Which starting class has the fastest melee swing moves?

[Gougourougou]

It may sound strange to you, but I like playing classes with fast melee swing moves and the biggest melee DPS with them. However, I have Elden Ring uninstalled at this moment and don't remember the starting classes names. Maybe the class with the requirements I mentioned is the one with the two melee weapons? The Samurai, maybe? Or some class with two daggers? I'm fairly inexperienced in Soulslike games and haven't played another soulslke game. At least not a difficult one (maybe I have played soulslites only).

[CB]

warrior starts off with double curved swords and is probably the one you mean.

[Artek [General]]

Attack speed is tied to the weapon, not the character itself. Eventually you will stumble upon every weapon of every class and can figure out for yourself which one suits you.

But, if we're talking specifically what fresh characters start with... It is objectively The Bandit as he starts with a knife. Knives are the quickest weapon in the game, but pay for it with very low damage to compensate (obviously).
The rest of the classes basically start with weapons in approximately the same weight class: Straight Swords, Curved Swords, Axe... I think Hero's Axe is tiny bit faster, actually, but not by too big a margin.

There are much slower weapon classes in the game, and none of the characters start with one.

The class you're probably thinking of is Warrior, who starts with dual-wielded curved swords and high natural Dexterity investment. He's probably the kind of character you want: dual wielded weapons guarantee higher DPS across the board.

[Gougourougou]

Originally posted by Artek General:

Attack speed is tied to the weapon, not the character itself. Eventually you will stumble upon every weapon of every class and can figure out for yourself which one suits you.

But, if we're talking specifically what fresh characters start with... It is objectively The Bandit as he starts with a knife. Knives are the quickest weapon in the game, but pay for it with very low damage to compensate (obviously).
The rest of the classes basically start with weapons in approximately the same weight class: Straight Swords, Curved Swords, Axe... I think Hero's Axe is tiny bit faster, actually, but not by too big a margin.

There are much slower weapon classes in the game, and none of the characters start with one.

The class you're probably thinking of is Warrior, who starts with dual-wielded curved swords and high natural Dexterity investment. He's probably the kind of character you want: dual wielded weapons guarantee higher DPS across the board.

Thank you for your answer. You said that attack speed is tied to the weapon though, so, which Stat determines that? Dexterity?

[Artek [General]]

Originally posted by Gougourougou:

Thank you for your answer. You said that attack speed is tied to the weapon though, so, which Stat determines that? Dexterity?

None - just the weapon class itself.
Daggers are faster than Small Swords, Small Swords are faster than Greatswords, Greatswords are faster than Collosals Swords, etc.
Occasional weapons have unique attacks not found in other members of its family: they could be faster or slower depending on how devs felt.

A good routine to develop is to always equip a newly found weapon - even if you don't have the stats for it - and experiment with attacks, both one handed and two handed, to see if there's anything unique about this weapon's moveset.

For example: the Morning Star mace found early-ish into the game is unique among Light Hammers because it has thrusting attacks for its heavy running attack, rolling attack, and combo ender. There's only 1 other hammer that shares that moveset and it's found literally right before the game's finale.

Your stats only determine how much damage the weapon will deal.

Although there is one hidden feature: Dexterity actually speeds spell casting, hilariously enough. Not by much: difference between 10 Dexterity and 70 Dexterity is like a second, but that can mean life and death in this game.