Elden Ring Tarnished Edition is going to launch for Nintendo Switch 2 on August 28, 2026. This complete bundle includes the base game, Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, and multiple platform-exclusive contents, such as two brand-new starting classes: Heavy Knight and Idus Knight. The Heavy Knight stands out as a pure melee strength-focused origin, built around high endurance, heavy armor, and a unique curved greatsword unavailable to standard game classes. This guide breaks down all official confirmed details about Elden Ring Heavy Knight, including starting stats, equipment, build paths, and a direct comparison with the Idus Knight to help players choose the best starting class for their playstyle.

Elden Ring Heavy Knight Class

The Heavy Knight is an exclusive starting class only accessible in Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition for Nintendo Switch 2. It debuted at Nintendo’s Gamescom 2025 booth, where attendees tested the Switch 2 port hands-on. The Heavy Knight can't be unlocked on PlayStation, Xbox, or PC versions of Elden Ring. 

Like all 12 Elden Ring starting classes, the Heavy Knight only defines your initial stats and gear. Players can fully respec and rework their character’s build at any point later in the game, so class choice only shapes your early-game experience. Official lore description labels the Heavy Knight as a warrior clad in thick steel plate armor, capable of cutting through crowds of enemies with a massive curved greatsword. Unlike most vanilla starting classes, this origin is tailor-made for heavy armor, poise, and pure strength melee combat, with a stat spread that heavily prioritizes physical combat while ignoring magic-focused attributes.

Elden Ring Heavy Knight Base Starting Stats

The Heavy Knight starts at Rune Level 10, with stat values optimized for strength, endurance, and vigor. All official base stats are listed below:

• Endurance (17): The highest starting Endurance of all playable classes. This grants far more equip load and baseline poise from the start, letting players wear full heavy armor sets without hitting equip burden early in the game.

• High Vigor (14) and Strength (15): Natural foundation for strength melee builds, granting more HP and higher damage for heavy melee weapons.

• Very low Mind, Intelligence, Faith: This class has no natural lean toward sorcery, incantations, or spell-focused hybrid builds. Arcane sits at a minimal 9, so blood loss or item discovery playstyles are not viable starting paths.

• Stat efficiency advantage: When building toward the popular PvP meta stat cap (Vigor 58, Strength 60, Endurance 38), the Heavy Knight only needs to reach total Rune Level 120, leaving 5 extra stat points to pump further into Strength for extra damage compared to the classic Vagabond class.

Elden Ring Heavy Knight Starting Weapon

The Heavy Knight’s exclusive starter weapon is the Heavy Knight's Curved Sword, classified as a unique curved greatsword.

• Uniqueness: This curved greatsword is an early-game exclusive weapon for the Heavy Knight. Players on standard platforms must wait until reaching Roundtable Hold to buy Morgott’s Cursed Sword from Finger Reader Enia to get a comparable heavy curved blade.

• Combat trait: Its large frame delivers strong stance-breaking attacks, perfect for aggressive close-quarters fighting instead of slow, defensive hit-and-run tactics common for low-endurance starting classes.

• Scaling focus: Built to scale primarily with Strength, matching the Heavy Knight’s core stat focus.

Elden Ring Heavy Knight Armor Set

The Heavy Knight spawns with a full, unique matching heavy steel armor set that cannot be obtained by other starting classes at game launch:

• Unique Heavy Knight Helm

• Unique Heavy Knight Chest Armor

• Unique Heavy Knight Gauntlets

• Unique Heavy Knight Leg Armor

Core armor benefits tied to the class’s 17 base Endurance:

• The full set has high total equip weight. Most vanilla starting classes lack enough initial Endurance to wear this full set without rolling slowly or overburdening, but the Heavy Knight’s top-tier starting Endurance removes this early-game restriction.

• High baseline poise built into the armor set, paired with the class’s high Endurance stat, lets players trade blows with standard enemies and minor bosses without staggering constantly.

Official materials do not list confirmed starting consumables, crafting items, or crafting kits for the Heavy Knight at this time.

