What are the Starting Classes in Lords of the Fallen?

When players begin Lords of the Fallen, their first decision is the class they want their character to be. Much like its inspiration, Dark Souls, players can choose from a variety of different starting classes that each offer different advantages, play styles, and levels of difficulty. While picking the right class for your play style is important, it should be noted that the game offers a wide array of builds beyond these starting nine templates as players progress. Here are the starting classes in Lords of the Fallen.

Hallowed Knight

The Hallowed Knight class has the best defense stats due to having the highest vitality and endurance in the entire game. Because of this, the Hallowed Knight is one of the easier starting classes for newcomers to pick up. Due to its tankiness, players have a wider margin of error when choosing this character type. However, the class is limited by its low mobility as a tradeoff. 

Udirangr Warwolf

The Udirangr Warwolf class largely focuses on dealing high damage. While not as good at absorbing hits from enemies as the Hallowed Knight, the Warwolf has more mobility when moving around on the field. Overall, this is a good class to choose if you want to deal decent damage without sacrificing too many other stats.

Partisan

With evenly distributed stats, Partisan is easily the most balanced class out of all the starting character types. The build splits its points equally across offense, defense, and mobility. Partisan is another solid option for newcomers as it gives them a balanced set of weapons, abilities, and options in combat. However, the class also lacks any specific advantage or edge over the other starting kits. 

Mournstead Infantry

If you are looking for an easy class with strong agility, then Mournstead Infantry is your best option to jump into Lords of the Fallen. One unique advantage the class has is that its starting weapon is a spear. The long-range weapon dishes out sizeable damage while also keeping you at a fair distance from other melee enemies. Because you can easily poke foes to whittle down their health, Mournstead Infantry is a very friendly build for early-game sections in Lords of the Fallen.

Blackfeather Ranger

Like Partisan, the Blackfather Ranger is a fairly balanced class with stats evenly distributed across speed, defense, and offense. However, what sets the Blackfeather Ranger apart is its versatility in the type of damage it can deal to enemies. The class’s starting axe provides strong area-of-effect damage, while its bow is one of the better options for ranged damage in the early game. If you prefer having both a sweeping and ranged attack, this is the perfect starting build for you.

What are the Advanced Classes in Lords of the Fallen?

While the above five classes are perfect for beginners to Lords of the Fallen, the game has advanced classes that are a bit more difficult to pick up. These character builds are not only squishier but are more reliant on magic and spells.

Exiled Stalker

The Exiled Stalker is your classic swift and sneaky assassin class. While lacking in defensive capabilities, the character build has the highest agility of the game, making them reliant on the player’s reflexes to avoid damage. Additionally, this class allows you to dual-wield daggers, further sacrificing defense for speed and damage.

Orian Preacher

The Orian Preacher is one of the few classes in Lords of the Fallen that does not primarily rely on melee for its damage as it is combat relies on spellcaster abilities. This build has access to powerful holy spells that are especially effective against the many undead enemies you will face in the game’s story. However, as this class lacks both defense and agility, this one is not recommended for beginners or players who are used to traditional close-range combat.

Pyric Cultist

Serving as the dark counterpart for the Orian Preacher, the Pyric Cultist class is one of the more challenging builds to master in Lords of the Fallen. Pyromancy is not as effective as other abilities in the early game, and the class also has a slow melee attack. Due to Pyric Cultist’s heavy reliance on magic, this is a much more high-risk, high-reward playstyle for more experienced players. 

Condemned

Lastly, there is the Condemned. Unlike the other classes mentioned above, this build starts out at level one and gives players almost no useful equipment in their inventory. As a result, the Condemned class is easily the most difficult character type to begin Lords of the Fallen with. Like the Deprived class in Dark Souls, this kit is for advanced players who want the most difficult challenge.

Lords of the Fallen is available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.