After years of waiting and anticipation, Elden Ring is finally releasing on consoles and PC this year. The game features a huge open-world and an overarching mythos written by George R.R. Martin, as well as a plethora of different weapons and armor to play around with. If you’re wondering which starting class you should choose in Elden Ring, here’s what you need to know.
Which Starting Class (Origin) to Choose in Elden Ring
First off, it doesn’t really matter which class you choose in this game.
The major differences between the classes are the stat allocation and starting equipment.
While your choice of class will have a large impact on your early hours in Elden Ring, that choice will also become increasingly irrelevant the longer you play.
Ultimately, you should quickly decide on what kind of play style you’d like to go for and which stats you need to focus on to get your dream build, then pick the class that suits you.
We’ve outlined the best classes for different builds in Elden Ring below.
Best Elden Ring Classes for Melee Builds
Vagabond
- Level: 9
- Vigor: 15
- Mind: 10
- Endurance: 11
- Strength: 14
- Dexterity: 13
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 9
- Arcane: 7
- Starting Gear: Longsword, Halberd, Heater Shield
- Starting Spells: None
- Starting Armor: Heavy
Hero
- Level: 7
- Vigor: 14
- Mind: 9
- Endurance: 12
- Strength: 16
- Dexterity: 9
- Intelligence: 7
- Faith: 8
- Arcane: 11
- Starting Gear: Battle Axe, Leather Shield
- Starting Spells: None
- Starting Armor: Light
Samurai
- Level: 9
- Vigor: 12
- Mind: 11
- Endurance: 13
- Strength: 12
- Dexterity: 15
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 8
- Arcane: 8
- Starting Gear: Uchigatana
- Starting Spells: Long Bow
- Starting Armor: Red Thorn Roundshield
If you’re looking to focus on a melee play style that specializes in using swords, axes, and other larger weapons to get up close and personal with your foes, the Vagabond, Hero, and Samurai classes are pretty solid picks. The Vagabond and Hero have a higher focus on Strength, while the Samurai leans more towards Dexterity.
The main difference here is that the Samurai will be more suited to katanas and curved swords, and will also be able to effectively wield a good bow early on.
The Vagabond is also more suited towards a quality build if you’re undecided between Strength and Dexterity and wish to level up both. This class also comes with fairly decent Faith and Intelligence stats, so you can always push for a hybrid build if you change your mind halfway through the game, though there are better classes for that.
Best Elden Ring Classes for Magic Builds
Astrologer
- Level: 6
- Vigor: 9
- Mind: 15
- Endurance: 9
- Strength: 8
- Dexterity: 12
- Intelligence: 16
- Faith: 7
- Arcane: 9
- Starting Gear: Astrologer’s Staff, Short Sword, Small Shield
- Starting Spells: Glintstone Pebble, Glintstone Arc
- Starting Armor: Light
Prophet
- Level: 7
- Vigor: 10
- Mind: 14
- Endurance: 8
- Strength: 11
- Dexterity: 10
- Intelligence: 7
- Faith: 16
- Arcane: 10
- Starting Gear: Finger Seal, Spear
- Starting Spells: Heal, Oh, Flame!
- Starting Armor: Light
The Astrologer and Prophet are the two main classes to go for if you want to utilize a magic-focused build. The main difference between the two is that the Astrologer leans more towards sorcery and Intelligence, while the Prophet is focused on Faith-based incantations.
Both are completely viable forms of magic, though the Faith-based incantations do seem to skew towards more defensive spells that can provide you with element resistances and quick heals. Sorcery has a tendency to skew towards offensive buffs and lots of projectiles that home in on your enemies.
If the aesthetics matter to you, sorceries tend to glow blue, while incantations are usually white, red, or orange. Take your pick.
Best Elden Ring Classes for Hybrid Builds
Warrior
- Level: 8
- Vigor: 11
- Mind: 12
- Endurance: 11
- Strength: 10
- Dexterity: 16
- Intelligence: 10
- Faith: 8
- Arcane: 9
- Starting Gear: Two Scimitars, Small Leather Shield
- Starting Spells: None
- Starting Armor: Medium
Prisoner
- Level: 9
- Vigor: 11
- Mind: 12
- Endurance: 11
- Strength: 11
- Dexterity: 14
- Intelligence: 14
- Faith: 6
- Arcane: 9
- Starting Gear: Estoc, Catalyst Staff, Iron Roundshield
- Starting Spells: Magic Glintblade
- Starting Armor: Light
If you like the idea of being primarily melee-focused, but want to be able to bust out a few spells when the situation calls for it, the Warrior and Prisoner classes seem to be the best fit for hybrid builds. Both have quite a few points in Dexterity and Intelligence, allowing you to build a character that excels with curved swords and bows, as well as sorcery magic to help with buffs.
Best Elden Ring Classes for All-Rounder Builds
Bandit
- Level: 5
- Vigor: 10
- Mind: 11
- Endurance: 10
- Strength: 9
- Dexterity: 13
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 8
- Arcane: 14
- Starting Gear: Knife, Shortbow, Buckler
- Starting Spells: None
- Starting Armor: Light
Confessor
- Level: 10
- Vigor: 10
- Mind: 13
- Endurance: 10
- Strength: 12
- Dexterity: 12
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 14
- Arcane: 9
- Starting Gear: Broadsword, Kite Shield, Finger Seal
- Starting Spells: Urgent Heal, Assassin’s Approach
- Starting Armor: Light
Wretch
- Level: 1
- Vigor: 10
- Mind: 10
- Endurance: 10
- Strength: 10
- Dexterity: 10
- Intelligence: 10
- Faith: 10
- Arcane: 10
- Starting Gear: Club
- Starting Spells: None
- Starting Armor: None
Finally, if you’re really undecided and don’t know what build you want to go for, these three classes offer the most freedom in terms of variety. While the Bandit does have more points in Endurance, it also starts at level 5, giving you lots of room to build it towards a more focused play style.
The Confessor is one of the more beginner-friendly classes as well, offering a pretty even distribution across all stats. The Wretch is similar, though this class starts off with only a club and no armor. You’ll be able to find protective gear quickly in the game, but there’s no denying that the Wretch will give you a much rougher start than the others. That said, the Wretch is the most perfectly even class in terms of stat allocation, offering the most freedom in creating a build.
At the end of the day, it really just comes down to what play style suits you best. For beginners, the Confessor and Vagabond are pretty good picks, though you should definitely keep in mind that you might need to remove a piece of the Vagabond’s armor to avoid the heavy roll.
That’s all you need to know about which starting class to choose in Elden Ring. Be sure to search for Twinfinite or check our guide wiki for more tips and information on the game.
