved swords and bows. This is a class that typically moves quickly in medium armor, attacking enemies with a range of melee and projectile-based attacks. If you’re opting for a build that wields two swords or is a champion swordsman, then this is the class for you.

The Warrior doesn’t have as much health as some of the other classes, and their combat style is based on agility and skill. It’s a risky starting class for beginners to Elden Ring, but the rewards follow in time. They can work well as warrior mages as their high dexterity decreases casting time. This is a great class for a dexterity-intelligence build.

Prophet

FROMSOFTWARE

• Equipment: Heal / Catch Flame / Short Spear / Finger Seal / Rickety Shield
• Armor: Prophet Blindfold, Robe, and Trousers
• Items: Memory of Grace / Player choice of Keepsake

The Prophet is essentially a faith-based mage in Elden Ring, specializing in Incantations to either buff themselves and allies or to damage and curse enemies. Incantations are similar to Miracles from earlier Souls games and work a little differently from standard sorcery.

As far as gear is concerned, the Prophet will wear light armor to stay mobile and will generally avoid close combat. They will also have limited health, making them vulnerable to strength-based opponents. However, from a distance, the Prophet is deadly, and the hard part is getting close to them.

Prophets are well suited to wielding Seal weapons, which buff their incantations and make them extra deadly. They’re a mage of sorts, but Incantations work differently from standard sorceries. It’s possible to make a build that uses both, but most players like to focus on one of these disciplines and pour everything into them.

Wretch

FROMSOFTWARE

• Equipment: Club
• Armor: –
• Items: Memory of Grace / Player choice of Keepsake

Every Souls game has a ‘naked’ starting class. One where the player character has a broken weapon, no weapon at all, limited stats, and starts the game wearing nothing but a loincloth. In Elden Ring, this is the Wretch character class.

This class is for seasoned players who want to make the game as challenging as possible. Elden Ring’s director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, has even cautioned new players against using this class in their first run – it would be wise to listen to him.

Prisoner

FROMSOFTWARE

• Equipment: Magic Glintblade / Estoc / Glintstone Staff / Rift Shield
• Armor: Prisoner Iron Mask, Clothing, and Trousers
• Items: Memory of Grace / Player choice of Keepsake

Elden Ring’s creepy-looking Prisoner class resembles a 19th-century diver, wearing a helmet that looks like it may have been sculpted around the character’s head rather than placed over it. Although it can be removed in the game like every other helmet.

The Prisoner is also a Dexterity build, but one most suited to casting status ailments on their enemies like Bleed and Scarlett Rot. Like the Warrior, they work well as dexterity-intelligence warrior-mage builds, even more so, in fact, as this is the primary purpose of the class rather than being a duelist character like the Warrior.

This is a class for Souls veterans who know what they’re doing and know exactly what build they want to create. However, anyone can try their hand and create something deadly from this Elden Ring starting class.

Bandit

FROMSOFTWARE

• Equipment: Great Knife / Shortbow / Bone Arrow (Fletched) / Buckler
• Armor: Bandit Mask, Garb, Manchettes, and Boots
• Items: Memory of Grace / Player choice of Keepsake

The Bandit starting character is another classic Dexterity class that’s well suited to using bows, daggers, and stealth to sneak up on enemies. As the class evolves, they’ll become more reliant on special skills and abilities rather than using brute strength.

They can also be used to create custom builds with sorceries and incantations, but their main draw is as a class roguish character, peeping enemies with arrows from afar.

Astrologer

FROMSOFTWARE

• Equipment: Glintstone Pebble / Glintstone Arc / Short Sword / Astrologer’s Staff / Scripture Wooden Shield
• Armor: Astrologer Hood, Robe, Gloves, and Trousers
• Items: Memory of Grace / Player choice of Keepsake

The Astrologer is the classic wizard/caster starting character in Elden Ring. While the Prophet relies on incantations (miracles for Souls veterans), the Astrologer will be for those who want to go all in with elemental magic – known as Glintstone sorcery in Elden Ring.

While Glintstone sorcery replaces Soul’s magic in Elden Ring, it’s essentially the same thing. However, those who build a caster in Elden Ring will be proficient will all sorts of magic spells and can become incredibly dangerous from a distance. Staves make up their weapon of choice, but there are also lots of magic buffing sorts on offer in the game.

Confessor

FROMSOFTWARE

• Equipment: Urgent Heal / Assassin’s Approach / Broadsword / Finger Seal / Blue Crest Heater Shield
• Armor: Confessor Hood, Armor, Gloves, and Boots
• Items: Memory of Grace / Player choice of Keepsake

The Confessor class is a faith and dexterity build which, as previous Souls players will tell you, can be deadly in the right hands.

It’s also a class players have often had to build for themselves, so it’s great to see FromSoftware finally offer such a blend as a starting class. Expect these characters to be nimble on their feet, dangerous from a distance, and constantly casting buffs.

While some classes above, like the Prisoner, are well suited to Dexterity and Intelligence, the Confessor is a dex class for those who also want to use faith to Smite their enemies. A Confessor build is likely to have a light weapon in one hand and a Seal in the other.

Samurai

FROMSOFTWARE

• Equipment: Uchigatana / Longbow / Arrow / Fire Arrow / Red Thorn Roundshield
• Armor: Land of Reeds Helm, Armor (Altered), Gauntlets, and Greaves
• Items: Memory of Grace / Player choice of Keepsake

All former Souls games have flirted with a samurai build, many of them including an Eastern NPC with matching armor and a katana.

Their quests were similar and clichéd, with that character hunting for a certain sword which you inevitably find, only for them to battle you to the death for it. Elden Ring may include such a quest, but it’s awesome to see FromSoftware finally committing to a starting Samurai class.

This is a Dexterity build that also makes use of heavy armor, so you can take down your enemies with rapid-fire strikes and skill, and still take advantage of health, endurance, and power.

Stats guide

Every character class has different stats and attributes, with higher levels on certain ones that build up their particular type. They all start their journey with a total of 80 attribute points distributed between the categories, except for the Wretch.

• Vigor: Governs the player’s HP, fire resistance, and the Immunity stat.
• Mind: Governs the player’s FP and the Focus stat.
• Endurance: Governs the player’s Stamina, affects Robustness, and the equipment weight.
• Strength: Required to wield heavy weapons.
• Dexterity: Required to wield advanced weapons.
• Intelligence: Required to perform glintstone Sorceries.
• Faith: Required to perform sacred Incantations.
• Arcane: Influences player’s holy defense, death resistance, item discovery, weapon AP scaling, as well as poison, bleed, sleep, and madness buildup.

Keep in mind that you can change the amount of attribute points given to any of these categories at any time during your playthrough. Plus, if you’re not happy with your development, you can always respect your character and redistribute the points.

Elden Ring base character stat chart contrast

Here’s how each character type compares with each other at the start of the game.

Bear in mind, you can always respec your character after beating Rennala, the second Legacy Dungeon boss. However, knowing which class excels at what at the start of the game can be a great way to tell if that build will be for you in the long term. 

To learn more about characters in Elden Ring, check out some of these epic builds as well as some of the best early builds you can create in the game.