Best Lords of the Fallen classes

What are the best Lords of the Fallen classes? As soon as you begin this soulslike adventure, you’re presented with a rather familiar choice. As you begin to build your avatar, one of the key choices you need to make is your starting class. Do you go with the best of the best, or do you seek a real challenge?

With some of the starting stats for characters in Lords of the Fallen, you may be close to wielding some of the best Lords of the Fallen weapons or casting some of the most powerful magic spells to create the best Lords of the Fallen builds. You can check out our Lords of the Fallen review if you’re unsure if this soulslike is worth your time, but for those just starting out, here’s our expert rundown of the best Lords of the Fallen class for you.

What is the best Lords of the Fallen class?

The best Lords of the Fallen class is either the Hallowed Knight or the Partisan. The former is an excellent pick for beginners with strong defensive stats, while the latter offers impressive physical attack damage.

Lords of the Fallen classes tier list

Here are all the Lords of the Fallen classes ranked:

The best Lords of the Fallen classes are those that not only give the player an immediate advantage from the get-go in terms of equipment but also ones that have few drawbacks. One thing all Lords classes have in common is that they have in common is that they come with the Lords of the Fallen Umbral Lamp, which you can learn how to use effectively in our guide.

You can mitigate any issues as you progress by leveling up your character and purchasing items with souls from the many vendors, but they don’t begin to show up until you reach the Skyrest hub area.

Hallowed Knight

• Strength: 12
• Agility: 8
• Endurance: 15
• Vitality: 11
• Radiance: 9
• Inferno: 8

This melee-based fighter begins with a decent stats spread, the relatively powerful Hallowed Knight sword, the sturdy Hallowed Knight armor, the Grenade, and a handful of Briostone Pairs for additional healing. You can easily make this knight a self-buffing magic user by focusing on either Radiance or Inferno, with its starting defenses the best in the game. If this is your first soulslike game, this is the class to choose.

Partisan

• Strength: 13
• Agility: 12
• Endurance: 12
• Vitality: 12
• Radiance: 8
• Inferno: 8

While nowhere near as well-protected as the Hallowed Knight, the Partisan is a decent physical attacker. They start with a Partisan Flail, Partisan Shield, and the durable Partisan armor set, but what makes them stand out a bit is the crossbow and bolts. Since ammo is tied to ammunition packs rather than individual bolts, you’ll want to keep a healthy supply of them to allow you to attack difficult enemies from afar. They also come with Unripe Berries, which are handy to have early game for stamina recovery.

Udirangr Warwolf

• Strength: 16
• Agility: 10
• Endurance: 13
• Vitality: 10
• Radiance: 8
• Inferno: 8

Unlike the Hallowed Knight, the Udirangr Warwolf has a lot more focus on dealing damage with every swing of their Udirangr Warwolf sword. They come with Bloody Hatchets, a ranged weapon you can find with other characters early on, and while the Minor Fire Salts are handy for early boss fights, you should find these in abundance. Their armor is purposefully light, so learning to dodge is paramount for this class. If you pick the Udirangr Warwolf, it’ll be for the physical damage stats spread, and honestly, that’s a good enough reason alone to do so.

Exiled Stalker

• Strength: 9
• Agility: 16
• Endurance: 11
• Vitality: 11
• Radiance: 8
• Inferno: 8

Dual-handing Exiled Stalker Daggers and able to throw Lacerating Knives from the start, the Exiled Stalker has the potential to deal tons of damage in a short space of time with relentless strikes. They begin with three stacks of Poison Salt, which imbues their daggers with the poison element to potentially damage enemies over time. There are a lot of enemies that do resist poison, so it’s not always helpful, but the Exiled Stalker’s main weakness is that they’re a bit of a glass cannon, thanks to very light armor. You’ll want to upgrade their defensive gear and endurance as much as possible if you want the maximum dodging potential. If you choose this class, try to add some Inferno stats to get access to a spell that imbues your knives with poison at the cost of MP instead of salts.

Orian Preacher

• Strength: 10
• Agility: 8
• Endurance: 9
• Vitality: 11
• Radiance: 18
• Inferno: 8

Radiance is one of the two major magic types in Lords of the Fallen, and the Orian Preacher is the Radiance specialist. They have immediate access to a Radiance catalyst, granting them the power to cast spells to protect them from enemy attacks or inflict painful smiting damage. The Radiant Flare spell is the first one you get, and it’s a decent basic projectile spell that can fire subsequent bolts in quick succession. Aside from the magic, the Orian Preacher is somewhat vulnerable with their light clothes, and their endurance is lower than we’d like. Their Orian Preacher Hammer does do holy damage, though the shield this class gets is only okay at best compared to the others. That said, the starting bonus of five Small Manastone Clusters does help with mana recovery.

Pyric Cultist

• Strength: 9
• Agility: 8
• Endurance: 11
• Vitality: 9
• Radiance: 8
• Inferno: 18

Inferno is the other magic type in Lords of the Fallen and is essentially more chaotic in nature. As such, the Pyric Cultist begins with a Pyric Cultist Staff for melee attacks and a Pyric Umbral catalyst to enable them to cast magic. You will need to snag an Inferno catalyst at some point to cast more powerful spells. Both the staff and the Infernal Orb spell deal fire damage, which is handy against some enemies but not others. Other than their magical differences, the Pyric Cultist is a bit frail and far slower to attack compared to the Orian Preacher, but the overall spell variety is greater. They also start with five Small Manastone Clusters to help with their mana.

Mournstead Infantry

• Strength: 12
• Agility: 14
• Endurance: 12
• Vitality: 11
• Radiance: 8
• Inferno: 8

This melee fighter has a bit more protection than most, thanks to the Mournstead Infantry armor being as good as the Partisan armor. This class also has access to a good spread of starting stats and comes equipped with a Mournstead Infantry Spear and Short Javelin. The only thing you need to get used to is the small attacking area offered by the spear. You do get the Briostone Trio to help with early game healing, but only one use of them, so try not to waste it.

Blackfeather Ranger

• Strength: 11
• Agility: 13
• Endurance: 11
• Vitality: 10
• Radiance: 8
• Inferno: 8

While lightly protected in armor and shields, the Blackfeather Ranger does have a one-handed Blackfeather Ranger axe for quick melee attacks to get out of scrapes. Their primary focus is on using their bow and arrows to impale targets at a distance. With a couple of ammunition pouches as additional starting items, this is a fantastic option for those who prefer fighting at a distance. We do, however, recommend you save ranged combat for more difficult fights, such as one of the many Lords of the Fallen bosses.

Condemned

• Strength: 9
• Agility: 9
• Endurance: 9
• Vitality: 9
• Radiance: 9
• Inferno: 9

The stats spread of the Condemned isn’t actually all that bad, with nines across the board. However, it’s not exactly spectacular and starts with armor that barely protects them against physical damage and the most laughable weapons; they start with a broken bucket and rocks, for crying out loud. This is also the only class that starts with no additional items. The game warns players to “pick at your own risk” when choosing this character, so those completing challenge runs will likely gravitate toward this class. Otherwise, avoid it.

And those are the Lords of the Fallen classes ranked from best to worst. We’re excited to see what the future holds for this soulslike; perhaps some Lords of the Fallen mods will potentially add some great items to the game or change up the bosses somewhat. While you’re here, if you’re seeking answers about Lords of the Fallen multiplayer, you should also look at our Lords of the Fallen crossplay guide to see how that works, as it’s a little more complex than normal.