I have played over 500 hours of Elden Ring across multiple playthroughs and tested every starting class extensively. In this guide, I will share my picks for the best PVP and PVE starting classes based on my experience.
Elden Ring gives players 10 starting classes to choose from, each with their own stats alignment, weapons, and armor. While starting class matters less in the long run since you can respec your build later on, it does affect the early game difficulty and playstyle dramatically.
Picking the right starting class can give you an easier start, especially if you are new to Soulslike games. It also presets your stats to align better with certain builds you may plan for endgame.
Here is a quick overview of all the starting classes:
Elden Ring Starting Classes Summary
- Vagabond: Focused on Strength and Vigor. High starting HP and physical defense. Comes with a sword and shield. Beginner friendly.
- Warrior: Focused on Dexterity. Fast attacking with dual scimitars. High damage output potential.
- Hero: Very high starting Strength. Slow but hard hitting warrior that can wield colossal weapons early.
- Bandit: Starts with high Arcane and Dexterity. Uses bleed and status effects to its advantage.
- Astrologer: Intelligence focused spellcaster class. Comes with long range sorceries. Squishy but high magic damage.
- Prophet: Starts with exceptionally high Faith and access to incantations. Can be a pure caster or paladin.
- Samurai: Great mix of Strength and Dexterity for quality builds. Comes with the exceptional Uchigatana katana.
- Prisoner: Battlemage with access to both magic and melee combat with their higher Dexterity.
- Confessor: Balanced between melee combat and Faith spells. Can be played as a traditional knight or paladin.
- Wretch: Starts at level 1 with 10 in all stats. Gives the most flexibility for build crafting at the cost of more early game struggle.
Now let‘s take a deeper look at why some of these stand out as the best in their respective categories:
Best Starting Class for Beginners – Vagabond
If you are new not just to Elden Ring, but Soulslike games as a whole, then the Vagabond is hands down the easiest starting class to play.
It has extremely high Vigor which gifts you with a large health pool right from the start. This gives you more room for error which is invaluable for new players still getting the hang of combat.
The Vagabond also starts with the highest physical damage negation from its equipped armor. You‘ll be able to take more hits while learning enemy movesets.
For weapons and damage, the Longsword and Halberd provide two solid options – one faster with lower damage, and one slower but harder hitting. Both scale well with the Vagabond‘s primary stats of Strength and Dexterity.
Overall this build is simple, durable, and still dishes out great melee damage. Combined with the innate survivability, the Vagabond is without a doubt the best Elden Ring class for beginners.
Best Starting Class for PVE – Astrologer
When it comes to easily destroying PVE content like normal enemies and bosses, int-based Astrologer dominates as the best starting class.
Sorceries in Elden Ring are extremely overpowered – even more so if you stack intelligence early on with the Astrologer‘s starting 16 INT.
You have access to both long range attacks like Glintstone Pebble and the magic sword sorcery right from the start. Just keep distance and bombard enemies before they can reach you.
Bosses that gave melee builds trouble get absolutely shredded by the Astrologer‘s powerful magic. You can kill some open world bosses in just a few casts without ever being in danger.
While the Astrologer is squishy, their insane damage output and range means you take very little damage in return. As long as you play smart and keep away from enemies, everything melts incredibly fast.
Best Starting Class for PVP – Samurai
The Samurai‘s starting stats make it hands down the best Elden Ring starting class for PVP.
It has high Dexterity which allows you to wield some of the fastest and strongest weapons in the game. Paired with decent starting Vigor and medium armor, you have great offense and defense.
But what puts the Samurai over the top is that it starts with the incredible Uchigatana katana. This weapon has high damage, incredible reach, and a special weapon skill that can inflict blood loss on enemies.
The combination of speed, range, damage, and bleed build up is devastating in PVP. If you land just a couple of hits with the Uchigatana, you trigger hemorrhage which takes a massive chunk of the enemy‘s health bar.
While any weapon can be viable in PVP, the Samurai undeniably has the best loadout to dominate invasions from the very start of the game.
Most Flexible Class – Wretch
The Wretch is a unique starting class in Elden Ring because it actually starts you at level 1 with 10 points in every attribute. Plus it has no armor and only a basic club as a starting weapon.
This may seem underwhelming at first. However, starting with perfectly even stats gives you the most flexibility when planning your build.
You can mold your Wretch into anything you want with no wasted stat points. By endgame, your custom constructed build will be just as powerful as if you had started with a focused class.
Just be prepared to struggle a bit more at the very start since you have low HP, damage, and defense with no real gear or abilities. Once you get some levels and gear, you can shape your Wretch to excel at any playstyle.
This one is for the veterans looking to perfectly min-max a custom build.
Honorable Mentions
Here are two more standout starting classes that didn‘t quite make the best for PVP or PVE, but are still very powerful:
Prophet – Starts with very high Faith and access to healing and ranged attack incantations. Great support abilities and holy magic damage. Can be played as a caster or melee paladin.
Hero – Sports the highest starting Strength which lets you wield colossal and high strength requirement weapons very early. Incredibly slow but devastating physical damage.
Change Your Playstyle Later On
An important thing to remember is that your starting class only really matters for the first few hours of playtime.
As you level up, you can shift your stats in any direction you choose and become a completely different build by endgame.
So don‘t worry about picking the "best" class too much early on. Focus instead on what seems fun to start. You can always respec later!
Summary – Best Elden Ring Starting Classes
Here‘s a quick recap of the top starting classes for different playstyles:
- For Beginners: Vagabond
- For PVE: Astrologer
- For PVP: Samurai
- For Flexibility: Wretch
Those should give you a great head start depending on your goals. Now get out there, break the Elden Ring, become the Elden Lord, and may grace guide you!
Let me know which Elden Ring starting class has been your favorite so far and why!
