Vagabond | Elden Ring Wiki

Bro really used a bot to upvote his comments and downvote everyone else. Imagine being so mentally ill you have to do this for a post on a video game wiki. Lmao.

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Lore accurate tarnished:

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"Bond, James Vagabond"

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did u kno vagabond is short for vag!nabond

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The guy above me has a massive scrote

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This class is basically the bobsled paradise prebuilt ride in rollercoaster tycoon 2. It will kill your guests and you can technically try and fix it but it's just not worth the trouble as it still sucks. Literally nothing good about this class.

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This class will be irrelevant in the tarnished edition. The heavy knight is the vagabond but better in every way... its kind of sad.

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Hey it's me, the guy above

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If the regular smithing stones were more abundant, I'd pick Hero every single time.

Almost every somber weapon has Dex scaling and requirements, and Strength / Arc weapons aren't very common. The hero doesn't shine until fairly late in the game, even the Bandit has a lot more options.

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He's literally me

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This class with golden Halberd, and then levelling vig/str/end.

The real easy mode

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i saw a guy who looked just like this tweaking out and shooting up fentanyl on the streets of oakland not too long ago

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The amount of dislikes on any comment liking this class is comical. Arc glazers doing their thing ig.

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the guy below me stinks

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More like Vagabondage

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i use to start with this class until i realized your starting class name is permanently on your character stat sheet. now i pick hero because it sounds cooler

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Decent class if you want to try your hand at invasions/co-op at an early, balanced point in the game. Slap on Radagon's Soreseal and you have a nice little Quality build that can access most Limgrave weapons without even leveling once.

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Strongly tempted to do a Vagabond Roleplay playthrough. Stick to the default armor, shield and weapons!

I love how the altered version of his armor shows the crafting kit, a small pack, a utility knife and cleaver.....the perfect roleplay visual kit for a vagabond knight!!

*The Heater Shield is the only thing that makes me hesitate on the roleplay playthrough...but it isn't that bad! Heater shield has 11 Guard Boost LESS than the Brass Shield (at max upgrade). Maybe the shield will be fine with Barricade Shield, and the rest of the time I 2-hand the Longsword or Halberd!

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Can't stop, won't stop, will never stop choosing you

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Just use mugenmonkey to plan your build and you'll see that Vagabond or Samurai is on top with most builds. There are only niche reasons to ever pick any other class.

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Basically the safest starting choice. It's the best class for respecs in terms of flexibility - every build needs Vigor and some baseline STR/DEX for weapon reqs, so you're unlikely to wind up stuck with stat minimums higher than you need. It also has a very strong start, with Square Off easily able to carry you indefinitely, a good armor set, and a full negation shield. Samurai has a stronger starting kit for sure, but has a more focused stat spread that might not fit later respecs, and Wretch's 10s across the board mean you're guaranteed a non-optimal respec. Unless you know for a fact you're playing a specific build and never changing it, V is the best choice. Obviously none of this makes a huge difference but there it is.

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the class for those with a warrior's spirit, you're here to FIGHT. **** yeah!

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i dunno if u kno this but i just learned vagabond means HOMELESS!!!! this guy isnt a knight hes a dirty hobo that stole an old rusty suit of armour!!!!

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No matter which build I choose to play—Str/Faith, Dex/Faith, Str/Int, Dex/Int, pure Int, pure Faith, Int/Faith, Str/Arc, Dex/Arc, or even pure Arc—even if it's not the best min/max for Arcane, I always go with the old and reliable Vagabond. Best class, I simply can't start with another.

And of course, this is purely my opinion. You don't have to agree with me.

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The Ol' Reliable.
No magic, no bullshit: just HP, armor, and a swiss knife of a highly customisable kit.

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You generally wouldn't be on this page unless you want to min/max, in which case look at that Vigor, Endurance, Strength, and Dexterity, and look how low the Arcane stat is. This is why Vagabond is generally the best starting class, unless you plan on making a Pure Arcane build (in which case you'd pick Bandit or Hero) there is no reason to level that stat, and Vagabond is the class with the least amount of wasted investment in Arcane. It also has the most collective Vigor, Endurance, Strength, and Dexterity investment out of all the classes at 53 points, which are generally considered the "most important" stats in the game unless you value Intelligence or Faith as attacking stats, in which case Vagabond has a respectable 9 points in each if you choose to branch into making a hybrid build, or use any specific weapon that has higher Strength and Dexterity requirements while still needing some amount of Intelligence or Faith.

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favorite starting class of feminine dexterity mains the world over. no self respecting strength chad would pick this over hero.

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please pot on your mask...

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Good for every single hybrid build in the game except arcane

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The value of this kit from a PvE optimization standpoint is overrated. Pretty much the only time the vagabond should be picked is for intelligence builds.

