If you are anything like me then you will have a hard time picking your starting class in Elden Ring. The class you choose will dictate your playstyle so it is no easy decision. Luckily for you, we have curated this detailed guide for the Vagabond class in Elden Ring to showcase its play style.
The Vagabond class is your archetypal tank class in Elden Ring. It has the most HP to withstand the most punishment. High STR and DEX stats allow it to wield any weapon from the get-go. And its heavy gear along with a sturdy shield lets it stand firm when facing hardened foes. You can never go wrong with this melee-focused class.
We will even go over some OP builds you can work toward and cover some tips and tricks for this particular class.
Is Vagabond good for beginners?
Starter Equipment
| Weapons | Longsword Halberd |
| Shield | Heater Shield |
| Armor | Vagabond Knight Helm Vagabond Knight Armor Vagabond Knight Gauntlets Vagabond Knight Greaves |
Starting Stats
| Soul Level | 9 |
| Vigor | 15 |
| Mind | 10 |
| Endurance | 11 |
| Strength | 14 |
| Dexterity | 13 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Faith | 9 |
| Arcane | 7 |
The Vagabond is a tried and true knight in Elden Ring equipped with heavy armor, a straight sword, and a solid shield in preparation for close-quarters showdowns.
Its high starting Vigor makes it the tankiest of the starting classes while the nearly even split between Strength and Dexterity makes it perfect for quality builds. It specializes equally in all melee weapon types.
The Longsword is perfect for in-your-face engagements. The Halberd has better reach to poke opponents from a safe distance and is even a perfect companion when riding Torrent.
The class’s low Intelligence, Faith, and Mind stats don’t do much to set it on a path for using sorcery or incantations, but they’re not so low that you couldn’t pump a few points in them to make use of spells.
It is one of the most forgiving classes in all of Elden Ring. With a high HP pool, you can withstand a lot of incoming damage all the while trading blows with your powerful weapons.
Vagabond is the ideal class for beginners especially if you are new to the challenging world of Souls-like.
What are the best Builds for Vagabond?
Here are some builds that go perfectly with the Vagabond class:
Melee Build for Vagabond
Stat Sheet:
| Level | 150 |
| Vigor | 55 |
| Mind | 20 |
| Endurance | 36 |
| Strength | 80 |
| Dexterity | 13 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Faith | 9 |
| Arcane | 7 |
Equipment:
| Talismans | Curved Sword Talisman Axe Talisman Dagger Talisman Assassin’s Crimson Dagger OR Roar Medallion (for boss fights) |
| Weapons | Heavy Mace +25 with Braggart’s Roar Ash of War |
| Shield | Crucible Hornshield +9 or +10 with Shield Bash Ash of War |
| Mix of Wonderous Physick | Stonebard Cracked Tear Spiked Cracked Tear |
| Armor | Any heavy armor set under the 70% equip load for med rolling. |
How to play with the build:
There are two ways you can play with this build. The first way is playing around with the critical attacks that you get after you stagger your enemies and recover HP.
The second way is focusing on buffing your Mace, dealing heavy attacks, and then staggering your enemy but no HP recovery. Swapping between the Assassin’s Crimson Dagger and Roar Medallion talismans will help you achieve this.
This build relies heavily on guard counters and for that, we have the Curved Sword Talisman. It will boost your counters and deal massive poise damage to stagger opponents. Following up with a heavy-charged attack (R2) after the stagger will deal tremendous damage. To increase the damage output, equip the Axe Talisman.
Since we will be performing a lot of critical attacks, it is best to be rewarded for that. This is where the Assassin’s Crimson Dagger Talisman will come in. It will recover lost HP each time you perform a critical strike. This talisman is great for basic mob and exploration.
The previous talisman can be swapped to Roar Medallion when going up against bosses. Bosses are harder to stagger so it is best to buff your weapon’s damage using the Baggart’s Roar Ash of War. The talisman will further boost the Ash of War giving you significant damage output.
Speaking of the Ash of War, it will also give the Mace an “A” STR scaling. With the heavy investment in strength stat, the damage will be far better, and the weapon’s nimble moveset is just the icing on the cake. You can get this weapon early on and stays strong with subsequent weapon upgrades.
The Crucible shield can be replaced with other shields, but it just looks so cool. This shield’s 100% physical damage reduction will aid when blocking and block-counters. It also has the Shield Bash skill that you can utilize in small openings.
