When Elden Ring’s Prisoner class was revealed last week I thought to myself that running around in ragged pajamas with a giant cast iron pot welded to your head had to be as bad as it could possibly get. But today FromSoftware introduced two more Elden Ring classes, and it turns out I was wrong.
The Prophet is “a seer ostracized for inauspicious prophecies,” says the Twitter description. “Well-versed in healing incantations.” The Prophet has actually been revealed already, but with a different bit of ridiculously impractical accessorization around their neck.
The Wretch, however, is a newcomer, and despite the obvious misery of the Prisoner, they are apparently Elden Ring’s real bottom of the barrel: “A poor, purposeless sod, naked as the day they were born. A nice club is all they have.”
WRETCH: A poor, purposeless sod, naked as the day they were born. A nice club is all they have.PROPHET: A seer ostracized for inauspicious prophecies. Well-versed in healing incantations.Pre-Order #ELDENRING: https://t.co/PTkxSAMqvh pic.twitter.com/7dfeY3IgAwFebruary 18, 2022
As we noted when the Confessor and Samurai were revealed, classes in Souls games are more of a starting point than a stratified path, and what you ultimately end up with is primarily a matter of how the character is developed over the course of the game. But just as in real life, where you go is unavoidably influenced by where you begin, and this does not appear to be an ideal starting point.
That’s not to suggest that becoming a Wretch is a hopelessly difficult endeavor. The Deprived class in each Dark Souls game starts with middling but identical stats across all categories, rather than the highs and lows of the more specialized classes, making them effective “jack of all trades” types for players willing to put in the effort needed to bulk them up. Assuming Elden Ring follows the same pattern (and there’s no reason to think it won’t), the Wretch could serve the same role: Not great for min-maxers, but a fun pick for players who want a little extra challenge.
Elden Ring is set to finally arrive on February 25. We’re all hoping that the Elden Ring subreddit can hold out until then.