Elden Ring Heavy Knight Build Guide

This class’s stat spread creates a streamlined path for pure strength heavy armor builds, with simple early, mid, and late-game progression plans.

Early Game 

• Stat priority: Keep leveling Endurance first to maximize equip load and poise, then Vigor for survivability, then Strength to boost your starting curved greatsword’s damage.

• Playstyle: Use aggressive stance-breaking heavy attacks from your unique curved greatsword. Your high poise lets you tank light enemy hits while landing counterattacks, so you do not need to rely on constant dodging.

• Gear tip: Keep the full Heavy Knight armor set equipped for the entire early game; no other heavy armor you find will offer better poise and weight balance this quickly.

Mid Game 

• Stat target cap: Push Vigor to 58, Endurance to 38, Strength to 60 (the standard competitive melee meta spread). The Heavy Knight hits these values at Rune Level 120, with leftover points to add extra Strength for bonus damage.
  

• Equipment upgrades: Upgrade the Heavy Knight's Curved Sword fully, or swap to other strength-scaling greatswords, greataxes, or colossal weapons you loot. Retain heavy armor sets for consistent poise.

• Avoid spell investment: Do not waste runes leveling Mind, Intelligence, or Faith—this build’s strength lies purely in physical melee damage.

Late Game & PvP 

• Min-max focus: All leftover stat points go to Strength to maximize physical damage output.

• Strengths: High poise, massive weapon stagger potential, high HP pool, ability to wear top-tier late-game heavy armor without equip load issues. This build dominates competitive dueling against lighter dex or mage-focused opponents.

• Weaknesses: No natural spell support, limited ranged options, slow roll speed even with maxed Endurance when wearing full late-game heavy armor.

Elden Ring Heavy Knight vs Idus Knight, Which Class Is Better?

These two new Tarnished Edition exclusive knights feature opposing design philosophies, widely discussed on r/Eldenring after official specs leaked.

Core Lore & Identity

• Heavy Knight: Bulky steel armor, pure strength melee, crowd-cleaving curved greatsword, no lore-linked regional origin. Community Reddit comments joke this class is purely focused on brute force “bonk” gameplay with no deep attached lore.

• Idus Knight: A knight from the ancient land of Idus, themed around lightweight armor and dexterity-focused light greatsword combat. The name “Idus” originates from Roman calendar terminology meaning “to divide,” referencing its hybrid build flexibility.

Starting Stat Comparison

Equipment Differences

• Heavy Knight: Full unique heavy steel plate set, massive curved greatsword, high equip weight, maximum poise.

• Idus Knight: Lightweight unique armor, new light greatsword (not Milady), low equip load for fast rolls, lower poise.

Playstyle Differences

• Heavy Knight: Pure strength, heavy armor, poise-focused aggressive melee, optimized for PvP duels and full heavy armor late-game builds. Streamlined stat progression for min-maxed physical damage.

• Idus Knight: Hybrid build specialist, built for dexterity mixed with faith or sorcery. Better for open-world invasions, fast rolling hit-and-run combat, and mixed physical/magic damage setups. Poor efficiency if forced into a pure strength build.

Which Class to Choose?

The better class fully depends on your preferred playstyle, based on community meta analysis from Tarnished Edition preview creators and Reddit forum discussions:

Choose Heavy Knight if:

• You want a pure strength heavy armor melee build with minimal stat grinding

• You plan to focus on competitive PvP duels and prioritize poise and raw physical damage

• You dislike spellcasting and want to skip investing points into magic attributes

• You want to wear full heavy armor sets immediately without early equip load restrictions

• You want a streamlined progression path toward the standard 125 meta strength build cap with extra unused stat points

Choose Idus Knight if:

• You enjoy hybrid builds mixing dexterity weapons with incantations or sorcery

• You prefer fast light rolling, lightweight armor, and hit-and-run combat

• You plan to focus on player invasions and flexible mixed damage setups

• You want a lore-rich starting class with unique regional backstory from the Land of Idus

• You do not aim for a strict pure strength min-max build