Tethran vs Oscelda vs Sirin: Which starter Pact should you pick in Soulframe?

After you're done with the poetic character-creation process of Soulframe, the game will ask you to pick a Pact. Pacts are basically classes you can equip on your character, giving you three fixed abilities and a stat bump toward one specific Virtue. To get you started, the game gives you a choice between three pacts: Oscelda, Sirin, and Tethren.

After you pick a pact in this screen, you can't go back on your choice (as of Soulframe Preludes 10). Going by vibes is a perfectly viable option here, but there are some secondary things attached to your Pact you should be aware of before you start. In this guide, we'll address all of that.

What's the best starter Pact to pick in Soulframe?

This is the big prize you're eyeing (Image via Digital Extremes)

In terms of raw practicality, Tethren is the best starter Pact in Soulframe right now. However, I strongly recommend that you start with Oscelda instead. This may seem like a contradictory statement, so allow me to explain.

There are three things your starting Pact affects in Soulframe:

Your starting Virtue (attribute) line-up.
Your starter weapon.
Your starting totem, which determines the faction that you can join right away.

The third component, i.e., your starting faction, is the big thing we're looking at here. A bit into the game, you'll be nudged by the game to join one of the game's factions, and the totem you get in the beginning lets you actually join said faction.

Tethren's starting totem lets you join the Kith of Kings.
Oscelda's starting totem lets you join Alca's Children.
Sirin's starting totem lets you join The Silent Rose.

Alca's Children and The Silent Rose, once you reach rank 3 in either, lets you purchase and craft Ode Tempest — the bonafide best Pact in the game. Kith of Kings, meanwhile, doesn't give you Ode Tempest, and instead has access to the underwhelming Mora's Hand.

Ode Tempest is basically the most efficient Pact (or class if you prefer to call it that way) for pure mobbing in Soulframe right now. Plus, it helps you greatly with ad-clearing in boss-fights, which is the central gimmick in the latest boss, Mendicant King, which you'll want to farm for one of the best armor sets in the game.

Between Sirin and Oscelda, the latter is the easier and more universally useful pact. Sirin has access to cool gimmicks like pickpocketing, but the pocket heal you get out of Oscelda, as well as an auto-targetting starter weapon, makes for a very easy time in the first hours of Soulframe.

What if I don't care about getting Ode Tempest, though?

Here's the Art tree I use with Tethren (Image via Digital Extremes)

In that case, Tethren is easily the best starting Pact to pick. The Conqueror passive perk you get right at the beginning makes it easy to sustain Health through long fights without chugging flasks. Meanwhile, the first ability (Fellust) makes it very easy to down bosses and mini-bosses if you have a fast weapon.

On the whole, though, I would say all the starting pacts in Soulframe are very viable right now. Go with Sirin to play an agile rogue-type, Oscelda if you want a cozy Pact with heal and good crowd-control, and Tethren if you want to be a DPS machine.

Before closing, note that this advice on your starter Pact choice is only valid for Soulframe Prelude 10. Future versions will almost certainly rework, rebalance, or even introduce starter Pacts. At the moment, there is no great incentive to min-max in Soulframe, so picking the Pact that looks the coolest to you is a good idea.

Check out our other guides on the game:

About the author

Sambit Pal is an esports Journalist on Gaming and MMO at Sportskeeda. He has Master's degree in English Literature. In his spare time, he is an amateur sleuth trying to trace the Riven Mafia in Warframe, and a recovering Bethesda modding addict. He also secretly enjoys action Roguelites, a severe lack of gitting gud notwithstanding.

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Edited by Sambit Pal