Elden Ring: Best starting class to pick for your first run

With the arrival of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, players are diving back into Elden Ring to sharpen their skills. However, if you’re a newcomer to The Lands Between, here are the best classes you can pick for your first run in FromSoftware’s game.

Elden Ring offers a selection of classes reminiscent of those found in Souls games, ranging from magic-wielding wizards to resilient knights, spell-casting clerics, and even options for those seeking FromSoftware’s trademark difficulty in its purest form.

Even though the class you choose doesn’t lock you into a specific playstyle, it will dictate your early hours. So, make sure you choose a class that suits your preferred combat style, as well as one that benefits your additional skills in the game.

While we covered how stats work in another guide, we also have some recommended custom builds you can try. However, when it comes to your first run, this guidance should help you choose the right one for your first trip into The Lands Between.

Best Elden Ring starting class for beginners: Vagabond

From Software

The classic Vagabond melee build.

Vagabond Starting Equipment: Longsword, Halberd, Heater Shield.

If Elden Ring is your first Souls game, you may want to try a tough character who can hold their own in combat and help you learn the basics. The Vagabond is Elden Ring’s knight character and comes already equipped with heavy armor, a sword, and a shield. 

The Vagabond starting class is essential for Strength, Vigor, and Endurance build, but you can tailor them to your liking, adding a few points spells to your arsenal or anything else you fancy. You could turn the Vagabond into a competent battle-mage, or stay on the strength and heavy weapons route.

However, we’d recommend pumping your Faith stat a bit to take advantage of incantations in combat to buff yourself and de-buff enemies. This starting class begins at Level 9 with stats spread evenly across the board.

Best Elden Ring melee starting class: Samurai

From Software

The Samurai build is brilliant for Dexterity users.

Samurai Starting Equipment: Uchigatana sword, Long Bow, Bone Arrow, Firebone Arrow, Red Thorn Roundshield.

The Samurai is primarily a melee fighter, but they’re also skilled with bows, shields, and a range of different weapons. Dual-wielding katanas is also an option and something you’ll see many Samurai do in Elden Ring PVP. It’s also the ideal class to create the oh-so-deadly bleed build.

This is a good starting class for those who have experience with Souls games and want to create a powerful Dexterity build that has a lot of flexibility and customizable options. It can also be mixed with Faith and Intelligence magic for a well-rounded build.

All in all, we feel like the Samurai is the best starting class for skilled melee fighters. Their combat style is more complicated and risky than the Vagabond, but deadly in the right hands.

Best Elden Ring magic build class: Astrologer

From Software

An Astrologer battles the Red Wolf of Radagon.

Astrologer Starting Equipment: Astrologer’s Staff, Short Sword, Small Shield, Glintstone Pebble,  Glintstone Arc.

If you enjoy taking fights from a safe distance and relying on a range of spells while Spirits Summons do your bidding, Astrologer may be the right starting class for you. This is the ideal starting class for magic users.

Although it begins at a low level of 6 with relatively low health, the Astrologer is strongest when it comes to spell-casting. With Mind, Dexterity, and Intelligence stats all leading the way, your abilities will be dealing as much damage as possible in the early game.

The idea with this starting class is to build a classic wizard character who’s dangerous from a distance, but weaker up close. However, once you reach your magic stat level caps, you can start building up your other attributes to make your Astrologer tougher in close combat. 

Elden Ring classes

Elden Ring features 10 different classes, each with its own set of stats and attributes. However, there’s a lot of flexibility when it comes to starting classes, so just because you’re a magic user, it doesn’t mean you can’t swing a katana. Or that if you’re a knight you can’t dabble with incantations.

There’s even more freedom to get creative in the latest FromSoftware installment, as the game also features the standard Dexterity builds such as bandits and rogue characters, but this time it also includes a samurai class for those who like playing in medium armor and swinging katanas. So there’s basically something for everyone.

Those are the best classes to pick during your first Elden Ring run. Check our guides with all the character classes explained, as well as how stats work and how to level up.