With the highly anticipated launch of FromSoftware's latest title Elden Ring drawing closer, fans are eagerly learning of the new and exciting classes that the game will offer. Boasting gameplay curated with some of the best aspects of FromSoftware's library of games, as well as new mechanics, the new classes that the game offers will foster even more replayability and unique gameplay.
With a variety of classes being teased and revealed by FromSoftware recently, the Wretch class is undoubtedly one of the most interesting and challenging ones that will be available to play in Elden Ring.
The Wretch Class
One of the ten classes in Elden Ring that will be available for players at launch is the Wretch class. With FromSoftware incrementally revealing the classes, such as the Bandit and the Astrologer classes for Elden Ring, fans are starting to gain a better idea of what the class systems will be like and how they will complement gameplay. The primary function and benefit of class choice in Elden Ring is the differing starting equipment and stats that each class offers.
The Wretch class, who is aptly named, is billed by FromSoftware as a "poor, purposeless sod, naked as the day they were born," further elaborating that a "nice club is all they have." The Wretch class is essentially Elden Ring's "hard mode," being a class of consistently low stats that is not specialized or advantageously suited to any specific play style. Offering no logical benefit to be chosen over other classes, the Wretch class will instead most likely become a favorite of hardcore fans on subsequent playthroughs of the game, offering a serious challenge to the already notoriously difficult "souls-like" gameplay.
The Wretch Stats
As previously mentioned, the Wretch class offers the bare minimum when it comes to base level stats. The Wretch will start gameplay at 10 Vigor, Mind, Endurance, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence and Arcane and Faith. While this balanced but barebones starting build offers nothing in terms of specialization for a specific playstyle like other classes, it does provide the building blocks necessary to build specific stats up over time. The Wretch can be fairly versatile in the avenues of gameplay choice available to players in Elden Ring.
The Wretch also has a starting level of 1, an extremely low figure compared to the starting levels of most other classes, making early gameplay that much harder for those who brave the challenge.
The Wretch Armor
One of the primary characteristics of this "deprived" style class, consistent with the similar challenge classes of preceding Souls games, is the nakedness of the character. With the wretch being "as naked as the day they were born," the Wretch will only have rags to cover their modesty, meaning no beneficial armor will be available to the class at the start of a playthrough. As seen in the promotional image of the Wretch in the class reveal, the Wretch is as bare and devoid of personality or flare as possible. With no expression or uniqueness, it is clear that this is supposed to reflect the bare-minimum and open-ended nature of the class.
The Wretch Weapons
To match their meager and practically non-existent armor, the Wretch's starting arsenal simply consists of a wooden club. The club is a very basic bludgeoning weapon, befitting of its wielder. The club's damage and effectiveness scales with strength, and is touted as possessing short-term utility against vulnerable enemies at the start of Elden Ring, quickly losing any viable effectiveness once the enemies inexorably become more varied and powerful. With the release of Elden Ring being imminent, players do not have to wait long to explore this class for themselves.
Elden Ring releases on February 25, 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
