Elden Ring survey reveals players’ favorite weapons, enemies & more

Philip Trahan

A Japanese Elden Ring survey has revealed some in-depth stats surrounding player choices and impressions in FromSoftware’s latest hit.

The survey in question, conducted by Famitsu and translated by FrontlineJP, polled over 1500 participants on a variety of different questions surrounding Elden Ring.

More general questions answered how many participants pre-ordered Elden Ring, and what their end-game levels were.

More interestingly, the survey also yielded some very specific results regarding players’ favorite weapons, starting class, and favorite enemy encounters.

For players’ favorite weapons, Katanas claimed the top spot by over 200 votes, followed closely behind by Greatswords with 641 votes.

It makes sense that Katanas topped the survey, given their overall strength and stylistic appeal. Additionally, there are plenty of powerful unique Katanas to discover and use, like the Moonveil Katana found in Caelid.

Moonveil Katana Elden Ring weapon
The Moonveil Katana is one of the best dexterity weapons in Elden Ring.

Interestingly, a shield option made it to the 3rd most popular weapon type, with Medium Shields garnering 504 votes.

The survey also polled players on their favorite starting class, with the Vagabond topping the list at 427 votes. The Samurai followed closely behind with 424 votes, while the Prisoner set a distant 3rd place with 153 votes.

When asked why players gravitated towards the Vagabond class, participants claimed to want “balance for the first playthrough” or wanted a Warrior build “focusing on vigor and endurance” at the start of the game.

As for the Samurai, many referenced FromSoftware’s previous title Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice while also noting the class’s starting versatility.

Elden Ring survey reveals players’ favorite boss

Another interesting question the survey posed was the enemy that “left the strongest impression.”

Starscourge Radahn, the optional boss residing in Caelid, topped the list with 687 votes. In a close second, Elden Ring’s iconic Malenia, Blade of Miquella received 658 votes.

Malenia elden ring
Fans will recognize Malenia, Blade of Miquella from much of Elden Ring’s promotional material.

To close out the survey, participants were encouraged to leave comments and feedback. Among the feedback, many expressed a desire for DLC content and a sequel.

Others praised the game’s huge open-world, optional dungeons, and player freedom allowed by the game’s design.

While this survey revealed plenty of what players loved about the game, it also confirms that many fans are eagerly awaiting whatever FromSoftware has in store next for Elden Ring.

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About The Author

Philip is a Staff Writer at Dexerto based in Louisiana, with expertise in Pokemon, Apex Legends, and general gaming industry news. His first job in the games industry was as a reviewer with NintendoEverything.com while attending college. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication focusing on Multimedia Journalism, he worked with GameRant.com for nearly two years before joining Dexerto. When he's not writing he's usually tearing through some 80+ hour JRPG. You can contact him at philip.trahan@dexerto.com.