Dark Souls III: Class Guide

A Souls game always comes with a few new starting classes. Regardless of whether you are a hardened veteran or anxious newcomer, it’s worth knowing what exactly the differences are this time around.

The key thing to know is that your character progression is not set in stone. When levelling in Dark Souls 3, you assign points to the same stats as everyone else. Rather than picking one area you would like to advance in at the beginning, the starting classes will give you a small boost in the direction of a certain build; if, say, you choose the Warrior but want to start using magic later on, you can push yourself toward that different spec right away.

Each class starts with their own armour and weapon sets, and I’ll do my best to explain the pros and cons.

Knight

Your bread and butter. Heavy armour, sword, and shield. A Knight starts with high Vitality, the stat that governs equipment load: the higher your Vitality, the more agile you are while using stronger armour. You will, however, start with low Intelligence and Faith, limiting your ability to cast sorceries and miracles. Joint with the Pyromancer for the lowest Luck too, which reduces the chance of enemies dropping items. The ideal class for beginners.

Mercenary

A Dexterity-based soldier. Medium armour, twinblades, and a decent shield. The Mercenary tends toward a rapid, burst-damage playstyle. By changing to the two-hand stance, the Mercenary equips their second sword, effectively doubling damage. Fairly standard stats otherwise, apart from Attunement. Another class that will struggle to transition into another build in the late game.

Warrior

The Warrior starts you with the highest Strength. With high Strength, you can wield the greatshields and greatswords later, but the Warrior starts with a battle axe and wooden shield. The high Vigor makes this the class that starts you with most health points, and their Endurance will keep you in the fight longer with a larger stamina bar. Effectively the tank class, all other stats are cut back harshly.

Herald

The first mixed class, the Herald seeks a balance of Strength, Dexterity, and Faith, and excels in none. Starts with medium armour, a spear, and a shield. Average across the board, the Herald could effectively evolve into any build early on. Starting with a weak Heal miracle, the Herald matches the Cleric for sustainability in combat, along with the medium armour and decent amount of stamina.

Thief

The Thief is quite similar to the Mercenary, stats-wise, but has the benefit of starting with a bow in addition to a dagger and parry shield, and wearing light armour. The Thief starts with a massive boost in Luck, increasing the chance of obtaining rare equipment drops, and the high Dexterity favours a fast playstyle. The shield you will start with is not great at reducing damage, instead pushing you to use the parry mechanic: timing your parry with the attack of an enemy to open them up for a critical strike.

Assassin

The Assassin is the opposite of the Herald, specialising in both Dexterity and Intelligence. Equipped with a light armour and starting with the Spook sorcery, the Assassin can move without making a sound—ideal for getting the drop on an enemy and triggering a high-damage backstab. The high Attunement increases the number of spells that can be equipped at one time, which allows the Assassin to use any offensive magic that they find in Lothric.

Sorcerer

The Sorcerer is exactly what you’d expect from the name. High Intelligence and Attunement lets you wield a selection of powerful spells, and a decent level of Dexterity lets you equip a dagger as a backup weapon. Clad in a robe, the Sorcerer is quite weak and encouraged to use more of a ranged playstyle, standing back and firing off Soul Arrows at approaching foes. This is effective against the first boss who can be shut down before he can get close enough to attack you.

Pyromancer

A flame-wielding Pyromancer, and the most changed from previous Souls games. Whereas before, the power of your various Fireballs were determined solely by the Pyromancy Flame, in Dark Souls 3, it’s affected by both your Intelligence and Faith together. A Pyromancer has to level both of these stats to get the best results. As such, these stats are the highest, followed by Strength and Attunement. The Pyromancer also wields a hand axe, and begins wearing light armour

Cleric

What starts as the least offensive of the spellcasters turns into a bit of a powerhouse in the late-game. Equipped with the Heal miracle, the Cleric is a sustainable class in the early going, and a capable fighter with their moderate Strength. While many of the miracles tend to be defensive, there are some to be found later on such as Lightning Spears that makes Faith worth investing in. Again, a fairly fragile class, with low health and light armour.

Deprived

Don’t be put off by the name and their appearance, the Deprived is a versatile class. Starting with all their stats low and equal, the Deprived can begin to specialise immediately. No stat points are wasted as their distribution is left entirely to you. The Deprived’s level of Luck is actually alright in comparison to other classes—it shouldn’t take long to pick up a set of clothes. Also the only class that starts at level one, which should make Onebro challenge runs interesting.