Lords of the Fallen (2023) has ten classes available at launch, each offering a different playstyle and starting experience. From the Hollowed Knight to the Rogue, and various types of mages, there is something for everyone to participate in. However, each class has its own strengths and weaknesses, and with it comes the option for better starting classes in Lords of the Fallen.

Best Starting Classes in Lords of the Fallen¶

In total, you have ten classes to start as:

• Blackfeather Ranger - a versatile class with a specialization in ranged weapons
• Condemned - your level 1 starting class with little but has the full potential to become anything it wants to be.
• Dark Crusader - The Deluxe edition class, which can be unlocked by playing the game normally. This has a long sword, with the ability to use Radiant magic too from the start.
• Exiled Stalker - Another advanced class, but this time, you’re dealing with two very fast dual-wielded daggers. This is for those who want an agile class with long and satisfying combos, yet the challenge of being frail and needing to dodge attacks correctly to your advantage.
• Hallowed Knight - your Knight character with high defense, fast light attacks, and a sword and shield.
• Mournstead Infantry - your standard light infantry with a spear, using their range to their advantage.
• Orian Preacher - your cleric-type class, equipped with Radiant healing spells from the start, low armor, yet high movement
• Partisan - A versatile class with decent armor, with close yet fast attack combos with the flail, and strong hard-hitting crossbow rounds.
• Pyric Cultist - Your fire mage caster, equipped with some decent armor for a mage, and starting fire spells. This is your go-to mage playstyle, yet it is considered advanced.
• Udirangr Warwolf - The Barbarian archetype, equipped with a longsword, medium defense, and pure glass cannon damage. You’re also fairly mobile with throwing axes.

Moreso, each starting class comes with its own stat templates, which are as follows:

Choosing the right starting class for the general playstyle theme is very important for your goals and aspirations of your playthrough. While you can get new gear, and change your weapons around as you find more of them, your starting attributes stay with you, and so, does play an important role in your choice. For example, picking a caster, while wanting to be durable and take a few hits is not an ideal combination.

Rankings and reasons for the best Starting Classes in Lords of the Fallen¶

For the most part, each class has its own strengths, and each one can be taken as a starting class in Lords of the Fallen, depending on personal experience levels, interests, and play styles.

However, some have better advantages than others for starting off as, in our opinion, the best starting classes are as follows:

1. Dark Crusader
2. Hollowed Knight
3. Mournstead Infantry
4. Warwolf

If you happen to buy the Deluxe Edition, then you have access to the best starting class in Lords of the Fallen: the Dark Crusader class. However, you can also unlock it by playing through the main storyline if you still want that gameplay experience. This is a solid class that will allow you to get lots of range with a longsword, do precision downward strikes, easy cleave for fighting and staggering multiple enemies, dabble with the magic system easily, and still be very durable with your strong armor. It offers a lot of really good features and is likely the best of all the heavy-hitting melee classes in the game. There will be more longswords and better armor as the game progresses, but the Dark Crusade starts with everything you need to make the start of the game simple and effective.

However, if you don’t get access to the Dark Crusader, the next best starting class for that style is the Hallowed Knight. This is your standard knight class, with the shield and defense allowing you much more friendly and limiting how hard you get punished for missing a parry and using your Block instead. This will make handling your Withered health system alongside taking on some of the tougher monsters in the Umbral much easier. It also has 11 Vitality, the second-highest starting vitality stat to really help your survivability go even further. Add in the endurance, and you have plenty of resource to combo and dodge a lot if you need to. All in all, it offers a fairly beginner-friendly experience, and you still get to enjoy your combos and spam attack with your fast melee attack speed.

Mournstead Infantry is the best starter class in Lords of the Fallen for Dexterity classes. The reason is that the class has some really good reach on it, starting with spears. You can also get some decent ranged options via dex spear throwing builds, or go strength and used Halberds for your more standard combos. Either way, you’ll find fighting most monsters as you explore easy, keeping them staggered or at bay by prodding them, making those early levels that you start grinding and farming much easier. Its other OP feature is its base stats in comparison to other Dex classes like the Stalker and Ranger. It has much better agility than Ranger while having better endurance and Vitality. It does lack some agility compared to Rogue, but that’s fine. It means if you want to switch to a ranger, or rogue playstyle later on when you’re more comfortable, that option is present for you to do so, without having to sacrifice some early mobility or defensiveness.

Lastly, we have the Warwolf. The medium armor, yet high damage potential with the class allows for some fun melee playstyles. You’re likely to have the most difficulty surviving, as you lack the heavy armor of the Knight or Crusader, or the reach of the Infantry, yet you adjust that with damage and mobility. This will still allow you to learn attack patterns and dodge while getting satisfying hits off with the class and get your grounding in the game while still having that strong fantasy, without too many downsides.

Why We Don’t Recommend Other Starting Classes¶

With four solid suggestions, we do think the other six don’t make for great starters, either for their starting equipment, playstyles or base stats. In order for presentation purposes, these are:

• Ranger
• Rogue
• Partisan
• Condemned
• Casters

The Ranger, for example, has a special mechanic for hitting weak points while free-aiming. This can reward those who set up properly or can target mobile threats and bosses alike. It’s safe to say this is arguably one of the harder to master of all the non-advanced classes. It does come with decent armor and shield, though, and its starting melee weapon isn’t too bad either. Eventually, you’ll get tonnes of arrow types to make the Ranger really fun, it’s just difficult to get used to and going from the start.

Meanwhile, the Rogue is a glass cannon, requiring you to study dodge patterns more and learn when you can go for extended combos, meaning you need to do a lot more learning, which is hard when the game isn’t forgiving when you mess up. It’s labeled Advanced for a reason, and new players should avoid it until they’ve honed the skill of studying attack patterns, dodging, and other typical Souls-like mechanics.

The Partisan is a strange class for its versatility, and its weapon choices require some practice for players familiar with the genre since it has an entirely fresh gameplay style. On the other hand, the Condemned is your pure sadist experience for a veteran of the genre. We recommend avoiding these for now unless you’re a vet looking for a new experience and challenge as it’s all about possibilities and combos, rather than easing you into the game and the mechanics of it.

As for the casters, these operate like the Rogue, requiring you to learn when to use your endurance properly, while weaving in spell casts. These are typically not recommended for newer players or those playing through the game for the first time. Not to mention spells get much more advanced as you progress the story and unlock new things. Both classes are for more advanced players to enjoy, while still reaping the advantages these offer, which fresh starters may not appreciate early on.

And there you have it, this concludes the Best Starting Classes in Lords of the Fallen. Hopefully, you have an idea of what to expect with the classes you can start as, and why each one has its key strengths and weaknesses. Again, all classes are good, and offer each player a unique taste of what to expect. However, some stand out as better starters than others, as they offer more breathing room to get grips with the game and its mechanics.