Elden Ring: How You Should Build The Wretch Class

Elden Ring has a multitude of starting classes to choose from, each offering you a different option for how to start the game. Wretch starts you at level 1, with all your stats at 10, and no armor to speak of. You do have a neat club, but that’s it. If you’re not used to the mechanics of Elden Ring, this starting class will be hard.

However, if you’re prepared to farm for souls and loot corpses for their armor, this class might be the perfect start for you. Starting with a 10 in every stat allows you to easily try out different strategies and builds early on, and being level 1 means that leveling up is cheap. Here are some tips to maximize your Wretch build.

Keepsake: Golden Seed

When you create your character you have the option of choosing a Keepsake. You technically don’t have to pick one, but you will be best off selecting the Golden Seed. The first time you rest at a site of grace you’ll be able to select Flasks from the menu on the left side of the screen. Use that Golden Seed to increase the number of Flasks you have. While you’re here, make all your Flasks crimson until you learn how to cast spells.

Kill The Soldiers

After you rest at The Church of Elleh, follow the golden light emanating from the grace through the woods. While you’re there, kill off all the soldiers wandering about. If you’re lucky, they’ll drop bits of their armor. There are 6 in total in this short stretch, and the combined amount of Runes they drop will get you a level. As soon as you can level up, that is.

Get To The Gate

After you kill the soldiers in the wood and get out into the open, veer left. The encampment ahead of you is too tough for you right now as you can easily get outnumbered. Hug the wall until you get to the site of grace, where you’ll be treated to a cutscene and gain the ability to level up. Put those Runes you got to good use and level up. Congratulations! You’re now level 2!

Vigor First

No matter how you end up building your character, you will need vigor. Vigor controls the amount of HP you have, and since you’ve started out at level 1 leveling up is cheap. Take advantage of this by leveling up your Vigor at every opportunity. The other stats will really only come into play once you’ve found a weapon you like, so don’t get ahead of yourself. Take it easy and only boost what you know you need.

Limgrave Is Your Oyster

There’s a lot to explore in Limgrave, and currently you are very squishy. If luck hasn’t been on your side and Godric’s Soldiers haven’t dropped any armor or weapons, Kalé in the Church of Elleh has chainmail, a shield or two, and weapons available for purchase. All are decent, but nothing you can’t get for free elsewhere. Make sure to get your very good boys from Renna, and find as many sites of grace as you can.