🧙‍♂️ 1. Sorcerer
Starting Soul Level: 3

Focus: Magic/Range

Best For: Beginners who want ranged combat and powerful magic early on.

Starts With: Soul Arrow (sorcery), a catalyst

High Stats: Intelligence, Attunement

Tips:

Early game is easier due to ranged attacks.

Focus on leveling Intelligence and Attunement for more powerful spells and spell slots.

Fragile at close range; learn enemy patterns.

⚔️ 2. Warrior
Starting Soul Level: 4

Focus: Melee/Strength-Dexterity hybrid

Best For: Players who prefer balanced physical combat.

Starts With: Decent armor and weapons, good early stats for STR/DEX scaling weapons.

High Stats: Strength, Dexterity

Tips:

A great base for any melee build.

Flexible for converting into quality builds (STR + DEX).

🪓 3. Bandit
Starting Soul Level: 4

Focus: High physical damage

Best For: Players who like axes and high early game damage.

Starts With: Battle Axe, Spider Shield

High Stats: Strength

Tips:

Strong start but lacks magic options.

Use shields effectively to counterbalance lower mobility.

🛡️ 4. Knight
Starting Soul Level: 5

Focus: Defense/Tank

Best For: New players who want high defense.

Starts With: Heavy armor, sword and shield

High Stats: Vitality, Endurance

Tips:

Slow and heavy, but very durable.

Can take a lot of damage before dying.

Ideal for learning melee combat mechanics.

🗡️ 5. Thief
Starting Soul Level: 5

Focus: Speed and critical hits

Best For: Stealthy or technical players.

Starts With: Bandit Knife, Master Key

High Stats: Dexterity

Tips:

Master Key is a huge advantage for sequence breaking.

Learn backstabbing and parrying early.

Low starting health.

🧝 6. Hunter
Starting Soul Level: 4

Focus: Ranged physical

Best For: Archery lovers or hybrid builds.

Starts With: Bow, Shortsword

High Stats: Dexterity

Tips:

Balanced starting gear with both ranged and melee.

No shield with 100% physical block at the start — be cautious.
⚔️ 7. Wanderer
Starting Soul Level: 3

Focus: Dexterity melee

Best For: Players who like light weapons and dodging.

Starts With: Scimitar (curved sword), light armor

High Stats: Dexterity

Tips:

Fast and agile but vulnerable if you’re careless.

Curved swords are great for quick strikes and bleed buildup.

✝️ 8. Cleric
Starting Soul Level: 2

Focus: Faith-based miracles and healing

Best For: Support-style play or Faith builds.

Starts With: Mace, Heal miracle, Talisman

High Stats: Faith

Tips:

Can heal early, giving you survivability.

Good for hybrid melee/miracle builds.

Heavy early gear, but strong blunt weapons.

🧛 9. Pyromancer (Best Starting Class for Min-Maxing)
Starting Soul Level: 1

Focus: Fire magic + melee

Best For: All-around, most efficient leveling

Starts With: Hand Axe, Pyromancy Flame, Fireball

High Stats: Balanced

Tips:

Lowest starting level gives max flexibility.

Pyromancy doesn’t scale with stats, so it’s powerful early and costs little to maintain.

Ideal for beginners and experienced players alike.

😐 10. Deprived
Starting Soul Level: 6

Focus: Challenge + Flexibility

Best For: Veterans who want to shape their own build.

Starts With: Club, Plank Shield, no armor

High Stats: All base stats are 11

Tips:

A "blank slate" for custom builds.

Hardest early game, but most even spread.

No equipment advantage at start — high risk, high reward.

For Beginners: Pyromancer, Knight, or Sorcerer

For Challenge: Deprived

For Magic Builds: Sorcerer (INT), Cleric (FAI), Pyromancer (fire)

For Melee Builds: Warrior or Bandit

For Speed: Thief or Wanderer