Hybrid Build for Vagabond
Stat Sheet:
| Level | 152 |
| Vigor | 55 |
| Mind | 20 |
| Endurance | 25 |
| Strength | 54 |
| Dexterity | 13 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Faith | 48 |
| Arcane | 7 |
Equipment:
| Talismans | Shard of Alexandar Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman Dagger Talisman Erdtree’s Favor+2 |
| Weapons | Executioner’s Greataxe +25 with Heavy Affinity with Lion’s Claw Ash of War |
| Seal | Godslayer’s Seal +25 |
| Incantaions | Electrify Armament Golden Vow Flame, Grant Me Strength |
| Mix of Wonderous Physick | Lightning-Shrouding Cracked Tear Stonebarb Cracked Tear |
| Armor | Haligtree Knight Helm for +2 FAITH coupled with any armor of your liking as long as it stays within the med roll category |
How to play with the build:
This is a Strength and Faith hybrid build using lightning and a great axe to melt anything that dares to stand in its way. A simple yet tanky build that deals massive damage and poise damage all the while looking flashy! The build is all about breaking stances and dealing heavy damage along with critical strikes.
The star of the build is the Lion’s Claw Ash of War. Not only does it have a dazzling animation but this attack hits really hard. It does 30 stance damage, able to bring down most enemies in a few successful hits.
It also has hyper-armor, meaning you’ll be ignoring every incoming attack from a boss and land a devastating blow to them uninterrupted. The Stonebarb Cracked Tear will also enhance stance damage.
With enough health and defense, you can easily trade with bosses even on New Game+.
Two-hand the Executioner’s Greataxe at all times for more damage output. The plan is to spam Lion’s Claw until the boss staggers, opening them up for a devastating critical strike. Rinse and repeat and the boss just evaporates.
The Shard of Alexandar will further improve the damage you do with the Lion’s Claw. The next talisman, the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman will reduce physical damage received. It can be replaced with other elemental damage reduction talismans depending on the enemy you are facing.
The Dagger Talisman is there to augment the critical attack damage. The Executioner’s Greataxe already deals a ton of critical damage and the constant staggers with the Lion’s Claw will surely benefit from this talisman.
The trick is to buff yourself with the Godslayer’s Seal using some powerful incantations before engaging bosses and letting loose!
The Electrify Armament Incantation will buff the weapon with lightening damage providing further damage boost with FAI scaling and some elemental damage. It gets further boosted by the Lightning-Shrouding Cracked Tear. Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength are there to further boost damage output.
Does your class actually matter in Elden Ring?
Your starting class will dictate your playstyle at least at the start. Every class has its strengths, weaknesses, and the type of tactics it can utilize. Some classes are built for certain types only like the Vagabond is purely a melee class.
However, classes don’t matter much in the late game. You can invest your leveling-up points however you like once you progress in the game. Having a set of pre-allotted class stats will provide the right building blocks to a certain build better than others.
For example, if you want to build a sorcery-focused character, you shouldn’t choose the Vagabond. It is best to choose the Astrologer class with its high Intelligence level for this particular task. Nevertheless, with little investment in INT, the Vagabond can be curated into a hybrid INT/STR build.
Can you change your class in Elden Ring?
Unfortunately, you can not change your starting class once you start your run. There is a respec feature in the game after you have defeated Rennala Queen of the Full Moon.
However, if you opt to respec, it will only return the points that you yourself invested, not the ones that came with the class. The base class stats will stay the same even if you respec.
The only way to change class is to begin a fresh new game. You won’t even get the option when going for New Game+.
Vagabond Tips and Tricks
Some tips you can employ when starting off with this class:
- Use the class’s Heater Shield to stave off most attacks. This shield has 100% physical damage reduction so you can turtle up quite securely behind it in most instances.
- Block counter is an extremely viable combat tactic with this class.
- The high HP pool gives this class the advantage of absorbing much damage. At least in the start, you don’t have to worry too much about dying instantly.
- The class is optimized for Quality builds i.e. STR/DEX and hybrid builds that can utilize sorceries and incantations with a bit of points invested in Faith or Intellignece.
- There are better classes for Arcane builds so try to stay clear of investing in this stat.
- Due to the heavy starter equipment burdening this knight, you can’t fast roll from the start and are forced to fat roll. You can unequip any of the items, preferably the Halberd, to get your mobility back.
- There are no ranged options in this class when starting out so use the hit-and-run tactics while riding Torrent.
- As mentioned before, the Halberd is the right choice of weapon when riding on Torrent due to its increased reach.
- Equip a solid Ash of War on your weapon as soon as possible. Most of your FP will be consumed by these weapon arts so might as well make them worth your while.
- The preferable attributes to invest your points into are respectively:
- Strength
- Vigor
- Endurance
- The starting armor is ideal for tanking. You will only find better gear much later on in the game so you are good to go from the beginning.
The Vagabond is the right class if you are new to games like Elden Ring. It is the most forgiving class owing to its high survivability. The simple playstyle of this class shouldn’t be taken lightly as it can eventually be curated into a hulking tank, ready to bulldoze any who stand in its way.