What the heck, you might say? Why would that be? The reason is that for a PvE character there's almost no reason to not build into a minor amount of faith. 12-15 or so minimum for flame cleanse me and flame grant me strength is one of the most efficient investments any character can make. If you're a melee build, the 20% damage increase from flame grant me strength is worth like, 30 points of your primary stat.

Given this, we need to look at the rest of our stats to figure out where we can build efficiently. Most builds will need some strength and dex, (for weapon reqs at least), some endurance and mind, and obviously, vigor. This leaves two dump stars we can chop: intelligence or arcane. This is very convenient, because there is almost no synergy between the two.

For the majority of builds, picking a minor or major arcane investment is far superior to intelligence. For example, just 12 arcane gives access to the status dragonbreaths and bloodflame blade, some of the most powerful incantations in the game which are very synergistic for melee. That is the crux of the issue with vagabond. If you are playing a non-intelligence based melee, you are going to want at least a little arcane.

When, then do we pick vagabond? When we want to make a melee-based character that runs on a major or minor intelligence investment and that won't put any points in arcane. This limits the optimal use of the class to int builds and hybrids.

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how much health? seems like a lot.

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tankyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

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It's crazy how good a kit this class starts with. Longsword is good fast weapon for R1 spamming trash mobs, Square Off for stance breaks, and fast Guard Counters. Halberd is good range, 2H Jumping R2 for crowds, and charge forth can stun-lock NPCs. Medium shields have been buffed, so Barricade for blocking or Carian Retaliation for Parrying. Add a bow for pulling/sniping enemies, and you're set. Only thing you'd need to do is upgrade to gear with better stats but same movesets.

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Perfect pick for a perfect start! I went and made another one without leveling anything and you can get the Two Finger Heirloom + Commoner's Garb very early in game which unlocks nice Incantations like Bestial Vitality, Flame Grant Me Strength, and Flame Cleanse Me. Since most incantations are lingering buffs you can swap your garb and heirloom out for other things too. This class also greatly appreciates a Radagon's Soreseal if you're not going to level anything but want to 2-Hand weapons that need up to 28 strength, the Nightrider Glaive and Rusted Anchor fits well with the Vagabond doing this. Anyways, the VIGORbond wont ever let you down no matter what you get yourself into.

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where does the class description even come from? i can't find that in game at all

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Me whenever I click new game: "The usual, sir?"

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The no-brainer for conventional melee players. You save 5 extra levels on stats that don't matter for a pure melee character and start with al lthe stats that do matter already high enough. Especially Vigor, the most important stat.
Giving the guy 2 different melee weapons to choose from (or use them both for tactical flexibility) was also a very big brain move, they never did that before...

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What is the stamina 97???

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Is this better than prisoner for mid level quality/intelligence build?

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You get two different options for melee weapons, one of which is the only option for starting with a Halberd. You also get a 100% Physical Block Medium Shield, the most protective armor of the lot, ideal stat distribution for a Quality/Faith build with something like the Clawmark Seal, or a Quality/Intelligence build using Cold weapons. It also has the most starting Vigor, which is arguably the most important stat in the game. The only shortcoming of this class is that it lacks Arcane so it has marginally less drop chance than the other classes and doesn't perform well with Occult weapons.

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People who claim this isn't far and away the best starting class are coping.

Whether it be called Vagabond, Warrior, Knight or even Military Veteran, it's always the best.

Mike L. Saltzky seems to be doing it intentionally, too.

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It's the most versatile melee start, and one of the best for hybrids like str/fth, int/dex etc, since in the long run you would have minimum wasted stats (unless you want arcane as well, then there are better options)

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From really cooked with this class. Giving it two main playstyles by the start was very smart, the sword and shield is bread and butter for beginners, while the halberd really shines when two handed by a more skilled player.

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I want to hold your hand and co-op to the very end with u, but maybe it was your fate to one day shed your golden aura to PvP and i can't do anything about it, the next time we meet, i won't hesitate!

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Vengeful vagabond/high fantasy guts
(Spoilers) :
120 rl
47 vig
23 mnd
20 end
40 str
14 dex
29 int
19 fth
7 arc
Grafted blade greatsword, demi human queen's staff, red feathered branchsword, blue feathered branchsword, erdtree's favor +2, crimson amber medallion, royal remains set.
Radahn or morgott great rune

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Hilariously everyones talking about how this is the best starting class... My game lags so much I can't play anything but casters (hybrid builds at most). Be thankful for what you have, for you don't know what you need till its gone...

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Tell me what.. Tell me what.. Tell me what you want. I don't know why.. don't know why.. don't know why you're afraid. Tell me what.. Tell me what.. Tell me what you'd say. I don't know why.. don't know why.. Too late.. Its too late.

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Chad

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I wish this class didn't exist. I feel like I'm gimping myself picking any other, but I'm also sick of being a vagabond.

