Dark Souls 3 Class Guide

Knights are the beefiest characters to begin with. They have a lot of HP and Vigor as well as a good armor set and great shield. This is one of the best classes for newer players. They start off with a Long Sword, Knight Shield and the Full Knight Armor set. The armor has good defense and the shield blocks 100% of physical damage. The sword does 110 and has a D rank in strength and dexterity.

Mercenaries are a little more of an advanced class, I’d say mid range. They are built for more of an offensive starting roll but have low hp and defenses. They also have 12 attunement to start with which is odd for a class that doesn’t start with a spell. They are the only class that can use the Ugichanka without leveling up though. They start with the Sellsword Twinblades, The Wooden Shield and the Sellsword Armor. The defense on the shield and the armor isn’t great but you won’t die in a couple hits. The Twinblades are fast weapons designed to utilize the high Dex stat this class starts off with. You can dual wield the twin blades by pressing triangle or Y.

The Warrior is another good class for someone who is newer to the series. They have high HP and high attack making them a good bruiser. They start with a Battle Axe, Round Shield and the Northern Armor set. The Northern Armor set has high frost resist and armor and the shield has high physical defense. The axe is stronger than the Knight’s sword but it is also slightly slower and takes more stamina to swing. Personally I go two-handed with the axe most of the time on my warrior.

The Herald is a bit weaker than the warrior and knight but also has a heal and spear. The class isn’t overly hard is just might take a few minutes to get used to the range of the spear and how the heal works. The heal does 100 points of HP when you start. With the spear you can attack while you hold your shield up making it a good defensive class overall. The armor doesn’t come in with the highest defense but the shield deflects 100% of physical damage.

The Thief is a more advanced class that focuses on speed and range to defeat enemies early on. Thieves start with a bow and a dagger as weapons, they also start with a weak shield. The dagger doesn’t do much damage but it is quick and the bow can widdle enemies down from far away. Their downside is the shield has weak defenses and they have one of the weakest armor sets in the game. Long story short, get caught with this class and you die.

The Assassin is another harder class to start with because of lower defenses but it has more options than the Thief. For starters the Assassin has the spell spook makes it easier to sneak up on enemies for back stabs. This is very useful once you figure out how to use it well. The rapier the Assassin starts with can also be used with the shield up like a spear. The shield is pretty weak and so is the Assassin Armor but you can afford a couple hits.

The Sorcerer is the spell caster that starts with magic spells instead of pyro spells. This means some enemies are easier to kill as a Sorcerer and some are easier and a Pyromancer. The Sorcerer starts of with the Mail Breaker Dagger, Leather Shield and the spells Soul Arrow and Heavy Soul Arrow. If you roll this class you do not want to be hit because the armor and shield are bad. Keep you range and toss out spells until an enemy is ripe for the picking. Sorcerers start off with the Young Dragon Ring which increases damage done by magic spells.

The Pyromancer is the caster choice you have at the start. As the name implies, you do fire damage with your spells. The Pyro is a lot like the Sorcerer but has a better melee weapon. You will have a very weak armor set and weak shield if you go with the Pyromancer. You will also start with the spell Fireball and The Great Swamp ring which increases Pyro damage.

The Cleric is similar to the Herald but not as defensive. Clerics also have the Faith spell heal but they also have Force which can push enemies back. Their armor is strong to curse but weak to pretty much everything else. Their weapon is a mace which has a C strength rating and a E dex rating. The shield has high magic defenses but is pretty weak overall.

This is the most basic character you can create. You get nothing but a club and a very weak wooden shield. If you are new to these games you should probably avoid this class to begin with. That said you can build this class any way you want without any stat points being placed in stats you didn’t want. The club they start with has a C rank to strength and that is it. It is a bit slower than a sword but the damage makes up for its speed.