Have you been wondering what the best class in Elden Ring is? Elden Ring features a robust character creation system with a long list of classes for players to choose from, but a new survey shows that Vagabond and Samurai are the most popular picks across all platforms.
While you can build each class to your preferences, it looks like Vagabond and Samurai are the best starting classes in Elden Ring based on player data. That’s not surprising given the classes’ stats and starting equipment though, which is among the best in the game.
The Best Classes in Elden Ring
According to a player survey conducted by Famitsu, Elden Ring players voted Vagabond and Samurai as the best classes in the game by a huge margin. Here are the classes chosen by every participant:
- Vagabond: 427
- Samurai: 424
- Prisoner: 153
- Confessor: 127
- Astrologer: 126
- Wretch: 108
- Hero: 101
- Warrior: 92
- Bandit: 75
- Prophet: 53
While Vagabond and Samurai are the clear winners, it’s surprising how popular they are compared to the other 8 classes in the game. Prisoner placed third in the survey, but it has one-third of the total player votes as Samurai. That’s a gigantic difference.
Why is Vagabond So Popular?
Vagabond is the default starting class in Elden Ring, so it’s understandable why so many players have chosen it. It’s also the class that plays the closest to a standard Dark Souls character, coming equipped with the usual armor, sword, and shield. It’s the vanilla class, which is why it’s so beloved.
It’s also a very malleable class, allowing players to build toward Strength, Dexterity, or even magic-based builds. It can do pretty much everything, which is great for players that want a balanced first playthrough or want a character that can take a few hits before dying.
Why is Samurai Good in Elden Ring?
Samurai is easily the coolest-looking class in the game and it stands out from the other classes since they’re so heavily themed around European fantasy. People love Japanese things in RPGs. There’s a reason why the RPG genre is so saturated with Japanese games. It just makes sense. It’s also the closest to Sekiro, From Software’s previous game, so some fans of that game may have chosen the class for that reason.
Plus, Dexterity builds are incredibly popular among From Software fans, and Samurai is the best-suited class for that. It starts with a great Dexterity weapon and it also includes a bow, something that players would want to test out in Elden Ring since they’re much more useful than they were in Dark Souls.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
