What's the best starting class in Lords of the Fallen?

Trying to decide the best starting class in Lords of the Fallen is a tad troublesome. While the game may feature your favourite Soulslike staples such as "Generic knight" and "Fucked up guy who fights with a bucket", there are a few classes that have a very similar stat spread and look to have somewhat samey roles. 

There's also the all-important question of: is magic any good in Lords of the Fallen? Will it wipe out everything Demon Souls style, or is it barely worth it? If you've just started the game, some tips might help you get going, as well as what weapons to grab early. Either way, I'll run through each of the Lords of the Fallen classes below, as well as recommending what I think is the best class.

Lords of the Fallen classes

As mentioned, there are nine classes to choose from, not including the four secret classes that you can unlock through playing the game. These tie in pretty close to established Dark Souls and Elden Ring classes, so if you've played either before, they'll likely seem familiar. These are:

• Hallowed Knight: Your standard knight class with a sword and shield, plus high Endurance and a tough armour set.
• Udirangr Warwolf: The barbarian class, for those intent on making a Strength build, but don't mind doing without much protection at first.
• Partisan: The all-rounder combat class, with both decent Strength and Agility, but lacking in spellcasting stats like Inferno or Radiance. This class also starts with a crossbow.
• Mournstead Infantry: A more Agility-focused version of the Partisan with similar stats, but uses a spear instead of the flail.
• Blackfeather Ranger: Another combat all-rounder, but with an axe and a shield and a nice feathered cloak. This is also the only starting class with a bow.
• Exiled Stalker: The Agility-focused class, starting with two daggers, a light armour set, and some poison salts to apply to said daggers.
• Orian Preacher: The Radiance spellcaster class—a Cleric. Starts with the amazing Orian Preacher Hammer weapon that deals holy damage, a combat spell, a Radiant Catalyst, and a very good hat.
• Pyric Cultist: The Inferno spellcaster class—a Pyromancer. You'll start with the Pyric Cultist Staff that deals fire damage, a fire spell, and a Pyric Cultist Catalyst for casting.
• Condemned: The I-can't-decide-what-I-want-to-take class. Like the Deprived from Dark Souls or the Wretch class from Elden Ring, you'll start with lower basic stats. While this makes things a little harder at first, it gives more say in stat distribution long-term, and you also get to hit things with a bucket.

There are also four secret classes, including the Dark Crusader you get as part of the deluxe edition, or by doing some stuff in-game during your first playthrough. This is more-or-less an upgraded version of the Hallowed Knight, so if that class tickles your fancy and you have the deluxe edition, it might be the way to go first.

Lords of the Fallen best starting class

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If you're looking for a standard melee combat character who can specialise in any direction, the Hallowed Knight is definitely the best starting class, coming as it does with a strong shield and a highly-resilient armour set that'll make the initial section of the game a breeze. 

For my money, though, the best class is actually the Orian Preacher. There are a few reasons for this:

• The Orian Preacher Hammer is one of the best starting weapons, dealing holy damage and with an amazing moveset that can cope with crowds one-handed, or individual enemies two-handed.
• Radiance and Radiance Spells are very powerful in Lords of the Fallen, in part because they provide healing. Rest spots are few and far between in the game, and your Sanguinax healing item is quite limited, so having healing in the form of magic works wonders. Upgrading Radiance improves Radiance-scaling weapon damage, but also the power of your magic, including healing.
• You get an extremely good hat.

There aren't loads of Radiance-scaling weapons early on, apart from the Orian Preacher Hammer, but it'll easily last you long enough until you decide to upgrade to something like Pieta's Sword when you unlock boss weapons. If you're really not sure what you want to pick, then you can always go with the Condemned instead. 

The game may say "Pick at your own risk" for this class, but it really isn't that bad at all. There are plenty of great weapons and armour sets you can grab early on, and you can purchase a fair bit of the starting equipment for other classes from Stomund in Skyrest Bridge. You'll soon be buried in weapons and armour, so make your choice based on starting attributes rather than equipment.