Steelrising Class Guide: What Is The Best Class For You?- In this Steelrising Class Guide, we are going to dive into the classes of the game in terms of how to make them work as well as what their corresponding strengths and weaknesses are. If you are new to Steelrising and you want to know what the perfect class feels like for your playstyle, then this Guide is for you!
Steelrising Class Guide: What Is The Best Class For You?
Steelrising features a total of 4 classes, each with its own Attributes, Weapons, and Grenades. Attributes will completely change the way you play because of how dependent your builds are on them. For instance, if you are to focus on knocking back or knocking down enemies while dealing the most amount of Physical Damage, then investing in Power should be a top priority. Furthermore, there is no respec option so you have to be careful of what you choose because the extra points initially allocated for certain Attributes can be wasted if you decide to switch playstyles midway into the game.
Now there are other ways to boost this such as wielding the right weapons and armor. For every class, it is worth noting that these weapons can be purchased from the Vestal’s Boutique for Anima Essence, allowing you to still try them out even if your build is optimized differently. Additionally, the type of grenade you initially own is not limited to that same class either, it’s just that you now get a couple of them to test at the start.
ThisSoulslike Action RPG’s4 different playstyles include the Bodyguard, Soldier, Dancer, and Alchemist. We will break down each of them in terms of the qualities that make them unique and what you can expect.
Steelrising Class Guide - The Bodyguard
The tankiest of Steelrising’s classes is definitely the Bodyguard who is all about taking a beating while also dishing out tons of Physical Damage. Since this class has insanely high amounts of health and armor, they can afford to equip heavier weapons that the others cannot handle well and therefore shy away from.
As a result, the Bodyguard can deal considerable heavy damage with their signature weapon, Body of Work. This shield and hammer hybrid is slow yet powerful and can be used to block enemy hits, absorbing damage entirely. For Body of Work’s charged attack, you will forcefully lift the heavy hammer and slam it against the target to crush them into oblivion.
Since heavy weapons have a high Impact rating, they can stagger and knock down foes with relative ease. Because of this class’s high Durability, thereby enhancing their balance, they are resistant to these same effects, shrugging off hits like they were nothing. And thanks to the Bodyguard’s high Engineering Attribute, they also have more armor than most classes.
Additionally, they can trigger Alchemical Afflictions a bit quicker (except when compared to the Alchemist). And since they have the ability to find and gather more loot, it is probably a good idea to stack up on Flame, Frost, and Fulmination Grenades to help bring down Automats more effectively.
However, the downside of playing this mighty class is that they move slower so their attacks must be more deliberate and targeted precisely. Body of Work and other heavy weapons’ attack animations are slower, and they can miss entirely if not timed correctly. Moreover, they tend to use up more Endurance or stamina to attack, making it trickier since Bodyguards already have a deficit in this department. Due to this resource being used more for attacking, they are left with little to none for blocking or even dodging.
Regardless, these juggernauts are still fun to play, especially if you like knocking enemies down and beating them to a pulp while they are defenseless. The Bodyguard is a good beginner class as well since taking hits will not be as punishing as the squishier Dancer. To supplement their already mighty blows, it is a good idea to invest a few points into Power so that they can hit harder. Alternatively, you should also consider improving Vigour to have a bit more leeway in terms of stamina management.
Steelrising Class Guide - The Soldier
Similar to the Bodyguard, the Soldier specializes in dealing massive Physical Damage with Power as its primary Attribute. This, coupled with the fact that they can attack enemies from a distance, makes them a formidable DPS foe to go up against. For starters, you have the Gribeauval Halberd, which not only lets you pierce targets but also shoots them from a safer distance. Remember, however, that you will need to maintain a steady supply of Alchemical Capsules as a requirement to execute ranged special attacks. What makes the weapon even better is its charged attack that extends the Halberd farther, allowing you to stagger and potentially knock down Automats.
Next, be sure to equip other weapons with decent Power Affinities such as the Fire Chain or Volley Mallet to boost Physical Damage further. If you decide to go with the Mallet or any other heavy weapon, note that your attack animation will be slower so you need to anticipate enemy hits better to effectively dodge away from them. You can then supplement these with Explosive Grenades, which you initially carry as a Soldier, to keep them from recovering fully by staying on the ground. It will also help you to significantly deplete their HP, killing them quickly.
The other major Attribute you will want to invest in is Vigour for increased Endurance and Critical Damage dealt. Endurance relates to your stamina, which means that the higher this resource is, the more moves you can execute at a given time. Since the Soldier will frequently dodge rather than block attacks due to the main weapons they wield, having a very high stamina pool helps. Compared to blocking, dodging consumes greater stamina. This class also excels in dealing infrequent but high Critical Damage thanks to the Critical Multiplier gained from Vigour, allowing you to efficiently destroy enemies.
