Skip to main content

The best classes in Lords of the Fallen

Choosing your class at the beginning of an RPG is by no means an uncommon task. What makes it especially vital in a soulslike title such as Lords of the Fallen, though, is just how impactful that initial decision is. Your choice of class not only determines what weapons and armor you begin the game with, but even more importantly, your starting stats. Some are easily understood like Strength and Vitality, while Agility is a little more ambiguous. And Radiance and Inferno are downright incomprehensible if you have no prior knowledge of them. What class you want to take is entirely dependent on how you want to focus your build, so we will run through a few picks for the best class no matter what type of player you want to be in Lords of the Fallen.

The best classes in Lords of the Fallen

The class selection screen in Lords of the Fallen.
CI Games

Lords of the Fallen offers you nine classes to choose from by default, or 10 if you have access to the Dark Crusader class, plus three more you can unlock. We’ll focus only on the base nine since those are the only ones everyone will have access to when first starting the game.

Hallowed Knight

For less experienced soulslike players, or those who just want to start off with a reliable, but basic class to get a feel for Lords of the Fallen, the Hallowed Knight is the most friendly class. It starts off with a decent sword and lots of defense thanks to a shield and heavy-class armor that will help you survive some early mistakes, while still staying in the medium equip load range. This is a class most equipped to go for a Strength build with, but you could spec a few points into Radiance as well if you want to have some backup magic on hand. Here are the Hallowed Knights starting stats:

Strength: 12

Agility: 8

Endurance: 15

Vitality: 11

Radiance: 9

Inferno: 8

Udirangr Warwolf

If your plan in Lords of the Fallen is to get by on sheer strength and dodging skills, the Udirangr Warwolf will have you howling in triumph. Boasting the highest starting Strength stat of any class, plus a massive sword that can carry you for quite a while, this class is something of a glass cannon. Your health won’t be terribly low, but you’re basically starting off the game with no armor or defensive options, including not having a shield, meaning you have to be confident in your dodging skills to make this build work. These are the stats you’ll begin with:

Strength: 16

Agility: 10

Endurance: 13

Vitality: 10

Radiance: 8

Inferno: 8

Blackfeather Ranger

Range builds are tricky to get going, and the Blackfeather Ranger isn’t all that appealing on the surface. For one, it starts at a lower level than all the other classes, but this is to its advantage. By starting at level 8, you are given more freedom to choose how to distribute your points early on as opposed to being locked into a build. This class’s stats start off almost flat across the board, but with a tilt toward Agility. While you do get an ax and shield, it’s the bow that will make this class work in the early game. If you can make your shots count and keep enemies at bay, this is a great class to build upon. Here are your starting stats:

Strength: 11

Agility: 13

Endurance: 11

Vitality: 10

Radiance: 8

Inferno: 8

Orian Preacher

Your magic options in Lords of the Fallen will fall into either the Radiance or Inferno categories, with the former being a bit more balanced on defensive and offensive spells while the latter is heavily focused on damage output. We prefer Radiance, which is where the Orian Preacher shines, if you’ll pardon the pun. Thankfully, you will start off with an offensive spell to get you going, but healing and buffing spells will come quickly to round out your options. This also makes this class the best for co-op since you can support your pals by healing and buffing them as well. Here are the Orian Preacher’s starting stats:

Strength: 10

Agility: 8

Endurance: 9

Vitality: 11

Radiance: 18

Inferno: 8

Editors' Recommendations

Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox loves writing, games, and complaining about not having time to write and play games. He knows the names of more…
The best skills in Rise of the Ronin
Rise of the Ronin protagonist using a pistol.

While you do pick a starting class of sorts in Rise of the Ronin, that doesn't lock you out of using any of the game's numerous weapons or abilities. That initial choice simply determines your starting stats and skills, and you can still freely mold your ronin's proficiencies with as much detail as you can their appearance. Previous Team Ninja games have had some less-than-friendly UIs for their leveling system, and while it is much better here, it is still quite overwhelming. You have multiple branches of skills spread across the four main categories, plus most skills can be leveled up more than once. If you're ready to learn the ways of the samurai, enter our dojo to learn which skills are the best.
The best skills in Rise of the Ronin
Skills are broken down into the Strength, Dexterity, Charm, and Intellect branches. Some skills just require normal skill points, while others must be unlocked using that section's specific skill points.
Best Intellect skills

A major part of the time period of Rise of the Ronin involves the introduction of outside influences on Japan, with firearms being one of the biggest disruptors. Along with your katanas and bows, handguns and rifles can be equipped and used in fights. The Handgun Critical Hit gives you a second option when you deplete an enemy's ki 9basically a stamina and stagger bar). Instead of doing a powerful melee attack with whatever weapon you have, you can pull the left trigger to deal an even stronger finishing move with your pistol. It's flashy and deadly.