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Best starting class for those trying to assume a "John Eldenring" playthrough.

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Making faith builds with this class is even better now because you have the minimum strength and dex for the dlc sword of light and darkness so you can make holy damage actually good.

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This class is interesting for pure INT/FTH builds because it has the lowest ARC, and it’s also interesting for pure FTH builds because it has the lowest ARC+INT total. So, even these builds should consider going for the Vagabond class, depending on the circumstances.
The main factor here is the weapon that you’re planning for and its STR/DEX requirements. If both requirements are higher or equal to 13/13, 14/12 or 12/14, then Vagabond is always better. Otherwise, there are still cases where the class is worth considering, especially if your weapon has at least some STR/DEX scaling. Compare this with ARC, where any wasted level usually offers absolutely no compensation in terms of AR, however small.

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Vagabond or Confessor for a build that uses greatswords like claymore and such where a little faith gets added for buffs later on?

Confessor would only be the choice for the sick drip tbh

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Why is the longsword significantly shorter in game than in the artwork
:(

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Assuming you want to level Vigor and Endurance at all and have at least 14 Strength, Vagabond still TIES with Bandit and Samurai for second best pick for a pure Arcane build, 3-4 points behind Hero depending on if you want the extra point of Mind

You really can make this class do ANYTHING. Go wild

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Exceptionally the best choice for a pure and not very archer (classic longbow) of all possible, where the goal is to reach 40/60 strength/agility

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So I did a calculation for the stats you need to meet all requirements (with help of perm buffs by attaching equipment stat bonuses) , I excluded temp stat buffs... I don't like those... So these are the max stats you need to meet all requirements of all spells and equipment. Str 48, dex 35, int 44, faith 29, arcane 6. So because vegabond class has the lowest arcane at 7... You can be 3 levels less to meet all requirements of eldin Ring. So I have regrets now going wretch, in some ways.. but maybe it don't matter. Dlc going to make me wanna level to 400 lol if we be fighting 10 more Melania's... So vegabond does matter later game if you just want to be 3 levels ahead in a meet all equipment stats playthrough? Not a big deal but I woulda went it because I want to try everything in the game before specializing.

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Any and all strength/faith builds is wrong information. 13 dex, 9 int, 7 arc is worse than the hero's 9 dex, 7 int, 11 arc for a wide variety of low dex weapons. You know, the kind of weapons you typically see a strength/faith character wielding in most media.

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You're a samurai and this is the guy she told u not to worry about

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Starting class doesn't really matter after the first few hours, esp. if you don't limit to meta levels say 150. If you do, this is the most versatile class for non-arcane builds.

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Best class right out of the gate. The Halberd can give the tree sentinel a taste of his own medicine.

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Stop scrolling the comment section, YES YOU CHOSE THE BEST CLASS, now go back and have fun champ!

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I just hate how they just made the absolute best class by a country mile for melee focused builds. If you get into the habit of creating A LOT of characters, you'll find out that you're literally doing yourself a disservice by not picking Vagabond. That 15 vigor is so crucial. My only non-vagabond character is a bandit because I wanted to try the regalia and try arcane spells. Even my INT carian sorcery build is a vagabond. Unless you're a pure caster or an arcane build, this is objectively the best class. Samurai is okay if you want to dual wield uchis, but that's about it.

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Most optimal starting class for wielding a wide armory of weapons that are either str, dex, int, or faith based.

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That 13 Dex irritates me, I can't deny. You end up with exactly one more than you need on The Greatsword. Amazing class for Estoc Shield Poke builds and Halberd builds, though.

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Optimum start for str/int?

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When I started the game I felt like I had to play as this guy, feeling like I failed so much in life and now I have to find grace once again, hoping not to lose it again.

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Guts starting class

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deep lore comment #4: due to the brief backstory of this class, the fact that the knight set is a direct and early upgrade to the armor and the description of the chestpiece "The crest emblazoned on the front is worn and dingy, no longer able to evoke sentiment.", i can surmise that instead of being some banished knight without the baller armor, this guy's most likely a former knight of the roundtable hold, probably the last besides vyke, who was directly exiled from leyndell (the aforementioned crest probably being an old symbol of the hold but considering its state in the real world plus it being reflected in the worn down and dingy state of the armor set, it not evoking sentiment is for the best)

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Strictly speaking, this class isn't optimal for "Any and all" str/fth builds. For a dex of 10 or lower, Hero is slightly better.

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Low “luck” stat is lore friendly for an exile

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this class is perfect for melee characters, especially non-hybrid ones, it ditches away the stats that are not useful for a pure-melee, and ditches away arcane which is just luck with a different name, and saves these stats to get: the highest base healthpool, a perfect balance between the more needed strenght and the less needed dexterity, the best starting armor, a 100% physical block shield, and TWO different types of very versatile weapons, from which i personally prefer to use the Halberd, but of course the Longsword with it's Square Off ash of war is great as well.

