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Understanding what Elden Ring class to choose and what the best options are, will really help in the early stages of the game. Each class comes with a loadout of weapons and pre-levelled stats with an emphasis on certain statistics known as Attributes which affect different things about your character and, as a result, gameplay.

Defeating enemies will give you Runes you can use to level up your character to hone your build. And, due to an uncapped levelling system, you can spend points in different Attributes at any point to diversify your abilities whenever you want. For example, if you’ve been using a melee build, you might decide you want to get into magic, so you can just start spending points on boosting the relevant Attributes. Be aware, though, that this is something you should only consider late game, once you’ve already considerably levelled other stats and know what you’re doing.
Transcript
00:00Understanding what Elden Ring class to choose and what the best options are will really
00:09help in the early stages of the game. The Vagabond is great for starters if you favour
00:13Malay, while the Prophet or Astrologer is a great choice for more experienced players
00:17who want more magic options, while the Wretch is for the Masochists only who really want
00:21a challenge.
00:22Each class comes with a loadout of weapons and pre-leveled stats with an emphasis on
00:26certain statistics known as attributes, which will affect different things about your character
00:30and as a result gameplay. Defeating enemies will give you runes which you can then use
00:34to level up your character to hone your build further. But due to an uncapped levelling system
00:39you can spend points in different attributes at any stage to diversify your abilities whenever
00:44you want. For example, if you've been using a Malay build you might decide you want to
00:47get into magic so you can just start spending points on boosting the relevant attributes.
00:51Be aware though that this is something you should only consider late game once you've
00:55already considerably levelled up other stats and you really know what's going on.
00:59The Vagabond is probably the best beginner-friendly Elden Ring class that can be specialised for
01:03strength or dexterity to craft a strong and relatively simple Malay build. You'll start
01:08with a standard Longsword, Halberd and Heater Shield, although we reckon it's best to stick
01:12with the Longsword and Shield for fast attacks and good blocking. With the highest starting
01:16health of any class and a nice set of armour for decent protection, the Vagabond will be
01:21able to take far more hits from the start. Although wearing a full armour set initially means
01:25you'll have a slow dodge roll unless you boost your endurance to carry more or take some off.
01:29In contrast, the Wretch is the most pro player option in the game. This is a blank slate class,
01:35starting with tens across the board in all attributes and no equipment bar a club.
01:39They don't even get clothes. This means starting from scratch and finding your own weapons and armour.
01:43This class is really only recommended for players with a lot of experience with previous FromSoftware games and even
01:49then it would be better picked for a second playthrough once you really know what's going on.
01:53The Warrior is a dexterity focused melee class favouring lighter melee weapons that require a
01:57bit of finesse or ranged weapons like bows. You'll start with two scimitars and a shield and a base
02:02dexterity of 16 which will give you some nice early melee damage with those scimitars. That will allow
02:07you to focus on boosting endurance for more dodge rolls and attacks. The hero focuses on all-out strength,
02:12using heavier weapons with slow attacks that deal massive damage. You'll start with 16 points
02:17in strength and a big axe and putting even more points into strength will help you meet the
02:21requirements of some truly hefty strength-based weapons early on. Heroes start with more health
02:25and stamina meaning they're a little tanky and agile too. You can boost these attributes more in the
02:30early levels to make the hero more balanced or you can focus purely on strength to up your damage as
02:34much as you can. The bandit class is basically a stealth assassin with a dagger and a small shield.
02:40Bandit players need to avoid direct conflict and should instead focus on critical hits with backstabs or
02:45sniping with the starting short bow. If things do go loud you'll have to rely on dodging and parrying.
02:49However, the bandit's stats are generally low and balanced enough that re-specialising into
02:54different playstyles shouldn't be too difficult, providing you can find the right gear.
02:57The astrologer class is one of the few options built for magic from the start,
03:01with an impressive 15 mind and 16 intelligence. It means they can cast many powerful sorcery spells,
03:07making it a quite destructive ranged magic class. However, all the other stats are quite low,
03:11so it might be a good idea to spend your first runes boosting health and stamina to be a little
03:16less squishy. Then you can focus on bringing up your intelligence to meet even more higher
03:20attribute requirements for better spells and making your older ones powerful in the process.
03:24The profit class is the other side of the magic coin, focusing instead on faith to cast incantations,
03:29which are generally more supportive than offensive. This will make you a holy warrior role,
03:33backing up yourself and allies with healing incantations while smiting foes with fire and holy damage.
03:38So long as you have good attribute to healing spells, focusing your runes on the mind attribute
03:42will increase how many incantations you can cast. The samurai class is a sort of vagabond and bandit
03:47hybrid, and all about dexterity focused melee, combining good strength, the highest base endurance
03:52of any class and great dexterity, with range sniping as a secondary option thanks to the starting longbow.
03:57Samurai players should focus on mastering dodges, parrying and the two-handed weapon stance to deliver
04:02precise strikes and attack combos. Sitting between the warrior and astrologer,
04:06the prisoner combines both good dexterity based melee with intelligence based sorceries to deal
04:11a range of damage. That high dexterity also has the added bonus of quickening spell casting,
04:16so prisoners have potential to deal a lot of damage very quickly. This class is let down however
04:20by low vigour and endurance, so boosting HP and stamina should definitely be a focus initially for
04:25levelling up, while putting a lot of points into dexterity is going to improve your melee and magical
04:30capabilities. Similar to the prisoner, the confessor blends the balanced melee capabilities of the
04:34vagabond with the faith focused incantations of the prophet. Base strength and dexterity stats
04:39of 12 mean there's a lot of freedom in which weapons confessor players can specialise in,
04:43but we recommend pooling your runes into either one or the other to get either strength or dexterity
04:49focused weapons, rather than trying to use both. Balance this with levels in faith, vigour and
04:53endurance to keep your incantations up to speed and your confessor healthy. That should give you a
04:58relatively balanced character competent in both martial and magical attacks. So there's your guide to
05:02Elden Ring classes and a few suggestions for beginners and pros alike. Remember the vagabond
05:07is great for starters if you favour melee, while the prophet or astrologer is a great choice for
05:11more experienced players who want more magic options, while the wretch is for the masochists
05:15only who really want a challenge. For more help with Elden Ring in general don't forget to like and
05:19subscribe to GamesRadar.

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