Read more
How long is Dragon’s Dogma 2?
A sphinx in Dragon's Dogma 2.

Open-world RPGs can be anywhere from around a dozen hours long to well over 100. Dragon's Dogma 2 is very unique, even among others in the genre, for not adhering to a lot of traditional design philosophies, such as how it handles fast travel. If anything, that will only add to your total playtime, plus there are all the optional quests to do, Vocations to try out and level up, and more if you're a completionist. If you're wondering if you have the time to fit Dragon's Dogma 2 into your schedule among all the other games releasing, here's how long you can expect this adventure to last.
How long is Dragon's Dogma 2?

For the main quest, Dragon's Dogma 2 can probably be beaten in around 25 hours, give or take. That's assuming you mainline the story as efficiently as possible and don't get stuck on any boss fights being under-leveled. A more realistic playthrough where you explore a bit, do some side content, and maybe go for the true ending will push you into the 30 to 35-hour range, as it did for us.

Read more
The best vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2
Dragon's Dogma 2 key art featuring a knight with a fiery hole in their chest.

Your Vocation defines your role in combat in Dragon's Dogma 2. Everything from your skills to what weapons and armor you can use is tied to this class. You will pick from just a handful at the beginning of the game, but can easily change Vocations later on, as well as unlock more than twice as many new options than what you start with. It can take a while to really get a feel for a Vocation and how it performs in combat, as well as to look through all of its skills and augments, before knowing if it's worth sticking with to level up. Personal preference will play a part to some degree, but these Vocations have the most potential to make you the strongest Arisen in history.
The best vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2

You can pick from 4 Vocations at the start of Dragon's Dogma 2, but will end up with a total of 10 by the end of the game if you unlock them all. New Vocations are unlocked by completing quests, but they are almost unmissable. Four Vocations -- the Magick Archer, Mystic Spearhand, Trickster, and Warfarer -- can only be used by your character and not any Pawns.
Warfarer
There's very little downside to being a jack-of-all-trades in Dragon's Dogma 2, which is exactly what the Warfarer is. This is the only Vocation that can use any weapon in the game AND learn any skill from other Vocations. This is the only Vocation that really lets you build whatever class you want and gives you the ability to adapt to any situation you find yourself in. The main downside to this class is it has the lowest base stats, but that is a small price to pay for how versatile you can be.
Mystic Spearhand
Hybrid Vocations are all quite powerful, but we put the Mystic Spearhand at the top of the heap. This class turns you into a fighter that can take advantage of magic to output crazy damage. The two almost overpowered abilities you get here are the ability to slow enemies for a short time and to create a magical mimic that doubles all your actions. It is great for both crowd control and large single targets, but takes a while to unlock and lacks some range.
Warrior
If you're going to be a straight-up melee fighter, you might as well hit with the biggest weapon you can, right? The Warrior swings swords large enough to make Guts blush and is a full-on tank. You won't be doing anything fancy with this vocation beyond charging up and swinging as hard as possible. The obvious drawback is any flying or ranged enemy will counter you, so bring some Pawns in those classes to cover your bases.
Sorcerer
For those who fancy themselves a pure mage, stick to the Sorcerer over the actual Mage vocation. While the Mage is more focused on healing, it is the Sorcerer who gets the best offensive spells you will want to be casting. If you have a second Sorcerer with you, you can even sync up and decrease your casting time. If not, you will need some tanks to take aggro while you deal with some slightly long casting times and low total health.
Thief
As far as the starting Vocations go, the Thief is the one we find the most fun and viable for the entire game. This is a light and speedy build focused on critical hits and being able to climb and hang on to large beasts. Once on, you have a number of great skills to stagger and knock down an enemy so the rest of your squad to gang up on it. Just don't get hit because you're one of the squishier Vocations.

Read more