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Best class for any non arcane build.

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You have the state to wield a great range of weapons, and if you only level vigour you become the VIGabond.

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Quite possibly the best starting class for most builds near meta levels that isn't pure faith or int.

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The starting armor which best reflects a tarnished soul. Worn and half-broken, but still ready for action.

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Why is he holding a greatsword? Lol

And I do not regret choosing this as my starting class. Good stats, cool armor, and great starting weapons (I LOVE that Halberd).

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All they had top do was making sure that this class starts the game without halberd equipped or something to make sure it does below 70% roll and the newcomer players who equip new stuff will know why they fat roll rn.
we don't think about it, i knew what's up after 1st roll but we have to remember about the newcomers

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the 13 dex this class has is exactly what you need to wield a Claymore. Need I say anything more?

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The only melee-focused class to start with a polearm. Unless you get lucky with a drop, there are no easy-to-obtain polearms early on, unless you count buying a short spear from the Maidens.

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LMAO confessor class is so forgotten, even the anon below forgot about it...

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Vagabond is the only class that actually starts with a 100% physical defense shield.

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back at Dark Souls 3, i was wishing there was a class that starts with the Halberd while also having good stats (and without having to resort to mods like Cinders because i play on Xbox), i thought to myself "that would undoubtably be the best class to play with". well, it seems Miyazaki has somehow heard my prayers. i have been playing the game for months now, and i remember i almost started jumping of joy all around the living room as i first saw this class starts with the Halberd. i finished 2 runs and a NG+ already, and this class is still (and probably always will) be the only one i play with. Next time (perhaps at Elden Ring 2, who knows), i hope Miyazaki adds a starting class that starts with Zweihander, or at least a flail: cant wait to start the game already with an unparriable weapon, for the bane of these pesky parry spammers at the next one <3

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Come to the Lands Between with nothing but your sword and be free to become everything you want.

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Easy mode Grafted Scion. Just Stance off L2, that skill breaks as much stancedamage as Redmanes

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Is this the only class that start fat rolling?

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That Armor is hard to resist.

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Wait, so, what do they mean by “exiled from their homeland,” and (outside of starting classes) why is the armour purchasable in the Mountaintops of the Giants of all places? Like, did those who turned into Vagabonds become exiled from their home in the far North, or is the location of where Vagabonds came from unimportant? I’m kinda confused on this one.

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Stop calling this a quality build, quality builds are dead in this game, at least in PvP. Whether you're STR or DEX, any decent weapon is gonna require a minimum investment both. Like it or not, this is the most efficient class for 90% of melee focused builds, and that's because it has the lowest ARC of any build, which is only useful for bleed and poison builds, and the dragon builds I guess. 9 FTH/INT +7 ARC = 16. the only class that rivals that kind of efficiency is Prisoner, which is the superb class for DEX/INT builds, because 6 FTH +9 ARC = 15. Learn the numbers, it's the bare minimum required for a respectable fighter.

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I dislike the look of this armor. Usually the knight class in Dark Souls games starts with a decent looking armor.

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Really solid starting class if you're new to the game and unsure what to pick. The only disadvantage it has is that it fatrolls if you equip all the starter gear, but you can quite easily mitigate that by just not equipping the Halberd, which is overall a worse weapon than the Longsword you also start with.

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Is the Vagabond class perhaps... a Vagabond reference? (Vagabond the Japanese manga, I mean.)

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Every character class has a hidden lore tidbit. Based on the ornamentation on this guys helm. He may have been banished from the Haligtree.

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I've got a couple hundred hours into ER now, with 2/3rds of that across a couple different Vagabond characters and the remaining 1/3rd messing around with non-Vagabond alts.

It's a hard class to resist on a fresh start; strip off a couple pieces of equipment to get medium roll, two-hand the halberd, and you can walk out the start and slaughter the Tree Sentinel without too much fuss if you know his patterns. The armor is so good I was still mixing and matching some pieces for poise optimization after 100 hours.

That said, the 7 Arcane hurts. It doesn't seem like it would make a difference, but it does. Any time i play a class with 9+ Arcane from the start, I see drops my Vagabonds never did. It might be worth throwing a couple points just to get over whatever magical threshold it is that causes Vagabond to have such an abysmal time farming with the starting stat. Seriously. 9 Arcane hauls in a lot more goods than 7.

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Vagabond: is quality build.


Me: hmmmm this class will make a fine STRENGTH build wouldn’t you agree?

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Chadabond

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If you want to do a quality build, this guy is the key

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Maybe if you got rid of those yee-yee ass fat rolls you'd get some maidens

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wish the visor could’ve been lowered

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this is an incredible class as long as you don't need arcane

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