Elden Ring reveals new Bandit and Astrologer character classes

Developer FromSoftware has revealed two more of the character classes that players will be able to choose when starting a new game in its upcoming action RPG Elden Ring. These classes are the Bandit and Astrologer, both of which have very distinct strengths. The Bandit is “a dangerous bandit who strikes for weak points” and the class “excels at ranged combat with bows.” Meanwhile, the Astrologer is a “scholar who reads fate in the stars” and they are the “heir to the school of glintstone sorcery.”

Based on these descriptions, it sounds like the Bandit will be a high Dexterity class that deals a lot of damage with bows, while the Astrologer will be a mage with a large amount of Intelligence, which is the stat that governs how powerful a character’s glintstone sorceries are. Elden Ring’s Prisoner class is proficient with sorceries as well, but we expect that it will be more of a hybrid melee/magic class. The Astrologer, meanwhile, will likely be more of a “pure mage.”

The Bandit and Astrologer join Elden Ring’s other character templates — Bloody Wolf, Champion, Prophet, Enchanted Knight, Warrior, Vagabond, Hero, Prisoner, and Wretched — as the game’s 10th and 11th class, respectively. It’s unclear whether or not the Elden Ring classes list will grow even larger as we get closer to the game’s launch, but at the rate FromSoftware has been showing off new ones recently, we wouldn’t be surprised.

Elden Ring is expected to release Feb. 25, 2022 on Xbox Series X, Xbox One systems, PS5, PS4, and PC. Elden Ring preorders are available now if you’d like to purchase your copy of the game before it arrives.