Given the focus on Power and Vigour, the Soldier is not going to be as durable nor resistant to taking alchemical afflictions. As such and for its third Attribute, I highly recommend investing a few points into Durability or Elemental Alchemy depending on what kinds of Automats give you trouble to survive in combat longer. Increasing Durability when wielding heavy weapons keeps your balance in check and prevents you from becoming vulnerable to persistent attacks.
The Dancer
Next is the Dancer, another physical damage dealer like the Soldier and Bodyguard. However, the difference is that this class specializes in using light weapons while prioritizing the Agility Attribute as a basis for their raw damage, instead of Power. Rather than focusing on increasing the impact of their hits, they deal Immobilisation Damage, allowing them to efficiently disable Automats to leave them open to taking massive damage. You should also consider using Petrification Grenades, especially if they are challenging to deal with to immobilize them quickly.
This class is considered as the glass canons of Steelrising because the weapons they wield are melee-focused so unlike the Soldier, they must always deal with enemies up close and personal. They are not resilient either since their other stat, which is Vigour, does not provide hard numbers in terms of defense. To compensate for this, Dancers are extremely quick on their feet and they consistently dish out critical hits quite effectively.
The class starts with Armoured Fans that provide decent Physical Damage and Agility Affinity. Its special attack allows them to block enemy hits efficiently. This is due to how quickly they move in close-quarter encounters as well as the weapon’s weight compared to the Bodyguard’s Body of Work. When it comes to the Armoured Fans’ charged attack, you will have to time this perfectly since the buildup is pretty long, meaning that you may be more vulnerable to attacks. Relative to the Soldier’s Gribeauval Halberd, individual hits from the fans are weaker so a constant aggressive mindset must be prioritized to amplify your damage potential as a Dancer.
The other medium or light weapon you can wield is Nemesis Claws, which lets you parry or perform a counterattack. As a result, a portion of the Physical Damage that is supposedly dealt to you is reflected for a more offensive playstyle. Similar to the Armoured Fans, it grants good Agility Affinity and Immobilisation Damage.
The second Attribute of this class is Vigour, granting them high stamina to perform numerous attacks while blocking, parrying, and dodging incoming attacks at the same time. It also lets them deal amazing Critical Damage, and coupled with their speed, they are a force to be reckoned with.
And finally, Dancers have low health and armor, to begin with, so any damage taken will likely be high. Because of this, the third stat to invest in ought to be Durability or Engineering. Should you choose Engineering, you also improve the chances of boosting the effectiveness of the status effects you inflict, making Flame, Frost, or Fulmination Grenades another good source of damage.
The Alchemist
Last but not least in this Steelrising Class Guide are the Alchemists who are masters of dealing Elemental Damage while shying away from pure physical punishment. Due to their natural skill in handling alchemical reagents, this class is able to trigger powerful status effects, such as Flame, Frost, and Fulmination. Expertly timing these potent afflictions will be key to playing an Alchemist to their full potential.
When it comes to Attributes, they heavily rely on Elemental Alchemy followed by Engineering. Elemental Alchemy lets Aegis deal great Alchemical Damage while also making her much more resistant to it. Meanwhile, Engineering enhances base armor, alchemical affliction buildup to fill the corresponding gauges faster, and the amount of loot you find. The latter is especially useful since you are going to benefit from saving Flame, Frost, and Fulmination Grenades.
Each of these stats works hand-in-hand with the Alchemist’s weapon of choice, starting with the Glass-core Batons. With its special move, you can instantly infuse the weapon with Frost for several seconds. For the Glass-core Batons’ charged attack, you will be saving up a ton of energy to then surge forward and deal massive Alchemical Damage to debilitate your target. But like the Soldier’s Gribeauval Halberd, you are going to use a lot of Alchemical Capsules so be sure to stock up on this.
An alternative to these batons is a medium or light weapon that has high Alchemy Affinities such as the Charleville 1789 Shield Musket and Hephaestus Batons (or Fire Chain) to deal Frost and Fire Damage, respectively. Since these are light in weight, they will attack faster and build up alchemical afflictions faster.
The Alchemist has lower overall health than the Bodyguard and Soldier, and they will not be able to dodge as often as the Dancer. However, because of better elemental resistances and armor, they can tank more damage. Due to the fact that they have lower Agility, they cannot immobilize foes frequently, nor stagger them due to insufficient Power. To offset some of their weaknesses, it may be wise to invest a few points into Vigour which will increase overall stamina, allowing them to dodge more often while increasing the number of attacks they can execute at a given time.
If you enjoyed this Steelrising Class Guide, be sure to check out ourSteelrising Review,Steelrising Beginner Guide, as well as other Soulslike content over at ourElden Ring Wiki. What did you think of this guide? What classes are you looking forward to trying out first? Let us know in the comments below!
