16 March 2026

Tarnished Edition’s Heavy Knight Class Is Not Causing FOMO

By newsgame

Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition, the Nintendo Switch 2 port of FromSoftware’s groundbreaking open-world RPG, is set to release this year, delayed out of 2025 due to some rough early impressions. Reports have indicated that things are looking a bit better for the Switch 2 release, as issues like massive FPS dips have allegedly been assuaged.

It would be a shame if Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition wound up being underwhelming or poorly optimized, as it marks the first time that the game is coming to a Nintendo device. In fact, this version of Elden Ring will only be the second-ever FromSoftware souls game to launch on a Nintendo system, with the first being Dark Souls Remastered. Ahead of The Duskbloods, it will be nice to see these two Japanese giants cozying up to each other a bit more. Part and parcel of this new working relationship, it would seem, is a spate of fresh content coming to with the release of the Tarnished Edition. But if you’re worried about missing out on these bonuses, don’t be: they’re not quite as exclusive as you might think.

Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition will also include the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

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What’s Coming to Elden Ring With the Release of the Tarnished Edition?

Elden Ring Is Getting a New Class: Heavy Knight

First and foremost, Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition will be adding brand-new classes to the game, something that even Shadow of the Erdtree didn’t do. One of these classes, called Heavy Knight, features the following starting stats:

Vigor: 14
Mind: 8
Endurance: 17
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 11
Intelligence: 7
Faith: 8
Arcane: 9

The Heavy Knight also starts with a unique set of armor and a new curved greatsword, which will reportedly be paired with a new Ash of War as well. This gear, coupled with the high Vigor, Endurance, and Strength stats, makes the Heavy Knight an ostensibly strong choice for melee-oriented players, particularly those less interested in speed and agility.

Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.

Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)

Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition Adds New Outfit Options for the Player—and for Torrent

Tarnished Edition will see the arrival of four new armor sets, according to FromSoftware. The Heavy Knight and Knight of Ides introduce new armor as part of their starting gear, but the Tarnished Edition reveal trailer also highlights a matador-like outfit that’s highly reminiscent of Dark Souls 2’s Lucatiel of Mirrah; the fourth new armor set doesn’t appear to have been revealed yet. The game will also see three added customization options for the spirit steed Torrent—a personalization feature totally absent from the base game.

You Don’t Have to Miss Out on Tarnished Edition’s New Content, Even If You Don’t Have a Switch 2

After FromSoftware announced The Duskbloods, an upcoming Gothic horror co-op game launching exclusively for the Switch 2, some fans became a little concerned about the company sidling up to Nintendo. Whether these concerns are warranted or not is a different discussion, but the main pain point seems to be along these lines: FromSoftware is “abandoning” its core audience, most of whom don’t prioritize Nintendo devices, by releasing so much exclusive content for the new Switch.

While it’s understandable to be frustrated with certain industry exclusivity practices, this is an instance where it doesn’t really seem to matter all that much. FromSoftware has stated that the new content included in the Tarnished Edition will be released as add-on packs for other versions of the game, so you’ll be able to access things like the Heavy Knight and Torrent’s new outfits regardless of where you play.

Of course, there’s still the question of when this content will be made available, and for how much. FromSoftware has implied that the Tarnished Edition content will release for all platforms simultaneously, but nothing has been confirmed; after the 2025 delay of the Tarnished Edition, release plans for the new content feel as unpredictable as ever. The other possible hurdle is pricing, since if the Tarnished Edition content is sold at a premium (e.g. over $20 USD), then FromSoftware should probably be prepared to incur the wrath of angry consumers. Worst case scenario, this becomes another horse armor debacle, literally.

Even so, the content added in Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition falls into the category of “nice to have,” rather than “need to have.” It’s not like Shadow of the Erdtree, which feels like an essential part of the greater Elden Ring experience. Make no mistake, the new outfits look cool, especially Torrent’s, but they don’t seem to confer any major or unusual gameplay benefits. Similarly, the new weapons, while ostensibly bringing along new Ashes of War, are of the same type as already-existing in-game weapons; they don’t have new move sets or anything like that.

As for the new classes, it’s worth remembering how FromSoftware tends to handle this RPG staple. Rather than informing your playstyle like in other games, classes in a game like Elden Ring are more like starting points, designed to give you a leg-up for a particular build, but the stat advantages are minor and easily altered. This isn’t to say that these new classes are useless by any means—the starting weapons are novel enough—but they aren’t as game-changing as they would be in another kind of RPG.