What are the best Lords of the Fallen classes? As soon as you begin Hexworks’ grimdark soulslike, you’re presented with a rather familiar choice. As you begin to build your character, 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?
Depending on which starting class you choose in Lords of the Fallen, you may already be a step closer to wielding some of the best Lords of the Fallen weapons or casting some of the most powerful magic spells in the soulslike game. Our Lords of the Fallen review praises the possibilities for the best Lords of the Fallen builds, but there’s no question that every stat counts. If you’re just starting out or have achieved one of the Lords of the Fallen endings, here’s our expert rundown of the best LotF classes for you.
Best Lords of the Fallen class
The best Lords of the Fallen starting class is either the Hallowed Knight or the Partisan.
The Hallowed Knight is an excellent choice for beginners, boasting robust defensive stats, a solid starter melee weapon and armor set, as well as grenades for long-range burst damage. Conversely, the Partisan is a solid all-rounder, capable of dishing out decent physical attack damage thanks to its starting flail, and includes built-in ranged potential with an accompanying crossbow.
All Lords of the Fallen classes
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.
Here are all the Lords of the Fallen classes ranked:
| Tier | Classes |
| S | Lord, Radiant Purifier, Putrid Child, Dark Crusader |
| A | Hallowed Knight, Partisan |
| B | Udirangr Warwolf, Exiled Stalker, Orian Preacher, Pyric Cultist |
| C | Mournstead Infantry, Blackfeather Ranger |
| F | Condemned |
If you find your chosen LotF class places low on our tier list, don’t panic. It’s possible to mitigate any issues as you progress by leveling up your character and purchasing items like Lords of the Fallen rune tablets and Lords of the Fallen healing upgrades from vendors at the Skyrest hub. All classes have the Lords of the Fallen Umbral Lamp as standard, so you can incorporate soul-flaying into your attack rotation where needed.
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 the Hallowed 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, 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: a broken bucket and rocks. 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 looking for a clean slate or challenge runs will likely gravitate toward this class. Otherwise, avoid it.
All Lords of the Fallen unlockable classes
Every one of these unlockable Lords of the Fallen classes is an S-tier choice for a reason: their stats and starting gear are not designed to be balanced for your first playthrough and are either rewards for finishing the game or meeting other conditions.
Lord
- Strength: 12
- Agility: 8
- Endurance: 13
- Vitality: 13
- Radiance: 8
- Inferno: 22
You’d expect the unlockable classes to be a little bit better than the ones available as standard, but not a near carbon copy. The Lord is a mix between the Hallowed Knight, the best of the regular classes in the game, and a pyromancer, with a massive starting Inferno attribute of 22. The Lord is unlocked by getting the Inferno ending.
Their unique starting equipment is an extremely powerful Lord Axe and catalyst to help you cast potent magic spells such as Infernal Slash and Adyr’s Endurance. However, it’s the Ring of Bones and Ring of Duty that increase vitality, endurance, and maximum equip load that put the Lord above the rest. They also have five large mana stone clusters to help you cast magic early on.
Radiant Purifier
- Strength: 12
- Agility: 10
- Endurance: 13
- Vitality: 14
- Radiance: 18
- Inferno: 8
With access to some particularly devastating holy-based magic, along with the surprisingly evenly distributed stats to back them up, the Radiant Purifier has tools and spells to make your new game plus playthrough a bit more of a breeze. Their polearm and catalyst combo is decent enough, and the Empyrean Pendant pumping up holy attack and defense makes this a formidable build from the get-go.
While I don’t believe it quite has the raw power that the Lord has, it’s still a good one if you fancy becoming a kick-ass martial artist. They also have five large mana stone clusters to help you get used to your powerful Radiance magic early in the game. You can get this by lighting the Lords of the Fallen beacons to get the Radiance ending.
Putrid Child
- Strength: 8
- Agility: 8
- Endurance: 10
- Vitality: 12
- Radiance: 15
- Inferno: 15
The only class that specializes in Umbral magic, a combination of both Inferno and Radiant, this class comes pre-equipped with one of the better Lords of the Fallen weapons, and while their overall strength and agility are below the average, having 15 points in both magic attributes makes the Putrid Child the most balanced spellcaster in the game.
While the pendant isn’t as immediately useful as the other unlockable classes, the fact that it can spawn mines to deal wither damage to nearby foes can make all the difference in combat. The spell variety is also decent, with one poisoning spell and two projectile-based Umbral incantations. Complete the Umbral ending to get this powerful class.
Dark Crusader
- Strength: 12
- Agility: 8
- Endurance: 14
- Vitality: 14
- Radiance: 11
- Inferno: 8
This class is normally a deluxe edition bonus character, and it’s easy to see why it didn’t come alongside the rest of the cast. This is almost on par with the Hallowed Knight regarding raw stats and gear, but having a pendant that boosts strength and endurance makes this a must-have for raw power builds. It also has early access to the Radiantburst Parchment, a ranged holy weapon with a whopping 115 holy-based attack power, and Paladin Isaac’s sword, a powerful long sword with 124 physical attack stats.
If you didn’t get this class as a bonus, you can unlock it through normal gameplay. After beating the tutorial boss and dying to the Lightreaper, head back through the boss arena from the Vestige and hang a right at the fork in the road. At the end of this path, you’ll see the Flayed Skin item on the ground. As you progress through the game, you’ll need to soulflay some memories of the Paladin Isaac. The first is in Lower Calrath, backtrack in Umbral down the hill from the Vestige of the Depot, and cross the bone bridge to find the memory halfway down the slope. This gives you the Wooden Dark Crusader Cross.
After getting the Fief key from Andreas of Ebb early in the game, you can travel to the Fief of the Chill Curse to find the next two memories. The first is by the Fief’s main Vestige point, and the second is past the main boss room, down the tower at the end, and through the river that requires you to be in Umbral to cross. Go to the right, and you should see the memory as you emerge from the other side of the river.
The last memory you need is through the Bellroom door that leads to the Tower of Penance, but instead of going left through the boss arena after unlocking the door, head right and out the other side. From there, go down the hill toward the gate until you see some butterflies indicating the location of the final memory. If you have all the other memories, continue down the hill, killing the enemies along the way, and you’ll see an opening to an arena that requires a soulflay to cross. The memory inside this arena triggers an optional boss fight against the Paladin’s Burden. Kill it to get the Umbral-Tinged Flayed Skin. After getting this item, make sure you summon the Paladin as a helper against the Lightreaper boss toward the end of the game, and if you win, you’ll get this new class to use in your next playthrough.
And those are the Lords of the Fallen classes ranked from best to worst. While no starting class is truly bad, the best classes on our tier list will help you reach beacons in good time, cutting down on how long Lords of the Fallen is significant. If you’re still struggling to progress, why not dip into Lords of the Fallen multiplayer? We’ve even got a guide to Lords of the Fallen crossplay if your pals are available on other platforms.